12 Mar 2025
The Aviary was beautiful. Unfortunately, we would not recommend the Viator tour.
Communication with the tour company was complex. We spoke to multiple company contacts during the booking and confirmation process, each with different information, ie. pick-up location. All communication had to be re-confirmed multiple times in order to verify tour details. This was a poor use of valuable vacation time.
The pick-up was 15 minutes late. Our guide was polite and somewhat informative, however a lot of the information that she shared was future tour upsell. For example, she shared videos on her phone of the aquarium.
The ride to Baru and back was bumpy and uncomfortable. Understandable, given the poor road conditions, however it was bad enough that travellers should have been warned prior to booking. This transport would have been unsuitable for seniors.
We were promised an English guide at the aviary who would go at our pace—answering questions as necessary. This did not happen.
Overall, the tour experience was poor. Viator oversold the experience online. It did not match the actual experience at all.
We could have done this tour on our own with better results. This tour was not good value.