The reviews posted here are from travelers who started their planning with Wendy’s trip questionnaire for Paul Irvine. That made them VIPs and earned them these five benefits. If you want similar VIP treatment and benefits, use this black CONTACT button:
Paul has earned a spot on Wendy’s WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts based on Wendy’s rigorous testing and vetting as a traveler and journalist, including feedback from her well-traveled readers.
Have you returned from a trip arranged through Wendy’s WOW List and want to submit a review? Check your inbox for an email from info@wendyperrin.com with the subject line “Please review your trip: That’s how you get a WOW Moment.”
Travelled to Brazil April 25 – May 9, 2025. Paul was an outstanding partner in planning our family trip (my husband and I travelling with our 2 adult children) to Brazil. From our initial conversations I shared that we wanted to spend time at a lodge in the Amazon that was focused on conservation, and they found the perfect place. Cristalino Lodge was so beautiful, our guide was amazing, and I was thrilled that our lodging dollars are put back into conservation. We would have never found this lodge on our own.
Visiting Paraty was also a highlight. The hotel was 5 star and our private boat trip was one of the highlights of the vacation. Paul’s company also helped us navigate visiting Rio since we were there during the free Lady Gaga concert with 2.2M people. Lastly—the company was very supportive when I ran into delays with my travel visa and was brainstorming with me on alternatives. I couldn’t recommend them enough and our trip was so special, unique and once in a lifetime.
Traveler John Strachan’s 11-year-old daughter and a gaucho take a stand on their horses.
We spent a magnificent three weeks visiting Brazil and Argentina with our 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son. Through Wendy, we contacted Paul and his colleague Lucinda. Right up front, we told them our three priorities. 1) With the kids along, we needed to DO stuff, not just visit museums and tour cities. 2) We wanted to build active memories. 3) We didn’t need to see all the most usual spots. They NAILED it. We hit a couple of avoidable SNAFUs along the way, but overall Paul and Lucinda put together a dream come true, an active trip that had so many never-forget moments, that sadly, we probably will end up forgetting a few. SNAFUs included, it was perhaps our best trip, and we’ve done a lot of great ones through Wendy.
We hit six locales in 21 days (Rio, Paraty, and Iguazu in Brazil; Buenos Aires, Iberá National Park in Corrientes, and the gaucho town of San Antonio de Areca in Argentina), so we were on the go a lot, but Paul and Lucinda’s itinerary made it work seamlessly. They scheduled us for locations that some locals didn’t even know, and that impressed the ones who did. (A lot of our conversations with locals went like this, “Are you going to [insert common destination here]?” “No, but we are going to [off-the-beaten-track location].” “Oh, wow! That’s even better!!”) The trip was tiring, but Paul and Lucinda blew our minds repeatedly. The kids and we were active, engaged, and thrilling to everyplace we went.
We all speak Spanish, but before the trip, we did about ten Pimsleur lessons in Brazilian Portuguese, and it was a blast (and helpful at times) being able to communicate rudimentarily with folks who didn’t speak English or Spanish. Plus, people always appreciate the effort of reaching out in their native language. A little work that yielded big fun.
We started off in Rio, staying at the Copacabana Palace. Great choice. Nice, well-located, luxury hotel with excellent in-house restaurants. We are all now in love with Rio, but our highlight was a cycling tour of the city with bike-riding botanist Patricia, past Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, ending at the botanical gardens. We’d never bike-toured before, but we got to see more than if we had walked, and far more than if we had hopped from place to place in a car. And the kids had fun just riding. Patricia’s knowledge of plants and history brought the garden alive in such an electric way. If I were back in Rio, this tour with Patricia is the one thing I would definitely do again.
We had three excellent dinners in Rio, one at an Asian fusion restaurant in the hotel, one at an extraordinary sushi restaurant in the Ipanema neighborhood, and one at a more touristy spot in Santa Teresa with beautiful city views. Our other Rio guide, Paolo, with whom we trammed up to Christ the Redeemer and hiked up to Sugarloaf, was also exceptional. Smart, friendly, interesting. All one could want.
Next, a five-hour drive to the charming former port town of Paraty. Quaint, attractive old town. Simple, but beautiful architecture. Rough cobblestone streets. Kind of an as-life-was-200-yrs-ago type of place. Paraty is popular with tourists, but it maintains a hidden gem vibe all the same. The town is on an enormous bay, and Paul and Lucinda booked a boat for us for a day exploring the bay’s islands, swimming spots, and restaurants with Captain Andre. A great way to see a stunning spot and learn some local history while letting the kids be kids and play in the water for a day.
We spent our second day in Paraty hiking and foraging in an agroforest with our guide Jorge. A beautiful hike enhanced by being able to eat almost everything we saw. Acerola, hearts of palm, and more leaves, herbs, seeds and fruits than I can remember. Again, Paul and Lucinda gave us a great way to be active, give the kids a day in nature, and provide us all with a unique learning experience.
In Paraty, we stayed at the Posada Literaria. A magical little inn, great food and cocktails, lush with flowers and trees, an impressive library, and as always, well located.
Next, off to Iguazu, which had been on my bucket list for 30 yrs. We met with guide Tadeo, who is perhaps the friendliest and happiest of people. Well experienced, he knew every trick for getting around Iguazu. We thoroughly toured both sides in one day, which amounted to an exhausting, but worthwhile twelve hours. If someone had told me I was going to spend that long looking at one thing (the falls) from ten-plus different perspectives, I would have expected a horrid, boring day. With Tadeo at the reins, no one moment was like any other. The cataract is so enormous, so mind-boggling expansive, that viewing it from numerous spots on the Argentine side, from a boat below the falls, from a helicopter above the falls, from a few spots on the Brazil side, and finally, running on fumes, from a plateau in the middle of the falls—it was wonderful and fresh every step of the way. Tadeo occasionally made us rush and run ahead of other people, giving us time to relaxingly enjoy highlight vistas without crowds pressing in. He knew how to create little moments that we would have missed and how to make each part of the day better.
We stayed at the Belmond, on the Brazilian side. Excellent choice. Great food and cocktails. Ideal location.
From the Argentine side of Iguazu, we hopped in a little six-seater and flew a couple hours (with a sparrow that had stowed away in an air vent, and plopped into my lap ten minutes into the flight!) to Rincon del Socorro in the Iberá National Park, one of the two or three most wondrous places I have ever visited. My wife says the closest thing is safari in Kenya, and it felt very Out of Africa.
Rincon del Socorro is something like 50km from the closest human settlement, and maybe 100km from the nearest town. It is a wild place in the truest sense. From the airplane windows, there was nothing in view aside from marsh and wetlands. We couldn’t land on the first pass because a massive marsh deer buck was resting on the grass runway. Having alit upon the ground, we taxied right up to the inn, surrounded by wild animals—rheas (South American version of an ostrich), capybaras, herons, egrets, peccaries, and the runway buck. Our hostess Beatrice greeted us with tea.
Rincon del Socorro and much of the surrounding area is a former farm that was bought and rewilded by the family that founded North Face. What they have done is stunning. We stayed in one of their old cottages, and spent the next few days with staff guides exploring different nearby ecosystems on foot and e-bikes, in jeeps and a boat. Our standout guide was Mingo, a local man who knew everything. He grew up nearby, and warmly shared with us his world and his extraordinary knowledge. (We were recently in Rapa Nui [Easter Island], 3,200 miles away from Rincón del Socorro. We mentioned to a local person that we had been in Corrientes—the Argentine province in which Iberá is located. That person shocked us by saying, “Oh, do you know Mingo? He’s the best. He knows everything.”)
Right now, we live in Quito. People here weekend in Galapagos. The Amazon is a four or five hour drive away. This region is a biodiversity paradise. But I have never seen so many species of animals so active in one vista as I did in Iberá. While our portion of the Andes has among the highest concentration of bird species in the world, the trees, forests, and mountainous terrain often hide them from view. In the wide open wetlands of Iberá, they are all right there in front of you—species of storks, rheas, egrets, herons, species of ducks, caracara, grebes, geese, macaws, parrots, cardinals, fly-catchers, swallows, and more—flying about, mating, dancing, building nests, wading, hunting. It was jaw dropping. The number of active mammals we saw—foxes, boar, four species of deer, aforementioned capybaras and peccaries. Also, turtles, snakes, and caymans. It would be on every human’s bucket list if it were more widely known. Even some Argentine friends responded to our descriptions with a quizzical, “Where?”
Iberá was hot, and exhausting, even with long breaks during peak sun hours, but again, Paul and Lucinda nailed it. Absolutely, 100% astonishing and memorable. Every night, as we walked to the main building for dinner, we had to step around the peccaries, rheas and capybaras that filled the grounds. Every night after dinner, we thrilled to a night sky like we had never seen, as many stars as sand grains on a beach, more even than we saw in the storied heavens of Chile’s Atacama Desert.
Then we were off to a couple days in Buenos Aires. There was a mix-up that I still do not understand with our bike tour guide in BA, so our highlight here was an afternoon with a local family. We chatted, enjoyed wine, cooked under their guidance, and stuffed ourselves with a delicious, traditional Argentine asado—their famous grilled meats feast. The family Paul and Lucinda linked us up with was lovely, as was their home. Super warm and hospitable, and a great chance not just to play, swim in their pool, and eat well, but to learn more about Argentine life today.
In Buenos Aires, we stayed at the Four Seasons. It’s a lovely luxury hotel with a very good steak restaurant, but it felt a little generic. If we were to return to BA, I would seek out a place more in the mix of a neighborhood (the Four Seasons kind of faces a highway) and with more character. Nothing wrong with the hotel, lovely place with great staff, but I’d opt for something more Buenos Aires.
Then we stepped back in time, after a couple hours’ drive to the gaucho town of San Antonio de Areco. It’s all about horses, gauchos, and traditional life in this rural town. We had a quiet little three-room inn to ourselves, with a host and cook. At night, we sat around the outdoor fire listening to legendary local troubadours play guitar and sing songs of old. Meals were excellent. It felt less like an inn and more like we were treasured guests in a good friend’s home. With a pool on the grounds, a beautiful antique French billiards table (No pockets. Hard game.) in the living room, and horses on call nearby, this was our relaxing, yet still active, gift to our children after sixteen days on the go. The local gauchos taught our daughter to gallop and even had her standing on horseback, albeit while stationary.
As mentioned, we hit some kinks along the way (two or three dinner reservation problems and a missed bike tour) that could have been avoided. It was a drag at the time, but…
The trip Paul and Lucinda planned for us was nothing less than extraordinary. Their overall expertise in these two huge countries was invaluable, and we benefitted enormously from their intimate knowledge of every place and many wonderful people along the way. They took us to places we never would have found on our own. They chose excellent restaurants everywhere we went. We asked for active. We asked to DO things and not just tour or see things, and they could not have done better every step of the way. It was perfect for our family, 100% tailored to what we wanted and what we felt would work best for our kids. I think if we had done just one of their selected activities along the way, it would have created a treasured memory, but because of them, we got to do amazing things nearly every single day. They took what we thought would be a pretty cool trip and turned it into a once in a lifetime experience that we never knew was possible.
Our family (4 adults) had an amazing trip to Argentina that was planned by Lucinda and Paul. Besides the usual stops in Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls (Brazil side—awesome property), they suggested that we visit Esteros del Ibera—a natural wetland area—since we are animal and nature lovers. We had a fantastic experience there. They arranged a private (small, single engine) plane to fly us to and from the property. As we got out of the plane, we saw Capybara and Rhea everywhere!
We had a great hike, a horseback ride and a fantastic boating experience. We were a bit nervous going there because we hadn’t heard of the area before and couldn’t find a lot of information about it, but our hesitancy didn’t last long once we got there. One note—the accommodations are designed to be cool and don’t have air conditioning. You may not want to go at the height of summer. All in all, it was a fantastic trip!
We had a fabulous trip to Uruguay! Lucinda, Paul, and the whole team helped us plan a really fun trip and were extremely responsive to every question we had. Uruguay is a beautiful country, and in a week we were able to see many different places. Our guide Nicholas was terrific, and he suggested all sorts of local sights for us to explore in addition to our planned itinerary. I would highly recommend this team and would use them again in a heartbeat. Just a great trip!