Testimonials

Hi0-- i've put comments up on TripAdvisor about both lodges, both pretty positive, which are easy to get to. my moniker there is NJ-Eric. what a fantastic trip! thanks so much. Eric
Jan 28, 10 | Eric

We had a Fantastic time in Brazil!!! The arrangements were really good. We did not encounter any problems. We has a great time sightseeing. The hotels were great. Transfer etc were on the button. We would recommend BRAZIL NUTS anytime to those who want a stress free holiday!!!! JERRY
Jan 28, 10 | Jerry G

My wife and I have now returned from our trip to South America. We had a wonderful time, and all of the arrangements made by Brazil Nuts worked perfectly. We were transferred to and from the airports as per the schedule and agents were on time, courteous and helpful. We were very pleased with the three hotels you had reserved for us, and the two tours Brazil Nuts booked for us were great. Also, the three long distance bus trips you had ticketed for us worked flawlessly! It was a pleasure working with Marisol on this trip as well as the trip we took in 2009. Thank you. William N
Jan 11, 10 | William N.

Hello, Brazil is beautiful. The trip was fantastic. Greg and I enjoyed ourselves very much. I would definitely recommend Brazil Nuts to friends for travel. I too, would use Brazil Nuts again for future trips. Thank you. Jennifer Sangiacomo
Jan 21,10 | Jennifer Sangiacomo

Hi Roberto Just wonder
Dec 20,09 | L. Santucci

YES! Holli stayed with me and never got frustrated (which is more than I could say). Three cheers for Holli! I could not have done this trip without Brazil Nuts. How were the guides? In Rio excellent. In BA ok. In Iguazu good. Getting picked up with our private guide at the airport was perfect. We were able to smoothly transition into a new area with no tension, go over expectations for the next few days and have any questions we might have get answered. Also our guide helped us get checked into the hotels in all locations. This also made our lives easy. We loved Rio! My sons and I took surfing lessons. Very cool! Our private tours were excellent. We found Rio safe and the people very friendly. We walked along the beach during the day and evening as well as to many restaurants and shops. Our private guide was always helpful and gave us great suggestions for dinner and clubs to go to for dancing (with the kids). We enjoyed all of our tours! Our Rio hotel location was excellent. This was a 3 to 4 star hotel. After changing rooms to a higher floor (a must for road noise) we got ajoining rooms but a smaller "queen bed" for my wife and I. They could not get the AC to work correctly even thou we asked several times. The staff was very nice and always helpful. One day I left the safe in our room open when we went down for breakfast and the cleaning staff would not clean the room because they saw it open. When I came up from breakfast they told me and I closed it and they cleaned the room. That could have gone the other way and it could have been nightmare. Like I said the staff was really helpful! They could not get the floor of the room clean so our feet were dirty when we walked around the room after a shower with bare feet. Even thou we asked. The floor did not look dirty thou. Breakfast, as well as the view were fine. The rooftop outdoor pool was small but useful. The outdoor tables, food and drink service service was always nice before and during sunset. The view from that area was beautiful! The weather was hot and humid. A far cry fron the northeast. The hotel was very good value for the money spent. We had lunch at the Copacabana Palace. That was a 5 star hotel. Our kids loved the hotel in Iguazu. This was a 4 star hotel. My wife was surprised how nice it was. We enjoyed the pool, nature walk and zoo. My wife and I enjoyed the SPA. I got two massages. The boatride into the falls was a real hit with us. The falls were spectacular. Our guide made all our trips easy as well as our trips thru customs. My wife and I were impressed with the Soffitel hotel. This was a 5+ star hotel. We changed rooms to a higher floor upon check in (10th floor). The rooms were small but beautiful. The bathrooms were large and elegant. The location was excellent. The staff was superb (from the bellman to the manager). They knew me by my name. This is the kind of service you can only get in a smaller excellent hotel. We met them all. The restaurant was excellent! It was the best French restaurant in the city (My wife and I had diner one night while our kids had room service and TV movies). This hotel was by far the best value! We walked around alot. Our guide suggested a leather shop to have jackets custom made at. They made me a beautiful jacket and my wife bought a pair of boots there. They delivered them to the hotel. We saw a Tango show that was much better than my wife or I thought it would be. It was a large Broadway type production and very well done. The weather was perfect. One day in the afternoon it rained. That was the only rain in the entire trip. All in all I give the trip a 9.5 out of 10. I would go back to Rio in a minute probably do trips to smaller towns and villages the next time. Thank you again for helping make this a special time in our lives! Jack D.
Dec 21, 09 | Jack & Alissa D.

Roberto: Just to let you know, we have returned from our wonderful Brazilian trip. All of the arrangements we made through Brazil Nuts were excellent- the hotels, the local tours and the transfers. We were very pleased and satisfied, and want to also commend Luiz, the guide from Bulmer, who was extremely good, helpful and knowledgeable. We also used your provider, Paraty Tours to make local arrangements there and they were great! Your recommendations for when to use a guided tour and when to use a seat on bus were right on the mark, and we were pleased that you advised us about the transfers. The 5 pm transfer to Paraty was good, because we had the whole day in Rio and although it took almost 7 hours in extremely heavy traffic, it did not matter. For that reason, we did take your recommendation and stick with the group transfer back to Rio at 2pm, and while we arrived at 6, even before we could check in for our plane, we were not anxious. A couple of items you might pass on to other travelers from GIG: there was not exit tax as we had been advised, and there *is* a Star Alliance Lounge called Smiles, operated by GOL which can be used by US Airways, United and Lufthansa. We will be pleased to recommend you to others and we thank you for your services to us. Sue and Richard Salkowitz
Jan 23, 10 | Sue & Richard S.

We are so happy we used BrazilNuts to plan our travel. From the minute we were picked up at the airport in Rio until the time we left Santiago, Chile, all our land travel arrangements were excellent. We appreciated our guide/driver in Rio, who gave us a mini-tour of the city in route to our hotel (the excellent Sofitel). He gave us suggestions as to restaurants, sights and even stopped at an ATM machine in a safe area for us. We would never plan a trip to Brazil without BrazilNuts' assistance. A pleasant surprise was the agent you arranged for us in Chile. We received the same quality service - guide, driver, hotel, etc. - as you provided in Brazil. Never hesitate to refer clients to Sportstour of Chile. Thank you for all your help in making the land portion of our vacation a real joy. We would be happy to act as a reference for your company.
Jan 02. 10 | J & B Williams

We had a fabulous trip and your agy did a great job. Santiago – the guide, Bernardo was such a gentleman and a wealth of knowledge. We ate at the restaurants he recommended, more where the locals ate, and it was excellent. The hotel was a great choice. Buenos Aries – again the hotel was a great choice as it was within walking distance of the shopping area. Bariloche – hotel was switched to Der Edelweis, but that was probably a better location for us. We absolutely loved Bariloche and would love to go back there. Falls – the guide was great and made it painless to cross the border so many times, the hotel was the nicest we had and by then we were ready to enjoy the pool and some down time. Manaus – only problem there was I probably should have prebooked a transfer, it would have made it much easier. We made it to the hotel ok, but it was late and we weren’t sure about the area and no one at the hotel spoke any English. It still would have been ok if we had known in advance what time our tour was. Sorry, I don’t remember the names of any restaurants but I would definitely recommend your agy again and in fact, I’ve told people about you already. I also highly recommend the prebooked transfers as it took out a lot of the hassle, esp. since none of us spoke Spainish or Port. The tours we prebooked were really good. Nothing bad to say at all.
Jan 08.10 | Glenda B.

Thank you for your follow-up Our children did fine and didn't skip a beat with the delay in their transfer to Paraty which they enjoyed very much. We had a great trip and everyone was very helpful: We would like to single out for special recognition our guide in Minas Gerias - Jairo - He was extremely knowledgeable and truly seemed to enjoy his job in addition to knowing every one we encountered along the way. Our innkeeper and his wife in Salvador at Solar do Carmo they were delightful, it was a lovely place and they really made us feel at home. ...... Thank you again for helping us arrange a delightful holiday. We hope to be able to visit again ! The Queens
Dec 25, 20 | Kate Queen

Hi. Sorry to be so slow getting back to you. We had a wonderful time in Brazil,even though it rained most of the time in Rio de Janeiro! The fog lifted for short periods so we were able to see all the sites from Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado mountain-. the sites were wonderful. Our cruise ship was late docking as "the military was having a parade of boats" so the harbour was closed. Our guide RA was there to meet us and we modified the tour to match the remaining time left for our tour.We found that very few persons spoke any English ,especially the drivers doing transfers but they arrived on time and got us to the right destination. The trip to Iguassu Falls was excellent!We had one guide Felix for the whole 2 days and he was very knowledgeable.Our Hotel room at San Martin was excellent. In the morning and evening they had huge buffets which kept us well-nourished! I would recommend your service to anyone who goes to Brazil.We talked to a couple at dinner on the ship. I do not know if they contacted you as they were staying in Rio for a week. Thanks for making our trip so special. Dorothy and Howard Gilbey
Dec 09, 09 | Dorothy & Howard Gilbey

Hi Roberto and Holli, Thank you for all your assistance in setting up our trip to Brazil! We had a fantastic trip, thanks to your work. The arrangements you made for us were an excellent blend of taking care of all the details when it made sense (in Bonito, for example), and independence when it made sense for us to wander around on our own (in Rio). The only thing I thought was sub-optimal was the high cost of the flights and the odd 12-hour layover in Miami, but this was not your fault, this was obviously our problem for starting to make arrangements so late. Here are some location-by-location comments, in case they are useful to you: In Bonito the guides Carlos and Andre were very good and we enjoyed their company. Carlos (the driver) took very good care of us and is a very nice guy who shared with us something of the culture during the long drives. Andre recommended to us a very good restaurant, much better than ones the main street, but I can't remember the name. It was a couple of blocks off the main street near the main park with the giant fish in the middle. Carlos recommended a place for dessert that turned out to be popsicles of every conceivable flavor, very nice. The Hotel Refugio served our needs just fine, and it was nice that it was close enough to the main street that we could just walk to dinner (though Carlos offered to drive us). The trips were all great fun (good lunches too), but the clear winner was the Abismo Anhumas trip. It started raining (pouring!) on us as we ascended the ropes, all making it even more exciting. In Iguassu Falls the guide Elisangela was very useful, helping us rearrange things when I suddenly didn't feel well. I think it was food poisoning from the snack (ham-cheese sandwich) on the airplane. Elisangela said she just had another client with the same symptoms who also suspected the snack on the plane. We ended up arranging for extra activities with her; she drove us to the Argentinian side of the falls (but didn't stay with us, so we could wander around on our own), and took us to the Itaipu power plant tour (very cool), and we joined one of those tourist dance and dinner shows. The hotel was convenient to the park, but very far from the town, so our dining choices were limited unless we took a taxi all the way into town. In Rio we didn't interact with the guide Gus very much, except for to/from airport. We pretty much went around on our own. The only tour we went on was a favela tour with the Marcelo Armstrong company, fascinating. The hotel in Copacabana was very good for us, close to the Metro, close to the beach, close to a laundromat (LavaKilo), close to several grocery stores, and had two of those juice bars within a block with those awesome "sucos" drinks. A new metro station just recently opened in Ipanema, at General Osorio's park, so the guide books (and most of the maps at the metro stations) were wrong, the Hippie Faire and Ipanema restaurants were even more convenient to get to from our hotel than we thought. The metro's espress bus connections to Sugar Loaf and Corcovado were very convenient. Gus warned us not to ride the buses for safety reasons, but we had great success on the metro and espress busses, riding in the daytime. Corcovado was very, very crowded the day after Xmas. To buy appropriate Rio beachwear, we shopped at the amazing 33 Santa Clara Street building with 12 solid floors of beach related stuff. We would have liked to have a seen a soccer game, but there were no games while we were there, so that will have to wait for next time. :) We will upload our photos to Flickr soon, and will send you a pointer when we do. Thanks again, your services were essential to our trip and we very much enjoyed every bit of it. -- Su-Lin.
Dec 17, 09 | Su-Lin

Hello! Thanks sooooo much for our Brazil arrangements... everything was perfect!! We were met immediately at the airport by Paraty tours for the ride from Rio to Paraty... The best was our Rio city tour...EXCELLENT!!!!!!! Our guide was Daniel Cabral...he was fantastic...fun, informative and willing to stop wherever!! (even the Havaianas store!) :) I would highly recommend him to anyone!! We ate at a great restaurant called Kilograma...buffet style so it offered food for us veggie heads too :) Thanks for your help arranging our tour...I know it was short notice, but I"m sooooo glad to have worked with Brazil nuts! thanks! Happy New Year! Lisa Dvorak
Dec 19, 09 | Lisa Dvorak

Thanks for following up. We really loved our trip and everything worked out great! We were pleased with the assistance pre trip that we got from Brazil Nuts and the hotel accommodations in Salvador were fantastic. This trip we did not utilize your expertise much for booking hotels or land tours because we had local contacts in both Rio and Sao Paulo. However, we did appreciate your guidance in figuring out our itinerary and when we return to Brazil, we will return to Brazil Nuts and would also have no hesitation in recommending your services. Thanks and best wishes for a happy holiday season.
Nov 18, 09 | Rachel E.

Hello Roberto and Marisol, Yes the trip was great and we had a good time. The hotel was very nice and the staff was so helpful. Luciano Was a great tour guide as he did an excellent job. The best parts of the trip were the Tango Show and the day trip to Colonia (a must do). I have already decided that another party of Uruguay will be my next vacation. Thanks again for all your help. Rose
Nov 19, 09 | Rose J.

Yes our trip was wonderful. I was worried that I would have some problems with checking into our hotel, or with finding it. But, it was easy as breeze. Kind regards. karen
Nov 19, 09 | Karen L.

Dear Roberto: We had an excellent trip to South America, including Rio de Janeiro and Foz do Iguacu. I wish I had kept your Rio phone number with me, because I would have booked local tours through your agency. I definitely think that you are able to deliver on your promise to find the best value for your clients. We stayed at the Windsor Plaza in Rio, and would recommend it for anyone. Only two blocks from the beach, it is on the bus route to Rio Centro. The rooms are a tad small, but very clean. There were small stores, laundries, and tourist services nearby. The staff was professional although the maitr'e de ran the dining room like a tyrant. His style was probably inapparent to most guests, but it meant the waiters looked frightened. The meals were quite good. The roof top pool was very nice with a pleasant view. I took advantage of the small fitness room and it was quite serviceable. I would definitely recommend your services for any friends who may decide to go to Brazil. Allen Johnson
Nov 09, 09 | Allen Johnson

In summary, we would like to report that our trip to Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Rio was a wonderful success with no problems, thanks to the very good help of Marisol and her excellent choices of flights and land accomodations that perfectly matched our expectations. All hotels were very good especially the Astoria Palace in Copacabana beach with excellent location, modern rooms and a sumptuous breakfast buffet. We enjoyed this trip, which was very special and would deffinitely use Brazilnuts again. We payed visits to the offices of your associates Eurotur in Buenos Aires and Blumar in Leblon to ask simple questions and were received and helped very well and courteously. Francisco and Trudy P.
Oct 20, 09 | Francisco P.

well everything well ----I was very pleased with Marisol and the entire trip. The Tropical Manaus upgraded us to a beautiful suite for the 1 night we spent there----it was amazing. Not sure why or if they were sold out or why they did that. Its odd because when I first started planning my trip I actually thought Brazil Nuts was too upscale or would be too expensive so I sought out other more obscure websites promising cut rate prices and discounts and they were much more expensive then Brazil Nuts----Marisol was great in that she never kept hounding me like some of the travel people do but was very helpful and I even got an 80 dollar refund after I changed plans-------I would defintely use you guys again---thanks alot . We loved Brazil . You helped me plan a prefect trip.
Oct 19, 09 | Mary B.

Holli and Roberto- Just a note that we are back and had an absolutely delightful time on the trip you set up for us. The pre-trip wedding in Campo Grande was a highlight, of course, especially for the Sinclairs (parents of the groom). The Pantanal was amazing - I had never heard of the area before this, but my birdwatcher wife was ecstatic. Our guide/mother hen at the Xaraes, Bruna, was delightful and the birds and wildlife fascinating. Salvador was intriguing, since we were all interested in history. Our principal guide, Simone, from Tatur Turismo, was excellent and the small Pousada Pilar delightful - we highly recommend it for travelers who do not care for large hotels. I think Salvador matched the Pantanal as the most interesting part of the trip. Iguassu was also fascinating - similar in some ways yet quite different from Niagara. Our guide, Cerro, was extremely knowledgeable about both the history and fauna of the area and I understand that the falls were at their greatest flow in ten or twelve years, so the timing was perfect. One word of warning to those considering the boat venture: wear swimming suits, not ponchos! Rodrigo, our Rio de Janeiro guide was also delightful and I think knew at least half the 8 million people in Rio! I wish we could have spent more time there. From what I saw of Copacabana, I think you did well to put us at Ipanema. It was very relaxing and we did do our part to subsidize the local brewing industry. Interestingly, as a group we were also quite impressed with TAM. They seemed well-organized and competent, especially compared with some U.S. airlines. On the whole, the six of us had a great time and Ginger and I are seriously considering going back, either to the northern part of the Pantanal or the Amazon or both, before our visas expire in 2014. If so, we'll get in touch with you to put something together. Meanwhile, we did want to let you know how much we enjoyed the trip and to thank you for all your help. - Mike O
Oct 08,09 | Mike O

First of all thank you so much for making this trip possible. Your patience and suggestions made this all possible. We loved everything about Praia do Forte. The place we stayed was in a great location by the beach. It was clean and the people were very friendly. We were able to walk into town and the food was excellant. The Ecolodge in the Amazon, I can't say enough. Our guide was wonderful and the food was to die for. When we went to the meeting of the waters we even saw our pink dolphin. They had something for us to do every hour of the day and we enjoyed all of it. We loved it there. You must swim in the fresh water pool after the nature hike. The Iguassu Falls were beautiful. The tour was very impressive and you should recommend and require everyone to do the walking tour of both sides and the boat tour as Marisol did (after much confusion on my part). We also loved the buffet on the Argentina side and the wine was excellant. Having the guide made our time at the boarder minimal and easy to pass through. The hotel was very modern, clean and the buffet was good. The bar was open late as well. Rio I can not say enough. Astoria Palace had a restaraunt but was closed early and the bar did not stay open either. Although the location was great and there were plenty of restaurants and bars around. We learned about the cards given at bars and the cards you need to exit after paying so please make sure your customers know about this because it could have had a bad ending. Ending our stay at the Sofitel was ideal. The Jeep Tour was fun however we were on a time limit because one of the people needed to return to the hotel and we barely got to see the stairs in santa teresa. We had to jump out of the jeep and had about 3 minutes to take pictures however our guide made sure that we got to see them which we really appreciated because if it was up to the driver it wouldn't have happened. The metro in Rio is so clean and easy to use as well as the bus. Sugar loaf was fine to go to without a guide. So overall it was a wonderful trip. Also if you have to go through customs in Rio, a hour layover is not enough time. We missed our flight but TAM rescheduled us right away. TAM is a great airline and we have no complaints. Thanks again. Wendy and Juana.
Sep 14, 09 | Wendy & Juana

Dear Roberto, Thanks for your e-mail, and for all the help you and Holli gave us in planning our trip. It was wonderful, and perhaps moreso because we had to delay it the first time. I'm glad we went to Sao Paulo, and L'Hotel was a lovely place to stay, very well-located. Although initially balky, they did agree to an early check-in at no extra charge. Sao Paulo is a sophisticated city, and we saw some wonderful exhibits. Of course the slums you see on the way from the airport are horrible, but that is true of so much of South America, Rio as well. Iguacu Falls was exquisite, and I would definitely recommend staying at Las Cataratas, which is a beautiful place, being carefully renovated. It has one of the most gorgeous swimming pools I have ever seen, and excellenbt service. Of course it is over-priced, and you're kind of "trapped" there, in terms of dinner, but the restaurant is good, although quite expensive. Stepping outside your door and crossing the street to the Falls is amazing. Rio has become our favorite city! It is so beautiful! We wished we had had more time there. We were much happier in Ipanema than we had been in Copacabana two years ago. . We were happy with our hotel, PraiaIpanema, in which our room had a small balcony directly overlooking the beach (better than a partial view, which they had said we would have). The area felt safer--we could comfortably walk to restaurants in the evening. We kept going back to a great place called Gula Gula, and heard some wonderful music at a small club nearby--not too noisy, not too late. I had made a mistake, booking 3 nights at the hotel in Rio, instead of 2. I realized it during the trip, but the hotel wouldn't make any allowances for us upon check-in. It worked out OK though, because our flight home wasn't till 9:30 PM, so we had use of the room to pack, shower and change at the end of our last day there. They were a little short on service, but the room was lovely. TAM Airlines was a pleasure to use, efficient, mostly on time (once we were delayed because of weather). Hope that feedback helps. Best regards, Linda Futterman
AUg 20, 09 | Linda F.

Hello and thanks for checking in! We had fantastic trip. I absolutely loved Brazil and definitely plan on returning to see more of the country. Marisol did a great job of helping us plan our itinerary. The itinerary was a perfect mix of cities and beaches...just what we wanted. I also loved the hotels - again, Marisol's suggestions - they were in great locations,had excellent service, and were reasonably priced. I don't think we booked tours with Brazil Nuts, but we did use your drivers. All of the transportation within country were smooth and uneventful. Brazil Nuts knows its stuff! Great recommendations.
Aug 19, 09 | Tonya W.

Bom dia! Just wanted to let you know all your arrangements worked like a charm and everything went smoothly! It was great being met at every airport, and both Lois and I had a marvelous time!!! This was my third time using Brazil Nuts (two small groups and this personal trip) and I will recommend you highly to anyone looking for South American expertise. Muito obrigada, Pat
Aug 17, 09 | Pat K.

Trip was great! Thanks so much!! Sent from my iPhone
Aug 13, 09 | Ben U.

Hi Roberto, My trip to Parati was fabulous, thanks to Holly for recommending it. I only wish I had more time. I'll certainly consider future arrangements with your country as I am very likely to return to Brazil. cheers Tom W
Jul 18, 09 | Tom W.

Hi Roberto, My sister and I were so pleased with your service. We nearly had to cancel our Pantanal trip due to some banking challenges but Brazil Nuts pulled us through. We loved Araras Lodge and can’t say enough nice things about it. Our guide Paco was wonderful. I got to ride horses and my sister stayed back at the Lodge and had a great time on her own. I would definitely use your service again, in fact I’d let you plan my whole trip (I wish I had done this!). Thanks Deedee
Jul 30, 09 | Deedee

Hi Roberto and Holli, Dinorah and I had a wonderful time in Brazil, and yes, we too have become "Brazil nuts"! Now a couple of specific impressions: ...we got excellent service and advice from both of you, both before and after we booked. We were also very happy with the level of service from Pantanal Explorers. They were very helpful and personable. We loved the activities and animals at Araras. At Jardim da Amazonia the facilities were fantastic (almost luxurious). We are already thinking about taking another trip before our visas expire--we will certainly get in touch with you! Sincerely, Chris S
Jul 20,09 | Chris S.

roberto, the uakari floating lodge and the iberostar river boat experiences were both wonderful. it was a great combination trip. great memories. lots of interesting events, people, native culture, fish, animals, insects, birds, sunsets, educational lectures, etc. great photos. learned a lot. very friendly staff. this combination in the order we took it was interesting becasue the iberostar was luxury, while the uakari lodge was basic with a true nature environment. the guides were great. the transfers went well. the trip airline (manaus to tefe) was several hours late, but right on time on the return. the tropical hotel (manaus) was ok, with the 1st night stay in a noisy room, but the next two nights we were provided with much better room; hotel needs a physical upgrade, people were very nice. overall great vacation. chris
Jun 13, 09 | Chris W.

Thank you for helping to make our trip to Brazil so nice. I enjoyed the Astoria Palace Hotel in Rio and am glad we upgraded to oceanfront. Our guide, Ricardo Martins, was wonderful. I'm sorry we didn't spend the whole time in Rio with him instead of using the xxxx. The xxxx were fine, it's just that Ricardo was able to customize our visit to meet our needs. Iguassu Falls were spectacular. Our guide was pleasant and helpful. The Amazon Ecopark Lodge was great. Anselmo Oliveira was one of the best guides we've ever had. The three night package was perfect for us. My only wish is that we could have spent more time in Brazil. Special thanks to Marisol for helping us. We definitely will recommend Brazilnuts to anyone going to Brazil. Margaret and Dave deWolfe
Jun 22, 09 | Margaret and Dave deWolfe