Traveler Ratings of Private Tours Given By Tour Guide Jose O.
Guide #94

Teresa Leavitt, United States Apr 29/12 Jose was a wonderful guide. He was informative, organized, flexible, and he spoke excellent English. I highly recommend him! His expertise of photography was very valuable. He knew all the hidden areas to stop and enjoy the beauty Rio has to offer. Anyone who is looking for a guide who loves nature, architecture and the Brazilian culture should hire Jose. He was also very safe with me and my camera equipment. Thanks Jose!!! Tour #28126, DAYandNITE, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Teresa, Thanks for the nice comment. Despite the cold wind atop of Corvovado and Sugar Loaf, we were able to cover quite a bit of ground and in return I believe that you got some great shots of Rio. It was a pleasure to serve you. Take care.

Jason Moore, United States Apr 12/12 Our guide, Jose, was stellar! He ensured that we had a truly fantastic -- and trouble-free -- experience sailing in the bay around Rio de Janeiro. He was knowledgable, professional, friendly. This excursion was a highpoint of our vacation (and we had a lot of wonderful experiences!), and we would recommend Jose and Tours By Locals to anyone... I'll also note that Tours By Locals was professional, managed the booking effectively, and offered support and follow-ups. 5 Stars!! Jason M., Houston, Texas, Tour #1349, 1/2 Day Sailing Tour of Guanabara Bay in Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Wow, thats probably one of my best feedbacks. Yes, we were lucky with the weather and the wind which took us a little outside the Bay to Itaipú and back. We sailed all the way there and almost to the dock on the way back. It was awesome. Jason's group did also enjoy a dip in front of Itaipú Beach. Truly a great afternoon of sail in Rio. Thanks for your feedback!

Myron LaBan, United States Mar 21/12 Jose more than met our expectations. He met us promptly when we disembarked our Oceania cruise ship. He was delightful, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and accommodating for the entire day. He spent many hours showing us the Rio we would never have been able to see, and delivered us to the airport on time. We could not have asked for more. We thank you and him for making our long day before a late night flight memorable. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Myro Thank you so much for the kind words. Yes, we got it all done despite all the logistical issues. It was a pleasure to serve your group. Take care

Vladimir Gorbis, United States Feb 26/12 Jose is very knowledgeable and professional tour guide, showed us typical night life Rio music in one of the Lapa district clubs. Jose gave us a lot of useful information about local culture and traditions. Despite unforeseen situation he managed to setup a full day tour in Rio with his colleague for next day in very short time. Very recommend to use Jose's service for tours in Rio de Janeiro. Tour #2442, Rio Nightlife!, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Vladimir's group were real nice people and we had a great time. Thanks for the kind words. take care

Keith Jackson, cremorne, NSW, Australia Feb 18/12 This was a tough gig for Jose. Rio choked with hundreds of thousands of people dancing, drinking and being sexy as you expect in Carnivale. And me with a crook back. Jose managed to navigate around scores of blocked streets to bring us within easy walking distance of the Lapa samba district and took us on an energising tour right into the middle of Carnivale. We then spent a couple of hours chatting at a samba club. Jose's a fine man who manages a great tour. Tour #2442, Rio Nightlife!, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Thanks for the comments Keith. Yes, given the size of the crowds and many closed streets, we did manage to arrive where planned and fulfill our evening goal. Great chats with this nice couple. Take care.

Solly Yassenoff, United States Feb 18/12 Jose was an excellent guide. He took us where we wanted to go and also showed us some sites along the way which we greatly enjoyed. He was also reasonably knowledgeable about the botanical gardens, showing us the highlights. His photographic experience was also helpful. We talked non-stop. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Solly It was a pleasure to serve your group. Yes, we did talk quite a bit, we had a good connection. Thanks again. take care

Joy Mara, United States Jan 4/12 We thoroughly enjoyed our day and a half with Jose. His personal knowledge of the city, his broad international perspectives, and his photography expertise were real pluses. He was extremely service-oriented and went out of his way to make sure we saw what we wanted and got a great tour. He is also a lot of fun. Tour #818, Half day in Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Joy So nice to hear these nice words from you. Yes, we had fun and you got to see lots of Rio, despite the iffy weather. Cheers, José

Vernon Blue, United States Nov 26/11 Jose was wonderful! We throughly enjoyed his tour. He was informative and very polite. I would take another tour with this gentleman. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Vernon It was a pleasure to serve your group. As you recall we got pretty lucky with the weather and that made the tour possible in the nick of time. Happy holidays to all.

Konstantin Bulakhov, Russia Oct 29/11 Jose did great guiding allowed to create excellent overall impression about Rio. I also liked his advise about tips of best view pictures taken. Thank you! Tour #205, Private tour: Photographing Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Konstantin. A pleasure to meet you and share my photo experiences and tour. Next time bring the DSLR and we'll have even more fun. Take care

Jason Nevin, United Kingdom Oct 4/11 Jose is clearly a knowledgeable guy and took me to some great places for photography. I was asked to pay for the parking which did annoy me a bit because its an expensive tour as it is. Overall though its good. Tour #205, Private tour: Photographing Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Jason Thanks for your feedback. All my tours are well described on the TBL site and the price is for the transportation and guide only. Everything else is extra. Client pays for parking as it is part of the means of doing the tour. Take care

Richard Cline, United States Mar 5/11 Jose is extremely well informed about all parts of the city. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Richard Thanks for the kind words Take care jose

Robert Croxall, Canada Mar 3/11 Jose gave us a very enjoyable 8 hour tour of Rio. He is very knowledgeable and has a great personality which added much to our day. Thanks Jose. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: The tour with Robert's group was a lot of fun and we did cover a lot. Thanks for the nice words. Tchau from Rio

Lawrence Rosenbloom, United States Mar 2/11 Jose was very good - covered all the important sites and info all in 1 jam packed day. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Lawrence Yes, we did cover quite a bit but it was a lot of fun! Take care jose

Winnifred Dennis, Canada Feb 8/11 A charming and informative guide. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with Jose and would recommend him highly. He made our stay in Rio a most memorable experience. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Thanks Winni I also had fun guiding your group and sharing memories of when I used to live in Ottawa. Take care jose

Patricia McQuitty, Canada Feb 4/11 Jose was a"Gem" Prompt-knowledgeable-Polite-Courteous-and a whole pack of fun to be with- His suggestions for side tours was the "the highlite of our stay in Rio - and his residency in Canada ( near where we lived) gave us plenty to talk about- and his knowledge of 4 languages sure made us get "special" attention from the locals .... hmmmmmm!! Thanks again for having a great team All 4 of us enjoyed the "Ride" too !! Drivers need to have nerves of cast iron- Thanks Again Bill ,Pat,Mike & Irene Private Rio airport-transfers, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Pat, Thanks for the nice words It was fun to meet people from an area in Canada where I once lived. Our tour went well and everyone saw lots from Rio, had a great time and that is the most important thing. Take care jose

Wendell Abernathy, United States Feb 1/11 Jose took the six of us on a fantastic one day tour of Rio. We hit all the highlights. Our pre-tour communications were excellent, Jose meet us at the stated place and time. I could not have asked more from a tour guide. I highly recommend. Thank you Jose Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Wendell Thank you so much for the positive review. Yes, your tour worked out great and we were able to see quite a bit in the 8 hour tour. I was particularly surprised by the enthusiasm of everyone in the group. Thanks again and have a Super Happy 2011. Jose

Brooke Grantham, Canada Nov 2/10 Great personalized tour with a guide who obviously knows his stuff. We also shared interests in photography and Montreal, where we have both lived. Jose showed up early on just two hours' notice. We had bad weather (low cloud) which forced us to adapt the tour as we wanted to go up the Sugarloaf gondola AND the Corcovado mountain to see the view and the Christ the Redeemer statue. Great tour for our family of three - much better (and cheaper) than those inflexible tour-bus tours for the masses. Tour #818, Half day in Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Brooke Nice to hear from you! Your short notice tour was a lot of fun and despite the weather we were able to cover a lot of ground thanks to the holiday and less traffic. Take care. Jose

Pieter Strachan, South Africa Sep 23/10 Jose is a good guide and has good overall knowledge. Trip on bay on yacht was very nice - would however been a great trip if some drinks (like water, beer, juice, etc) were provided as well. Other companies with similar tours all have drinks, snacks, fruit or lunch included in trip. We preferred a smaller boat and less people and booked this trip. No mention was made that there was nothing to eat or drink on boat before we got aboard, or we would have taken our own cooler bag with drinks and snacks. Tour #1349, 4 hour Sailing Tour of Guanabara Bay in Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Peter, I enjoyed serving your group during the two days last week. Your group debuted my 4 hour sailing tour and it was a success as everyone told me they had a good time. Your comments are, in my opinion, an unfair rating when the info about the tour is well described on the tour page (private tour 1/2 Day Sailing Tour of Guanabara Bay in Rio). Before boarding I asked if anyone wanted to buy water or pop but all declined. FYI 80% of tour price goes to renting the boat. Impossible to include drinks+food. TOURSBYLOCALS RESPONSE: The tour description states that this is not included.

Pieter Strachan, South Africa Sep 22/10 Jose is a good guide with good knowledge of places and things in Rio. Spoke English very well. Tour #214, Private Rio de Janeiro One day tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Peter Thanks for the comment! It was fun to serve your group and learn a great deal more about your Country. Thanks and take care Jose

Gwen Williams, Ottawa, ON, Canada Mar 25/10 Jose was a friendly, helpful, relaxed, safety oriented guide. It was nice to have a guide who was knowledgeable about both the city of Rio as well as photographers concerns and could take us to many of Rio's picturesque vantage points. Tour #205, Photographing Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Gwen I'm sorry but I only saw this comment today. Your tour was fun and any opportunity to share experience with another photographer is a pleasure. Take care. Jose

Ronald D., United States Mar 16/10 Jose did an excellent job in getting us around to see all the pertinent sites in Rio de Janeiro in spite of weather that did not cooperate at times. His specialty was billed as photography and we benefited from this in being placed in the right spots for the best pictures. He offered beneficial advice on camera settings and functions. He was fun to be with. We highly recommend Jose. Tour #205, Photographing Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Ron & Joanne Yes it was fun and despite the weather, we were able to see and shoot quite a bit of Rio. I'm often happily surprised when my clients "discover" the capabilities of their cameras whether pro or amateur. Some of theses little cameras are very good for their sizes. Thank you for your comments. Take care

Richard Levitt, United States Nov 30/09 Jose gave the best day tour I've ever had anywhere in the world. His local knowledge, sensitivity to our interests, and his great personality made it truly a day to remember. Many thanks to ToursByLocals for setting us up for such a great day. Tour #214, Rio de Janeiro 6 hour tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Richard, You're much too kind. It was fun serving your group and we were lucky with the line ups. Take care

Dieter Jakob, Germany Oct 16/09 We had a very good an interesting tour in Rio!We liked it very much!!! It`s much more lively to see the beaches,streets,the people and the buildings from the bicycle then through the the windows of a bus! We would like to do this kind of tours also in other big cities! It`s a great experience! Jose is a very good guide and he told us a lot of interesting details.We had a great day together!Thank You so much,Jose! Tour #1494, Rio By Bike, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Hello Dieter, I couldn't have had a more enthusiastic group for the debut of my cycling tour of Rio. I was pleasantly surprised at how fit your group was and we were able to cover a lot of ground in the tight 4 hour tour. The rain held back and we were able to even have the two stops at Parque Lage and the Botanical Garden while cycling around the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. Take care and keep on cycling. Tchau from Rio.

Larry and Connie Budge, United States Mar 16/09 Rio with Jose was definitely the highlight of our two weeks in South America. We had a late start from the ship but Jose gave us a full day's tour of Rio. He is knowledgeable and outgoing and his enthusiasm is wonderful. We not only were treated to the tourist attractions but local insights too. It was a grand time! We will recommend him highly to everyone visiting Rio. Tour #214, Rio de Janeiro One Day Tour, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Larry and Connie's group was delight to serve. Their individual life experiences amounted to some very pleasant conversations along the tour route. Even though we started a little later then planned due to logistics of luggage and check in, we were able to cover all major tourist attractions and then some. Ciao from Rio. Jose

Gerasimos Kouvaras, Greece Mar 15/09 Jose is an excellent guide. He doesn't look at the clock and he will only let you go when you are covered by the tour. Very friendly and polite, very patient with all my particular needs to photograph Rio. Also very careful about safety. The best example of his exceptional behavior: I had an accident with my camera, which was broken at the departure of the trip and this made me feel totally disapointed. Jose drove directly to his appartment and he geve me his camera with his favourite lens to use! Tour #205, Photographing Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: Gerasimos is a real nice guy and we had a fun tour together. Since he was doing a photo tour I felt bad for him so loaning one of my cameras was a natural thing. The bottom line is that he got his tour the way he wanted and got his shots too. As always I try to keep my clients safe and happy. Take care from Rio.

Valda B., United Kingdom Feb 27/09 Hard to summarize in a few words - a truly fantastic day out. Jose was an enthusiastic, friendly, fun and knowledgeable guide. Nothing was too much trouble, we crammed more in during the hours we spent with him than we could have managed on our own in a week. The hours flew by and even when our time was up Jose seemed reluctant to let us go; we finished some three hours later than scheduled. I would recommend this tour unreservedly to anyone wanting to learn about Rio. The photography aspect was a bonus. Tour #205, Photographing Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil    view tour TOUR GUIDE RESPONSE: The Baileys were a lot of fun to serve. Gotta give a lot of kudos to Valda for lugging all that equipment around on a day tour. She got some great shots and we were lucky with the weather. Cheers Jose O.