concern about the payments to an agency!

I have just booked a cruise thru Galapagos Cruises agency, Antonio was very helpful with lots of boats to choose. Now i have to wire transfer to Pacific National Bank.
The cruise that the agency got for me was perfect at an excellent price but im a bit concerned about the payment.
Somebody can give me a testimonial about this company?

Thank you so much for you help.

B.B

TRIP REPORT- 9 days in Colombia

My friend and I (30-yr old females) decided to do a quick trip to Colombia from NYC this November to take advantage of the days off we get for Thanksgiving. Wanted to share some of our experiences and provide recommendations for others considering visiting the places below.

Since we only had 9 days, we decided to fly into Cartagena and home from Bogota. We spent 3 nights each in Cartagena and Medellin and 2 nights in Bogota based on recommendations from friends. However, if we were to do to this again, we would have chosen to spend 2 nights in Medellin and 3 in Bogota. We really enjoyed Bogota much more and were surprised so many people told us to skip it. It is also possible to get cheap flights within Colombia on Viva Colombia now (however, they have issues processing some American credit and debit cards - we couldn't get them to work. One workaround the airline suggested was usi... more »

Advice needed for Patagonia itinerary

Hello!

I am planning a trip to Argentina starting January 8, 2013. I will fly into BA, spend a few nights there, then head south. This is my hypothetical plan so far:

-Fly down to Ushuaia
-Puerto Natales (TDP)
-El Calafate
-El Chalten
-Esquel
-El Bolson
-Bariloche
-San Martin

I was thinking it may be best to fly down to Ushuaia to check out Tierra del Fuego NP then takes buses to hit the rest of my destinations. I have a decent amount of time (2 months) but I am on a pretty limited budget.

My questions:
-Is it worth going down all the way to Ushuaia? I have heard mixed opinions on this.

-Are the long bus rides bearable? Do they need to be booked in advance?

-Is it worth stopping in El Calafate to see the glacier? If I stopped here it would only be for 1 day.

-Any opinion on North to South or South to North travel? For example, are some of these area... more »

Salvador de Bahia to Amazon

I'm looking to go from Salvardor de Bahia to the Amazon in Brazil in mid February 2013 and am wondering what my options are to get there. I have a total of two weeks before I would fly home (back to USA) from Manaus and would be interested in a boat trip if possible but don't know anything about cost, etc. I'd be traveling by myself so also not sure if the boat trip is good for that. Any advice would be great.

I don't have any specific plan in Manaus except to just explore so am also open to recommendations of what to do there (maybe a tour or short guided camping experience?). I'll be by myself so really up for anything.

Thanks!

Easter week in Salta area

Hi. Plans aren't firmed yet but expect to be travelling from Mendoza to Salta (probably will try a night bus) 3-4 days before Good Friday, then touring around Salta over Easter. Despite several posters indicating it is easy, my guy does not want to drive so will probably have to take buses. Do they run over the holidays? Are restaurants open Good Friday and Easter Sunday?

Air flights

Two questions
1) Are there any good websites ideally where you can see the price straight away without having to add on extras for internal flights in Colombia.
2) When is the best time to buy flights? Last year we went at Christmas and I have just realised that if we were to go again (we are not btw) we would have get a better price a week than we got buying in August last year. Is it a good idea in advance or just a few weeks in advance?

Onward Travel from Ecuador

I've read all the post about onward travel and such. Being a resident of Costa Rica for the last year I can only say that having proof of onward travel (I had bus ticket) was really helpful. I had no problems entering or leaving the country during the year and I was able to change the date on the bus ticket every three months for no charge.

I'll be arriving in Cuenca in Feb and do not know how long I want to stay yet. I'm looking for a bus company that I can buy a ONE WAY bus ticket to the closest (cheapest) border town in any direction. I would need a company with an online website where I could purchase a ticket from and print it here. Is there such a company that anyone can recommend? I've tried searches and scanning this forum but to no avail.

Biking the Andes, January to April, Which Direction?

My wife and I currently live in Quito Ecuador. She is working and I am on a sabbatical kayaking/mountain biking/traveling. We've decided that the job isn't really what it sold to be, and it isn't really worth it to continue here in Quito. So we have decided to ride our bikes from Quito to Tierra del Fuego (or perhaps the reverse).

That leads to my question. Does anyone have any experience on this route? I'm trying to decide between flying to Ashuaia (in Tierra del Fuego) in January and working our way back to Quito or leaving Quito in January and trying to make it to Ashuaia before the winter sets in. We are mostly concerned with the weather at this point. We are definitely going to start the trip at the beginning of January (not flexible). Hopefully we will finish in late April. Here is what I'm thinking based on what I've read from bloggers.

Quito to Tierra del Fuego:

• Not...