Solar Eclipse tours to worldwide destinations since 2001.
Eclipse Traveler studied the weather and traffic patterns and chose the ideal location for the perfect viewing experience.
This was a wonderful trip!! In addition to seeing an amazing total solar eclipse, we experienced other fascinating areas of Chile, including the Atacama Desert and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The accommodations were excellent!! I feel very fortunate to have traveled with this company and plan to travel with them again!! Thank you so much, Eclipse Traveler!!
This tour was way beyond ET's logistical capacity, with way too many people for them to handle. The Eclipse site was great (with bathrooms for the first time, apparently). But everything else on the itinerary was changed continuously. Some "included" items were now extra. They left late and arrived late, causing dinners as late as 8:45 PM, followed by an early morning launch. Multiple times the buses had busted toilets and desperate riders. The day trip to Valparaiso was a long bus ride through town, lunch (nice!) and visit to a poet's house, then back, not much there. The Elqui Valley visit started so late, some missed the Pisco factory tour and others got back very very late. General disorganization many days. Once the bulk of the group left after 6 days, things went much smoother. The hotels and food were great - chops for that. If ET sticks to smaller groups they should be fine. (PS, even the staff got stressed out trying to handle the mob of guests.)
The trip was OK, but almost every item on the itinerary was changed without prior notice. For example, cities visited were changed; no trip was made to the penguin island. Also, the trip was expected to be a small group, but had over 100 people. Finally, an inordinate amount of time was spent on the bus. I didn't rate it worse because there were explanations for all of this. The season made the water around the island choppy. More people signed up than expected. The trip did not live up to expectations because of these unexpected changes.
This was an incredible tour experience, incredible eclipse. The logistics they did to make this an unforgettable experience for us is truly amazing. I loved our tour guides, and was so impressed by the quality of the hotels as well. I cannot wait for out next trip with this company - we had already booked for the Argentina tour next eclipse and I am so looking forward to it. It is really comforting to know we are in such good hands.
Summary: An excellent tour. 5 stars. Positives: I can not imagine a better experience on Eclipse Day, July 2, 2019. The site and weather were perfect. The trip to La Silla Observatory was also fantastic - both the scenery along the way and the time on the mountain. Food was plentiful and good, especially the delicious seafood. Hotels were great. Local guides were great. Astronomers were fantastic. I especially benefited from discussions with Laura Danly from the Griffith Observatory. I really enjoyed my interactions with many of the 140 interesting people on the tour. Negatives: One day was an excursion to a Pisco factory in Elqui Valley including a stop at Gabriela Mistral's home. There was too much bus travel that day for my taste. I would have preferred some time along the way to hike around the hills and take some photos. Conclusion: The trip was wonderful, well worth my while. I would travel with this company again.
Allison Lockwood
Jul 27,2019This was a fantastic trip. My only regret is that there were so many people. We had four busses of travelers.