Cape Town to Victoria Falls - Hotel/Lodge

Most Inspirational Moment

Climbing the dunes at Sossusvlei, watching African sunsets and seeing a baby elephant

Thoughts on Group Leader

Peter was great. Very hard working and taking care of us from early morning hours till bed time. Great at spotting wildlife before we even knew there was any.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Prepare yourself for long days in the minibus. There are few longer days but generally it passed very quickly with help of audiobooks, podcasts and much needed napping due to early starts. First week definitely feels most on the go but it gets better with staying two nights at each place from second week. Take some warm layers as nights do get chilly. Come with an open mind and enjoy the scenery changing, all the magical places we visit and wild animals you get to see

Most Inspirational Moment

Watching the lions walk near us and the cubs playing with each other!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Peter and Ende were great! Boy, they could spot wildlife! They were good cooks for our breakfasts and lunches!

Advice for Potential Travellers

We were advised to take a soft kit (duffle bag). Everyone had a suitcase with wheels. Leave the duffle bag at home! Credit cards worked every where and ATM’s were available.

Most Inspirational Moment

Etosha National Park was great and probably my favourite part of the trip! We saw so much wildlife there. Fish River Canyon was also very impressive and I really liked the Orange River canoe trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jonathan and LeRoy did the best they could in sometimes tough conditions. They worked hard and were fun to travel with. No bad thing to say about them. Really nice guys both of them.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for lots of early starts / wake-ups and long days in the truck. Take some good reading or iPad with you to keep yourself entertained during the long drives in the desert. Good walking shoes will take a long way on this trip. And don't take this trip if you are more interested in Botswana or Zimbabwe or South Africa than Namibia. The first mentioned countries will be swept through on this trip.

Suggestions

Mask Expeditions (who was Exodus sub-contractor on this trip) had really been cheapskate and provided the worst trucks I have seen on any of the Exodus trips. They just kept breaking down. You really need to put much more effort on the vehicles on this trip. That was the definite low point on this trip. if you plan a trip where you travel over 5,000 km, there will need to be a vehicle that can do that and with air conditioning at least when you have 40 degrees outside.

Reply from Exodus

We appreciate you taking the time to leave a review, Juho, and particularly for sharing such positive feedback about our local team. On the other hand, we are genuinely sorry that you were disappointed with aspects of your accommodation. At the end of every season, our product managers and local managers review all feedback from clients and staff who have undertaken trips, to see where improvements can be made, and there is always scrutiny on Southern Africa as we send so many groups to this part of the world. While the majority of our clients who travelled on this tour in 2022 rated the accommodation as either “Good” or “Excellent” in our Holiday Evaluation Forms, which makes us confident that that the hotels, lodges and guesthouses used on this trip meet the 2/3* standards we expect, we have spoken to the management of the Seeheim Hotel about your comments to give them the opportunity to make changes. We have subsequently received much better feedback about this property, which, for context, is used for a one-night stopover and has a great location nearby Fish River Canyon, which means shorter driving times at the end of a busy day. We are further sorry to learn that you felt your vehicle was unsuitable and broke down several times, as I can appreciate this must have been extremely frustrating. We highlight in our trip literature that roads in Namibia are punishing on vehicles, and we are aware that surfaces have deteriorated in recent years, but it is unusual for so many breakdowns to occur on one trip. We have followed up with our local manager on the issues your group encountered and hope that future groups will have a smoother experience; we realise this cannot change things for you, however, and we remain apologetic for the disruption caused to your trip.   John Penge, Product Manager

Most Inspirational Moment

Visiting townships and meeting locals, especially the children who were genuinely pleased to see us.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very knowledgeable and caring, we were invited to a leaders home in a township for dinner, very good evening with singing and dancing.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Prepare for early starts, don’t pack non essentials, take $US and use atms.

Most Inspirational Moment

For me, the most inspirational moment was when our guide Timon organised for us to have dinner with a local family in one of the townships in Swakopmund. I have never been made to feel so welcome by complete strangers in my entire life. The memory of the hospitality, good humour, excellent food and crazy dancing will stay with me to the end of my days.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Timon was absolutely superb, demonstrating great patience, empathy and outstanding leadership throughout. Some of my best memories are as a result of the nights we spent listening to his stories from years of experience in the tourism industry - all told with such energy and genuine enthusiasm. He was also an exceptional cook - anyone who can rustle up Chicken A La King from the back of a truck in the dust and heat in the middle of nowhere gets my seal of approval! A real asset to Exodus.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Please, please come with an open mind and prepare to step out of your comfort zone. You will stay in a variety of places - some very comfortable, some less so .... they’ll all be clean and safe. That’s all you need. Also, take the advice of your guide/s. They are all well trained and know the conditions/circumstances on the ground. You’ll get so much more out of the trip if you just go with the flow and let them lead the way.

Suggestions

Africa is a huge and diverse continent. There are sights and sounds you’ll never encounter at home, and some traditions and conditions that might make you uncomfortable. The landscape is incredible and the food is top quality, but for me it was the people who made my trip - from fellow travellers to our crew and the local people along the way. If you take the time to listen to their stories, your experience will be even richer. Oh, and finally, take more $$$ than the trip notes suggest - I think the amount recommended somewhat underestimates how expensive the countries visited actually are.

Most Inspirational Moment

My main reason for choosing this trip was to see the desert landscape in Namibia and visit Victoria Falls, both of which exceeded my expectations. The scenery in Sossusvlei and Deadvlei was spectacular. However, I was bowled over by the variety of wildlife we saw on game drives in Etosha, and very much enjoyed observing the interactions between animals at the waterholes.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jonathan (our leader) and Molifi (our driver) made a good team. They were well-organised and despite being on duty virtually all the time, they were both unfailingly cheerful and helpful. They prepared some excellent lunches and suppers for us, and did their best to make sure that we got the most out of our African experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Unemployment is very high in Zimbabwe and most people are very poor; we left all our partly-used toiletries, dressings, basic medicines and even some clothing to be distributed by a local charity. Had we realised how short most people are of basic necessities, we would have made sure we had more with us to leave there. Zimbabwe is expensive and cash is not available from ATMs. The border crossing into Zimbabwe was frustrating, and we had to queue for well over two hours in the hot sun. Make sure you are adequately prepared for the wait (sunscreen, hats, drinks).

Suggestions

The optional visit to a village settlement in northern Namibia was sobering but worth experiencing. On our free day in Swakopmund, we booked on the morning Living Desert tour, which was worth doing, despite the early start. We chose to go over into Zambia on our free day in Victoria Falls, to see the cascades from the other side. It was well worth the effort, as you can get closer to the falls and can climb down to the river side at Boiling Pot, as well as visit the top of the falls. Taking or hiring a waterproof can limit the extent of the inevitable soaking.

Most Inspirational Moment

Chobe and Etosha Park

Thoughts on Group Leader

Both Jonathan and Ante were Fantastic

Advice for Potential Travellers

See above notes

Most Inspirational Moment

Climbing Dune 45 in a sandstorm or feeling the rain of Victoria Falls covering you under a lunar rainbow were incredible highlights.

Thoughts on Group Leader

I've been on many group tours and Andrew and Ende have to be some of the best guides I've ever had. Inspiring, hard working and patient as well as able to overcome anything Africa and her bumpy roads had to throw at us. These two were excellent.

Advice for Potential Travellers

TIA. This is Africa. Be open to the fact that this country is incredibly different from where you might be from and enjoy every part of that experience. It's a completely different culture and world and embracing that gives you a one of a kind experience and memories that will last lifetime.

Most Inspirational Moment

Climbing dune 45 at Soussosviel in the early morning followed by an al fresco breakfast

Thoughts on Group Leader

Cesar was a genial and friendly leader who looked after us well. He helped us along the way, especially by facilitating the border crossings. His communication skills were good.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Think carefully about the distances involved. This is a classic overland trip and 5000km is what you sign up for. Check up on currencies for each country before you go. At present S Africa rand is readily accepted in Namibia. Take plenty of US dollars for Zimbabwe. It is an expensive country. Be prepared for regular early starts.

Most Inspirational Moment

The wildlife in general, the Halali water hole and the elephants in the middle of the Chobe River in particular. Also the Sossusvlei Dunes. We stayed at some really remote lodges in the middle of the desert.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Nyasha and Sam were great leaders. It seemed they never stopped working - they shared the driving and the cooking and clean up duties, loaded and unloaded the luggage, fixed a flat tire and dealt with a vehicle that was swallowing oil at an alarming rate and had to be exchanged for another mid-trip, as well as dealing with our sometimes high maintenance fellow travelers. They seemed to have encyclopedic knowledge of the flora and fauna They always managed to be cheerful and patient with positive outlooks.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are looking for a real African experience and have a spirit of adventure then this trip is for you. If you need to be pampered and enjoy lot of luxuries then perhaps you should pay more and choose another trip! If you decide to go, I would recommend you take the south to north option as the trip just gets better and better every day.

Suggestions

I feel there should have been at least one more leader/driver/cook. I have no idea how Nyasha and Sam managed to hold it all together and they would never have been permitted to put in such long hours driving in the western world. There was a maintenance problem with this bus - I know this is a fact of life but it would have been good if the exchange of vehicles could have been made easier for everyone concerned.