Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Riding in the mokoros through the Okavango Delta, watching a lion cub playing with the pride oblivious to us watching him, wild camping - lying in my tent hearing lions and elephants near by and racing through the park in our 4x4 trying to find out what the lions were up to to name but a few.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sam was a wonderful tour leader, he was well organised at all times and made the trip a truly memorable experience. He was kind and friendly and very knowledgeable. He was happy to answer my numerous questions at any time.Joseph our Botswana guide knew the country and it's wildlife inside out, he and Sam had eagle eyes for spotting the wildlife and Joseph was also an excellent driver on challenging roads. He was patient and kind and happy to share his stories and knowledge.Meelo was the camp assistant - he was a wonderful cook and worked hard setting up and taking down camp.Waco also deserves a mention - he was the lead guide of the "polers" when we went into the Delta. He was a brilliant ambassador for the tribe and the project to give them ownership of their conservancy. He was passionate about the wildlife and local environment and shared his knowledge with us. His team were very welcoming and made the Delta visit a real highlight.As a team they all worked together well and made the trip a great success.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go - this is a fantastic trip to get off the beaten track and camp in the wilderness.Be prepared for long drives on dusty, rutted roads but keep your eyes open as you never know when you might spot an elephant or a leopard!November can be the start of the rainy season so an umbrella is useful for the heavy downpours. If you want to avoid the rain go a bit earlier in the year. We had a few big storms but were lucky with the timings.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing Port do Soller lit up at night from our bedroom window - and again in the early morning sunshineStaying at Lluc Monastery in the middle of the mountainsEnjoying authentic Majorcan picnics on our walks, provided by our wonderful guide

Thoughts on Group Leader

Edouard was a fantastic guide. He was sensitive to the needs of everyone in the (large) group, and very safety conscious without being overly cautious. He was also great company, good at speaking English and a mine of fascinating information about all things Majorcan.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take the temperature advice with a bit of a pinch of salt. I expected temps of c20F but in fact it was usually significantly hotter than this and in the upper 20s, almost - but not quite - too hot for comfortable walking, even in October/November! I blame global warming!

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling through the villages, meeting the people.Listening to children chanting their morning assembly in Pali, the language of the Buddha.An open-air disco by the beach, with lightning flashes over the sea and a stray dog asleep by the dance floor. Acting like school-kids on the white-water rafting trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

A top guy. Meticulous planning and a warm, friendly approach. He was keen for us to learn about his country.

Most Inspirational Moment

 Staying in a traditional homes with Vietnamese families was a definate highlight. Brushing my teeth watching the mist rise off the rice fields, reading my book swinging in a hammock on the banks of the Mekong Delta, watching traditional village dancing whilst sampling the local rice wine and returning "home" after a long day treking to the luxury of a warm shower, a cold beer and delicious food.  Better than any hotel.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Unfortunately our first leader had to leave us after the first week but the handover to a new leader was done seemlessly with minimal disruption to the tour. Both guides were extemely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable with excellent English and a hint of humour. I was amazed at the lack of thinking I needed to do as everything ran effortlessly thanks to these two hard working guides. Very, very impressed.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I did not feel this trip was as active as you are led to believe. We only did two decent bike rides and one full days hike. However, a lot is packed into the itinerary so if you want to see it all I guess you have to expect to spend a lot of time travelling.

Most Inspirational Moment

Watching a pride of lions with the cub playing, seeing a herd of elephants bathing in the Khwai River, watching the hippos grunting in the pools, coming across leopards at close quarters, seeing the legant giraffes wandering across the bush. Victoria Falls was fantastic. Lots of inspirational moments.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sam was an excellent group leader who co-ordinated the trip very well.  The Botwana guide, Joseph, was also an exexcellent guide and amazing driver.  Melou was a fantastic cook.

Advice for Potential Travellers

You need to be fit without any medical problems as you are mainly a long way from help. If you don't like heat then it is not for you and if you also have heart problems or any other serious conditions it would be unadvisable.  Don;t go in the rainy season, it was just starting in November and we were lucky.  Just a few thunderstorms but it can get very wet and you may not be able to see Victoria Falls because of the spray. 

Most Inspirational Moment

The most inspiring moments of my trip were seeming people go about their daily lives early morning in Pondicherry. Visiting a village school and cycling through the tea plantations.

Thoughts on Group Leader

I had fantastic group leaders. Peter who created the route was always thinking of ways to improve the experience and our local India guys have become good friends.

Advice for Potential Travellers

It is a cycling holiday that happens to be in India. Not a holiday in India with some cycling. Be prepared for early mornings.

Most Inspirational Moment

My passion is Travel Photography so the highlight for me has to be the Camel Trek in the Sahara Desert, leaving mid afternoon and arriving at our "Beduin Camp" with the amazing sunset in the Dunes. The late afternoon sun and the actual "Golden Hour" before sunset amongst the Dunes was something I'll never forget and resulted in hundreds of great images - everywhere I looked there was a great photo to be had with the Dunes, Camels, shadows and the traditionally dressed local Beduin Guides - just amazing stuff. I could have slept in the spacious tents provided but I decided to fulfill a dream of sleeping under the stars and although it was literally freezing overnight I put on plenty of layers and slept outside with only the stars to look at - an experience I'd recommend as you'll never forget it - BUT make sure you have LOTS of thermals and warm layers inc Hat & Gloves even IN your thick Sleeping Bag - believe me its cold! The third "incredible experience" of being in the desert was climbing the tallest Dune close to camp to watch the magnificent sunrise - just AMAZING! A hundred more photos followed with the first rays of the sun making the Camels, Dunes etc glow with beautiful light and providing many more amazing images - I ended up missing breakfast as the "Golden Hour" of light was just too good to miss As you can tell, those 20 hours in the desert was THE highlight for me as a Photographer but there were many more great places along the trip to photograph too

Thoughts on Group Leader

A good or a bad Guide can make or break a trip and I'm so pleased to say that our Group Leader, Abdullah, was just fantastic, he had a great sense of humour, really cared about us and was always looking out for us to make sure we had the best experience of a country he clearly loved and was proud of with his enthusiastic nature. He was very knowledgeable about the local history and customs and took time to tell us as much as possible to give us an insight into the country and its customs etc. He made an already good trip great!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for some long bus drives through switch back mountain roads and accept that you can't cover a great distance in a country to see lots of varied landscapes without suffering long drivesTake various Plug Adapters, for some odd reason they have 2 versions of the 2 Round Pin Plug with a slight difference in Pin pitch - some peoples adapters fitted some hotels some didn'tEvery hotel we stayed at, and most Bars/Restaurants, had WiFi and what was refreshing was unlike the ripoff mentality of UK hotels the WiFi was always Free AND was normally a very good strong signalDespite not drinking the tap water a few of us did get ill, make sure you take suitable medicines for such a situationAs correctly described in the Trip Notes it does get cold, especially at night in the Sahara and in the Atlas Mountains, taking enough warm kit will allow you to just enjoy these uinque surroundings in comfortWe found that speaking French came in extremely useful, even the few basic words I know made things a lot easierBe prepared for lots of hassle and being asked for money even for looking at someone or their Donkey, especially in Marrakech and even more especially in the famous Square - I am well travelled and found them to be more agressive than most countries I've been to and not very friendly in their demands for money. Don't let it put you off going though, just put on your "thick skin", stand your ground, smile the best you can and politely say no or "Non Merci"

Most Inspirational Moment

Reaching to top of hill to Ooty

Thoughts on Group Leader

Brillant. Calm. Organsied. Kept group together. Knowledgible. Trustworthy. Knew exactly which food places to eat in which sites to see. 

Advice for Potential Travellers

Enoy !!! Use a covered water bottle on bike. Keep on open mind about food and trust leader judgement where and what is safe to eat. 

Most Inspirational Moment

Visiting the tomb of Che Guevara .

Thoughts on Group Leader

A very fine leader with a passionate interest in the history of Cuba.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do as much cycling training as possible.

Most Inspirational Moment

It is almost impossible to identify any one moment but I have always longed to see the huge icebergs and the first sighting of these was simply awe inspiring.The whole trip was inspirational - the peninsula has a stunning wild beauty that is like no other region. The penguins are such fun to watch and the variety of birds, especially the albatross, is amazing. Zodiac cruising amongst the sea ice is so peaceful and the beauty and colours of the ice formations takes your breath away. To see abandoned buildings gives a tiny insight into just how difficult life must have been. Life tends to take on a new perspective.The experience, understanding and inspiration provided by the trip was enhanced by some of the best lectures you could hope to attend. The expedition team gave us an amazing selection of background information delivered in an interesting and fun style. 

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was Alex. He was excellent and managed to make all his hard work look effortless! I cannot think of anything that did not go well and his enthusiasm and commitment to providing us with the best possible experience ensured we had just that. He was flexible and always looking for additional landings or cruises for us to experience - when we couldn't land due to the amount of ice, he immediately planned an alternative.Alex is enthusiastic, friendly and highly professional and I am sure this influences all his team. I cannot praise all of the team highly enough, they were all friendly, efficient, informative and professional.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I would advise anyone thinking of doing the trip to go if they can. Everyone with a reasonable level of fitness can enjoy this trip so long as you can negotiate the zodiac landings and smaller slops - not everyone takes part in the more difficult hikes.Even the shortest trip provides an amazing experience. Treat the journey as a part of the experience and take advantage of the lectures as they are superb. Spend some time on deck enjoying the surroundings and the amazing bird life.Waterproof gloves are needed for Zodiacs but not helpful for photography so I bought some thin but good quality lining gloves which were ideal.