Published on Nov, 2024
We selected a two-day tour with Roberto Gavidia because of the positive reviews here: We’re so happy with this choice! About a week before our arrival, we corresponded through email and WhatsApp. He offered his recommendations, which I appreciated because we had never been to Oaxaca before. I was nervous that the whole arrangement was by “handshake”: no down payment or contract to secure the arrangement. But on the morning of our first day with Roberto, he was at our hotel in a clean, comfortable SUV ready to go. His English is excellent and his enthusiasm for Oaxaca is contagious. He is passionate about educating people, which we appreciate, as we would have been unhappy with a guide who just “clocks it in.” We spent two consecutive days with him seeing Monte Alban (he arranged a private tour of the ruins separately), and visited the galleries and studios of excellent artisans of black pottery, green pottery, alebrijes, and textiles. He was patient and also accommodated last-minute changes (we chose to skip Hierva el Agua in favor of visiting more craft artisans). He also took us to beautiful and delicious restaurants en route. He responded immediately on WhatsApp and let us know when he was traffic delayed on his way to pick us up on Day 2. We live in Los Angeles, so we understand last-minute traffic issues, so it wasn’t a problem as he let us know. We were on our own for a few days after our tour, and he checked to see if we had any issues or questions: We felt we had a friend in Oaxaca! We arranged to have him drive us to the airport for our departure: We felt he would be more dependable than any taxi service. Unfortunately, due to illness on our last evening, we postponed our flight for one day. He picked up our call at 4am that morning so that we can tell him not to come to the hotel, and then rearranged things so that his son could take us to the airport the next day. Overall, we understood that he feels personally honor bound to be trustworthy, dependable, honest, fair, and create a wonderful experience for people who come under his care. But, as with all relationships, our positive experience stems from treating him respectfully as our host (not just as a guide) and communicating expectations clearly. Each day, we talked candidly about the hours he would charge (roughly 11 hours each day), so that there were no surprises about the cost at the end. We consider him a friend for life and cannot say enough about how much his welcome and warmth impacted our overall experience of Oaxaca. Mucho gusto, Roberto!
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