OAT or Smartours to Peru

Old May 19th, 2008, 01:11 PM
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OAT or Smartours to Peru

I am a 54 year old woman who will be traveling alone to Peru. I've looked at tours by Smartours and "Affordable Peru" by OAT. Smartours looks a little too rushed to me, but i wonder with OAT if there will be anyone my age. Does anyone out there have experience with either of these groups. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
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Old May 19th, 2008, 02:23 PM
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I haven`t been to Peru, but I have travelled with OAT and Smart tours both. I prefer smart tours. The groups are larger, but things seem more laid back. They also have more free time, since a lot of the tours are optional. There were all kinds of people of every age on smart tours, and I felt very comfortable. With OAT, I also went alone. The group was 15 people, and there were 7 couples and me! I had no one to pal around with and often felt uncomfortable. So if you are going with OAT, see if any singles are going before you make a decision.
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Old May 20th, 2008, 05:18 PM
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I agree with the previous post - my husband and I have traveled with both OAT 3 times and Smartours 1 time - for a single woman I would go with Smartours - the trip with smartours to Australia/New Zealand had about 40 people but some single people and different age groups. We were 57/60 at the time and there were people younger and older. On all 3 OAT trips within the last 5 years we have been the youngest and always with couples only. The last trip with OAT in March did have 2 single women traveling together - both recent widows. We were on the Peru/Machu Picchu/Galapagos trip.
We will never travel with OAT in the future - we were very disappointed in the hotels and the inexperienced tour leader in the Galapagos. About $500 was required in tipping for the many tour guides. And of course you have to add about $200 in airport tax.
Smartours always allows for more down time and OAT - especially our PERU trip - in 18 days we may have had 1 day on our own - very hectic schdule.
Smartours definitely over OAT.
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Old May 27th, 2008, 04:19 PM
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I have traveled with both OAT and Smartours. As a single with SMartours in south Africa and Scandinavia and with a friend on OAT in Peru. I enjoyed both, but there were more singles (not surprising as the group is larger) on Smartours. Their hotels are more upscale if that is important to you. I had terrific guides on both. I suggest that if you choose OAT, you make certain that you are not put on a waitlist, but have a guaranteed reservation. Smartours will tell you if there is a waitlist.
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Old May 27th, 2008, 09:01 PM
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I just returned from the Real Affordable Peru tour with OAT. Of the 14 people on tour there were 3 married couples, a father and daughter, myself and my daughter, 2 women who were cousins, and 2 men whose wives were unable to do the physical activities of tour. 4 of the people were in their 20's and 30's. However you never know what age groups you'll have on any given tour. I would highly recommend this tour as I thought it was very well organized and we had an excellent tour guide who was very flexible. It was pretty intense with only one free day out of the 10 (there would have been one other free day if I hadn't done an optional tour), but we saw so much and did so many different things that it was worth it to wait until I got home to rest.
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Old May 31st, 2008, 07:47 PM
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I've decided on the OAT tour because one spends more time in Machu Pitchu and they offered a direct flight from my city.
to the last poster, how did you and others do with the altitude? How about any stomach problems from the food? What was the highlight of your trip? Thanks
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Old Jun 1st, 2008, 04:59 AM
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You might want to check this thread: Fodors.com > Travel Talk > Latin America > Excellent info about altitude sickness
You will enjoy the OAT tour to Peru. Just be sure you are not on a waiting list, but have a guaranteed seat.
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Old Jun 1st, 2008, 06:25 PM
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We just got back two weeks ago from the OAT MP/Galapagos tour. We took diamox for the altitude (2 pills a day for 2 days before arriving in Cusco) and had no problems. The hotel will serve you coca tea when you arrive and it's always available in the lobby. We were a lot more worried about the altitude than we needed to be. I did have some shortness of breath at Machu Picchu, but we were also climbing a lot. We thought the OAT tour was outstanding--we had never taken a tour before, but now we're looking at their Egypt tour for next year.

If I can help you at all in planning for this trip, you can email me at [email protected].
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Old Jun 2nd, 2008, 01:36 AM
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I traveled as a single with OAT to Peru in 2004; it was great! The altitude hit me a bit in Cusco, but the trip was well-paced in getting you acclimated. I'm sure there may be some differences in itinerary by now, but their planning and guides were very good in my estimation.

My trip report from that is here:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...6&tid=34522893 which may give you a few ideas as well.

Happy travels!
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Old Jun 2nd, 2008, 12:15 PM
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Most of the people on the OAT tour did fine with the altitude. Most everyone complained about being a little tired and not sleeping well when we were in Cusco, which can be due to altitude. I took Diamox before getting to Cusco, then stopped after Machu Picchu and before we returned to Cusco. I was fine, altho mornings in Cusco I woke up with a headache which was cured by one Tylenol - this may also have been due to dehydration altho I tried to drink a lot of water. My 37 year old daughter, who is in much better shape than I am, had some problems tho. She cut back on the Diamox to 1/2 pill (half of 125 mg. pill) after MP and one night while in Cusco vomited several times, stayed in bed the next day, thought she was doing okay the next day but then started feeling bad again (she had eaten the same foods as the rest of us). Someone had her drink several cups of coca tea and she seemed to improve pretty quickly (both of us had only had one cup of it when we first arrived in Sacred Valley). No one else in group had similar problems. My daughter also had worried quite a bit about altitude sickness ahead of time and there are some theories that a lot of the problems can be in your head.
As for other problems due to food: I'd say about 1/2 the people in group had some intestinal problems but nothing too serious and Pepto Bismal tablets seemed to take care of them. Everyone was careful about what they ate, but I have wondered about the Pisco sours. They are great drinks, but we later found out they have raw egg whites in them and also are made with ice that is blended, so they could be the culprit for some of the problems.
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Old Jun 7th, 2008, 11:34 AM
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Shrist: How did you enjoy the home visit and what gifts did you decide to bring? JKR
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Old Jun 8th, 2008, 04:40 PM
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I'm not Shrist but I'll give my opinion on the home visits. We enjoyed both of them. In Peru, all of us were together at one place. The family was very nice, although they spoke very little English. I gave as a gift two potato peelers and the hosts were really excited (I had to explain what they were). It may seem odd to take potato peelers to Peru, which has 200+ kinds of potatoes, but they don't have peelers. I had asked on this board for gift suggestions and that was recommended. They were a hit.

In Ecuador, we divided into two groups for lunch. Our group had a good time, with good food and a nice family. The other group didn't feel quite as comfortable as we did. In part, that was due to our guide taking off for the dentist, leaving us with no translator. In our group, one woman spoke enough Spanish to keep a conversation going, but the other group had no one and the time got long for them. As a gift, I took a package of Post-It notes and the hostess was very pleased.

Although OAT says you can take postcards, they really don't want them and aren't going to use them. I also don't recommend t-shirts as they have loads of them. Both families had 3 generations living with them, so you might consider some toys or children's books for home visits.

For the school visits, I took math flashcards and stickers for Peru, but we didn't visit a school because it was a weekend so the guide said she would give them to a school later. In Ecuador, at the Sununame school you can either donate cash or buy something at their gift shop. I bought a CD and 2 bracelets at the shop for $10 total.
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Old Jun 9th, 2008, 09:04 AM
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The home visit was very interesting. After we ate, our tour guide took questions from any of us that had them and translated for the hosts (including 2 teenagers) and it was nice to get some "insider" views of life there. They did serve a roasted guinea pig, nicely decorated,and it was passed down the table ahead of eating so everyone could take pictures. About half of the people tried eating it, the college gal in our group actually took the head and chewed on it.
As for gifts, we brought a picture book of San Francisco, but I wondered how many of such things these people actually needed. Someone brought a bottle of wine, some others brought postcards, I think there was a candle. I thought maybe a picture calendar of your home area might be a bit more practical, also thought possibly some food item from US could be enjoyed by all of them, altho I don't know what that would be.
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Old Jun 15th, 2008, 02:41 PM
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I would recomend OAT. I'm 52 and taken the OAT trip to Africa and to Peru. I also traveled to China on Smartours. OAT has about 16 people and because of that you get to know them really well and have a really good time as there are always a couple of other singles. Smartours was huge and mainstream travelers. OAT groups, in my opinion, had people who were well traveled and more interested in taking it all in. Go OAT, you'll make lifelong friends that you can travel with again.
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