Intrepid Travel vs Gap Adventures – Review

Intrepid Travel vs Gap Adventures – Review

It’s easy to get carried away with customer reviews on the world wide web. I’m one of the worst culprits; I pore incessantly over reviews before I commit to anything. And although conducting these silent surveys is oddly empowering, they become debilitating as you find conflicting opinions.

So, I’ll do something a little different. Rather than post reviews based on personal opinions, I want to look at Intrepid Travel and Gap Adventures from an objective perspective. For example, who travels where, what type of travel does each specialise in, what are the typical trip lengths, how do costs compare, etc.

Intrepid Travel

History - In 1988, Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester traveled with a group of friends across the Sahara in a converted tipper truck. It was during this trip that the two university friends developed the idea for a style of travel that would take small groups of people to travel at the grassroots level, meeting local people, trying local food, staying anywhere and everywhere and traveling predominantly by local transport. [from Wikipedia]

Where – Intrepid runs almost 250 trips to Asia, which supports anecdotes that Intrepid is an Asia specialist. They also run 80-130 trips each to Oceania, Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Compared to Gap, Intrepid more evenly covers the continents of the globe.

Local family eating local produce from the local markets - Thailand

Type – At its core, Intrepid is a grass roots tour operator. What does that mean? Well, it means experiencing a new location through the eyes of a local. You’ll travel on public transport, eat traditional foods and talk with native people. Additionally, Intrepid places a lot of focus on sustainability: everything from carbon-neutral offices, to carbon offsets for trips, to an explicit policy on responsible travel. On top of this, Intrepid operates tours specifically for families, gays & lesbians and private groups. It also has a branch called Urban Adventures, which focuses on shorter city-based tours.

Length – Intrepid’s new Urban Adventures can be as short as a few hours, whereas their Short Breaks start at two days. Intrepid’s most epic tour is 150 days from Istanbul to Cape Town. From browsing their website, the majority of the 700+ trips are between 8 and 28 days. This is a few days longer than the average Gap Adventures tour.

Cost – Intrepid’s adventure tours (excluding Urban Adventures) range from USD100 for their 2-day Short Breaks and go up to USD12,000 (including the trip kitty) for their mammoth 150-day Istanbul to Cape Town tour. Kilimanjaro climbs start at about USD2,400 and a 12-day Egypt tour is about USD1,900.

Gap Adventures

History – In 1990, Bruce Poon Tip founded Gap Adventures with nothing more than two credit cards and a burning desire to create an authentic, sustainable travel experience like nothing the world had ever seen. By offering adventure-craving travelers an alternative to the resorts, cruises and motorcoach tours they were accustomed to, he not only changed the way people looked at their holiday time, but changed the face of travel forever. [from Website]

Where – Gap has more than 450 trips to Latin America. That’s three times as many trips as to any of their other continental destinations. Anecdotal evidence seems to correctly suggest that Gap Adventures are the Latin America specialists. They are a little less widespread than Intrepid, with very few trips through Oceania and North America. However, they have 80-140 trips each in Asia, Africa and Europe. I also like that they have a separate category for Arctic trips.

Brazilian children, jumping for joy... and bubbles

Type – On paper, the Gap philosophy seems very similar to Intrepid’s. Both companies extol the virtues of adventure and cultural travel, and they both place focus on sustainability. The notable differences are that Gap doesn’t have a dedicated gays & lesbians product and Intrepid doesn’t have dedicated winter tours (Gap has a range of winter trips they call Canadian Goose).

Length – Gap adventures start at 2 days and go to 80+ days for epic journeys through South America and along the north coast of Africa. Of Gap’s almost 900 trips, the majority seem between 5 and 20 days. This is somewhat shorter than Intrepid’s average length of trip.

Cost - Tours start at about USD100 for 3-day trips in Central America and go to USD12,000+ for their epic 80+ day trips and Antarctica expeditions. Kilimanjaro climbs start at USD1,800 and 12-day Egypt tours range USD800 to USD 2,700 (Shoestring to Comfort). This is a little cheaper than Intrepid, but remember itineraries and inclusions vary greatly, so don’t expect to compare apples with apples across tour companies.

Conclusion

I hear people say, “If you’re going to Asia, go Intrepid; going to Latin America, go Gap.” They also say, “if you prefer travelling with Australians, go Intrepid, or with Canadians, go Gap.”

I don’t think it’s that simple. In my opinion, your experience will depend on the following (in order of importance):

1. Relationships with others in the group (impossible to gauge beforehand)
2. The quality of the tour guide (difficult to know beforehand)
3. The various cultural inclusions (difficult to compare beforehand)
4. The variety of the itinerary (more easily comparable on paper)
5. The organisation of the trip (customer reviews start to matter)

As you can see, it’s pot luck for the most important factors because they can’t be compared until after you travel. So for me, it comes down to picking an interesting itinerary that’s available when I’m available. I know I’m taking a gamble on the group and guide regardless of which company I choose, but that goes with the territory of packaged group travel.

34 Responses to Intrepid Travel vs Gap Adventures – Review

1. Mariellen Ward November 18th, 2010 at 19:15 Reply

   

   Really enjoyed your comparison article. Naturally, they are both excellent companies, and I think they would both offer as good an experience as you could expect on an organized tour. But the tour leader is still an unknown factor, and so important to the success of any group tour. That’s why I started Breathedreamgo Tours — so that people would know exactly who would be leading them in India — me! Obviously I can’t compete with these big, well-organized companies, but I am going to try and see if a highly personal tour led by a passionate and knowledgeable — and known! — person is a good idea or not. Let’s see, time will tell …

   Mariellen
   Breathedreamgo.com

   • Globetrooper Todd November 18th, 2010 at 20:01 Reply

     

     Hey Mariellen, hope all is going well. We can’t wait for India next year, I think we may even stay for 3 months or so, living wherever seems right. Good luck with the tours; I’m sure they’ll be an amazing success.

2. Lily November 26th, 2010 at 13:19 Reply

   

   Hi Todd,

   Thanks for this comparison – this is actually something I’ve actually looked for before in the past. As you mentioned, there’s so many factors to consider in the quality of a tour, many of which you won’t be able to judge before you pick it.

   My first ‘real’ travel experience in 2007 was with Gap Adventures to Ecuador, and the trip was so amazing that I ended up taking another trip with them just another month after to Peru. I’ve recommended them to many friends, and everyone who has gone on a Gap tour have gone back to take a second one (literally).

   I wanted to try an Intrepid tour for my time in India this month, but there weren’t many trips that fit my timing and had a free spot, so I’m doing another one with Gap starting in a few days. Honestly, when I booked this recent trip with Gap, I didn’t even bother trying to find reviews because I had such a great time on the other 2! So, we’ll see how this one goes :)

   Thanks again for the review, I’ve booked it because I know other friends will be looking for this in the future.

   - Lily

   • Globetrooper Todd November 27th, 2010 at 10:58 Reply

     

     Great to hear more positive reviews Lily. Though hopefully you’ll get a chance to travel with Intrepid sometime soon. We’re similar in that we’ve only travelled with Intrepid and not Gap, mostly due to timing and destinations.

3. H. Kaufman January 12th, 2011 at 09:47 Reply

   

   Last summer when I was 54, I took my 16 year old son to Costa Rica on a tour. My biggest complaint was that most of the people were in their early 20′s so I felt very left out even though I tried to reach out to them. I got tired of them always telling me to let my son drink alcohol. Excuse me, but I am the mom. The tour guide was not very friendly. The tour itself was good, although I would not advise going to Costa Rica during the rainy season in July.

   • Globetrooper Todd January 12th, 2011 at 22:36 Reply

     

     Hi H.

     From what we’ve heard, that’s a typical Costa Rican tour (not just GAP). I’m sure there are many other parts to the country, but seems like it’s one of those places where the well trodden path is well lubricated (with alcohol) too.

     Try Peregrine tours if you want people more your age. I’m almost half your age, but often prefer to travel with older people. Would much rather get up to mischief that doesn’t just involve drinking. :)

     We don’t usually stay at hostels, but we did in Bolivia. Even we (25 & 30 yrs old) were amazed at the antics that went on. Partying until the sun came up, sleeping all day, then partying again.

     Try Egypt, Thailand, Japan, etc., if you want something less ‘all-inclusive’ than Costa Rica.

     All the best.

4. shane warmington February 3rd, 2011 at 16:02 Reply

   

   Good comparison Todd,

   you are right, its hard to compare these companies from the outside, you kinda to do all the tours to get a definitive impression and even then it will be subjective. I have traveled with both and found Gap to be the better of the 2. Perhaps you can look at professional industry accomplishments, awards and such for a more true picture of how they compare?

5. travel-anne February 17th, 2011 at 04:27 Reply

   

   Hey!!! Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it. Now I have the problem that I wanna go to Norway this summer and both companies (which I travelled with and I am really fond of both) don´t offer convenient tours. Could you – by any chance – recommend other similar good tour providers? Would be a great help for me. Thx!!!

6. Marni April 24th, 2011 at 11:45 Reply

   

   Great article, Todd.

   I took Intrepid’s Active Morocco tour last year and loved it. I’d been warned by a friend who took their tour to Thailand and had an experience similar to H’s. I think my experience in Morocco worked out so well because it was a very active tour (loads of hiking, biking) and our itinerary sort of self-selected folks who were more interested in outdoorsy activities than partying. That, and it’s a mostly dry country. End result was that the people on my tour were all very like-minded and half of us were in our 30′s and 40′s.

   I’m currently researching a trip to Nepal for September and will likely go with Gap since Intrepid’s trips aren’t quite the right length (I need something in the 8-12 days range). I’ve also seen a great itinerary with Imaginative Traveler. Please do let me know if you’ve heard anything about them.

   Thanks!
   Marni

   • Globetrooper Todd April 30th, 2011 at 21:58 Reply

     

     That’s an excellent point Marni… to join active tours because party animals wouldn’t be as attracted to physical exertion. :) We just spent a couple of days in a dry area of India and it was interesting watching some tourists completely lost for thought and action because they couldn’t drink.

7. Charmaine May 16th, 2011 at 21:48 Reply

   

   Hi Todd,

   This is just the article I was looking for. I joined a Contiki tour years ago and absolutely hated the party vibe. I don’t travel halfway across the world to party when I can do so in my own backyard.

   I’m looking at Eastern Europe or Scandinavia for about 2 weeks and want a fair amount of activity. Intrepid has a good tour for the latter which covers St Petersburg as well. Both Intrepid and GAP have seemingly similar 15 day Eastern Europe tours. I’m quite keen on the itinerary for the Scandinavian + St Petersburg 17 day tour with Intrepid but am just concerned that the group might be younger ie 20s than GAP? Would it be fair to say GAP tours generally attract people in their 30s more than teenagers/early 20s?

   Any advice/alternative tour companies would be appreciated!

   charmaine

   • Globetrooper Todd May 16th, 2011 at 21:57 Reply

     

     Hi Charmaine

     No, not at all. I think Intrepid and Gap would be on par when it comes to age. But either way, you can call them and ask the ages of the other people for the departure date you’re considering. We’ve done that many times before.

     If you want a much older crowd, check out Peregrine. I believe their trips tend to be 40-50+, but there’s no set rule, it’s just by virtue of higher prices and more luxurious accommodation and transport.

     I guess it depends where you’re visiting too. When we’ve travelled through the Middle East, we found fewer party people on trips (naturally). You may find the same in Scandinavia due to higher prices. I’m not so sure about Eastern Europe though.

     Either way, just give them a call and ask about the ages. I’m not sure if all tour operators volunteer that info, but Intrepid has in the past. Our last Intrepid trip was 23 to about 60 years old. We enjoyed a few glasses of wine together, but the young ones were the most timid of the lot.

     Hope the trip goes well.

8. rachel June 3rd, 2011 at 08:50 Reply

   

   ——————————————————————————–
   GAp, are not worth the money. They make you eat at expensive restaurants so the guides get free meals, and change your accomodtion then belittle you in front of the group for questioning it. We were on a tight budget and were made to feel like scroungers for complaining that the indivated m,eals were not included, and the hotels changed to camping. Our tour guide had 3 ppl crying, and almost everyone vowing to complain upon return. Will I hear from GAP at all after complaining? it reamins to be seen. Here is my letter-

   Dear Sir/Madam,

   I am writing in regard to a recent ‘South America Overland – La Paz to Rio’ trip that my girlfriend Rachel Mullaney and I took part in dating from the 8th of June till the 6th July 2009. We feel that various aspects of the trip did not live up to the itineray as sold by Gap Adventure and as such would like to make a complaint concerning the areas we felt we were miss sold, and request a refund for the unsatisfactory aspects of the tour. The areas we are concerned with include transportation, provision for meals and accomodation, all of which at points along the journey did not live up to what was advertised.

   Firstly the tour is advertised as an ‘overland tour’ in an overland truck. However we were actually given two 4×4 vehicles. Every other gap tour group we met had been given a different story as to why an overland truck was not available and the reason we were given that the truck could not get a permit to leave peru is not believable, as if this is the case why advertise this form of transport?
   The 4×4′s broke down constantly (to the point where their road safety was questionable), allowed in copious amounts of dust, and more importantly one car actually only had space for four people, not five. This meant that if you were at either side you were sitting on both heightened plastic ledge and the lower seat. Given also that the suspension on this 4×4 went halfway through the trip, it was terribly uncomfortable. The journeys were often 10-16 hours long and to be barely able to walk for the next day after such a journey is entirely unacceptable. When booking a tour such as this you expect to be very comfortable, when in fact public transport would have been far more comfortable and a lot cheaper.

   The constant theme of the tour appeared to be that whilst the itinary never changed, GAP(or our tour guide, it was uncertain as to which) had cut a lot of costs. The accomodation was an issue here, where in Iguassu falls we were made to camp instead of being in a hotel room for three nights. Our tour leader told us that the hotel we were meant to stay in was 90 reais a night, whereas our camping was only 15. Therefore I would like to be refunded the difference for those 3 nights for myself and Rachel as we had in fact paid for those nights in the cost of the trip. What was also massively hypotrical was the tour guides response to our questioning as to why the accomodation had been changed. He was very rude and abrupt and upset my girlfriend. He also declared that if he had it his way the whole trip would be camping, and then upon arrival at Foz de Iguassu he promptly upgraded himself into a room and left us to camp. The fact that we were offered an upgrade to a room for a fee was even more insulting, as it was clear there were plenty of rooms for everyone that GAP just did not want to pay for.

   Another issue throughout the trip was the lack of included meals. We did not recieve half of them, particularly in Brazil. The GAP website advises to bring $400 for food, and we easily spent double that. When we would question our tour guide as to why the meals that were indicated as being included on the itinary were not included he was again very rude, stating that GAP do not give him a budget that would cover all the meals meant to be included in Brazil. If we were travelling for a whole day and arrived at the campsite at night he would also say it was simply too late to cook, again getting out of giving us the food we paid for. In Bolivia on a long journey we were once given a packed lunch, this would have been a satisfactory solution in Brazil also, however the guide said that there simply was not a budget for a packed lunch in Brazil.

   The meals that the tour guide did include were often questionable. For example one dinner in Chochis was a plate of horsemeat to be passed around and eaten, the next night a plate of beef. Whilst we were grateful to actually be getting a meal that we were entitled to, many of the group were not keen on just eating ‘finger food’ meat for every meal. Another example would be the one included meal in Paraty (out of 3 nights where all meals were meant to be included) when he asked us all to be back at 3pm for lunch, but did not cook it until 5pm therefore wasting our day and also avoiding cooking any dinner. It was at this point where everyone in our group had given up asking the guide why things were not included as doing so invited no useful response and generally illicted both rude and confrontational behaviour from the guide.

   Even more irritating was the fact that because we did not know which meals would or would not be included it meant that we would sometimes be left with no choice other than to miss meals and go to bed hungry. On journeys we would be left with no choice but to pay for food in expensive service stations/ roadside restaurants or wait until our destination where potentially no food would be offered. If David had been honest and said ‘there are no meals included in Brazil’ we could have purchased our own food from the supermarket as we would usually do when travelling instead of always eating out.

   Myself and Rachel were sold the trip as including a lot of meals, and the itinary indicated every camping meal included and many of the travelling days had meals included too. This is why paying £1150 and a $600 local payment each in total for the trip seemed worth it as we knew we could have a smaller budget as most food was included. However given that half the food was not included and we spent double the $400 estimated food cost, we would both like to be refunded for the food we had to buy.

   It is clear that we recieved a cut cost version of the trip that we paid full price for, and this is simply unacceptable.GAPs cost cutting measures for no other reason than to save the company money at the expense of the tour group
   ——————————————————————————–

9. gapsux July 12th, 2011 at 05:31 Reply

   

   I agree. Fuck Gap. Sorry to hear about your trip, worse than mine so I wont bother typing something that pales. Only go on a tour group if you really need to.

10. henry July 28th, 2011 at 20:57 Reply

    

    I have gone on one trip with Explore (Spain), one with Imaginative Traveller (India), and four with GAP (Vietname/Cambodia), Costa Rica, Peru, and Patagonia. the Patagonia trip was the only really disappointing trip, but due in part to a strike in Chile. Gap hs been very unresponsive about some issues I (and others) had. I would recommend all of the companies, but I am going to skip Gap for a while.

11. JOHN August 5th, 2011 at 03:47 Reply

    

    GAP WAS DOING GOOD IN INDIA .AS MOST OF TOUR LEADERS IN INDIA ENGAGE NY GAP ARE TOUTS AND THEY DONT HAVE A PROPER LICENCE SO WOULD SUGGEST CHECKING THE LICENCES OF TOUR LEADERS .THE TOUR LEADERS RECOMENDS EXPENSIVE RESTRARENT WHERE THEY GET A CUT .
    THE TRANSPORTATION THEY USE IS VERY RISKY AND UNCOMFERTABLE

12. Glenn August 7th, 2011 at 09:35 Reply

    

    I have travelled with GAP in Vietnam and China. Having read the comments of Rachael I am getting somewhat concerned that I have booked to go to Peru/Bolivia in 2012.
    In both China and Vietnam the CEO (chief experince officer) clearly admits they are not a guide and provide little information, and like all guides/CEO’s gets free meals for taking groups to restaurants. The English spoken by both CEO’s was somewhat less than I would have expected, leading to confusion for much of the group constantly.

    In China the sleeper trains were much worse than in Vietnam, and you loose 12-16 hours at a time three times. Take somone elses tour that flies is my tip if you can afford it. Worse you are made to fight through HUGE super crowded subways and stations with heavy bags and somehow keep together, then get separate cabs to some vague destination as a dock that none of the cabs could find even with a written address in Chinese. We all got lost seperately – very disturbing and lugged bags 1km up/down stairs to the dock. Three day Cruise on Yangtze – no entertainment, same terrible food – exactly the same for 3 meals day for 3 days.

    I sent some pretty poor ratings in – no response from GAP. I have travelled with companies like Trafalgar, Cosmos who were infinitely better though better but also much dearer.

    Im also going Gecko in Mexico in 2012, and Cosmos in USA, and hope they will be OK.

13. Gap Adventures August 15th, 2011 at 14:28 Reply

    

    By way of introduction, my name is Lyndon File, and I am the manager of Customer Satisfaction with Gap Adventures. I wanted to chime in here in reply to the negative post in regard to Gap Adventures.

    To provide some perspective on this matter, the travel took place in 2009, and on the 24th of August of that year, we sent the below reply on the matter. I have stripped out some information out of respect for privacy of the individuals concerned.

    At Gap Adventures, we understand customer feedback is the best tool we have to improve our services for future travellers. Thank you for your efforts in this regard.

    Unfortunately, the overland truck that was scheduled for this departure experienced mechanical problems and at short notice, we had to provide an alternative mode of transportation. The 4X4 vehicles provided was the only viable alternative available to us as we could not secure a permit with a bus or another overland truck at such short notice. Due to the last minute nature of this change, we could not sent out a proper notification. We regret to learn of their disappointment with the alternative transportation provided, and apologize for any inconvenience they experienced.

    The service level of this SLLR tour is basic, and therefore the type of accommodation provided is either simple hotels or camping. As xxx’s group experienced, the accommodations in Iguassu Falls were changed from hotel to camping. Although our terms and conditions allow us the flexibility to make such changes, we regret to learn that a proper notification of the change was not sent. The trip details for the SLLR tour have since been updated and this change is reflected.

    We have addressed xxx’s concerns regarding the meals provided with his Tour Leader, David. David has advised that he informed the group during the briefing that there would be long travel days and meals included on these days would be replaced by others, which they were. David has also advised that at times when the group arrived at a destination late, he would ask the group if they were hungry. If they were, he would cook a meal, however at times the group was too tired to eat and he therefore didn”t. Please note, we have reviewed all the feedback received and this concern is not shared by all the participants. This is not mentioned to minimize Mr Wakeling”s concerns, however trust puts matters into perspective.

    We appreciate xxx’s comments on David”s performance. We are very much aware that the performance of our Tour Leaders is the largest influence on the success (or otherwise) of our tours. We apologize for the lack of professionalism they may have experienced. We have also reviewed David”s evaluations from all of his recent tours and they have overall been positive. Although no other complaints were received on his performance, we forwarded xxx’s comments to our Operations Department who in turn will address them with David accordingly.

    We strive to provide our travellers with a positive and rewarding travel experience and we sincerely regret to learn that we failed to meet their tour expectations. We thank him for taking the time to inform us of his concerns and allowing us the opportunity to improve our services for future travellers. As a gesture of goodwill, we have processed a refund in the amount of GBPxxx per person. The total refund of GBPxxx will be returned to your travel agent, and we kindly request that you liaise with them to arrange for the funds to be returned to him accordingly. We sincerely hope to have the opportunity to welcome xxx and xxx aboard another of our Gap Adventures and can restore their trust in our company.

14. esny631 November 17th, 2011 at 00:20 Reply

    

    I’m posting this information on multiple message boards. I don’t want anyone else to have to a similarly horrific experience on vacation. This is essentially an edited version of the report that I sent to them… (G Adventures recently changed its name from Gap Adventures.)

    I recently embarked upon G Adventures’ Galapagos on a Shoestring trip between October 22 and October 30, 2011. On the night of Wednesday, October 26, I experienced a very disturbing side of your tour guide, Daniel, who took advantage of the fact that I was sick by drunkenly molesting and harassing me.

    Earlier that day, the group traveled by boat from Santa Cruz to Isabella Island. Despite taking a motion sickness tablet, I was seasick six times during this particular boat ride, plus the tablet made me extremely drowsy. By the time we reached our camping site, I felt terribly sick and could barely keep my eyes open. I fell asleep right away on one of the extra beds in the cabin while everyone else made dinner, drank, and socialized through the night.

    Late that night, I was startled awake by Daniel suddenly “massaging” me. He had apparently lifted up my shirt in the back, and I backed away and told him that I just wanted to sleep. He went back outside to the rest of the group and I fell asleep again.

    Later, in the middle of the night after everyone else had gone to sleep, I was awakened again by Daniel’s ominous “massage,” but this time he was clearly drunk – his breath reeked of rum. A bit terrified, I told him that I wanted to sleep and moved away, but he moved in closer. He lifted my shirt away from my back and started doing some sort of perverted biting/breathing on my back and neck. I made it clear that I wanted him to stop. I tried everything from telling him that he was hurting my sunburn to physically moving away from him. It was very dark, I was still feeling sick, we were in the middle of the highlands on Isabella, and I wouldn’t have been able to find my way to the rest of the group without a flashlight, so I was trapped and scared and he knew it.

    I’m not sure exactly how much time passed, but over the next hour or so, Daniel reached into the back of my pants/underwear, continued with his disturbing biting/breathing, and climbed into bed with me, wrapping his arms around me despite my protests. I clenched the covers around me to try to keep him away from my body as much as possible. At one point, I heard what I believe was him unzipping his pants, and at another point he climbed on top of me and forced me to open my fist and touch his chest. All this time, he was verbally harassing me, asking me very personal questions about my phyical relationship with my ex-boyfriend, making inappropriate sexual comments, and breathing heavily. He was also essentially criticizing me, implying that I’m too sexually conservative and I should open up and do things like his “people,” and other such nonsense.

    Clearly, this was the most uncomfortable, terrifying situation of my entire life. I tried to keep a calm, brave attitude throughout, but inside I was devastated, humiliated, tortured.

    Finally, I decided I would try to go outside and find the others in the pitch black of the night – anything to get out of this situation. I got out of the bed (upon which I had moved all the way to the edge while trying to get away from him) and told him that I was going to sleep elsewhere and then he finally got up and backed off. Because it was so dark, I decided it might actually be (barely) safer to stay there, so I laid awake in terror for hours while he slept in his own bed. Eventually, under the influence of the motion sickness tablets, I fell asleep.

    The next morning, upon checking into the next hotel with my trip roommate, I told her everything that had happened. She said that she had been verbally sexually harassed by Daniel several nights previous on the beach, and we decided it would be best to tell all of the other girls on the trip about what had happened so that they could avoid being in a compromising situation with our perverted guide. After I told another tour companion about the incident, she revealed that she was also physically and verbally assaulted by Daniel on the second day of the trip. Some of the other girls mentioned that they, too, were the recipients of Daniel’s inappropriate and uncomfortable sexual comments.

    This trip to the Galapagos was supposed to be my dream trip. I had wanted to see these islands for years. I work hard for my modest salary, and I saved for a very long time to afford to this trip. Now, thanks to our disgusting guide, my memories of the Galapagos will always be tarnished by humiliation, terror, and embarrassment. I felt that I could not trust the one person who we had paid to guide us around a foreign country. This ought to be the person that we should be able to rely on for help, questions, and assistance. I was too humiliated to ask him questions, and couldn’t even look him in the eye. It was clear that everyone was extremely uncomfortable with him by the middle of the trip, and we spent much of the trip trying to avoid him (although he consistently kept turning up near the group).

    My most important concern is that G Adventures should do everything possible to ensure that this will not happen to others in my situation. No one should have to experience this sort of humiliating treatment ever, and especially not while on vacation, inflicted by the person that we are supposed to trust, the person that is paid to lead the group but instead takes advantage of the travelers. The behavior of the guides that G Adventures hires reflects upon the company very poorly.

    I reported Daniel’s actions to a G Adventures representative immediately upon returning to our hotel in Quito. He asked me to leave my contact information at the front desk and to send a written report of the incident. I have not yet heard from him. I have also been in communication with a G Adventures “Customer Service and Quality Assurance Representative” representative via email, but so far have only been told, “We are currently reviewing your letter and have taken Daniel off any upcoming tours until we can determine exactly what happened.” So far, I have not heard back from the company in almost 2 weeks and this last reply was sent only after sending an additional follow up email after I had heard nothing in response to my report after several days. I feel like they are not taking this seriously enough and need to accept more responsibility for what has happened.

    I am currently speaking with my attorney to see if there is any legal action that I can take against Daniel. I am also consulting my therapist to see how deeply this has affected me emotionally, and she suggested that I post on travel forums to help with the healing process and to encourage G Adventures to take further action more quickly. I feel that I deserve some sort of compensation, but have not asked directly for a refund and they have not offered. No one should be expected to pay for an experience with the lack of protection against physical and psychological harm to which I was exposed.

    I urge everyone to avoid booking a Galapagos trip (or any trip) with G Adventures for the sake of your own safety. If they have employed one guide with a warped sense of professionalism and a total lack of respect for travelers, especially women, it goes without saying that there must be others like him.

    Good luck in your travels.

15. Paula November 21st, 2011 at 19:59 Reply

    

    I like a of people have been doing the Gap vs Intrepid research for an Egypt/Jordon trip I want to take in 2012…I have read a LOT of reviews and have come to the unfortunate realization the Gap (or G tours) needs to clean house!

    Close to all the negative reviews I have read have said that they have not had any proper response from Gap regarding their concerns; even the response from Gap posted on this site (Aug 15) by Lyndon File “Manager of Customer Experience” seemed defensive and full of excuses.

    Been a high end hotel manager I know the fine balance of supporting your business/employees and validating and addressing customer concerns and been able in as many situations as possible to regain that patrons “good graces” because even if they don’t return, positive word of mouth recommendations are priceless. Gap does not seem to have learned this skill yet…

    Anyhow, even though it is more expensive and I will have to pay a single supplement (which I think is kind silly for this type of travel) it looks like Intrepid will be choice for me!

16. Sara traveling to thailand advisor November 26th, 2011 at 05:11 Reply

    

    I take pleasure in, lead to I found just what I was having a look for. You’ve ended my four day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye

17. Ted December 15th, 2011 at 20:30 Reply

    

    I feel as though I should chime in here and share some experiences I have had with both companies.

    After having done 3 trips with Gap and 4 trips with Intrepid, I am without a doubt 100% believer that Intrepid is better.

    Gap or G is not bad and the leaders were really nice people, but I left feeling like I didn’t get the value out of what I paid. I was hoping to get some explanations on what I was looking at and what it was like growing up in their respective countries. Yet, we basically got someone who sets up the day and organizes activities and meals. I could have done a couple of days research and got the same thing. The local guides were good for information but i had hoped for more from the leaders. Also, when putting this in my feedback , I never heard anything back.

    This is where I noticed the main difference with Intrepid. All four leaders were spectacular. For example our leader in Morocco was so much fun and informative and also he put so much effort into us meeting locals and going out of his way. He took us to his family’s small village and we cooked a meal and played soccer with his little brothers. It was great.

    Our leader in China was the same. She went above and beyond to make sure we experienced china rather than organizing our activities.

    Again Gap is not bad and I would say there are lots of similarities between the two, but in my experience Intrepid has stood out.

18. Yemoja Fola December 22nd, 2011 at 09:25 Reply

    

    I just returned from the Delhi to Kathmandu 15 day tour with G Adventures. I had an AWESOME experience.

    Our CEO was very knowledgeable, accommodating, and considerate. As a matter of fact, he went above and beyond to ensure that we had all had an exceptional experience.

    We were never steered to expensive restaurants. Our CEO was always sensitive regarding our budgets.

    I have traveled solo, with friends and family, and with other tour companies. Although my experiences have varied, the majority have been wonderful.

    This was my first trip with G Adventures, and I plan to book future tours with them.

19. Anya January 9th, 2012 at 17:25 Reply

    

    I too am having tour company dilemma. Gap does have a wide range of options however recently in Belize I came acroos several Gap tours and the tour leaders looked half cut and were clearly suffering the effects of a hard night. This party attitude has put me off somewhat. Has anyone else experienced this with Intrepid as this is now my next avenue to explore?
    With regards to Imaginative Traveller I have found them very good in Africa at least, sadly they don’t run trips to Alaska yet!

20. Citizen of the world January 12th, 2012 at 23:21 Reply

    

    So far I’ve done 3 tours (Thailand, Egypt-Jordan and South Africa) with G Adventures (GAP) and all 3 were absolutely wonderful experiences. The tour leaders were not only knowledgeable, but very outgoing and passionate about making us discover their countries.

    I’m preparing my next trip (China, Nepal, India) and I’ll probably try Intrepid because of the lenght of their tour which suits me better for now. Hopefully, this trip will be as enjoyable as my previous ones with G. I’ll let you know.

21. robyn January 17th, 2012 at 14:52 Reply

    

    Ted or anyone else with this experience,

    What were the accommodation standards in Morocco with Intrepid?

    I too, am looking for a trip but would love to find a company outside of Intrepid/Gap/Peregrine/Gecko’s/Explore, etc, etc… because everything I’ve read involve similar complaints about the accommodation quality, even paying for comfort level…

    I love the idea of Adventure trips but the ones I’ve found are too short, ideally I’d like 2 weeks traveling…

    Thanks!

    Robyn.

22. AF January 19th, 2012 at 21:48 Reply

    

    Hello I was just wondering what nationalities generally seem to be found on each Intrepid and GAP tours?

23. AF January 19th, 2012 at 21:50 Reply

    

    Also, are the trucks comfortable/roomy enough and what have you found is the common age range for each?

24. NH March 16th, 2012 at 12:45 Reply

    

    Went on one GAP tour, a month long to India in 2009 and was very favorably impressed. The GAP leader explained that he was not a ‘guide’ – in fact didn’t know much more than the Lonely Planet paragraph about the sites but was a superb ‘facilitator’. The small GAP bus was very comfortable but when it broke down he conjured up another one almost by magic. Safe restaurants were pointed out but since I’m more into sightseeing than food, I bought food in markets and picnic’d in the room at night. I’m in my 60s but the 20 something kids on the trip were a wonderful bunch of British and Australian. One told me he didn’t know there would be so many old people on the trip (3 past 50) so I guess YOLO tours were created for the camp-out and disco set. Check the ‘comfort’ ratings. There were also a better ratio of boys to girls which seems to make a difference. I shared a boat ride on Lake Pichola last month with an Intrepid tour group that was all girls and the guide kept up a running flirtation with the pretty one – tasking her constantly to establish dominance. GAP/Intrepid guides are too young and not professional or licensed from what I could tell. I just came off a Wild Frontiers tour with a really good guide in his 40′s. No hanky panky and VERY knowledgeable. But the group was older and not as free spirited.

    • PB March 21st, 2012 at 19:19 Reply

      

      NH-I enjoyed your comments as I am in my 50′s and considering a Gap/Intrepid or? tour. I just did 3+ weeks in Asia by myself and am wondering-to anyone- the value of paying for a guided tour at any level? I was worried going in, but left with a confidence, self-assurance that I haven’t felt travelling in some cities of the US. Any reason to fear travelling Eastern Europe by myself?

25. AVU April 4th, 2012 at 12:01 Reply

    

    I’m planning to go to Combodia. SHould I take G adventure’s 7-day discover combodia?

26. marissa April 11th, 2012 at 15:29 Reply

    

    Anyone familiar with the G Adventures volunteer in Thailand trip?

27. Selena April 13th, 2012 at 11:49 Reply

    

    I am wanting to do a tour around Mexico in July, am wanting to go with 18-30s. Would anyone reccommend GAP more for this as they have the ‘YOLO’ type tours?

28. PB April 16th, 2012 at 14:41 Reply

    

    If you use Siem Reap as your main base, I think Cambodia is very doable alone. There are lots of big tourist hotels but I found the staff at a little Boutique hotel on the edge of town helpful in day trips and beyond. Never once felt threatened, but obviously anyone could turn down the wrong street at any moment. That said, I’d go back in a moment with no concerns.