Most Inspirational Moment
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Thoughts on Group Leader
Thanos was extremely knowledgeable about the history and culture of the island, but his communication and walk leading skills were poor. My experience of other holidays with Exodus and Explore are that the leader gives a talk each evening about the following day, telling one what to expect and what we need to take. Thanos did not do this. On one evening I asked him to do this and he appeared surprised at my request. One morning as we started the walk from the hotel, as we got to a shop he told us that we needed plenty of water and suggested that we like to buy some from the shop. Fortunately I had asked him this question the night before at dinner and had therefore filled the extra water bottles that I had bought with me. Others in the group bought water from the shop when in fact they may also have had extra bottles at the hotel which they hadn't brought with them. All the walks were at a very fast pace and this was the general feeling of the group. Several of us were regular walkers and yet struggled to keep up. There was certainly no chance to look at the flowers and any wildlife. Thanos rarely stopped for people to catch up and members of the group had to ensure that those at the back were not left behind. It was hard to understand the reason for the pace of the walks as we often finished early and on many days were back at the hotel by 4pm having four hours to kill before we went out for dinner at 8pm. On a positive note Thanos did take us on a walk on the free day and did not expect any payment for this. I feel that he is an excellent local cultural guide, but is not suited to leading walks and his communication skills leave a lot to be desired.
Reply from Exodus
We were very surprised to read Samantha’s review as Thanos usually receives excellent feedback from clients, which can be seen in these online reviews. We are confident that Thanos is a great leader, but we are really sorry that Samantha was not so impressed on this occasion.