Reviews

Mr

A well organised and smooth trip from booking to return back home.
Stay in Marrakesh at the beginning and end of the trip was excellent. We were well looked after by our guide Hassan and the visit to the Medina and our free time was well balanced. Hotel Gomassine was clean and the staff very polite and helpful, Breakfast was plentiful and good, Plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance for topping up with water supplies and food.
Comfortable bus (air conditioning may not be working) for the trip to the mountain location but the ride gets bumpy once off the motorway – this is all offset by the amazing and wonderful scenery en-route. Such variable landscape and beauty. Good stopover points for refreshments and break.
Walk to the Riad from Anmiter is exciting – new location and scenery. Twisting dirt track road and lovely scenery. Riad is basic accomodation but clean with great staff. Food is excellent!
Daily organised walks will leave a memorable experience. Tough ascents but worth it. Carry plentiful water and energy snacks. Our guide Hassan had extensive local knowledge and the pace was reasonable for every level within our group. Walks started at 8 a.m. and mostly back before 4 p.m. Walking poles are very useful due to the nature of the terrain.
Trip to the hammam is fun and refreshing.
A really enjoyable trip!

Pretty much perfect from start to finish......

This was our (Wife and I) first group trip so wasn’t sure what to expect. Booking was easy. We flew out early on the non-group flights to get extra time in Marrakech and were greeted outside the airport by the Hassan who would be our guide for the week and a driver for the transfer to the hotel. After getting checked in Hassan took us to a local restaurant for lunch and our first (of many…) tagines of the week. Hassan gave us some advice about being in Marrakech, some ideas what to go and see and off we went. Next morning with the whole group having arrived we met after breakfast for a briefing by Hassan and then a half days guided tour, and an afternoon to ourselves to wander. The group was a real mix of people, but everyone seemed to get on fine. Next day we drove up to the mountains for our Riad for the next 4 days walking. As they say in the brochure, it’s basic……but comfortable. A bit cold in the evenings….and mornings, but great views from the balcony and tasty food. The walking was great, perhaps a bit easier than I expected but stunning scenery. Was a little bit dissapointed on the last day when some people in the group decided they didn’t want to do the longer 18 mile walk, so we all ended up doing a shorter 23 mile walk which was still very enjoyable and included the drama of the mule that got untied and ran back down the mountain.
A four hour drive back to Marrakech on the Saturday morning, and we decided on a group meal Saturday evening which Hassan arranged. People started departing early Sunday morning, we had a flight back in the evening so we had another day exploring the Medina with it’s souks and square.
I would sum it up by saying I loved it…..already planning to go back and do the 2 week camping trip with the climb of MT Toubkal. Hassan is a great guide, really informative, funny and looked after us really well. To be honest, once you have spent a day or two in Marrakech, you have seen it all……but the mountains and the scenery (….and weather, apart from the wind) was amazing.

Lois

The tour leader Jamie really went out of
his way to show us the best of game life.
We got really near to the Big Game. He
was a very good driver too on difficult
terrain.

Our cook Mellow produced wonderful
food and always greeted us back to
camp after a game hike, with a smile
and the kettle always boiling!

The trip to Salt Pans was a waste of
time as there wasn’t much to see and
2 days of long long driving to this area
and then all the way up to Victoria Falls.
The lodge at VF was a disgrace, showers
in appalling state and toilet with no
plug to pull only wires sticking up!
It wouldn’t stop running.

The game life, food and tour leaders
direction made this trip worthwhile
but all in all, not good value.

LP

Most Inspirational Moment

Game life, food, tour leaders knowledge.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Good

Advice for Potential Travellers

Nothing to add to above

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Lois for her review, although we are sorry that she was disappointed with aspects of this trip. The salt pan excursion is included in the itinerary as it is on route to Victoria Falls, and feedback in the past has suggested that it is a welcome break from the cross-country drives. Regrettably, late localised rains on this trip made it impossible to fully explore the pans, and it was not possible to make alternative arrangements at such short notice. We regret that Lois found the Victoria Falls accommodation to be disappointing; we would like to genuinely apologise for this and we have discussed the concerns raised with the management team to ensure that improvements are made for the future.

John Penge – Product Manager for Botswana

Walking in Andalucia (grade 4 week)

We spent a week walking In Andalucia as a group of 7 based at the Cortijo Rosario in Algamitas, about 1.5 hours from Malaga airport. Algamitas is a rural town in beautiful scenery. The accommodation, Cortijo Rosario, in in an enviable position high above the valley with fabulous views. The hosts, Cartouche and Joked, are helpful, warm and friendly. Roger, the chef provided superb four course meals in the evening and the packed lunches were tasty and well balanced. Doug provided extra assistance as the ‘knight in shining armour’, by driving us to the cortijo when our flight was 3 hours late, (proactively arranged by Miguel). The rooms are very clean and the communal areas cosy. We didn’t use the pool which looked great but it was March!

Extraordinary Holiday

I had the most amazing and extraordinary holiday and most of that was down to the lovely people in the group and our wonderful guide Sam Benjamin. From start to finish it was out of this world. The holiday proper started at our hotel in Cochin and ended there two weeks later when I actually felt very emotional – it was all over! The trek and camping were just incredible- our cook should be on Masterchef. Food was out of this world.

I really wanted to see a Tapir!

Our third visit to Costa Rica was everything we expected and more (sadly we didn’t see a tapir – but that was the only disappointment!). The trip is full on – if you participate in all that is offered, you don’t get much time to read your book! Early starts were the order of the day (not too difficult, due to the time difference between there and UK.) Some days there were longer journeys, but these were always broken up with stops for food or to see things of interest. The Costa Ricans are friendly and very keen on their eco-tourism. The lodges and hotels were of a good standard, with the meals (whether from the accommodation or from restaurants), were very acceptable. A holiday that starts and finishes with stays in lodges that can only be reached by a lengthy boat trip has to be very special.

Fantastic Wadi Rum and Petra

Fantastic walk through the Jordanian desert made famous by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia. We had expected sand but not the beautiful sandstone hills / mountains which changed colour during the day and showing incredible orange hues at sunset.

I amazed myself every day!

Learning to snow shoe was simple, but for the first two days I also had to learn how to pick myself up. My feet felt huge.
The walking was exhilarating and the views spectacular. I began to understand the mountaineer’s drive to be in that terrain. At times I was overwhelmed with the effort it took for me to reach my destination but always felt happy to be participating. Different group members were warm and encouraging.
Our guide was OUTSTANDING. I was a teacher and I appreciated all of the incentives Sara used to help me not only finish my walk but enjoy it too.
A fantastic and memorable week!
Thank you.

I amazed myself every day!

Learning to snow shoe was simple, but for the first two days I also had to learn how to pick myself up. My feet felt huge.
The walking was exhilarating and the views spectacular. I began to understand the mountaineer’s drive to be in that terrain. At times I was overwhelmed with the effort it took for me to reach my destination but always felt happy to be participating. Different group members were warm and encouraging.
Our guide was OUTSTANDING. I was a teacher and I appreciated all of the incentives Sara used to help me not only finish my walk but enjoy it too.
A fantastic and memorable week!
Thank you.

I amazed myself every day!

Learning to snow shoe was simple, but for the first two days I also had to learn how to pick myself up. My feet felt huge.
The walking was exhilarating and the views spectacular. I began to understand the mountaineer’s drive to be in that terrain. At times I was overwhelmed with the effort it took for me to reach my destination but always felt happy to be participating. Different group members were warm and encouraging.
Our guide was OUTSTANDING. I was a teacher and I appreciated all of the incentives Sara used to help me not only finish my walk but enjoy it too.
A fantastic and memorable week!
Thank you.