My friend and I decided to go to Peru at the last minute in June 2006. I went on the internet just to search for informations and the name of David Choque, best guide in Peru came up. We e-mailed to him and got a reply the next day. He had a beautiful itinerary for us. We hesitaded for a few days, added a three days trip to the Amazon and decided to go with him. If you want to go to Peru without worries, David Choque is the perfect guide. David had everything booked and organized for us. He accompanied us for most of our three weeks holiday or had a guide waiting for us. We had fun , we ate well and felt secured at all time. This was the best trip of our life to date! As for the cost, it was about the same as any organized group travel companies but we had a private guide.
Lets say it was worth every pennies.
Two ladies from Canada
To reach David Choque, you can contact him via his email at [email protected] or telephone him at 011-51-84-251864. He also has a website! See www.cuscotoptravelperu.com.

first time poster, two posts about the same thing.....

David, if you are going to post a glowing review about yourself, please make sure the colloquial English is accurate.

Fodor's is not very helpful about giving forum members an easy way to report these things and I told them so a few days ago. So, I won't do anything about it. Anyway, it's SO obvious...LOL!!

I just email [email protected]. They seem to take the appropriate action but rarely acknowledge the message.

Well fan club President, they certainly don't seem to be taking "the appropriate action" about this post. That's why I won't bother anymore, unless they give forum members an easy way to do it, as tripadvisor.com does.

I agree with you (as always), TA is faster and more efficient.

You agree with me, as a good fan club President should, or like a good girl should, like a good girl should.....LOL!!

As regular posters know I had an excellent experience with David in MP/SV earlier this year and have recommended him often.

I wonder if the people posting are actually French Canadian - the name would suggest so - as David's English is virtually idiomatic.

It might just be legit.....I've forwarded him this posting.....

We have 3 days planned with David in October for tours in Cusco, Ollantaytambo/Sacred Valley.

David's name was suggested on these boards and as the OP said (whoever that may be) he did in fact, email me back timely, was very organized with his itinerary and has been extremely helpful in answering any and all questions that I have presented to him.

Just my 2 cents............

The OP's post (OP stands for "Original Poster&quot COULD be legit, of course.

However, the problem is that a VERY high percentage of the posts written by one-time posters which are SO glowing about the services of a certain person, indicate perfectly accurate contact info and don't say much else about the trip, turn out to be fakes.

My apologies to the OP, if this one is legit.

What fodors.com is supposed to do, is check whether this post really came from a Canadian ISP, which would tend to suggest it IS legit.

These boards are great forums for travel reports and questions. The use is limited by some rules, one of which forbids self promotion. I think the rule a sound one as the forum is intended to be an exchange between travellers and not an advertising service.

Both the credibility of a poster and the information posted should be evaluated in determining the extent to which a reader might rely on the opinions. Given the anonymity of the internet, prior posts are a useful tool in evaluating credibility of a poster. I recognize both jaspert and Liz (having followed her blog and posts as she travelled through South America earlier this year). Their opinions matter to me. However when someone posts twice in one day, having never posted here before, and both posts are glowing recommendations of the same service, it raises a red flag. Does that mean the posts are false claims of quality? Not necessarily, but it does generate a concern the post represents self promotion/advertising. The editors of Fodors will make that decision. I would note that this is at least the second time such a thing has happened involving Mr. Choque. Marina posted twice on August 9, 2005 recommending his services. It appears that was the only time she ever posted here.

This week a US forum poster posing as a happy customer was found to be the owner of a bed and breakfast giving a glowing account of her own property.

I think it is reasonably likely some travel service providers appreciate the value of this forum and suggest to clients happy with the services received that they post testimonials here. Such a practice might generate postings by one time participants in the forum. Some may even find is so much fun they come back. I hope nothing I said would discourage the OP in continuing to visit this site. In fact, I would love to see a post from her which told us a bit more about the trip itself. What did she do in the Amazon? Where did she stay? What was the most interesting aspect of the trip?

I would like to add my own feelings about the situation. Whether or not Fodor's chooses to act on this post is irrelevant to me. What was important is that something was said in the replies that would at least have other readers critically think about this glowing review rather than accept it as "conventional wisdom." Having these kinds of posts is one of the things that keeps Fodor's fun. We can all post replies and have a good laugh out of our crack detective skills. But that is also because many of us are regular posters. I don't want a first time visitor to this board to believe that David is the "...best guide in Peru..." only because of this post.

To me, what fodor's does about this post is essential, because they have the tools to investigate the origin of the OP.
Let's just suppose the OP came from a Peruvian ISP. That would almost prove the suspicions this post raised were well founded and fodor's should, the way I see it, close this thread to further posts, indicating the motives for their decision.
On the other hand, if the OP came from a Canadian ISP, that would tend to make it more likely that it is legit.
In more general terms, I feel fodor's does not properly oversee its forums. One example is a recent obviously commercial post titled "Chile & Argentina, the Patagonia Express Crossing the Andes with a twist 12 nights for US$ 1296.00 per person DBL", written by another first time poster. Maybe I'm wrong, but my position on the subject is: If they don't care, why should I bother?

I guess being new at this I did not realize I would cause so much suspicion. All I wanted to do was to give a good review for David as a way of thanking him for his great service. I am French Canadian and leaving in Calgary Canada. This posting was legitimate and I surely hope it did not cause any problem for David.

cabouchard, I did the same thing that you did, but on a Costa Rica post. I believe people are looking for good drivers/tour guides and that is what I posted for the past 1 1/2 yrs. - my opinion. Thank you, for yours.