Overseas Adventure Travel

We are so delighted we experienced our first OAT trip with Cristiano Marsaglia! Our mighty group of 14 travelers was a happy group AND I sincerely believe it was the result of the tone he set and the great care and attention to detail consistently given to us throughout our time together.

Each town we visited had its unique interest and the hotels we stayed in were very nice, especially Hotel Griso in Lecco. The pace and flexibility were greatly appreciated…and Cristiano's balance of quiet time and information “time" was spot on. Clearly he had established a wonderful rapport with the various locals we met as I attribute their positive attitude towards us a direct result of their comfort and respect for Cristiano. I learned so much …from the Austrian/Italian fiasco of Mussolini to growing apples and grapes, my head if bulging from new information! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I went on the Tanzania, Serengeti tour, with the added hot air balloon ride.
This trip exceeded my expectations, in every way. The people at all the lodges were so welcoming, the rooms were beautiful, and the food was delicious, and my biggest surprise, was all the fresh vegetables and fruits, at every meal. .
Eddy, our tour guide opened his heart to our group, and shared so much, of his beautiful country and its people, with us. The learning and discovery part of this tour, gave us an opportunity to connect with people from all walks of life. So many highlights, especially going to a Maasai village and beading and dancing with them, visiting the children in their schools, , home visits, controversial topics.talks, such as genital mutilation and albinism. We had the opportunity to buy water filters and deliver them, to a group of women , on our way to the Serengeti, as they were out collecting water, with their donkeys. The joy on their faces was priceless.
. Eddy knew so many people, everywhere we went, that were so knowledgable , and welcoming. A couple favorites were the park ranger, educating us, about the black Rhino, and a walk through the organic gardens at one of the lodges, and a talk , by a brilliant young man , one of Eddy’s students, on all the different animals and their place, in the ecosystem.
Some of the best stops, were spontaneous. Once we stopped at a man’s house, who had drawings on the outside of his place. The reason he made the drawings, was to help him manifest, what he wanted his future to be. So simple , yet so profound.
Our drivers Tom and JJ, were fantastic drivers, making sure we were always safe and as comfortable as you can be, on those bumpy roads, in the Serengeti. They were both Maasai, and we were able to learn so much about their culture, as well as how good they were ar spotting the animals from great distances, and answering all our many many questions!
My favorite part of the trip were the tents , in the Serengeti! That view of the plains, and sitting around the fire every night, watching the sunset, was magical.
And the Baobab trees!! It was so cool to get to hug ones of these 1500+ year old trees.
I thought the trip was all about seeing the animals( I’ve wanted to go to Africa, since I was 10 years old), and we did see the big 5, Eddy and our drivers worked hard to give us the opportunity , to make it happen, but it was everything else that made this trip so memorable!!
I will definitely be taking more OAT trips in the future. Back to Tanzania for sure and ultimate Africa, will be next!
Thank you Eddy, Tom snd JJ, for making this the dream trip of my life!!

The most unforgettable vacation we have ever been on. This trip so far exceeded our expectation's. Great tour guides. Great adventures, great people and most of al great up close exposure to amazing creatures.

Our OAT adventure in India with a post extension to Nepal was wonderful. We had a great group of like minded travelers who asked good questions and were always prompt. Our tour guide was experienced, knowledgeable, flexible and responsive. Every day was full and enjoyable. It was my first trip with OAT but certainly won’t be my last. Four of us continued on to Nepal where we had a very different but equally delightful tour guide and amazing experience in Kathmandu and Pokhara and the Himalayas

I travel often, but my OAT trip to Colombia was the best I’ve ever taken. The trip experience leader, the guides, the sites, the beauty, the pacing were all outstanding. Best of all, were the interactions with local people.

This was my seventh trip with overseas adventure travel and my fourth trip to Africa with overseas adventure travel. This was by far the most educational and multicultural experience that I have had. I cannot say enough for David Kahing the guide that we had for the whole trip from Kenya down through the Serengeti into Arusha. I am 85 years old and David Kahinga made sure that I was always taken care of. The drivers made sure they help me into and out of the trucks. I have a macular problem and David Kahinga took 1500 photos for me he always checked to see that I was was comfortable, He was just the best and there isn’t enough kind words to say about David. And she called me two days after we got back to make sure that I made it back to my home OK. This man is an angel in my eyes. He is so knowledgeable so kind so willing to do so many things for his people on the trip. Please, if you use overseas adventure, travel, and you’re going from Kenya into Tanzania ask for David Kahinga He will educate you in every manner on the Fana, the Flora and the people of Africa.

We've just returned from traveling by small ship with OAT to the Adriatic area: Croatia, Slovenia, & northern Italy. It was an amazing trip. We've traveled with OAT quite a few times and have found it to be outstanding in the quality of group leaders it employs and in seeking feedback from travelers for improvement of trips. Traveling in December has a few drawbacks, weather uncertainty being one of them, but we were mostly lucky with good weather and enjoyed the reduced numbers of tourists we encountered along the way. The small ship Artemis was a comfortable way to travel with good food and service but our group leader Mirza really made the trip wonderful. The time we spent in Venice at a fine hotel on the Grand Canal was one of the main highlights of the trip.

I just returned from a tour of Iceland with OAT. It was a wonderful trip to an amazing country. The scenery is everything you've read about Iceland and more; the planned daily activities were consistently interesting and/or entertaining; the pace was comfortable; the food was always fresh and quite yummy; and the hotels, though not fancy, were clean and quiet. But most importantly, our tour guide was superlative! I learned so much about Iceland that I would never have been exposed to without his excellent guiding. I highly recommend OAT for Iceland!

Recently took our first trip with OAT to Tanzania - it was truly the trip of a lifetime. All of the details were very well thought out and planned. The staff at OAT were very helpful leading up to the trip and the guides in Tanzania will be hard to beat. Highly recommend you take the safari trip to Tanzania and ask for Elie to be your guide, Fred & Richie to be your drivers. Beautiful country, wonderful people, delicious food and stunning animals. Also want to add that I follow a gluten free diet and all of the staff were very attentive to this, I always had something delicious to eat and never felt that I was forgotten/ignored due to my dietary restrictions, they were incredibly accommodating.

This trip was above and beyond my wildest expectations. I was dazzled at the variety of cultural opportunities, the hundreds of elephants and baboons. The expertise and joyfulness of our guides who made every effort for this to be the best experience ever. What a wonderful way to travel.

Ancient Egypt and the River Nile adventure trip was amazing in every way. Our group leader, Attia, reached out to each traveler before the trip began to see what we most wanted out of the trip. He was wonderful about accommodating individual additions to the day’s itinerary. He willingly went with a small group of us that wanted to go to a marketplace during “free time”. I knew that I would love learning about Egypt’s ancient history and I did, but also equally loved the opportunities to meet and talk with ordinary Egyptian citizens in their own homes and share meals with them. Our group of fellow travelers became a group of traveling friends. It was a wonderful trip. Our hotels were top notch. Our Nile cruise and the welcoming crew was another highlight.

This is a great travel group. We got to experience a lot of the culture of Italy and met a lot of local people. The tour leader was outstanding. There was a nice mix of organized activities and free time with lots of suggestions for what to do in free time. Accommodations were very good. Many meals were included and they were excellent. I will use OAT to go on another trip.

My trip to Northern Italy was absolutely fantastic. The dolomites were one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Everyone should have a chance to enjoy that trip.

Wonderful travel experience for anyone who travels solo, but likes the company of others. I learned so much about the history and culture of Scotland and Ireland on my recent tour.

We had an AMAZING experience!! We SO appreciated the attention to every detail and the service received from the time we stepped on the airplane to BEGIN the trip till we were flying home! We loved the combination of both Low and high physical activities. Our program director was OUTSTANDING in his knowledge and sharing of the areas we visited, his personal approach, and his sense of humor! Having mobility challenges, I surely appreciated the extra help I was shown.

This was our second trip with Overseas Adventure Travel. Our first trip was Jordan and Israel - we decided that doing those countries on our own (which is what we always do) was just too much). And we had excellent trip leaders helping make it a wonderful trip.

For New Zealand, we could have done that easily on our own. We are comfortable now driving on the left, etc. but we had such a good experience with our previous OAT trip that we decided to go with OAT for Nee Zealand as well. At the end of the trip our conclusion was that travel with OAT saw better experiences than if we had done the trip ourselves. And we got along very well with our group of 13. But the best was our trip leader Rob. He loved showing off his country, took excellent care of us, and was a lot of fun. I think we are going to give up on doing our own trips overseas and just do trips with OAT. Plus, it’s great to not have to plan everything ourselves!

OAT has put together an amazingly thorough adventure of an entire country - Ecuador - that is something you really can't imagine. You have to experience it to understand and enjoy it. Thank you OAT! Here are some thoughts I'd like to pass on:

1. The country of Ecuador is very diverse. From Quito, the capital since the Spanish colonial days, a city at 9200 feet smack in the middle of the Andes with a population of 2 million, to the rain forests of the upper Amazon, to the Galapagos we all know and wonder about - all this is Ecuador. Where, I must say, the locals are very friendly, welcoming and curious to know if we like their country. This is a country that is NOT tourist weary. Just the opposite, Quite refreshing.

2. The itinerary OAT has put together is fun, challenging both intellectually and physically, visually rich, culturally informative, filled with history and contemporary issues and just enough time on your own to see and do or relax. Here's an example. In Quito one day we went to the historic colonial part of the city. Great architectural treasures from the colonial era including the 'gold church'. So filled with gold it truly takes your breath away. From this over the top opulence, we went not far to a safe house for the city's sex workers for a candid discussion of their struggles and hopes and plans for something better. Then another short walk to a restaurant row with nearly all restaurants shuttered, the outcome of covid. One restaurant remains and opened just for us and treated us like guests in their own home. Which it was.

3. A great itinerary would be no more than that without superlative guides to make it come to life. Wow, did we have two super superlative guides. Fatima in Quito and the rain forest and Beto in the Galapagos.
Fatima. What a treasure. She is a great person who you know immediately is going to be a joy to be with. I called her our bringer of positive energy. We knew we were safe and would be willing to follow her lead when flexibility was needed. Her English is superb. Her knowledge of her country is amazing. She knew the sounds of the rain forest that are so much a part of being there. And our transportation was always waiting for us - comfortable and large buses. She also met us at the airport on our return from the Galapagos, hosted our farewell dinner and escorted us back to the airport for our flights home. Non stop loving and attentive care. That's Fatima.
Beto, a native of the Galapagos, as were his parents and grandparents, was our guide for this most remarkable journey. We spent the week on the Arichpell II, a catamaran that took us on an itinerary arranged by the National Park Service as they do for all visitors. Beto knew every square inch of land and sea that he took us to. He could anticipate what we would or might see and then relate what was on one island to the same animal or plant on a different island. It brought the Darwin experience full circle. Thank you Beto!

If you get the impression I was much satisfied with this OAT trip you are right. It was amazing and has me scanning the other trips that are out there.

FYI, this was my first trip with OAT. I've done trips with other groups and they were well done. But I will say this was a top notch, first rate trip that has encouraged me to do more with OAT.

I've been on 3 OAT trips, and since each is a trip of a lifetime, this company is a slam-dunk! Just returned from India and it was spectacular. If you want to learn about other cultures, and experience all of the senses that are another culture, OAT is the one.

This was a once in a lifetime event! Trekking to the gorillas was probably one of the most difficult adventures I’ve ever been on, but it was so worth it.
Our main trip, Kenya and Tanzania were also wonderful to experience. This is my first trip to Africa and I must say, it was pure pleasure! The people are so open and kind. We were so well cared for every step of the journey. The landscape was breath taking, especially in the Serengeti.
Our days were long, 12 to 14 hours of activity most days. I will say, I needed my rest, so didn’t do much other than eat, sleep, and go on game drives or other organized activities.The roads are rough, and often dusty. It takes quite a bit of energy just to hold on.
Our lodging and food was very good. I even enjoyed our tent “glamping”! Each facility had excellent chefs and wait staff. They went the extra mile to be sure all the special needs and diets were met.
Our Uganda post trip was frosting on the cake! Our guide, Alex was exceptional! He is so kind, knowledgeable of the country, inhabitants…human and animal. He has the perfect demeanor to organize and lead a group. He was able to keep us “on task”, but also letting us determine how we spent some of our time. We experienced a sudden cloud burst on one of the safari drives. He was ready to turn back, but we chose to ride out the storm. It was one of our memorable moments of the trip!
Our accommodations a Pakuba Safari Lodge was great! We had beautiful views of the Nile river and every evening local animals would wander in.The food was very good and our personal wait staff amazing! Upon arrival, Junior introduced himself to us and from that moment on, never forgot one of our names! He did his upmost to provide our every dining desire.
I would strongly recommend this trip to other travelers with the understanding that it is physically demanding. You must have strength and stamina to keep up this pace.

Our trip to Iceland was fabulous. We got lucky with the weather which helped of course, but the sights you go to see are all terrific.
Our guide Hildur was prepared, interesting and fun. She filled in all the blanks and allowed nature to take care of the rest.
Highlights? The waterfalls, the puffins, the landscapes.... yeah, nature.
I left a few pictures for your pleasure.