Shore Excursion - Turix Activo

[cruiseljh]

We are planning to use Turix Activo for our shore excursion in Guatemala (but will most likely just book at the pier instead of in advance). Thus far, they have provided good follow up to my questions and are the most reasonably priced. Any feedback regarding Turix would be appreciated.

[World Gallery]

We just returned from Guatemala. I have pictures from our tour at www.worldgallerygifts.com/cruisephotos.html.

We booked with Turix Activo, http://www.turixactivo.com/ and they were excellent!

Our group of 25 (all family and friends) enjoyed out day. Louis at Turix was great about answering all of my emails very promptly. We tweeked our schedule a few times and he was very helpful with suggestions. I had wanted to try and visit an orphanage and he researched the options and got back to me with all options (the orphanage was too far but he offered a nursery school).

This is what we did:

1st - Hibicus Project - http://www.hibiscusprojectizabal.com/ It is a small Mayan museum. The people/owners there were wonderful! It was only 20 minutes from the boat.

2nd - Iquana Mission - http://www.turixactivo.com/ver_notic...mostrar_center They raise iguanas to be released into the wild. My kids loved this! They let my girls take an iquana with them for the day to be released into the wild at the waterfalls that afternoon. Those iquanas clung to their shirts all day. You can see a picture that I posted of my daughter eating at McDonalds with the iquana stuck to her shirt.

3rd - Waterfalls - we decided it would probably be best to do this last so that we wouldn't be wet all day, and we thought that it would probably be less crowded (and it was). Everyone loved this too. Leo, one of the 3 guides (we had 3 guides and 3 vans that followed each other for 25 people. Leo was the best!) made sure everyone could swim, helped to carry the bags, and helped to watch our kids in the water. He was very proud of his country and explained everything to us. We learned a lot on this tour and had a great time! My sister has back trouble and could not make it all the way up. One of the guide took her down, stayed with her, and my sister had a great time visiting with her.

They have their tour options on their website but you can suggest something that is not on their website and they can work it out. Also, the cost was reasonable in my opinion. It was $70 per adult (less for children) and this was for all day with admission into the 3 places above. I think just the waterfalls tour with the ship was $70. We will use them again in the future. We will also request Leo again because he was the best!

Guatemala is a great place and the people are wonderful.

[julieawill]

Guatemala – We went with Turix Activo for Guatemala, and the entire group of 20 was nicely accommodated. Luis was wonderful to work with setting everything up, and Eric was our guide for the day. Eric knew his stuff, but I had to keep a close eye on the time and hustle the group along – Eric wasn’t aggressive enough. We went to Las Escobas falls first, want to a tortilla-making demo, then jetted over the Livingston for lunch. Eric told everyone that lunch was complimentary, but that we would have to pay for beverages. I pointed out to him in the contract that it said beverages were included (thank heavens I brought the contract along). He only told half the group that one beverage/pp was free, and let the other table pay, shame on Eric! It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but even water is $2/pp, so it adds up. It left a sour taste in our mouths. After lunch we went up the Rio Dulce to the Ak Tenamit village for a tour of the school.

Most of my family had low expectations for Guatemala, but after going there everyone agreed it was their favorite stop. It is so green and beautiful. The waterfalls, hike, and tour up the river were gorgeous. The tortilla demo is kind of lame and seems to be a little money-maker for the lady there (and perhaps Eric gets a kick-back?). The school is okay. Livingston is pretty cool, and we would like to have spent more time there. I would recommend Turix Activo; on the whole they were very professional.