Testimonials

Hello Darwin

Thanks again for organizing our birding tour to Waigeo. We appreciated the efforts of you and your staff in ensuring that every detail was considered, including the hotel in Sorong, transportation to and from the ferry, keeping track of our luggage during transit, the stay at Raja Ampat Dive Resort, and the many elements that went into an fabulous four days of birding. Charles and Ali are both excellent guides and through their efforts we were able to observe and enjoy many wonderful species of birds, including the Red and Wilson's Birds of paradise. I will forever hold fond memories of enjoying sunset on the road above the resort, watching the passage of countless Eclectus Parrots, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Blyth's Hornbills, Lesser Frigatebirds, and Imperial Pigeons.

Best wishes to you and your team.

Janet Bair

Hi Darwin,
On the final day of our tour we wanted to say thank you and feedback that the tour exceeded our expectations . Charles was a wonderful guide; knowledgeable, professional and extremely good company . We saw 79 different species of birds including 6 different birds of paradise! Plus cuscus, snakes, tree frogs, sharks, turtles and countless fish. Also some truly beautiful coral reefs. Good luck with business for the rest of the year, I hope the recovery from covid continues to pick up.

With warm wishes
Esther and Gary

Good morning Darwin,

We received some excellent feedback this morning which I wanted to share with you. Congrats to you and your team for doing an amazing job on this tour - the guests (and ourselves) are very appreciative.

Darwin and his company made sure that everything was taken care of. From the time he first met us at the airport and throughout the trip, he followed through with every tiny detail. He pursued our lost piece of luggage like a bloodhound and when it arrived, he spent at least 2 hours at the airport retrieving it. Throughout our journey Darwin went to great lengths to always have meals for us, even if we were on back roads in remote areas. He checked our luggage in and obtained boarding passes in advance to make the flights as easy as possible for our group.

The two of us have worked in many parts of the world in the tourist industry and understand the value of a dependable local agent. Darwin was exceptional in this capacity, and you are very fortunate to have him working with you. The assistants were also excellent, from the highly skilled drivers to Anya and Albert and others who helped with food and other needs. We always felt well-cared for. We were impressed with the high caliber of the local guides. Bahar is fabulous. He is skilled at spotting birds, knows of special places to look for them, and has such a winning smile that one can't help but be happy to see him.

Kind regards

Clayton Burne
Operations Manager
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0027 72 704 4177 (RSA) · 1 888 990 5552 (USA & CAN) · Skype: clayton.burne · Email: clayton@rockjumper.com
eBird Reviewer for KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Lesotho.

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Dear Darwin (VIT Tours)

We've arrived home safely from one of the most enjoyable and adventurous trips we've ever taken. May I express on behalf of my party our appreciation for excellent organization, services, and attention accorded to us by yourself and your "expedition team" led by Allin (Stallin Muldaur) with the assistance of Albert, Anne, Idris, Punky, and the other drivers.

Allin is one of the best wildlife guides I've ever encountered. He has the most keen eyes in spotting wildlife and is very knowledgeable. From Palu we drove along the Transsulawesi Highway trying to find wildlife. Owing to Aillin's keen observing eyes we were able to see and photograph a Sulawesi Bear Cuscus, two Red-knobbed Hornbills in trees, and troops of Tonkean Macaque near the road. Attached please find photos of those mentioned wildlife.

Thank you for the Papua 2018 itinerary which looks very interesting and inviting. It'll be one of my filming trips in 2018 or in the near future.

You can follow my activities and TV documentary program, "Toward Extinction?" in my Facebook Page - Nature Venture TV.

Best regards,

Pongpol Adireksarn

Dear Darwin, Just arrived home from a rewarding and very happy tour with Yudy and Nioman with at least 20 new birds for Asia.
Yudy is a most delightful bird guide and his proficiency is impressive - great eyes and ears!!!! Thank you for a great trip, from both Glorias,
it was a most interesting five days.

Kindest regards
Gloria Shrubsall

Birding Tour to Bali & Lesser Sundas (Sumba, West Timor, Flores and Komodo): 25th August – 14th September 2015

This tour was my second birding tour to Indonesia. My first was to Sulawesi & Halmahera in 2011, which was also arranged for me by Darwin Sumang at Vacation Indonesia Tours. This Lesser Sundas tour was, I believe one of the more “specialist” birding tours I’ve done, in that it was aimed at finding island endemics and involved a lot more logistics of travel, flights and accommodation and requiring early mornings and some quite long days. The islands visited were the most varied of the vast Indonesian archipelago, stretching some 5000 kilometres across the Java Sea. Bali, outside the unique region of Wallacaea provided a substantial number of additional S.E. Asian birds and in particular the ultra-rare Bali Myna. The Wallacean islands of Sumba, Timor and Flores, all quite different in their own way produced a special mix of Asian and Australasian species and an amazing number of endemics including some of Indonesia’s rarest and least known species.

It was a very successful trip – the group of six of us from UK, USA and Canada all enjoyed the experience of seeing such special birds in some very special and out of the way places. We saw a very high proportion of the hoped-for special birds, only missing 3 of the possible endemics – an extremely good result. We all added substantially to our life lists – I saw over 80 new species even though my world list is over 6,000. This excellent result was achieved mainly due to the extraordinary efforts of Darwin Sumang and his team. After having my Sulawesi and Halmahera tour arranged by Darwin I had every confidence that this would be equally well organized – I was not disappointed! The work he put into developing the tour together with me over the past year or so was impressive. The work and skill he put into fine-tuning the tour on a day to day basis as we worked through the itinerary was fantastic. The ability to change plans, adapt to our suddenly changed wishes and fix up different and better accommodation at the very last minute was enormously impressive and well-received. With Darwin going ahead and checking on every aspect of the day’s events, from arranging the great meals, comfortable transport, flights, timings and hotels, and his colleague Ali Munthaha with us at all times looking after everything that cropped up as we went on our daily excursions, it made for a brilliant bit of highly attentive teamwork. Ali was constantly good-humoured and able to turn his hand to anything from early check-ins, to fixing equipment, being a vital go-between and contributing substantially in finding the birds in between all the other tasks he so quietly and effectively carried out. Darwin had arranged excellent local bird guides for each of our destinations – always sharp-eyed, patient and able to get us to the right places and find us the target birds – all were very much appreciated, as were the teams of drivers with their very comfortable vehicles who were attentive and interested in helping with getting us to the sometimes difficult birding spots they knew of from previous trips.

I`am birwatcher from Poland focused on finding rare birds. Indonesia is a great place for birdwatching because there are many endemics species. Darwin knows very well how to organize a good trip. We spent a few days in Lore Lindu National Park in Sulawesi. It is a unique place on the Earth. Excellent organization and a bit of luck allowed us to see all the most important bird species in the region. Bird of the trip was observation very shy Geomalia.
I recommend Darwin to organize expeditions in Indonesia because he is very professional. I like this guy.
See you next time Darwin.

We have just finished a birding tour I lead of the Lesser Sundas which was organised by Darwin and his team. I have worked with Darwin before, in Sulawesi, and was very impressed with his assistance at that time, which is why I approached him for this trip.
As expected, he did not disappoint. Darwin ensured that local guides knew the sites for the birds that we were after. The accommodation was always adequate and sometimes very nice, as well as being as conveniently close as it is possible to be to the birding sites.
Darwin also repeatedly went the extra mile, helping with the little and sometimes not-so-little extra things that clients need from time to time. I would not hesitate to recommend his services.

My husband, Clive Green, and I were part of a group of 7 who recently returned from a bird tour arranged for us by Darwin Sumang, a director of Vacation Indonesia Tours and all his staff. The trip was so well organized and met all our expectations for great birding sites and wonderful birds.
At times changes in the itinerary were needed, and they were handled with total professionalism and dispatch. Darwin Sumang and his people were fonts of knowledge, and very good company, as were the local guides and drivers they hired. We highly recommend them!

My sister, Pam, and I have just returned home from a wonderful month in Sulawesi and Halmehera and we can't wait to tell the world about Vacation Indonesia Tours.
Darwin and Nurlin, combined with their large network of drivers and local guides, worked together to give us a holiday that we'll remember for many years to come.Darwin and Nurlin are the perfect team; Darwin's excellent organizational skills and attention to detail ensures that everything runs efficiently and seamlessly whilst Nurlin's birding skills are exceptional, absolutely the best. He worked diligently to ensure we saw as many species as possible and, even though we missed out on a couple of target species, we appreciate that without his patient, expert guidance we would have been much less successful and much more bewildered!He also educated us with his knowledge and conviction and the entire experience helped us to understand more about the birds we were seeing and the place we were visiting.
Pam and I have no hesitation in recommending VIT Tours Email: info@vacationindonesiatours.com to anyone planning a trip to Indonesia and we wish Darwin and Nurlin the successful future they so deserve.

Warmest good wishes
Marion Jackson

It would be impossible for me to recommend VIT more highly for a birdwatching tour in Indonesia. I have now traveled with twice - once to Bali and eastern Java and once to northern Sulewesi and Halmahera. Their skills in identifying birds, in knowing the best birding sites, and in coordinating sometimes complicated logistics are simply outstanding. They are well acquainted with the local people at or near birding sites and this really facilitates a first rate birding experience. In addition to excellent guides, the support staff is also superb. The drivers and other staff made stays at even basic places
comfortable and enjoyable, even serving us super breakfasts of fresh fruit, tasty crepes, and terrific coffee at early morning field sites! Special
needs are met with alacrity and grace. All are wonderful friendly people interacting like a happy family AND they introduced us to wonderful friendly people, making our tour much more than just finding good birds (although there was plenty of that). One ends a tour with VIT with great birds seen and a fond memory of a lovely trip with a group who are now good friends!

I hope this helps to bring you good business...

Hugh

Hi Darwin (Director Of VIT Tours)

Lesser Sundas 2010 and Sulawesi & Halmahera 2011

Let me reiterate what a difference you made during our recent tour through the Lesser Sundas. Your organizational skills made all the difference in a region where complex logistics and contingency plans are the standard expectation. Thanks to your attention to details we enjoyed a hassle-free trip without any unnecessary delays allowing us to concentrate totally on the region’s specialty birds. As a result of this time in the field combined with enthusiastic participants we were able to connect with every endemic and near-endemic possible along our route during our travels throughout the islands! It is my pleasure working with you and I look forward to future travels together; thank you again for helping make this tour such a success!

Very best,
David Shackelford
Email:neotropicalguide@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.rockjumper.co.za

Dear Nurlin and Darwin,

Just a note of thanks for our wonderful birding/cultural tour of Bali and East Java. You were a terrific guide and so was Yudi, and Putu was an excellent driver. The boat trip to see the Bali Mynahs in Bali Barat was great fun and of course the birds are a real treat to see (not to mention the wild green junglefowl and the black-winged starlings). The night drive at Baluran National Park with Ahmed was probably the best night drive we have ever done for both night birds and mammals. These are just the highlights - the whole trip was a delight and was well organized with nice accomodations and with many opportunities to be flexible. We really enjoyed ourselves and of course saw some terrific birds and mammals!

We are already looking forward to doing North Sulawesi and Halmahera with you next year. I'll be contacting our friends about dates and arrangements
and will be getting back to you when we settle on the possibilities.

In the meantime we hope the next tour goes well and our very best wishes,

Jeri and Hugh
rdhdingle@ucdavis.edu

Had a wonderful 8 day trip in Sulawesi with Darwin his team in the Vacation Indonesia Tours. We took some time to prepare everything via the internet. Darwin proved to be patient and we got the trip we wanted.
Lore Lindu NP and Bogani Nani NP are highly recommended, certainly if you have Darwin and his team take care of the arrangements. Everything was well planned: knowledgeable guides, efficient transport, good stays, good food and snacks and last but not least a lot of fun.
Thanks you guys and we hopefully meet again.

Sigmar & Anja
sbg_kock@yahoo.com