Enjoyed the most

Incredible scenery

Bothered you

My saddle sore. The really uncomfortable saddle. I would love to go back to Uruguay, but really concerned about how hard those saddles are.

Comments

It did not bother me, but several accommodations had seen better days.

Enjoyed the most

The trip in general was wonderful. The country was beautiful and the riding varied and very enjoyable.

Bothered you

Nothing

Comments

Initially a web search but have traveled with Hidden Trails several times.

The only thing I would recommend - most places will take credit cards, however, they have a higher threshold than you might expect. It would be helpful if you let people know that they need Uruguay pesos to cover the smaller purchases that can't be put on a credit card. I would also recommend that the information about the first hotel in Montevideo be provided so that families at home could know where you were should an emergency contact need to be made. We did have one glitch - one of the places we were to have stayed had to be eliminated because of a medial issue which caused a change in our accommodations. It was not really a problem as it was handled well and the alternative place was nice, but it caused us to stay a shorter time in our favorite place (El Charabon). I would have been pleased to have spent a little more time there!! Kudos to our guide, Florencia Ocampo. She was first class! And to all the gauchos and, in fact, everyone we came into contact with - they were all super friendly and I felt immediately comfortable and at home in lovely Uruguay. I would love to return someday.

Enjoyed the most

Estancia Chabaron with their hospitality and excellent food. Herding sheep. Our guide Florencia.

Bothered you

Nothing

Enjoyed the most

El Charabon was amazing. Food, service, setting & accommodations were all fabulous. Gaucho & staff there were so warm & friendly. Wish we could have spent more time there. Our guide, Florencia, was terrific. Loved stopping at the animal sanctuary for lunch time on Tuesday. Herding sheep & cows on horseback and riding on the beach for hours are experiences I will never forget.

Bothered you

Taking a cold shower on Thursday night - they forgot to turn on the water heater before we arrived. Dead bugs in the shower on Sunday night.

Comments

Need to inform riders to get plenty of pesos at the airport at the start of the trip. Thought I would be able to use my credit card more but most of the places we stayed had a minimum amount for credit card charges & that minimum was too high for just 1-2 nights of drinks. Also, make sure riders know to bring tips for guides & drivers in addition to the gauchos. It was a fantastic trip though!

Enjoyed the most
Uruguay people, beach riding

Bothered you
Nothing

Enjoyed the most
Our guide Leticia - her planning, care, attitude, knowledge - she's amazing. The rides were excellent, the gauchos wonderful and Jorge our driver was first class! The estancias and our hosts were amazing. Everyone involved was gracious and accomodating.

Enjoyed the most
Everything - the lack of worry that the horses would do somethng goofy. You could canter forever!

Bothered you
Someof the group were cheap when it came to tips.

Comments
Thank you for making this trip available. 
Ryan was correct - This was an oustandng ridng trip. Extremely well organised. The guide Letesia, the driver Xavier,  and the gouchos, Alexi, Vctor and Fernado were all amazing.  The horses were also amazing, strong, fast and wlling but cool headed and obedient. Uruguayns were lovely. We were lucky that all riders were able to keep up with fast pace. You need to be in good physical shape to do this ride.  It was a blast. I would go back.

Enjoyed the most
Galloping at the beach....and galloping and galloping! Our extraordinary guide Leticia.

Bothered you
Accomodations at the beach hotel were a bit tired and the service not up to par (30-40 minutes to get a drink at the bar???)

Comments:
The trip was faster than the info indicated which I loved.  Maybe it was because we had a good cohesive and fairly experienced group.

Enjoyed the most:  The gauchos & horses in Uruguay were great & a lot of opportunities to canter & gallop & not just on the beach. The weather was perfect for riding, sunny but not too hot.
Bothered you: The only thing I didn´t like was the confusion regarding tipping for which people and the amount as this can be stressful for persons in the group and individually. We all wanted to tip our Gauchos at the first part of our trip who were excellent & our guide who was very good but had some confusion regarding other persons that we saw briefly.

Enjoyed the most: Everything - the horses, the other riders, the scenery, and especially the guide, Juan Pablo. He was proactive, fun, safety conscious, helpful, detail oriented, and above all, made sure that everyone had a wonderful vacation.

Bothered you: Nothing!!

Comments: I did my first Hidden Trails ride in 1997 or 1998. This was by far the best ride we have ever taken, and that is comparing it with at least a dozen other rides!

Enjoyed the most: Racing with the gauchos. The whole ride was a lot of fun. El Sauce riding was great fun - lots of riding at speed, and really fun chasing the cows. Charabon had lovely accomodations with excellent foot...but the owners were a bit stiff.

Bothered you: Nothing really - but there was no hot water at El Sauce.

Comments: Juan Paul was a fabulous guide.  He took care of whatever had to be taken care of immediately.  He was extremely proactive in making sure everyone was happy.  He really went out of his way to make sure everyone was having fun and that everything was running smoothly.  The ride was great.  The group was fun.  I would like to do another ride again in Uruguay, but I would like to take a different route, with Jean Paul as the guide.  I don't like to do the same thing twice.

Enjoyed the most: Each minute of every day!!

Bothered you: That the trip had to end.

Comments: Enough cannot be said about the care and concern that went into planning and executing such an exciting trek. Our guides, our gauchos, our horses, were fantastic. The accommodations and food were wonderful. Each day was more beautiful and eye-opening than the one before. A thrilling ride and a fantastic way to see this beautiful country and to meet and come to know the warm and delightful people of Uruguay. Joyous from beginning to end and beyond expectations!

Enjoyed the most: The endless empty beaches that we rode along. The horses were simply terrific -- very responsive, sure-footed and endlessly energetic.

Bothered you: The hotel in Montevideo was not terrific.

Comments: The scenary, horses, guide and gauchos were fanastic. The ride was fast paced, varied and we all had a terrific time. Many of us were repeat customers and agreed this was the best ride yet.

Enjoyed the most: The unrivalled scenery, very responsive horses, excellent guide in Juan Pablo, lack of development

Bothered you: El Charabon estancia was beautiful but a bit stuffy.

Enjoyed the most: The hospitality was excellent, the people were amazingly friendly and nice. Nearly took a horse in the hand luggage with me .. if it had only fitted!! Food was so good, always such a feast and all that dulce the leche that I adore....thankfully my riding breeeches stretched.

Bothered you: The food was far too good for my wasteline and my will power far too weak to resist. I suggested to Paola to organise a dietary type of epedition back to back with the laguna ride.Early rises lots of jogging, press ups, double the hours on the saddle and only 2 leafs of salad for each meals ...just joking..but a health and beauty horse trail I think could be a possibility expecially in the north of the country with all the spas and the thermal water.

Enjoyed the most: The nice horses and accomodation

Bothered you: A change in the itinerary.  The change of guides after half of the trip was not good; even though both were very friendly and experienced.

Enjoyed the most: That part of Uruguay is beautiful and varied to ride in, and therefore a great choice. I loved the long gallops on the beach, and the palm forest, and the unusual wildlife, and our fun guides and gauchos. I loved Uruguay and the friendly people we met, and the fact that it is still totally uncommercial there. Our picnics were well planned and tasty, and it was a treat to have real food on china plates rather than the usual sandwiches squashed into saddle bags. I had never been on a ride where you move from place to place before, and I enjoyed that, since it enabled me to see and experience more. I also appreciated the fact that everyone on this ride represented their riding ability correctly, and so there were no "weak links". Therefore we could all go at a fast pace, and everyone kept up and liked it that way. And last but not least, the gauchos were great, and our guides were wonderful= Alejandro, Macarena and Nacho on hos very first trip is a real find !!!!

Bothered you: Perhaps I am easy to please and not overly critical, but nothing bothered me except one of the other riders, and he bothered everyone !! I suppose if I really think about it, I would prefer that our mid-day breaks weren't quite so long. 3 hours was WAY too much, 2 hours would be better.

Comments: In a word, everything was terrific, and Chris, Susan and I really had a wonderful time !! This was my 3rd Hidden Trails trip, and it certainly won't be my last !

Enjoyed the most: The horses, guides/gauchos and beautiful country. Staying at the private working Estancia (El Sauce) was a real treat. Riding on the El Sauce farm was awesome - with amazing fast canters and gallops. Manuel and Noya were lovely hosts. Nacho and Macarena - our guides - were very knowledgable and fun. Our bus driver was also great. Nacho is a natural host/guide and gets the highest possible marks from me for same. I always felt very well attended to by everyone - guides/gauchos and all at the various Estancias.

Bothered you: Nothing bothered me as the entire experience was a slice of heaven and one I would repeat in a minute. This being said, the daily 3 hour siesta took some getting used to - but by the end of the trip, I enjoyed same. I would suggest one thing - which is to make it clear that the fast pace is mixed with some slower rides.

Comments: Nice job by all and thank you.  Excellent trip. Met or exceeded expectations on all levels. One critical piece of feedback - while the ride was fast when it was fast, there were some slower days - which was fine with me. I think the description of the trip should indicate that there is a combo of fast and slow days. Some felt the 3 hour daily siesta was too long. Again this was fine with me as I liked the rest/break.

Enjoyed the most: The country- scenery, food, wine, variety of types of rides each day, incredibly well organized, sense that we were seeing things that were only possible on horseback, the gracious and hospitable Uruguayan people

Bothered you: Only my own relative lack of expertise compared to the other riders I was with.

Comments: Overall a lot of fun, wonderful way to see a fantastic country- I had a great time overall.

Enjoyed the most: Fabulous empty spaces!

Comments: Excelled expectations, what a brilliant holiday. Horses were great and fit our gaucho obviously loved HIS horses. The food was fantastic the estancias we visited were wonderful and the people were so helpful, what a wonderful quiet unspoilt country, we would love to go again.
It was organised well with no fuss.

Enjoyed most: Beautiful Uraquay & its wildlife. The chance to see & imagine gauchos and their lifestyle now & in the past. Also wonderful variety of our lodgings.  The horses.

Comments: It was wonderful, also to have the president of the Uruguayan Ornithological Society along for a few days.  He knew all the birds immediately and we saw many.

Enjoyed the most: The estancias and the culture!

Comments:  I felt very safe and secure on this trip.