The South America Specialists Reviews 

Great advice on locations and hotels on the phone and a super helpful website. And organisation of internal flights and transfers excellent. Many thanks.

We had an amazing holiday. All the arrangements worked like clockwork and reduced any anxiety about travelling into the unknown (we were going for a wedding in Uruguay). We found this company on the internet and Ed Chaplin proved to be a godsend. We told him where we wanted to go (we had bought our own tickets to Buenos Aires) and he organised the taxi pick-ups from the airport, all the hotels, the internal flights to La Rioja (to visit Talampaya and Laguna Brava- highly recommend!), Iguazu Falls, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, Punta del Este (in Uruguay) and back to Buenos Aires, and guides where we requested them. All the hotels suited our needs perfectly (the one in Talampaya was quite basic bit there’s not a lot of choice around).
We would highly recommend this company and Ed Chaplin. We had a brilliant time.

We used the South America Specialists for our 3 week vacation to Chile.
Nick provided an excellent service from initial planning, recommending hotels and experiences he knew we would like through to answering any queries we had during the process and whilst we were in Chile.
The itinerary he suggested worked well and we had enough time in each location to appreciate it. He made sure we were aware of the issues in Chile (mainly Santiago) due to Political unrest and advised which areas to take care in.
All transfers worked smoothly and we had the same guide and driver each time.
The hotels he recommended (Tierra properties and Clos Apalata in particular) were true 5 star and delivered on all fronts.
We have booked 5 holidays in total now with Nick and his team and no doubt will book more in the future.
A highly professional service from a dedicated team where nothing is too much trouble and it all comes at a good price.

Excellent holiday well planned by Ed and his team.
a lot of travelling but we knew that .....maybe could have saved a day between Machu Picchu and Rio but it depends on flight times etc
Otherwise thouroughly enjoyable

We used The South American Specialist for planning a trip to Buenos Aires and Mendoza. Ed coordinated our hotels, private drivers, tours and lessons. It was a thoroughly amazing trip and we could not have had the same experience without him and his company. His knowledge and attention to detail are impeccable. In addition, he is just plain nice-which made working with him especially pleasant. I would highly recommend both Ed and The South American Specialist and will look forward to using them in the future!

Ed was exceptional to work with...he was very detail oriented, quick to respond via email, and was personally familiar with the locations in Argentina and Chile in order to make recommendations. We communicated daily (sometimes multiple times) and I knew I would wake up and have updates from Ed. He was thorough in his responses and able to answer all of my questions.

Ed made the planning process so easy and it was a joy working with him.

One of the best holidays I’ve had! The tour guides were so knowledgeable, the staff in the hotels attentive and the locations we went to (Buenos Aires, Iguazu and Las Bambas ranch), were very well chosen by The South America Specialists. They really listened to our needs/tastes and the experience and holiday was better than we expected!

Ed's attention to detail was perfect, the hotels were all excellent, the taxis all arrived on time and the flights all departed on time - all in all a perfect holiday.

We had a great trip-pretty personalised and didn't feel we were in the 'sausage machine' as with the market leaders. Ed was always available and always accommodating and knowledgeable as we developed our itinerary-
Highly recommended.

Recently returned from the most wonderful trip to Argentina. (Jan 2020).
We cannot recommend Nick & his company highly enough, from the initial discussions planning our trip to the day we returned everything was excellent and superbly organised.
We felt they took our brief & requirements on board and we ended up with the perfect trip.
We particularly enjoyed the North west, Salta and the incredible drive we did over a few days in that area.
We are already planning our next trip to South America with Nick, which we think says it all!
Kate & Will

Beyond expectations.
Very patient and professional. Always available with the best accommodations and best tour guides. Like a well oiled machine. Nick did an absolutely wonderful job. I do not hesitate to recommend this service. Had a wonderful stress free time in South America.
Shirley and Bob Rosicke from New York, USA

Recent trip around Argentina with family.

I organised through The South America Specialists having found them on the internet and got slightly overwrought trying to book it myself. They organised hotels and flights, plus meet and greet at every airport and not a single thing went wrong. Plus when we had questions, even between Christmas and New Year they were prompt to respond. What a country, and we had a fabulous trip.

This is the best travel service! Ed and his team made planning our trip to Argentina completely effortless and the best part is, it is completely free. They planned everything for us from private drivers, hotel accommodations, flights, excursions and would even give neighborhood specific recommendations. They listened to our requests of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to see,and came up with three itinerary options for us to choose from. I would use this service for every international trip from here on out if I could!

The review is based on our direct experience with Ed Chaplin. While there were a few minor “glitches” with specific aspects of our itinerary, I have detailed these in correspondence with Mr. Chaplin, and will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say we had a wonderful experience, and I have no problem at all with a 5-star rating of services provided by The South America Specialists.

South American Specialists are a 5 start company and I'd rate them 10 star if there were more to add!!

They planned a spectacular 2 week vacation for us in Argentina, stopping in Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and Patagonia. The trip ran seamlessly with each transfer handled with precision, excellent hotels suited to our budget and needs and a trip that was sequenced the expertly with just the right amount of time in each location and all in the ideal order.

Ed and Nick were accessible at every moment 24/7 should we have needed their help and they uploaded our itinerary and all the trip details on the very helpful Vamoos app which was truly a valued tool in our travels.

Don't look anywhere else if you are going to South America...they are without a doubt the VERY BEST!!

Ed and the team at The South American Specialists really know their stuff. We had a great two week active 3-centre holiday (Atacama, Lake District & Patagonia) in Chile which worked really well for all of our family of five (2 adults, 2 teenagers and a 10 year old). We happened to be in Chile when there were protest marches in Santiago and some strikes so our travel schedule had to be amended. Ed, our agent, took the initiative and moved flights, hotels and transfers with ease so that it didn't impact our holiday at all, in fact I think the itinerary we ended up with, including quite a bit of self drive, really worked well and we got to experience the amazing variety and beauty of Chile. Thank you.

Peru for 3 weeks in October 2019. Wow. If you’re an adventurous and energetic person looking for an authentic cultural experience complete with physical challenges (high altitude hiking at 10,000-15,000 feet), stunning landscapes and delicious food, this is for you. Even if you don’t do the high altitude hiking, prepare yourself for the experience of living in thinner air (less O2).
Our travel agency, the SouthAmericanSpecialists, did a fantastic job of arranging everything. We had a guide and driver every day of our trip which was marvelous. (Don’t drive yourself). The hotels and lodges were first class, as was the service and food. Go to Peru. Spend 3 weeks and see as much as you can, and especially do the PeruRail from Puno to Cusco. One of our favs! Hike Huayna Picchu and Vinicunca/Rainbow Mountain.

We were very pleased with the service provided by The South America Specialists in helping to arrange our recent holiday in Argentina. The tours they arranged were fabulous – we especially enjoyed the horse riding in the Uco Valley where we were greeted at the ranch by about a dozen Condors flying above us (quite unusual we were told). Our tour guide, Juan, was very knowledgeable and the lunch (Asado) they provided after the ride was amazing.

The teams they had on the ground to meet us at the airports etc were very welcoming and helpful and when we had a flight delay and missed our afternoon Brazilian tour of the Iguazu Falls, they rearranged everything for the following day so that we did the Argentinian side in the morning and the Brazilian side in the afternoon.

We loved the hotels and I would especially recommend the Selvaje, in Iguazu – the hospitality, the food and the setting were all wonderful.

Thank you – we have definitely now got a taste for South America, so maybe Patagonia and Chile next!

Ed Chaplin organised the most fantastic holiday for us, centred on San Pedro de Atacama and Torres del Paine, ending with a visit to a boutique hotel in the wine region near Santiago. We thoroughly enjoyed all the places we visited and met a lot of interesting, like-minded people during our travels. Ed was highly responsive in dealing with our concerns about the demonstrations that have been taking place in major cities in Chile and amended our itinerary accordingly to avoid staying in city centres. The local guides arranged for us in Santiago and Punta Arenas provided excellent service and insight into their areas.

very good advice and service with booking. excellent on the ground teams in Chile and they were very accommodating when I was panicking about cancellations due to civil unrest in Chile during ou holiday