Reviews

A great trip for mountain lovers and walkers

Canada is a wonderful country. Everything is on a huge scale and beautiful. The selection of walks offered give a real insight into some of the most beautiful parts and walks there are in the Rockies.

Beautiful Botswana

I have just come back from trip and must say it was one of most enjoyable experiences of my life. On the way back home, I reflected that there were 9 absolutely awe inspiring moments on the trip:
– watching two cheetahs hunt and kill an impala
– our guide Kenny finding leopards on 3 different occasions and watching these beautiful creatures wandering about
– elephants everywhere
– watching a pride of lions on several occasions which included cubs
– the fantastic night sky especially on the salt plains
– rafting the Victoria falls
– being punted along on the oakavango delta
– the boat trip in the chobe National Park
– the guides and people who supported us in the delta
Our guide Kenny was absolutely first rate and guided us both to animals but also around the towns and villages of Botswana. He showed great patience with a group of novice safari holiday makers and displayed incredible knowledge on the flora and fauna of the area.

Melo our cook was equally as good. How he managed to cook lasagne, fish and chips and bread on an open fire is beyond me.

We had a great group and the camaraderie around the open fire and in the truck will remain with me for a long time.

Derek and Deniro supported our group brilliantly and made sure our campsite was set up before our arrival every day.

If you are thinking of going on this trip, I would advise:
– read itinerary in detail as it will help outline your expectations re food, distance to travel and accommodation
– prepare for some tough travel and properly wild camping. When wild camping, we had animals around and through the camp every night after we had gone to bed. We had 4 nights in a row with no running water, wi fi or electricity. Toilets when wild camping are long drop bush toilets. You will need to take power packs and battery back ups.
– the roads in the national parks and remote areas are not surfaced and progress is slow and can be uncomfortable
– only two nights are spent in lodges and this was a lower quality lodge in Zimbabwe. This is a camping trip.

Having said that if you love animals and the outdoor life, this is a holiday I would recommend highly.

'Hiking in Norway', not 'Walking the Fjords'

A great week of hiking in a beautiful location with good accommodation and lovely food – and with great guides. This is a full program with little ‘down time’.

Fabulous scenery and cities

A great holiday, with a good mixture of costal & mountain scenery and the vibrant cities of Sarajevo & Kotor. Food exceeded all my expectations, particularly at the two lunches included at a farm in Montenegro & the village in Bosnia. Our guide Alen was excellent, providing amazing insight to the cultures and history we saw along the way. To quote a t-shirt, no-one boring ever said let’s go to Bosnia!, highly recommend to those with a spirit of adventure.

Beautiful Botswana and Zimbabwe Lodges

A truly awesome holiday! I can’t stop telling people about it! We saw so many animals in the wild with memorable sights, noises and smells. We were the ‘lucky lion group’ witnessing lions feasting on a putrid smelling kill in Chobe in the morning and then seeing a prowling lioness on the banks of the river in the evening. Then while camping in the Okavango Delta, on our sunset walk return to camp, we came across 5 lions within 400 meters of our campsite! We also heard them roar later that night while we were sitting around the campfire and taking photos of the Milky Way…sweet dreams!

Menton

This was another delightful walking trip with a good group. The leader Jessica was born locally and is passionate about the history of her region, so that we now know all about the mountain paths along which the donkeys carried the salt over to Italy. Hotel Mediterranee is very comfortable, and close enough to the sea that we were able to have some lovely evening meals in a variety of French and Italian restaurants. on the front.

Excellent Week Trip

My advice is to visit Albania soon before everyone else catches on! At the moment it feels relatively tourist free and undiscovered to those who like an adventure.

Corsica hiking

My wife and I had an outstanding time on our hiking trip in Corsica. it was great fun getting on the train in the mornings and off to hike a different area of the island. Our guide Sabastian did an outstanding job of taking care of us and guiding us through his part of France. He took great pride in showing us the countryside and informing us of the local history. We also were impressed with his knowledge of the birds and vegetation of the area. The kikes were challenging and provided a great perspective of the terrain of the island.

Walking in Paradise

Two weeks walking in some of the most spectacular scenery of the Alps. Breathtaking views in the many clear days and surreal when walking in the clouds. Varied terrain to entertain all…this is a must for any mountains lover. Excellent arrangements from Exodus as always and great leader and camp manageress.

Two Out of Three Aint Bad

We did this trip as a private group of friends. We’re all keen on history and museums – we’d also managed as a bonus to book tickets for the closing ceremony of the World Nomad Games, which coincided with our visit to Kyrgyzstan.

The Islamic monuments of Uzbekistan were breathtaking, and the natural scenery of Kyrgyzstan was lovely. Both countries are clean and well-ordered and felt safe. I enjoyed the yurt camp far more than I expected too – it had the best beds of the trip 😉

Kazakhstan I cannot recommend. It’s the only country I’ve *ever* been to that I’d consider not worth the effort. It feels like going back into the Soviet era – there was a plainclothesman lurking outside our hotel reporting on arrivals for example – and the police are flat-out corrupt. One of our number was held at the Kazakh border for 7 hours on the way out – there were strong attempts at intimidation (though luckily he kept his cool) and it all ended with him slipping a £100 bribe to an officer to get out of the country.