We used Edgar to organise our trip to Peru for about 3 weeks in 2008. Edgar's agency is a small operation, so you won't get lots of glossy brochures or uniformed couriers. What you will get is a level of flexibility and personal attention that the large agencies couldn't come close to offering, and almost certainly for a better price. Using an independent agency like Edgar's requires a slightly different approach, to using a larger agency, so our advice would be: Ask his advice on the one hand, and tell him what's important to you on the other. It's a bit of team approach. If you tell him you want 2 days here and 3 days there, that's what he'll organise you're the customer. But, if you ask his opinion up front you may end up spending more time in the nicer places. But, if you're prepared to spend more for better hotels, to fly rather than bus, take a few days off just to relax, etc. - tell him. One other important difference from the big companies is that it is virtually impossible in Peru for and operation like Edgar's to get credit card facilities. This means that you'll need to send him a deposit by bank transfer or similar. We found the idea of sending largish sums of money to a completely unknown person in Peru a bit scary and we prevaricated for a while before we did it. We needn't have worried. Our experience was that Edgar is completely reliable and 100% honest. I suppose the highest accolade is that if we ever decide to return to Peru, then our first e-mail will be to Edgar.
Barry & Lindy Bullen June 2008