1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Impossible to say as there were so many wonderful wildlife experiences! Seeing colourful Mannikins (birds) doing their courtship dances was amazing, having seen this only on television before, and washing in rivers during the wild camping days was great too. Seeing a sky full of stars without any city lights to disturb, and watching click beetles/fireflys each night light up the surrounding trees was also wonderful. Finally, the feeling that we were some of the very few other travellers who undertook that trek (the Darien explorer trek), following a seldom used path originally made in the 1800's to transport gold out of the rainforest was also very special. A huge thank you to Ivan Hoyes, our Panamanian guide.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Go and enjoy! Be prepared NOT for mosquitoes (there are none!) but do be prepared for tics and 'orrible little critters (well, mites actually) called chiggers which itch like crazy. But don't let this put you off as this trek is one of a kind.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Yes, definitely minimised impact on environment as we mostly wild camped with freshly dug pit latrines later filled in, all rubbish was brought out with us, we washed mainly in rivers (I mainly used a Ph neutral soap) and we used local people to transport our backpacks (using horses), and stayed in a beautiful Embara village one night, where the Panamanian travel company had built a special raised palm thatched hut for the trekkers to stay in overnight, so that we were part of the village but not imposing too much on them. Before we left, the women assembled their crafts near our hut so that we could look and buy if we wished, but there was never a feeling that this was expected and we were not "hassled" in the least. In fact, their crafts were exquisitely made and it was a pleasure to look and choose something. The only obvious negative impact on the environment was that we had to fly into Cana at the start and out of Punto Patino at the end by small charter plane.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Fabulous! I did not give it the 5 stars only as am very lucky to have been on several other fabulous wildlife trips!