Choose a Challenge Arvostelua 

On one hand we had an great trip thanks to the amazing local team, our guides Jose and Rene were incredible, they were so supportive and helpful and taught us loads about our surroundings. The porters and chef were great and kept us well fed snd looked after.

However, choose a challenge themselves were absolutely awful. Before the trip Choose a challenge we’re very unhelpful with any questions asked and told me my passport had expired when it hadn’t. The online webinar was done by the sales team rather than people who actually had experience in what we’re doing. At Heathrow airport we were met by unhelpful and unwelcoming representative who didn’t even know where we were going. Trying to check in we found that there were forms to fill out that they hadn’t told us about. On arrival despite being met by amazing local guides, We we’re informed of around £200 of hidden costs. The kit list gave no indication of what we needed for the trip, the itenery was quite inaccurate. I was also informed by another person doing the challenge that despite making us believe we’re raising money 100% for charity, choose a challenge take 50% as profit on top of what we pay them. We have been asked by choose a challenge to complete this review before the extension trip but based on the itinerary it does not seem to be worth the money as the “week in the Amazon” is actually 2 days in the Amazon.

Overall the trek we did and the local people supporting us have been amazing and made it a trip of a lifetime but choose a challenge have been unhelpful whilst scrounging money from charity and quite frankly awful.

The trip to Machu Picchu has been absolutely amazing, the trek was a great experience. The tour guides here have been so friendly and helpful and I can't fault them at all. However, the lack of communication from Choose a Challenge before the trek made it really hard to plan for things- they would send emails with the same information again and again, but I still arrived here not really knowing how to properly prepare or what to expect. There is also a lot of hidden costs that comes after the registration fee so it doesn't really work out cheaper than a normal trip away that you would organise yourself.

Our tour guides Jose and Rene were absolutely amazing! Camilla from choose a challenge was so helpful and kind when I was sick. However I feel that choose a challenge could be more specific with what’s included in the itinerary so there is no surprise costs (tickets for the salt mines and moray were not included despite being on the itinerary).

Just completed the Machu Picchu trek! Camila was amazing, she was so welcoming and made my trip in Cusco city.
I would not have been able to complete the trek without Our guides, Jose and Rene, who were funny, so motivating and made the trip so memorable!

Only let down was A few details were not made clear enough by the London team in the info pack and webinars, mainly about what we needed for the trek, such as a sleeping bag to cover more than -10 as it was freezing at night so bare this in mind if you have signed up!

AVOID THIS COMPANY!
I paid over $2000 for a two week trip including a trek to Machu Picchu and an extension trip to the Amazon. About a month before my trip in 2022, Choose a Challenge requested an additional near $500 with a one week invoice deadline for “inflation rates”. I already paid the entire trip balance in July 2021, as I was supposed to attend in 2021 but the trip was moved due to Covid. When I said I was unable to come up with this surcharge money in a short amount of time, they threatened to cancel my trip. On the trip itself, it only went smoothly when Valencia Travel was involved. Whenever Choose a Challenge was in charge of planning itinerary items, they forgot to give us meals that were included in the itinerary. They didn’t pay for extension trip activities that were promised in the itinerary. When requesting money back for missed activities and meals, there was radio silence on their end. Their US employee Liz Jordan was the most frustrating person to get in contact with. Their in-country rep Ellie from the UK was the only understanding person I came across. If you want to visit Machu Picchu, I suggest you book with Valencia Travel directly and avoid this company.

Great experience. Staff were amazing and supported us every step of the way

Thank you for an incredible experience. The guides, porters and all those who helped us through our experience of climbing Kilimanjaro have been beyond incredible.
Throughout the whole trip we have had amazing food, support, knowledge shared and a true challenge!!

The experience was absolutely amazing!!! Best 2 weeks of my life!

Great trip! Very well organised and our guide team were incredible. CaC definitely have good contacts. Great on sight coordiantor Jules too. Helped us the whole way through and a really cool guy !

Amazing, best moment of my life

An absolutely amazing experience overall. From the staff at choose a challenge to the friends I made along the way I wouldn’t change a thing about the whole trip.
Pole pole

trip was pretty cool. guides were a standout. Claudio, Guillermo, and Sipriano (abuelo) from Valencia Travel really made the trip. they were able to adjust the itinerary in accordance with the needs of the group and were extremely knowledgeable and fun. worth it just for them

Karim is one of the best guides I have had. Very attentive and also very knowledgeable, educated and thoughtful. Helped me in my trek across the high Atlas and also provided lots of information as to the history, culture, flora and fauna of Morocco. I would have no hesitation in recommending him.

Seriously the worst experience with any company ever. They canceled the trip I had paid for and offered alternative trips that were significantly cheaper. However they wouldn’t refund the difference. They assured us in writing everyone on our trip would be paying the same amount after the switch, but we found out my girlfriend and I paid over $800 more per person than the other trekkers. CAC still refuses to refund us. Additionally, on our trek were got stuck in Lukla, Nepal due to the weather, and CAC’s communication was HORRID. They’d send different messages to our doctor, the guides, and the trekkers regarding important things such as who was paying for our unplanned nights in Lukla, or which meals would be covered. They demonstrated that they don’t even know their own terms and conditions.

Honestly, just raise some money for a charity and take a trip on your own

Amazing trip! Guides and porters were so helpful and food was 10/10

On the Morocco high atlas mountain trek everything surpassed my expectations. It was absolutely phenomenal. None of the trip would have been the same however without our three guides who we all grew close to and whom we will now miss. The one thing I would change would be the way the flights were arranged. A direct flight would have probably been more economical and lead to less delays and missed flights as every single flight we were meant to take was effected. I know this is out of your control but it is something choose a challenge could look into for the future. Overall if was the best trip of my life

Amazing experience with a great group and a wonderful team of guides and porters. I really enjoyed getting to know the guides such as Calvin, Salim, and Wilfred. They’re all such friendly people and stayed so positive throughout. Thanks to them all!

Had an excellent climb up Mt Kilimanjaro! The guides and porters gave great service and provided everything we could have needed for the trip. They catered for all capabilities of trekker and overall made the trip very enjoyable!

Severe lack of information prior to trip. Rearrangement (3 years in a row due to COVID) incurred additional costs despite being given "free deferrals". Itineraries were very outdated and information was not provided ahead of time leading to issues with required clothing/equipment etc.

Aside from that, all credit goes to the Berber team on the ground for all their hard work, giving an absolutely incredible trip up the Morocco High Atlas.

The extension trip ("Edge of the Sahara") was a bit of a nightmare too. Same as previously there was no information provided before the trip and the information that was provided was completely out of date. The trip was a bus tour of Morocco, we were not made aware of this beforehand, this resulted in us spending over 12 hours a day travelling in minibuses which was not what we expected. The tour consisted of driving to many places but we were not told where the place was, what it was, or why we were there. At these locations, despite paying nearly £400 for the trip itself, we were then required to pay additional money for entry to many places we visited. In terms of getting to these places, it was on average 2 hours driving to a place to then spend at most 30 minutes going around it with the vast majority of that time spent in shops/giftshops at the location. This focus on taking us to places to shop was not what the group wanted, we opted to pay for this extension trip to see and learn about the culture, heritage and history of Morocco which was not what we felt we got. A discussion with the tour guide after day 2 had to be had where we discussed our desire to learn about the country and had to ask them to provide us with more information and not just take us to shops. This is something that no one wanted to have to do but we felt forced into it so as to ensure we made the most of the trip. Some of the places visited were very interesting and the cultural and historical significance was made clearer but only on the latter days of the trip - this should have been the standard from Day 1.

Overall I am not sure I'd go with Choose a Challenge again due to the complete disorganisation and inability to contact them - having a representative on the ground would have resolved many of the issues faced.