Reviews

A great safari, definitely to be recommended.

Botswana is a country the size of France or Texas, but with a population of just over 2 million and some of the most stunning scenery and wildlife. We arrived at the beginning of May, just after the rainy season, so much of the country was still green. It was also the rutting season for some animals.

Our safari was in the northern half of the country, starting in Maun and then taking a mokoro (canoe) journey through the waterways of the Okavango Delta to the wild campsite (ie a clearing in the trees with no other people or facilities around). Our arrival was livened by the hippos in the pool by the campsite. Hippos came be my favourite animal, for my wife it was the many colourful birds. Hippos spend the day in water if they can, coming out after dusk. Whilst in the water, they come up for air, grunt, yawn, play and make the occasional belly flops when not sleeping: they just like to enjoy themselves. After our time in the Delta, we took an optional 40 minute plane ride over the Okavango Delta and realised the vastness of it, particularly as we only saw part of it in that time. There were great stretches of waterways, grasslands and scrub with herds of animals scattered across it. No wonder it takes time to find the animals, they are all there but just scattered over this vast area.

During our journey in Botswana, first east to the salt flats near Nata, then up to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, before returning via the Chobe, Savuti and Moremi national parks in Botswana, we saw herds of zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, buffalo, baboons and assorted types of deer, as well as ostrich, tortoise, puff adder, elephants, lions and a leopard up a tree with a lioness underneath waiting for her dinner to come down. We saw two Impala challenging each other and two giraffe fighting, using the horns on their heads to hit their opponent’s side, as well as the amorous attentions of male impala and kudu for their females, and a lion kissing a lioness behind her head. We had elephants walk past our campsites and saw a den of hyena with the pups playing outside. On another occasion we saw an elephant thoroughly enjoying her bath, rolling in the water and throwing water over herself.

At Victoria Falls, we organised our own walk to the bridge, which straddles the gorge between Zimbabwe and Zambia. At the Zimbabwe customs we got a bridge pass which allowed us to visit this 100 year old bridge and see the gorge, as well as bargain with the many pedlars of wood carvings and copper bracelets. Then it was on to visit the falls, with its 17 viewing points. Start at the first viewing point, which looks over the Zambesi river, before it plunges over the falls. From there on the viewing points get progressively wetter and the views more spectacular – so go expecting to get very wet. After that we dried out at a cafe, with magnificent views of the bridge and Zambia across the gorge. Our return was diverted by elephants on the footpath and rewarded by seeing a warthog on route as well as monkeys and a family of mongoose. That evening we joined the dinner cruise on the Zambesi, for some more hippos, a four course meal with plenty of wine and another great sunset.

Our team of four led by Ngande and Melo (our cook), set up our tents and kept us well fed and looked after, even providing “pottys” for some of the wild camps where a night time walk might not be advisable. We all got used to the bush toilets, even the occasional collapse when the sand gave way! Bush showers were also provided, with a water bag slung over a branch and suitable enclosure.

Mello’s ability to provide three great meals a day in the bush was outstanding. He even provided “home” cooked bread with “Welcome to … ” moulded into the bread, something most of us would struggle to do with a fully equipped kitchen, let alone on a camp fire.

This is a great safari, with superb staff, scenery and wild life. And one that all ages can enjoy, our oldest member was 80.

Loved it!

Our first Exodus holiday and it will certainly not be the last. Everything ran smoothly even though we had to have a replacement guide due to illness. Dan, our guide, had a great sense of humour and was knowledgeable about the region. The walks were varied and the scenery was beautiful.
Hotel Los Bérchules was comfortable and very clean. Wendy, Alejandro, Csilla and Omar made us all feel so at home. The food was super, tasty homemade bread and marmalade at breakfast, satisfying packed lunches and generous portions at dinner with always a homemade pudding. Finally our fellow travellers were a great group of people, so interesting and full of fun.

Top of the world.

This trek was a difficult one because of the high climbs in metres. Dealing with high altitude was to take it slow and easy. I was very satisfied when completed and the views were amazing. It was not a well trodden path so it felt like we were the only people around. The guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Even though it was my first time camping the food was really good and freshly prepared. Seeing Michu Pichu was the icing on the cake.

Walking Cinque Terre and Porofino

A very well organised trip and excellent guide who was always decisive and unruffled when there were changes forced on her by weather or authorities. The hotel in Moneglia was very good, serving a good evening meal on the first night and a wide selection of breakfast food in the mornings. Moneglia was certainly quieter than the places we visited during week, so was quite restful. Travelling by train to each start point was enjoyable and quick in comparison to road travel around the area. The walks I would have said were graded a bit low at 3, certainly the steps and rocky climbs and descents needed a good set of knees and or walking poles, walking boots essential. Not a set of walks for trainers, though one did see idiots in insubstantial footwear attempting them. Wonderful views of the villages of the Cinque Terre and coastline as the walks progressed. Walk to Portofino was pleasant but the place was quite crowded even in May as we experienced . Three cruise ships anchored in the bay on one day would not have helped matters. If you don’t mind being organised by someone and can go with the flow this is an excellent trip. We did not have to pay for anything in terms of travel during the days apart from lunch on the those when packed lunches were not provided. On the basis on this trip which was my first with Exodus I would definitely consider other tours with them.

Fantastic holiday experience

From the very start my wife and I were warmly welcomed by our guide Emanuele and our other 12 cycling companions.

We had done a couple of other cycling holidays but this was our first with Exodus and with a leader who cycled with us along the way.

Emanuele was fantastic – nothing was too much trouble for him, he has a great sense of humour and knows when to use diffent options when things might not go as expected.

His vast experence meant that we visited places we would never have found ourselves – absolutely beautiful villages, landscapes and places to enjoy Italys wonderful food and drink.

The cycling was on mainly good surfaces and well paced each day so that no one felt left out.

Our group quickly became friends enjoying each others company and watching out for those inevitable potholes!

We will definitely do another Exedous trip – we throughly reccommend it!

Bulgaria Rodopi Mountains: beautiful and brimming with wildlife

I am so glad that a friend suggested this holiday to me, as it surpassed all of my expectations. The Hotel Yagodina is a splendid base: the staff are very friendly and the food from local sources is served in generous portions. Some of the local specialities cooked for breakfast were eagerly taken in lunch boxes to supplement the sandwiches and salad (which we made up ourselves from a table of ingredients, including fresh fruit and chocolate bars!). Maria’s cheesecake and apple strudel were memorable. All of the walks were enjoyable in themselves, for the beautiful scenery, the diversity of flowers and butterflies, however having Julian as our leader took this holiday to a higher level. Every day he showed us evidence of the bears living in the area and told us interesting facts about brown bears; he is also very knowledgeable about birds, butterflies, moths, reptiles and amphibians, as well as the plants unique to the Rodopi Mountains. One of the best holidays I have had.

Walking the French Riviera

Stunning scenery. Walks a little slow as we stopped a lot to look at the flora but sufficiently challenging.

Carpathian Mountains a revelation

This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip. I was not expecting the Carpathian mountains to be so beautiful or there to be such an abundance of wild flowers. The accommodation was very good quality and the hosts Katarina and Herman, very welcoming and helpful. It was particularly good that several of the walks started directly from the Villa Hermanii and we enjoyed being accompanied by the resident dogs.
The visit to Castle Bran and Brasov were also very good and well organised as was the evening spent at the bear hide where we were fortunate to see several bears.

A wonderful week in southern Italy

I really enjoyed our week in Puglia and Matera and getting to know southern Italy with great company and a fantastic guide.

The Best So Far!

A fairly challenging cycle tour of Sri Lanka, taking in some of the culture, wild life and sites and sounds.