Our trip was filled with so many amazing experiences. May be our best family trip yet. We have specific dietary restrictions, and Elevate really made sure we were accommodated in each location.
— Sara Kubersky, Peru
The ease of the experience allowed all four of us to soak it all in without the usual planning and logistics stress. Nothing but positive feedback! Thank you to Lana and Emily for creating an inspiring, fun, adventurous, educational trip for us and for doing so with positive energy and contagious enthusiasm for beautiful Peru! We can’t wait to travel with Elevate Destinations again!
— Jody Shue and friends, Peru
Ephi was a fantastic leader and guide, the lunches each day were different and amazing especially the one hosted by the family and the pachamanca restaurant, and the hike and time at Machu Picchu. We loved the itinerary. Our guides were knowledgeable, fun, flexible, organized…amazing!!
— Ceci Enge, Peru
Our trip was the perfect mix of adventure, philanthropy, mystical, extraordinary, and educational. We had wonderful guides at every destination. Their knowledge, personalization, and candor made our experience so enjoyable and gave us an understanding of Peru beyond a typical tourist. While it was an immense adventure, there was ease all the way through knowing that everything was taken care of for us from transportation to stays. We learned very quickly that any event we had planned was going to be memorable and unique whether it was service work, tracking through the Amazon rainforest, hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, sleeping on the side of a cliff, or getting to know who our guides are through car rides and lunches. A huge thank you to Lana and Emily on the Elevate Team, and Erica, and Efrain in Peru.
— The Cook Family, Peru
I loved the perfect mix of learning about Peru and its rich history and spending time in the students homes. We very much enjoyed painting at one home, gardening at the Andean Alliance, having dinner with the Peruvian Hearts girls, and working in the school with the young girls. We really fell in love with all of them and plan to be in contact with them for a very long time.
We came home and immediately made donations to each!
— Melissa Allen, Peru
Everyday was a highlight. From Machu Picchu to painting at a Peruvian Hearts scholar home - we just did not want to leave a country with so much passion for its people and heritage. The accommodations, restaurants, guide, driver - everything was perfect. The girls we met at Chicuchas Wasi and Peruvian Hearts gave us so much more than we gave them. Our scaling the cliff and zip lining down was just the thing to push our comfort zone. Our hearts will forever be left in Peru. So what can we do next year to match this year? Can't wait!
— Julie Marchese, Peru
We had an incredible 25th anniversary trip, planned by Elevate. Though we knew our itinerary, there were surprise experiences along the way as well, like interactions with the native people that were truly special and turned out to be the favorite parts of our trip. In Peru, our guide was among of the best you can have, and we enjoyed every moment with him. The hotels were all first-class, and we enjoyed some upgrades that were unexpected and just lovely. Our time in the Galapagos was perfect as well. Lana and Dominique are incredibly intuitive about what we would like. Can’t say enough really. We will definitely book a trip through them again!
It is difficult to put into word the meaning of our trip to Peru. We feel so blessed to have spent time with so many wonderful people. It was the perfect balance of volunteering, getting to know the Peruvian culture, outdoor exercise and history lessons. The hotels were supreme and we always had someone there to guide us along the way. Every activity had special meaning to us. Your planning was wonderful.
— Kathy Sharpe and family, Peru
I’m home and overwhelmed with great memories and photographs... MANY, MANY THANKS TO YOU! You did such a great job of putting all of the pieces together to ensure a flawless trip. It was a big leap to put such a big trip in the hands of someone that I found through an online search, but I’m so glad that I did. You are really, really good at this! The itinerary was really terrific. I honestly loved every bit of it. You put together something truly special for us. I will remember it forever. I’ve been home less than 7 hours, and I’m already thinking of reasons to return to Peru.
— The Raab Family, Peru
Having everything organized for us - transportation, tickets, etc. - was fabulous! It enabled us to sit back and enjoy our trip and truly appreciate the experiences we had. We loved Peru - the incredible scenery, the open and friendly people, and the great food. It feels like every day was a highlight, but our top three were hiking the Inca Trail and seeing Machu Picchu; the Sky Lodge adventure; and the visit to the Chicuchas Wasi girls school. Every adventure we had, from big to small, gave us insight and appreciation into the Peruvian culture and we came home feeling like we learned so much. We cannot wait to visit Peru again.
— The Sherwood Family, Peru
Lana Byal, my trip planner, connected with me on our very first call and never dropped one detail in creating the most perfect trip for my daughter, grand daughter and myself that I could ever imagine. She knew exactly what I was after and arranged every last detail for me perfectly. I was able to call her with some on-the-fly changes to the itinerary and she and her staff were ON it immediately! All this, and somehow we wound up with the best guide and driver you could ever ask for...and seeings how we spent nine days together, we were fortunate beyond belief. Kudos to Elevate Destinations!
— Deborah Hart, Peru
“The trip was phenomenal, the guides were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and great with the kids, the people were warm and welcoming, the hotels were great. Via Ferrate and the zip line was a highlight for the kids; I loved the "social experience" in the mountains, and the high activity level of the entire trip. We really felt like we got to understand the people and the culture.”
— Betsy Fishbone, Peru
