Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

The Col de Ferret was a spectacular day and the beauty of Trient with its pink church! The scenery was spectacular and was exactly how we imagined it to be! The cable car to the top of the Aiguille du Midi was brilliant especially the blizzard conditions at the top!! Also had the pleasure of meeting Dawa Sherpa in Chamonix!! Would also recommend the chairlift to the Glacier des Bossons.

Thoughts on Group Leader

John was an excellent leader. Extremely knowledgeable and always happy to tell stories and teach those who were interested, bushcraft/mountain skills. He was extremely patient and reassuring with me on exposed sections and I had the utmost confidence in him. I have learnt alot from him during the trip. Happy to give information about things to do on free days. Graham was superb. Always chatty and friendly and had lots of jokes to tell (we will let you be the judge as to whether they are good or not!!) Nothing ever too much trouble and his food could not be faulted! Charlotte was wonderful and always had the kettle on and the biscuit tin full for the end of our days walking!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take lots of pairs of socks and would highly recommend taking an umbrella (as odd as it may seem). The trek is certainly challenging in some places so definitely recommend being as fit as you can be. Walking poles are very helpful for the steep descents. Four seasons in a day is a definite possibility so be well prepared! On a free day in Chamonix the multi-pass for all of the chairlifts and cables cars is a must! Cake and tea during walking days adds up so budget for this.

Most Inspirational Moment

Difficult to decide! Maybe having to start the trip with a canoe in the dark across the Zambezi avoiding hippos to get to our first nights camp. Or maybe the sight of a young elephant swimming in front of us with only his little trunk sticking out of the water. Or maybe the sight of the Milky Way every night. Or maybe the laughs we had every evening with my fellow travellers. Or maybe the amazing knowledge of CB our guide....is there any animal or bird he doesn't know?......or maybe the lovely kids school we visited. Or maybe just about every moment......you guessed it I had a good time!

Thoughts on Group Leader

CB was fantastic. Great knowledge and a perfect host and cook. He was quiet in character and just let his guests enjoy themselves without trying to be in any way the centre of attention.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take as little as you can for yourself and use the rest of your space in your bag to provide clothes for the kids at the orphanage. You won't need any extra food as you get more than enough but a few sweets to give you a sugar boost now and again a sensible idea. A few beers purchased at the supermarket in Lusaka were great fully drunk once the tents were pitched.

Most Inspirational Moment

This was definitely Wadi Rum for me and Petra by candle light. Having never seen Petra before, it was a great introduction to do it by candle light.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Danny was superb, extremely knowledgeable and a fun guy to be around. He definitely helped make it a good week. He always seem to be looking for fun things for us to do.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take a scarf with you for Wadi Rum (men and women). Although getting something authentic in the Little Petra market is always a good idea.

Most Inspirational Moment

Gulfoss, because of the above, closely followed by the beach at Vik, with crashing rollers

Thoughts on Group Leader

Clear, concise, there with answers to questions and prepared to go the extra yard to make this short trip to Iceland most memorable. His performance on the line was truely memorable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Layers, lots. It doesn't matter what you look like but you'll only enjoy it if you are warm.

Most Inspirational Moment

1) visiting the picturesque cesky krumlov during the festival - great friendly atmosphere 2) contrasting the grandeur of Vienna with the quiet charm of the small towns and villages 3) cycling alongside fields of poppies and sunflowers, with butterlies floating by. 4) learning about life behind the iron curtain and the changes which have taken place

Thoughts on Group Leader

This was the leaders first 'solo' trip. He did an excellent job and was prepared to go the extra mile. He was an excellent source of information and went to some lengths to ensure that individuals got the most from their visit. ( There were some occasions, where I think the trip could be enhanced by having an 'assistant', e.g. in cycling out of vienna, and on longer stretches of the route, where a 'back marker' could have been advantageous)

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bear in mind that many of these countries have their main meal at lunch time - so sometimes lunch portions are huge and would feed two. Worth checking first- esecially if you ant to sprint up that next hill! Consider taking insect repellant for the danube stretch if you are troubled by insect bites. Some places , notably Budapest include service charges, while others don't - so the bill may end up more than you expected . Be prepared for quick turnovers between arriving and departing each night and in particular in Prague and Budapest - maybe book some additional days of you want to explore ( can I say that?) these places.

Most Inspirational Moment

Tracking the gorillas for over 2 hours.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Often is my idol I think the world of him even though I had never met him before he's a great leader and knows his job inside out.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If your thinking of going just book it dont think about it and you will be writing the same reviews.

Most Inspirational Moment

Experiencing the working life of the porters. It was inspiring and humbling to see people work so hard to better their lives and those of their children in a country which presents them with a tiny fraction of the opportunities of our own. Their backbreaking hard work is absolutely essential to your success. They make the climb work, I described them as life support.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was Mussa. He was a star and quite comical at times but at the same time one could really appreciate his experience and knowledge of the mountain. His frequently referring to climbing Kilimanjaro as a piece of cake made us grin and groan at the same time. It also made us laugh that he lied to us. Reaching the summit is not a piece of cake at all but the object of his light hearted approach was to stop us dwelling on things and deal with one step at a time. Of equal importace and worthy of mention to me were the assistant guides, John, Raphael and Diglan since we spent more time walking with and being guided by them than Mussa himself who lead the summit attempt. All three men were an absolute credit to themselves, I have an immense amount of respect for them, I learnt a lot about general life in Tanzania from them too.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be aware that you are going to be entering a dusty and mucky environment and just live with it for a few days. I took a bag full of energy bars and munchies with me and returned with half of them. With the exception of summit attempt the hiking is just not that intense enough to require masses of super duper sports supplements and as is often remarked upon, we are very well catered for on the mountain and on reflection I need not have taken as much as I did. You will not need any Tanzanian Shillings, everything you come into contact with as a tourist is priced or can be priced in American dollars. Euros are sometimes accepted as an alternative but British pounds are useless. I'd recommend $350 as a minimum to safely cover tipping the mountain crew, miscelaneous tips, meals and drinks at the hotel and a selection of small souvenirs. While some places do accept credit/debit cards the network connection for the card reader is very unreliable and a couple of times I was unable to complete a transaction with my cards. Cash is king in Tanzania. 500ml bottle of Coca Cola $1, bottle of water $1 - $3. If you wear glasses consider taking some anti fog lens cleaning soloution. The humidity of the forest and indeed your own body heat and sweat can leave glasses and normal sunglasses prone to misting. Take one of the new ultra compact and concentrated bottles of Vimto or Oasis, the flavouring makes drinking large quantities of water much easier.

Most Inspirational Moment

The stunning scenery, lovely towns and the view of Lake Garda from the top of the hill. We also met,spoke to and cycled with Marino Basso a brilliant experience.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Michele was a very good leader nothing was ever too much trouble. We really enjoyed his company and listening to his passion for his country and his family . His organisational and communicational skills are brilliant as is his local knowledge .

Advice for Potential Travellers

A great trip, hills are not too bad but a good level of fitness would make a wonderful trip FANTASTIC . You are provided with panniers to put your daily stuff into. There is plenty of water available as in most places tap water is safe to drink. Take your own water bottle as the ones Exodus provide aren't very watertight! Make sure you sample the ice cream in Vicenza it is 'the best in the world'

Most Inspirational Moment

Reaching the summit on a beautifully clear morning and being rewarded with those views.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Should be fine if you've done a few mountains before.

Most Inspirational Moment

The people! I lucked in with my fellow travellers, that really is just fate, however the local guides and porters were quite simply outstanding. I am humbled to have met so many kind people who gave so much and have so little. I have learn't so much from them and will not forget conversations, words of encouragement and being sang to in order to get us to the top. Other moments, the Dream Team singing at the top of Shira Cathedral, the Baranko Wall, being above the clouds, sunrise on the way to Stellar Point and the glaciers at Uhuru, forget the pictures these memories won't fade.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Makeke definitely has the local knowledge and gives a very detailed briefing of what each day will bring. The organisation of the support team, 57 in total for 14 clients, runs like a well oiled machine. Whoever picks the team is spot on. The 6 guides are outstanding in both terms of knowledge but also compassion. Makeke and the team really do care about what happens to each individual and feel personally responsible for each person. Breath of fresh air in the art of putting others first.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Right this is where I ramble on BUT anyone who does this trip will have a massive penny dropping experience and refer back to this.... Firstly facilities around camp. You will be amazed. There are toilets, not flushing but they do the trick, not holes in the ground, therefore apart from up the mountain where you "send emails" you won't need 100's of loo rolls. Likewise, each day you get hot water in the morning and evening to wash, therefore you won't need 20 packs of wet whipes. Nights can be cold, heat packs are great for warming up your sleeping bag (feet mainly) while you are eating dinner. Which brings me on to food, it's outstanding, how they do it I'll never know! This also mean't to me that I didn't need again 2lb in weight of snacks! Lunch is a packed lunch or hot meal. I would say store supplies for Summit day as it is a long day but apart from that I probably picked on a Cliff Bar during the day on other walks, or bar of chocolate/jelly babies here and there for a boost. The food is generous. Water is essential, if you can get a 3 litre camel pack do it as so much easier to drink that dragging out a bottle, plus you tend to sip on the way. Find out day temperature. I presumed it would be cold as we went up, wrong, day time I didn't have enough t-shirts and shorts and could have swapped the ratio with cold weather clothes. Your bag up the mountain is 15k so pack wisely. Water tastes ok regardless of reports. Finally the guides and porters. Don't underestimate how little they have. Tipping is controlled BUT there is also a gifting of your items if you wish. In hindsight I would have taken old trainers to wear around the camp to leave to them, same with t-shirts and other clothing, hats, water bottles etc. we have too much, they have so little.