About one in three KE Adventure Travel clients send in feedback at the end of their holiday. We always appreciate your views and are overwhelmed by how positive most of the feedback is. We value our leaders, some of which have worked with us for many years, so it is always fantastic when we hear how great you think they are too!

We recently received a letter from one of our clients Gordon Eldridge, who joined our Costa Rica Walks and Wildlife Holiday over the Christmas period. We loved what he wrote about our leader Joe, so wanted to share it with you.

"Dear KE Adventure Travel

I am writing to tell you about my experiences on my recent holiday to Costa Rica. I have been on many, many walking holidays and have had some excellent guides on past trips with other companies, but Joe Bernini is far and away the best guide I have ever had on any trip, anywhere in the world. I really feel compelled to take the time to send you some more detailed feedback. Joe has a passion for nature, for his country and its history. All good guides are knowledgeable, but Joe shares his with a warmth and excitement that is truly infectious. Everybody simply gets caught up in it and becomes excited about each new thing the group encounters. I can remember numerous occasions when one of his explanations started with "Remember when we saw". This really helps the group build understanding over time. Joe also has an obvious interest in people. It is like he was born to work in the tourism and hospitality field. From the moment he met us, his positive attitude set a tone for the group that carried over through the whole trip. Never in my life have I met a more kind, caring, thoughtful human being than Joe Bernini. He told us during the first briefing that we should tell him if there was anything we particularly wanted to get out of the trip and he would try his best to make sure we were able to experience it. Joe went far, far beyond any guide I have ever experienced in keeping his promise and most of the time we did not even have to directly ask for what we wanted. He was constantly on the alert for ways he could make the trip special for each and every group member.

Here are just a few examples:

• Somebody mentioned they wanted to try Costa Rican chocolate. Next thing we knew we were in a chocolate outlet where we could taste and purchase local chocolate.

• I said I didn´t really like cassava (a type of tapioca/arrowroot) ...next thing I knew, Joe had bought some fresh cassava and then that night he had the hotel kitchen prepare it in a way he knew we would all really like.

• Two people in the group caught a cold and were coughing. Joe bought herbs, honey and lemon and personally made them a herbal throat tea, not just once, but each night.

• At lunch one day, somebody asked if the restaurant had guacamole. They didn´t. Joe disappeared and a few minutes later came back with fresh avocados he had bought just outside the restaurant.

• We went on a night walk led by a local guide which was quite a disappointment, mostly because the local guide had no passion whatsoever for the nature he was supposed to be helping us enjoy. The next night, Joe offered to take us on a night walk himself. The two experiences were like chalk and cheese and the group enjoyed the walk with Joe so much that he offered us nightwalks on every subsequent evening when it was possible. This was so typical of Joe. Although I know that in the very few hours of the day when he was not scheduled to be with the group, he had more than enough of his own work to do in arranging things for the next day, he constantly offered his time to take us on extra walks or do other activities.

• On the second last day in Corcovado, Joe offered us an extra walk the next morning. The group agreed, then that evening most of the group changed their minds. Although Joe had already made arrangements for the boat pick-up and ongoing connections the next day, he not only made no fuss whatsoever about having to go back and change everything, he accepted the change with a smile (and I suspect this meant he needed to get out of bed at least an hour earlier than usual the following morning since the lack of a phone signal at the lodge meant he would have had to walk down to the beach to make the calls)

• On other trips where I have had box lunches, the guide has usually set out the sandwich fillings in the morning and everyone has made their own sandwiches to take. The fillings have usually been pretty simple. Joe went to great lengths to make sure the lunches were something really special. In fact, the lunches he prepared were some of the best food on the trip. He would buy fresh vegetables and cut and prepare them himself, adding herbs and spices and keeping all the wet ingredients separate in plastic containers (which he had to carry himself) until lunchtime so that nothing went soggy.

I could go on and on as across the two weeks we were together there were literally countless occasions on which Joe did small and not so small things he knew would make the trip that little bit more special for one of the group. He did not play favourites either. He really tried to tune in to each and every group member's needs and wants. What really makes Joe stand out though is that his caring is so genuine. We never had the impression that anything he did for us was simply because it was his job. It felt like we were visiting a friend who was hosting us in his country for the first time and sincerely wanted us to have the best experience possible. You are lucky to have Joe working for you. It is people like him that will keep people coming back to Costa Rica and will ensure that the next time they do come back, they are likely to choose KE Adventure Travel as their tour company.

Sincerely,

Gordon Eldridge"

Well done Joe and thank you to Gordon for taking the time to send us this letter.