Reviews

Distressing experience. Spain never again

I have trekked and been on walking holidays all over the world, some with Exodus. This was my first holiday in Spain and the experience was distressing. I will never holiday in Spain again. This was not due to Exodus nor the walk leader but due to the local people. When I arrived at the hotel (Hotel Los Berchules) the proprietor Alejandro checked us in and also checked that I was vegetarian. When I asked him if their was a lift (my room was up a few flights of stairs and I have slipped discs in my back so lifting a heavy load could cause problems) he said that if I ate meat I would be strong enough to carry my own bag!

During the week I saw many cases of animal cruelty. Emaciated dogs chained up with no food or shelter. All the dogs I saw (and there were many roaming free in the villages and countryside) had been mutilated with their ears cut off.

There was also posters in the village of Los Bechules advertising a village ‘event’. On Sunday 29th April the villagers collected in the square to watch animals being tortured to death. The walk guide told us that the villagers put down a lot of sawdust in the square presumably to soak up all the blood. This distressed me really for the whole week. I have trekked in the High Atlas Mountains and In the High Andes staying with locals peoples and have never come across this level of cruelty.

We walked through several villages but hardly saw anyone. A few bars we went into were busy but the local people were not at all friendly. Whilst walking in the countryside we were shouted at by the local ‘cowboys’ gesticulating to us to move on. (We were on proper paths and walked a proper authorised route).

The Hotel was fine but as a vegetarian I was hoping for better quality meals that the vegetarian equivalent to chicken nuggets. My meals were mostly convenience junk food that I would not have eaten at home.

Most Inspirational Moment

Nothing

Thoughts on Group Leader

I thought George did the best he could to make an uninteresting walking environment as interesting as he could. Also after the hotel proprietor had been so rude to me when I first arrived about being vegetarian George, who overheard him' carried my bag upstairs for me. Thank you George.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you care about animal welfare and are distressed at seeing animal cruelty then don't do this holiday. If you are vegetarian and would like a decent meal at the end of a days walking then don't do this holiday and don't stay in this hotel. If you would like to meet friendly locals on holiday then don't bother with this holiday. If you are used to seeing fantastic scenery on walking holidays then this probably isn't the holiday for you. The holiday seemed like a case of trying to make the best of nothing very much.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Noreen for her feedback, although we sincerely regret that she did not enjoy her time in Spain. We appreciate that witnessing the animal cruelty described would have been very concerning and worrying, however, we would like to reassure that Exodus does not endorse these types of activities, and our groups did not witness the festival being held in the village. We were disappointed to read that Noreen felt that the food provided for her as a vegetarian was poor as it is always our intention that clients with dietary requirements are well catered for and we believe this is usually the case on our trips. We are, however, genuinely sorry that Noreen’s experience was not so positive.

Monica Princic – Product Manager for Spain

Exodus Trip AOP 11-25 April 2018

We enjoyed the entire trip from the moment that we arrived.
The varied scenery, the culture and the history were all fascinating for us.
We enjoyed the great variety of lovely food that we had every day.

Ayaka, Our guide, was superb and she made the whole experience memorable and most enjoyable.

Exodus Trip AOP 11-25 April 2018

We enjoyed the entire trip from the moment that we arrived.
The varied scenery, the culture and the history were all fascinating for us.
We enjoyed the great variety of lovely food that we had every day.

Ayaka, Our guide, was superb and she made the whole experience memorable and most enjoyable.

Exodus Trip AOP 11-25 April 2018

We enjoyed the entire trip from the moment that we arrived.
The varied scenery, the culture and the history were all fascinating for us.
We enjoyed the great variety of lovely food that we had every day.

Ayaka, Our guide, was superb and she made the whole experience memorable and most enjoyable.

Camping in the game parks and see a variety of wildlife

This was an excellent opportunity to see African wildlife and experience camping in the National Parks. We had six nights ‘wild’ camping in the parks and game drives early morning and evening. The other nights were on camp sites with showers, restaurant and a bar (open to 2am so noisy), and 2 nights at Victoria Falls in a comfortable but basic lodge. The wildlife is varied and plentiful and met most of my expectations.

Justin's Garden Route

We had an amazing time travelling the Garden Route with Justin as our Guide and Driver. He was very knowledgeable about the local wild life and countryside. The location of the accommodation was great we particularly liked House Martin at De Rust. We enjoyed the wide variety of things that we saw and did. An interesting insight into South Africa, its culture and way of life.

Walks of the Cinque Terre and Portofino

An excellent week in every way – sunny weather, wonderfully scenic walks along coastal paths, through forests and across high terraces and a good hotel base in Moneglia where a number of restaurants offered a choice for evening meals. On the “free” day we took the boat from Monterosso to Porto Venere which enabled us to see all the villages from the sea and recognise some of the paths we’d walked.

Full on and very enjoyable

Really enjoyed this trip even though we probably did not chose the best time of year to do this, April. Sayin that the weather was quite kind to us. Letaba Game Reserve was a lovely start to our tour, the rangers at Mtomeni Safari Camp were very knowledgeable and friendly, food, especially breakfast, was very good. Permanent tents were much better than expected. Found the safari section a little repetitive but still enjoyable. Early starts and then pretty full on all day but never felt rushed. Loved the beach at St Lucia, a relaxing few hours there was appreciated as allowed us to recharge our batteries. Battlefields tour very interesting and would suggest if possible that you try and get your guide to add in a visit to Rorkes Drift to complete the story. Drakensburg was the highlight for me, good walking and marvellous scenery.

Excellent Adventure

Wonderful trip, It was well planned and well executed, We were with a great group and we all got on so well immediately, The Group leader was so knowledgeable.

Enlightening Tour of Morocco!

Thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the trip. Thought it was well organised.