We Got Your Back
Our stories that speak to why use a Trusted Adventures member. Here is what some of our members have done in crises with nimble, quick, and caring action…
Click on their logo to read their stories.
From ROW Adventures
Example: ROW Adventures' guests Geoff and Sally from New York were all set for a custom tour of Peru and Machu Picchu followed by a trip to the Galapagos. A week before their departure huge mudslides took out the train tracks that go to Machu Picchu. Since they couldn't get to Machu Picchu but didn't want to abort the trip, our staff and guides created an alternative itinerary that took them to Lake Titicaca instead. Then, while they were on the trip and in the Galapagos Islands the huge earthquake in Chile hit. Concerned about a possible tsunami hitting their beachfront hotel, our guides evacuated them in the middle of the night and took them into the highlands to a nature refuge replete with hot drinks and flushing toilets so they could wait things out in safety and comfort. Two natural disasters in one trip! Our guests raved about how well the guides handled everything, our communications and how much they loved Lake Titicaca!
Example: A few years ago we had an elderly lady who had an intense passion for the story of Lewis and Clark. She wanted to go on one of our canoe trips on the Upper Missouri in Montana that follows the Lewis and Clark Trail. However, she had a chronically dislocating hip and was concerned. We told her we would staff our trips with one of our guides who is also a nurse and of course, carry a satellite phone. All was well until the last night of the five-day trip. As she was in her tent she turned in a way that dislocated her hip. It was a stormy night and the helicopter from the hospital in Great Falls wouldn't fly. So we called the US Air Force that has a base in Great Falls. Our staff kept her as comfortable as possible and in the morning, in still stormy weather, the Air Force helicopter landed and took her to the hospital where her hip was relocated.
From Western River Expeditions
Like any travel related business, we have had our share of logistical challenges. Rather than view them as inconvenient, our natural tendency is to become excited by the challenge of making something work.
The ability to solve these dilemmas comes from years of experience, a lot of training, a little help from our friends and the miracle of technology. Each spring, our guides participate in a 3 week training course which includes swiftwater rescue where the emphasis is placed on how to avoid and prevent accidents. We carry satellite phones on every trip and, in some areas; we take advantage of radio communications. The places where we travel are very remote, but this technology allows us to stay connected and solve what sometimes seem like unsolvable problems.
On several occasions, our guests have forgotten critical items they need for their trip. The most serious of these involved medications. In one case, the CEO of the company received a call at midnight saying that a guest had forgotten his heart medication. He then drove 60 miles to the guest's house, and an additional 170 miles to Price, Utah where he was met by the operations manager who drove 220 miles (round trip) and delivered the needed heart medication to the guest whose 4-day Cataract Canyon trip was scheduled to leave at 7:00 a.m.
In another case, a family was without their son’s medication. They discovered the error only after the trip had launched. The family’s personal physician was contacted who then called the prescription in to a Moab pharmacy. Our friends at the local air charter service provided a plane from which we removed one of the doors and flew over Desolation Canyon on the Green River until we located the trip. The medicine was placed in an empty milk jug and dropped to the trip below. A crisis was averted, and a great story was born.
Recently, one of our guests missed their flight to Las Vegas prior to their 7-day Grand Canyon rafting trip. She called our weekend emergency line to let us know that she would not be there the next day. Not accepting this outcome, we helped her change her flight to Phoenix, secured a rental car from Phoenix to Flagstaff, and then arranged a ride on a bus belonging to a competitor which carried her to the river. She arrived, one-half hour later than the rest of the guests, but our guides kept the group entertained, and everyone was grateful that she made it on the trip.
From American Safari Cruises / InnerSeas Discoveries:
In Mexico's Sea of Cortes there has not been any disturbance related to the drug cartels. Yet often all of Mexico seems to be lumped together when bad events strike. Our American Safari Cruises' yacht explorations are low profile due to carrying only 21 people per voyage instead of thousands. We visit low profile areas - uninhabited islands, tiny villages, remote coves. Problems plaguing certain parts of Mexico are urban. By ensuring that travelers interested in a Mexico vacation had the right information, we were able to secure what turned out to be the trip of a lifetime for clients who may have turned their heads away without our counsel due to the broad-based negativity toward Mexico.
The biggest intrusion we did encounter in the Sea of Cortes was the camera clicks of a boat carrying some paparazzi. Guests who chartered our yacht were notables and the paparazzi got tipped off by spotters upon arrival. Companies handling small adventure groups are often entrusted with well-known travelers as communication lines are short and involve only select employees. Identities are tightly guarded in advance of travel and pseudonyms are generally assigned. Once the paparazzi struck in this case, executives communicated with the guests' travel agent, personal assistants and our port agents every hour to make sure there were no further incidents. Our Captain used her skill and knowledge of the area to evade the cameras for the rest of the 6 days of the trip.
From Austin-Lehman Adventures
There are too many benefits to count when it comes with traveling with "experts" in a given region or area. By booking with a seasoned professional as one will find with the Trusted Adventures family of operators, you can rest assure they are vigilant when it comes to looking out for you and your traveling companions well being. A good operator will have "connections" at every level, a list of written and "not so" written contingency plans. They will stay awake at night worrying about the details, so you don't have. They will keep you well informed so you can relax and trust you are in good hands at all times.
Regardless where in this great world you travel, there is always the chance for "disruption". "it could be weather, volcanoes, earthquakes, fire or political unrest as we are seeing in parts of the globe now. A good operator is always looking 2 or 3 steps ahead. Watching closely and monitoring escalating events, changing weather patterns, developing stories if you will.
A good example is recently there were demonstrations in and around the Punta Arenas Airport in Chile. We had a group scheduled to fly into the airport and sent our representative to the area days before they even left the states. He monitored the protests and fact that they had come to a complete stop before our guests were scheduled to leave the states. This gave us the comfort to give the green light to travel. It can work both ways, had we not been on the ground monitoring the situation, we may have just canceled the trip, a trip that the guests had looked forward to for years.
From Wildland Adventures
We are regarded as the experts for good reason. When recent turmoil in Egypt erupted who did NPR call for the tourism angle? Kurt Kutay of Wildland Adventures!
The owner-directors and our teams of experts are available 24/7 wherever you are in the world, even in the wilderness because in most places we have radio or cell phone contact with our guides in the field
From weather delays and airline losing your luggage, to civil unrest, natural catastrophe, transportation strikes, or accident or illness, we are there for you to provide assistance to secure your comfort and safety, help you resume your trip, secure medical attention, and we’ll be in touch with your family at home so they can rest assured you are safe and sound.
Example: Over the last holiday travel period we had families traveling to Africa who were delayed from home, then finally got out and delayed again in Europe, and each time we provided help with airlines and informed our local in-country guides so they would be there when the alternative flight arrived. And, when some of the luggage didn’t arrive in Nairobi when they did, we set them off on safari and traced the bags so that when they did arrive two days later we shuttled them out to their safari camp.
Everyone who we had booked to Egypt got a 100% refund from us.
When fuel price increases precipitated transportation strikes and road blocks in Chile, two guests were stuck for 4 days in a small town. On Friday afternoon we were in touch with the US Embassy to inform them of the whereabouts of our travelers and on Saturday morning we all received an email that the Embassy was arranging for transportation out. In the meantime, when the strikers announced that they would allow for the safe passage of foreign visitors, we promptly arranged for private transport for our travelers and they were able to expeditiously make their way to Punta Arenas in time to board a vessel and continue their trip to Argentina.
If you are hospitalized our in-country experts will be at your bedside to be your patient advocate, and to help you and your travel companion with whatever need you have to resume your trip or to secure seats on a return flight home with medical assistance if needed.
Example: A family flies into Quito or is delayed into Quito and they miss the departure of their boat in Galapagos. We re-book their local flights and arrange a speed boat to catch up with their vessel 2 days into their trip.
We provide travel insurance policies and if you need to use them we are in contact with them to expedite any evacuation or medical services, and to help you make any claims when you return.
Example: Two gentlemen who were enroute to start their one-week trip to the Middle East over the holidays were delayed so long due to weather that they decided to cancel their trip stay home instead. We helped them secure a complete refund with insurance.
We all have risk management programs in place supported by ongoing guide training and safety management on the ground.