Reviews

Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It’s the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you’re interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.

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14485 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

joe neduvelil

Reviewed February 2016

Cape Town to Johannesburg

I really enjoyed this tour and would highly recommend it- the tour offered the opportunity to see a lot of Southern Africa – I started the reverse itinerary in Cape Town, a beautiful city with plenty to do. There are many highlights on this trip – the landscapes and wildlife were spectacular- we saw the big 5 several times including leopard on 3 consecutive days. Many of the other highlights are outlined in the trip notes and I won’t repeat them here. Our guides Justin and Fiona were excellent. This was the first fully accommodated tour offered by Exodus for this journey and all our accommodation was clean and of a good standard. The transport was spacious with regular stops on the long driving days. On one of our walks in Lesotho, the rain and hail came down and a grandma from the village invited us to take shelter in her home – the people here are very accommodating. During our trip, there were some water restrictions due to the worst drought in Southern Africa since the eighties but there was always the opportunity to get a shower every day. Similarly, a couple of places either had no electricity or restrictions on when it was available. The general standard of the local guides was good with some such as Thulani, a Zulu guide, at Rourke’s drift outstanding and others still gaining experience. With the depreciation of the rand, South Africa is very cheap compared to the UK.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were several - the stunning beauty of the Drakensberg; the opportunity to see abundant wildlife including the Big 5, but much more; the friendliness of the people we encountered.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Justin was our tour leader and driver - he was fantastic at spotting and identifying wildlife, as well as having great knowledge of all aspects of the country. Fiona was our cook and provided a variety of tasty meals including local dishes such as potjies and Braai, often going beyond the call of duty to cater for guest's wishes. Their easygoing yet professional attitude enhanced the whole trip experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Our stay in Lesotho provided us with the opportunity to engage with the local community, visiting people's homes, schools and villages - there is the opportunity to give the community old clothes and stationery for the schools - nothing gets wasted here. This is not included in the Exodus trip notes. Remember this is Africa, so chill and don't worry about first world problems. South African power sockets require their own unique 3 pin plugs not available in most multi-adaptor plugs

Lauren Sable

Reviewed February 2016

South Africa Walking & Wildlife

We booked this trip for our Honeymoon, it was something we always wanted to do and we enjoy trekking.
We said we would keep a very open mind when getting to South Africa as we didn’t expect to see a lot of animals or didn’t know what to expect with the accommodation.
Well, we were completely blown away with what we saw on this trip, within the first evening on the safari we saw Elephants, Giraffes, Buffalo, Impala and Wildebeest.
The accommodation was very good, clean and tidy. Our favourite place we stayed was Mtomeni Safari camp in Letaba Ranch Reserve, this was the true safari experience for us. There was no electricity so bring your torch, sat round the fire, taken back to our tent in the evening by a guide with a riffle just in case we had an unexpected visitor!!. Waking up in the morning to site of the beautiful river with some monkey playing outside of tent was brilliant!
Kruger Park was not as touristy as we thought it would be, the camp sites were really good and the showering facilities were very clean. Seeing all the animals so close to our van was incredible. It was almost like the animals were just as interested in us as we were in them!
The walking comes later in the trip mainly, the mountains were breath-taking. The scenery surrounding our accommodation was amazing. Drakensberg is such a beautiful place and easily somewhere you could go back in the future for more walks.

Most Inspirational Moment

The highlight of the trip was seeing Elephants walking in a line, crossed the road with their young (who kept looking back at us) it just fantastic and something I only dreamed I was see. It totally made our trip and was a dream come true! Also the safari game walk was a brilliant activity. Our guides Craig and Edwin were brilliant and very friendly. We tracked a giraffe then saw it in the distance. It was great to learn so much from him and being in the bush on foot was amazing an experience we will never forget.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was Ende and he was absolutely incredible as were our 2 other guides Colly and Marco. They were all very knowledgeable on the animals, birds, trees, plants etc we saw and could identify every we saw (even when we were quite far away!) The meals were excellent and so tasty, every meal was different. We really enjoyed their company and are hoping to stay in touch in the future. Anyone who gets these 3 guys as guides will be very lucky and are sure to have an amazing time.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The drives can be very long on some days driving to different places so maybe take a book or something to occupy yourself. However the guides have a library on the van with lots of wildlife/birds etc which you are welcome to read.

Sheri Amsterdam

Reviewed February 2016

Cycling from Costa Rica through Nicaragua

We cycled from San Ramon, Costa Rica to Grenada, Nicaragua. It was such an exhilarating trip. Our guides were extremely fit, professional and fun. We really enjoyed ourselves!

Most Inspirational Moment

This was my first bike trip, and probably won't be my last. I wasn't sure how i was going to do, and with the help of the guides, i felt confident through out the whole trip. It was a blast!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Roberto, was fantastic. Not only was he super familiar with the route, he also was fit and fun. Everyone in the group felt supported the whole way, and Roberto was also filled with very interesting facts about the countries and the industries within.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just do it! It was so much fun, at times very difficult, but the difficult parts were celebrated and were definitely worth the effort. Oh yea!

Jane Rodgman

Reviewed January 2016

A good mix of activities and time to relax

It is really like the pictures in the brochure! So beautiful and peaceful but with lots of activities to try out along with time to relax in comfortable accommodation and excellent quality local food.

As daylight hours at short this encourages you to spend a few hours relaxing in front of the open fire in the late afternoon before dinner.

Most Inspirational Moment

I really enjoyed the mix of activities but the husky dog sledging and the optional snow shoe to Castle Rocks were particularly memorable.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Henri was an excellent leader. He was well organised, very knowledgeable about the area, activities and wilderness skills and communicated this with good humour. All the staff at the Basecamp were lovely and nothing was too much trouble.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Whilst all the clothing (which is of a high standard) is provided I was glad I had a few extra base layers but I do tend to feel the cold more than others.

Helen Stockham

Reviewed January 2016

A great week of two contrasts

A great week with the contrast of the hussle and bussle of Marrakech and the mountain vistas of the High Atlas Mountains. We had a fantastic group to enjoy the week with. There was less snow than is typical at this time of year (snow only above ~3700m) however there was still enough to require crampons and ice axes on the two summit days.

Most Inspirational Moment

The amazing views from Mount Toukbal and Ouanoukrim where we had 360 degree panoramic views for miles, and we could even see the dust from the Sahara. We were very fortunate to have two consecutive days of fantastic clear blue skies and sunshine .

Thoughts on Group Leader

Hamid our group leader and mountain guide for the week was fantastic. He was very supportive, nothing was too much trouble, he was full of life and always happy. He was also very knowledgeable and had the health and safety interests of the group as a priority. He was very encouraging to members of the group who struggled a bit at times to help them get to the summits. Our second mountain guide for the four High Atlas days, Mohammed was also excellent.

Advice for Potential Travellers

We travelled a day early to Marrakech so we had two full days to explore, in addition to the last morning before flying home. The trip notes are slightly incorrect: on the first full day of the trip (day 2) you actually have a leisurely breakfast in the hotel in Marrakech before travelling to Imlil, so you have lunch in Arround (and you don't get the morning and lunch in Marrakech). Take ear plugs and wet wipes for the mountain refuge (Mount Toubkal base camp) - as you sleep in very close proximity to your group members and the bathroom facilities are not the most pleasant. Warm water for the showers is very limited, so be prepared to not have a shower in the mountains.

Leanne Malcolmson

Reviewed January 2016

Finnish wilderness week

A wonderful week of winter activities (all of them a new experience for me from snow shoeing to husky dog sleds) and fun in the snow. The evenings were spent in the community building/hub eating great food and enjoying the company of the rest of the group round the fire with a few drinks.

Most Inspirational Moment

so many to choose from: - Cross country skiing across the frozen lake, - Attempting the ice wall, - Husky Dog sleds in -39, - Building and spending a night in a Quinzee,

Thoughts on Group Leader

Martti was great, he went above and beyond making sure everyone was happy and well informed, Loved his stories too even if my toes nearly fell off during one on the night snow shoe walk. All the other staff were great too and the food cooked was amazing.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Although all clothing needed is provided I found that several thin base layers underneath were needed, also a thinner pair of gloves were good under the gloves/mittens provided. There is only a few hair dryers for everyone to share so a travel one is a good idea. If you like a cuppa in the morning then take a travel kettle as Breakfast wasn't til 9am. You get a towel provided but I'm glad I took an extra thin one which was useful to take to the sauna/hot tub

Jean Mcnally

Reviewed January 2016

Discover Sri Lanka, premium holiday

Good trip. Covered all the main places of interest in Sri Lanka

Most Inspirational Moment

Sirigyra climb

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent. Always got us organised but in a relaxed way. Very knowledgable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Some quite long bits of travelling. Hotels variable.

Lauren Hogarth

Reviewed January 2016

I had an excellent time during the Finnish Wilderness Week

I had an awesome time from start to finish. The clothing provided was excellent and protected me well against the temperatures which did sink into the minus 30s. The room was comfortable although i didn’t spend too much time in it. Food was great and filling after busy days (there is a lot of fish which I am not usually a big fan of but I loved the fish soups). Activities were well run and the instructors were patient and well skilled in cross country skiing and snowshoeing as well as various winter wilderness skills.

Most Inspirational Moment

Being outside in such a stunning location! Husky sledding was particularly memorable though as was the optional long snowshoe offered on the Saturday.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was Henri Suopanki who was brilliant. He is a great tour leader who is a good instructor across all activities. He is patient and helpful when instructing and with any other queries. He also mixes a good cocktail! All the staff at Basecamp Oulanka were great and this is one of the best places I've ever stayed.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take a book or small board game for the evening. When I went the days started getting dark at 3pm so a lot of time was spent in front of the open fire in the main lodge. There are a couple of board games available but I'd advise bringing a little entertainment of your own.

Alan Davidson

Reviewed January 2016