Panda Tours

We took the Churches and Chocolate tour and LOVED it. Aaron customized the tour for us given some health limitations and the oppressive heat. We could not have had a better time or learned more about this incredible city. If you miss the churches of St Augustine, you really miss so much of the story! And there is no better guide!

We had a horrible experience on our Night of Lights tour Wednesday night. We were told to meet on Spanish Street at Kafe Kava. As our group of 6 approached the meeting point at 8:45, I noticed there were two people sitting on the porch, a middle aged woman who seemed very disengaged and didn’t make eye contact and a guy who appeared to be under the heavy influence of drugs. (I’m a physician and qualified to make that judgment based on his appearance of being glassy eyed and about to pass out.) We needed to use the restroom and went inside. Upon exiting it was around 8:53 pm. The same 2 people are on the porch. I text the number I was given because no one has arrived. The woman, sitting on the porch, has a phone in her hand that dings. She, with a somewhat hostile tone, asked if we are there for the tour. I say yes and she says the golf cart will arrive soon. The guy that appears to not be ok starts staring at my son’s 23 year old girlfriend who is very attractive. We try to start moving away and he asked my son if we are from Ponte Vedra. I still have no idea how he knew that we were. He then asks, looking at my son, if he wants to go to an acai bowl restaurant in PV. My son says…no, man. At this point the guy becomes very agitated and goes inside. He comes back with his skateboard and another guy who also has a skateboard. He starts muttering threatening things at us. He and his buddy start skateboarding in front. I tell the woman that I’m very uncomfortable and ask again where is the tour guide. She just looks at me. At some point, 2 other men appear on the porch of Kava. At this point I try calling our uber to get the heck out of there. I have no idea what is going on there but we all knew it wasn’t safe. The tour guide shows up at 9 pm and says she has to charge the golf cart. The tour itself was fine but the situation at Kafe Kava ruined the experience. We had done this same tour last year but we won’t be returning with this company.

Karl was an awesome tour guide. We had so much fun and learned a lot about the history (fun, interesting and eerie) of St. Augustine. This is the second time we have done this same tour and we still learned new things. We will be back again maybe to do the longer one with the equipment!