South America Travel Guide

This was a perfect Portuguese getaway, thanks to Zicasso's travel designer and the travel company!

I can’t say enough good things about our experience with her and the travel company. From the moment we reached out with just the idea of visiting Portugal, it was clear we were in excellent hands. She and her team went above and beyond to provide personal attention that made all the difference.

What stood out most was how genuinely she listened to what we wanted. Every suggestion felt handpicked for us—from charming hotels in Lisbon and Porto to incredible jeep tours in the Azores to a one-of-a-kind personal wine tasting in the Douro Valley that we never would have discovered on our own. Her knowledge of Portugal is unmatched and you can tell she is passionate about sharing the real Portugal with their clients.

Despite the high level of service, everything was surprisingly affordable. We got tremendous value without ever feeling like corners were being cut. It’s rare to find a company that balances quality and cost so well, but Zicasso's travel designer has struck that perfect balance.

This wasn’t just a trip—it was an experience we’ll remember forever. If you're considering a trip to Portugal, don't waste time trying to figure it out on your own. Let her and her team take care of it—you’ll be so glad you did!

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We had a fantastic and amazing time! It was more than we expected! Zicasso's travel designer communicated with us throughout our planning and after! Everything was well planned and organized! The staff and places she booked for us were phenomenal!

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Zicasso's travel company did a superb job planning a trip to cover all of the priorities we had given them. They provided a comprehensive binder with all the information we needed, together with a mobile link to our daily schedule that proved invaluable for navigating during the trip. Our lodgings and guides were first-rate. We were very pleased with their services and would be happy to work with them again.

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Zicasso's tour operator did a fantastic job of listening to our requests and putting together a well-orchestrated tour of southern Germany. The four of us had a number of requirements, some of them conflicting, and the tour operator was able to help us fulfill all of the requirements. We didn't want to be moving hotels every couple of days, so they arranged for us to have a couple of base cities and travel from there to other locations. Great job!

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We just wanted to take a moment to say a huge thank you for planning Quin and Red’s South Africa Adventure! Everything from start to finish was absolutely amazing—the itinerary was spot-on, the hotels were beautiful, and every scheduled event flowed perfectly. From safari drives under the stars to Cape Town’s breathtaking sights and wine country, you truly gave us a trip of a lifetime.

We are beyond grateful for your attention to detail and care in making this such a seamless and unforgettable experience. We can’t wait to start planning our next adventure with you!

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Largely, we had an amazing time and really appreciated many people going out of their way to make it amazing for us. Here is everything we have to share:

Positives:

Guides: Our guides were largely a bright spot. One guide was excellent and having a female Egyptologist also helped us feel very comfortable. She was excellent as a photographer and had many interesting stories to share. We loved her best of everyone who worked with us. Our other guide I also thought was an excellent guide and, overall, I really enjoyed him. It was only the photos thing that I did not like. Otherwise, I thought he was very kind, flexible, and knowledgeable. I really loved that he’d give us a very thorough tour, then free time to explore and a very clear meeting point.

Special Event: As honeymooning couples, there were many spots where our guides really tried hard to make it special for us. We really appreciated this thought and care, and we came away very happy with our experience.

Hotels: The hotels were mostly all lovely and great choices (with one exception, as below).

Nile Cruise: We felt the river boat was extremely pleasant and the staff were very kind and thoughtful from the first minute we boarded. They took extremely good care of us and were very sweet.

Support Team: A member of the support team, as well as everyone we communicated with online via a messaging app and the Zicasso portal, was truly excellent and very accommodating with almost every single request. Even my minor negatives below, if ever brought up, the team was very receptive to listening to the feedback to fix it mid-trip or for future guests!

Negatives: Overall, very minor! But, these few things could make a big difference in the future!

Promotional Images: One of our guides initially asked us if he could take a photo of our group with the company sign for promotional purposes. Although we’re a bit shy, we agreed to avoid confrontation and wanted to help the team. However, this turned into him asking to take upwards of five to 10 photos and, sometimes, videos of us daily. Then, after the trip, he messaged multiple times asking for these photos and videos. While we sent some, we’re not comfortable with being an advertisement and wish he had been a little more understanding. The more he asked, the more uncomfortable we became, and we still feel a bit uncomfortable now.

Early Flights/Days: Before the trip, I mentioned that it was a priority for us to be able to eat a relaxing breakfast in our hotels prior to early flights. I was assured they were able to move flights to later so we could eat at our hotels, but every single day we were brought to the airports quite early and given "breakfast boxes." This is fine for some, but for us, it wasn’t what we expected/hoped for based on conversations with the team.

Tourist Traps: Although we learned partway through the trip, there were many requests by the guides to take us to "tourist-trap-type" stores and restaurants. This was worst in Jordan, but happened a couple of times in Egypt as well ("papyrus workshop," "stone workshop," etc.), where goods are sold at high premiums, with likely guide commissions. In general, I would have had a much better time if guides were able to point us to more inexpensive souvenir options. One that was recommended to us later in the trip by our guide was the shop inside the Egyptian Museum, which we found very reasonable and nice. Other options like this would have been great!

Jordan Guiding: Our experience in Jordan was very different from Egypt. In particular, our guide was not ideal. He did a few things that bothered us. He was a chain smoker and every single opportunity to stop, even if we didn’t want to stop, he stopped to smoke. He would often smoke with one foot still in the car, but technically mostly "out of the car." The car was fully black above the driver's seat so it was obvious this was common. He would talk to us even outside of the car and be constantly smoking and blowing smoke in our faces, which was extremely inappropriate. His English wasn’t very strong, so he wasn’t able to tell us too much about the area. On the day of us going to Petra, he didn’t even come to the hotel to help us get settled or take us to the ticket office. We could easily handle it, but I wonder if the company even knows we didn’t see him that whole day. He took us to a lunch restaurant on our arrival day that felt like a tourist trap, was expensive, a buffet, and didn’t cater to our dietary restrictions, despite us asking ahead of time.

Our hotel at the Dead Sea did not have the best customer service. They were rude checking us in, provided inaccurate time assessments, delayed in providing us our breakfast boxes in the morning, delaying our trip to the airport, and there were similar delays when ordering food within the hotel (besides their dinner buffet, which came with good food and good service). If you have other hotels you partner with along the Dead Sea at this price point, I would consider sending more customers to your other partners.

Overall, our experience was excellent and five stars, without a doubt! These minor things are just to help guide improvement and we really can’t thank the team enough. The trip was truly magical. We've had many friends from home ask for the trip details and I've shared your information!

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