The Llama Travel Blog

Food and culture go hand-in-hand, and it follows that eating is a very important aspect of travel for many people. I, for one, find eating the weird and wonderful food of other countries to be among the most enjoyable aspects of travel. I love food in general, and I also love adventures, so culinary adventures are right up my alley. There is little I find more enjoyable when travelling, than sitting myself down at an unassuming little spot off the main drag, and indulging in whatever dish comes recommended by the staff.

I can’t really explain why I’ve always wanted to visit Easter Island; I guess I just can’t resist a good mystery, and Easter Island holds plenty of these. The big-headed men staring down at the island residents and passing tourists have seen many things in their lifetimes, and I wanted to learn more about who they were, and how on earth they got there.

In Part 2, the self-proclaimed “Best Daughters Ever” and their mum head out on a dawn wildlife-spotting boat ride through the Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica. You can read Part 1 of their Costa Rica adventure here.

The next morning the ‘Llamas’, as our little group had become known to ourselves and everyone else, were a little mosquito-bitten and blurry eyed, but excited for the nature cruise. “We didn’t even need alarm clocks in the end,” we chatted happily amongst ourselves, “Did you hear those howler monkeys?!”, “I thought the smoke monster from Lost was after us!”.

We boarded our llama boat and we were not even one minute into the cruise before we had our first wildlife sighting: dolphins jumping and playing in the waters right off the docks! It was a spectacular start for what was to be a fantastic excursion.

This year, my sister and I officially won the ‘Best Daughters Ever’ award, as for Mother’s Day we didn’t just buy our nature-loving mum a bunch of flowers, or even a puppy. We bought her a holiday to Costa Rica, the most biologically diverse country in the world and home to some of earth’s most exotic flora and fauna!

We're delighted that airlines are twigging on to the magic that is Latin America, and as the region's popularity grows, so airlines are responding. It is now easier than ever to get to Latin America from the UK,  with direct flights to various destinations throughout South and Central America. The latest flight announcement comes from British Airways, whose direct flight to San José, Costa Rica starts on April 27th 2016, and the direct flight to Lima, Peru starts on May 4th 2016. Both routes originate from London Gatwick. 

Gary Finnerty, our Sales Manager, spent 6 months travelling in Latin America before finding himself on Llama Travel's doorstep. This is his account of his time in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.

“I will never forget it.” Those were the words uttered by a friend which convinced me that I should visit Torres Del Paine National Park, a natural wonder at the bottom of the earth. Coming from a seasoned traveller, I trusted her word - all I knew was that I wanted to visit Patagonia, I knew very little about the geography or what it had to offer. The more I learnt about it the more excited I became.

We are very pleased to announce that Llama Travel has been awarded first place in the Top Tour Operator category of the Wanderlust Readers’ Awards 2016, out of 484 entrants.

The awards, which are well-known in the travel industry, cover categories including Top City, Top UK Destination, Top Emerging Destination, Top Country, Best Guidebook and Best Equipment Brand – all things travel-related in other words. The awards’ uniqueness lies in that the winners are chosen based on satisfaction scores by Wanderlust Readers themselves, not number of votes.

All travellers visiting or passing through the USA from select countries (including the UK) are required to fill in an online form to obtain authorisation for a US Visa Waiver, known as the 'Electronic System for Travel Authorisation', or 'ESTA'.

“So why are you going to Guantanamo??” … This was a question I had to answer several times when I first announced my Central America travel plans, and I was always replying, “No I’m going to  Guatemala, a country just below Mexico!”

You may consider this an unorthodox start for a blog that is supposed to be singing Guatemala’s praises, but for me, the above exchange perfectly sums up one of my favourite things about the country – the fact that it’s that little bit off the radar. Guatemala is not as well-known as its neighbours Mexico and Costa Rica, this make it feel a little less touristy and a bit more adventurous!

One of the great benefits of working for Llama Travel is that I am able to visit some of the most beautiful places in the world, and in my opinion there is no place more magnificent than the Torres del Paine National Park  in the south of Chile.

The park is most famous for the Paine Massif, a towering collection of rocks that rise up to the sky, scraping heights of 2,800m and so creating an incredible sight on the horizon. However, this blog is not about the magnificence of the park itself, if it was it would be a lot longer with a lot more superlatives. It is instead about the Rio Serrano hotel, Llama Travel’s choice of hotel and a personal favourite of mine.