Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing an orangutan and its baby in the wild!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Borneo itself was an extraordinary destination, it was Jeffry’s exceptional guidance and leadership that truly brought the trip to life. His deep expertise, passion for the region, and dedication to the group made him an invaluable part of the experience. Jeffry was not just a guide, but a true ambassador for Borneo, and his presence was a highlight that will be remembered long after the trip ended.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Despite the packed itinerary, there are several free afternoons and it's worth researching things you might want to do before you travel. Some activities such as the Petronas Towers need to be booked in advance due to limited availability.

Most Inspirational Moment

Probably spending time at the freedom museum in Riga. However trip had so many different highlights from eating fresh smoked fish, going to markets and swimming in lakes.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Andrius was a fantastic leader, full of fun and keeping us all entertained. Andrius kept us busy day and night and added his own personal touch and freely shared his life experience of growing up in the Baltic’s. The best tour leader I have ever had.

Most Inspirational Moment

The amazing rock formations whether they were seen from the valley floor, from the top of a cliff, the top of a castle or from a hot air balloon.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very knowledgeable and flexible. Clearly knew the area well and took note of weather and other tourists when choosing the order of our itinerary.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Water was no problem, there was a massive bottle on the minibus so we could refill our bottles at the start and half way through any hikes. Every meal we had bottled water for free. The terrain was exciting - often steep slopes where I was glad of sturdy walking boots and poles. Very few problem with insects late August. It was hot (mostly 27 - 33 degrees C) but not too humid. I recommend you take ear plugs, the dawn Muslim call to prayer is very loud at 5 am and we had a barking dog throughout most nights. The balloon ride cost is variable by day. For us it was 180 Euros instead of the expected 320E. You can pay in Turkish Lira. We took Turkish Lira with us and used that throughout the holiday. Many toilets charge 5 or 10 Turkish Lira so keep hold of your low notes. The Whirling Dervish optional event was very much a religious ceremony not entertainment - an interesting experience. One evening we ate outside and had to ask for blankets as we were too cold. Do take a jumper. The day before we arrived they had torrential rain - we were lucky and it only rained a bit in the evenings but it could have been a very different holiday late August - check you take rain gear with you.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling out of the forest and onto the beach a few times, plus the cute villages.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Awesome! Lina the en-cyclo-paedia was brilliant!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Try not to take a picture while cycling (as I did) as you'll fall off :)

Most Inspirational Moment

The trip as a whole was inspiring, you can only be inspired when walking and camping in such an environment. The most inspiring thing though was the kindness of those in our group, including both leaders, heartwarming indeed.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Egle, our trek leader was great. Friendly, supportive, informative and had a great sense of humour (definitely needed with us lot) Albert, our camp leader was also great. A friendly and very kind soul. Albert keep us fed very well, perfectly preparing us for those big day. Could not thank them more xx

Advice for Potential Travellers

If your thinking of doing this trip go for it. Camping can be hard at times but also bonds you with the group very quickly and the locations of the camp sites are just stunning. It is a most unforgettable adventure full of breathtaking views and breathtaking ascents.

Most Inspirational Moment

How do I start? The Victoria Falls were stunning with beautiful rainbows. The wildlife viewing was amazing. Herds of elephants with their young, lions close up, a lioness dragging her kill, many cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, riches of wildlife. The night waterholes in Etosha were a gala of animals coming to drink, including a leopard. The night sky, the Milky Way so clear. Climbing up Dune 45 and getting to the top for the sunrise. A humbling township tour in Swakopmund. The African sunrises and sunsets were spectacular. The moroko trip was so peaceful. As was the canoe trip on the Orange River. The campfires at night were a great end to the day.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Andi and Petrus were such professional guides, and were a perfect team. They shared the long drives. They were great fun, and so popular with us all, but were serious when it came to the daily briefing. I’ve mentioned the lovely healthy food they cooked, they worked so incredibly hard, and all the shopping had to be done too. We were lucky to have them both.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don’t bring as much luggage as we did! You can wash as you go, and have laundry done in Swakopmund. Bring a head torch, preferably a battery one as you’ll have other items to charge, including camera batteries. The campsites are clean with good facilities and some with swimming pools. Do the optional safari in Chobe on arrival there, you can’t see too much wildlife! We would certainly recommend this tour.

Most Inspirational Moment

We were extremely lucky to see the Big 5 and the Ugly 5 animals on safari. Seeing lions mating, chasing wildlife and devouring their food was the standout highlight.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Tim was a wonderful leader who went out of his way to ensure that we had the best trip ever. He was extremely knowledgeable about all the areas visited and the animals. Every day, Tim gave us clear briefings of what we were doing and what to expect. Tim had a wonderful sense of humour and he had a great rapport with the whole group. Everyone had tremendous respect for Tim and what he had achieved for us during the 14 day experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring face masks for the dust Consider hotel upgrades when available Try some of the optional activities including snorkelling, balloon flight and Maasai tour Arrive a night earlier to start your trip

Most Inspirational Moment

Each moment when we spotted birds (including a vulture), butterflies, and marmots

Thoughts on Group Leader

He knew the best routes, told us about the history and nature of the Mont Blanc area, was patient, helpful, and humorous - thank you, Tim!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Highly recommended if you like to delve around the French and Italian pre-Alps

Most Inspirational Moment

Hard to choose just one but have to say ascending the final 20km to Nuwara Eliya! This was the final leg of the day and was a long ascent up the mountain. We were made very aware this would be a challenge and although you are surrounded my spectacular mountain scenery, you'll mostly be looking at the road in front of you that you're trying to summit! The guide and his support team were a fantastic help and if you couldn't make it to the top, the option was there to jump in the van if needed. Reaching the top though felt like an incredible achievement, there were lots of high fives between the group and everybody felt very proud of what they'd just managed to complete. It really brought us together as a group!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Suresh as a leader was outstanding. He's been running this trip for 16 years and you can really tell! Working with his support team (Bus driver, bus assistant, support van driver, cycle assistant) you really feel like you're in good hands. They were driving ahead of us, ready with snacks and cut fresh fruit for our cycle breaks. They would also be stopping traffic whenever we came up to a T junction to make sure we crossed the road safely. One guest got a puncture and the support driver and cycle assistant changed her tyre and had her back on the road within two minutes! Suresh himself was totally in control of the whole trip and had a great sense of humour. Every meal we had he would say, 'we now go to the buffet, we make maximum damage!' With Suresh and his team, they made the difficult look easy, making the trip run like clockwork and we felt as if we didn't have a minute wasted.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I would get some time in the saddle before you go and practice ascending steeper hills where possible. The cycle support team on the trip do a great job but some of the ascents and distances can be challenging, especially if its hot. E-bikes are available if you want to make the cycling easier, and we did have the support bus there at all times that you can jump into if it becomes too challenging.

Most Inspirational Moment

The day on the Inca Trail and reaching the Sun Gate to see Machu Picchu below us bathed in sunlight. My wife and I had been booked to do the whole Inca Trail in 2020 (and covid put paid to that) but this one day experience was brilliant and gave us great mountain views, a super Inca site in the middle of nowhere (Winay Wayna) and viewing MP at the end of the afternoon when most tourists had departed. A fabulous day! We concluded that this experience was probably better for us than doing the whole trail. We personally had no problem with the altitude although for a couple of us the trail was hard and needed to be taken slowly - but we all got the big buzz and celebration at the Sun Gate!

Thoughts on Group Leader

William was super (see previous review) but had to travel home for an emergency and was replaced by Raul - another very experienced and expert guide. Raul was excellent - great knowledge, sociability and problem-solving. He always went the extra mile for us. For example he made a real difference to the end of our own trip when we were flying on to Bolivia in middle of the night. Both these guides were first class. They took good care of those who experienced altitude effects. Thank you William and Raul. We also had three additional top class local guides in Arequipa/Colca, Lake Titicaca and the rainforest. We were well looked after through the whole trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

We went in July so it was winter in Peru. Although it was hot during the day, it got pretty cold at night so we did need our layers - but the plus point was that we had no rain during the trip and plenty of blue skies. Make sure you drink a lot of water/soft drinks/ coca tea in Colca and take it easy. To help with jet lag, we flew into Lima early and had an enjoyable day visiting the old city centre and the excellent Larco Museum.