Reviews

Beware of the Altitude

Only rated as good because my wife and I were only able to complete the rain forest part. The trip notes mention consulting your GP about the altitude sickness pills. Ours advised against. As a result of the jump from rain forest to Cusco on a 1 hour flight, my wife ended up in hospital for 6 days due to altitude sickness and a pulmonary edema.
We really enjoyed the rain forest and have previously enjoyed many holidays with Exodus.
It’s a pity the trip notes do not stress how it is really essential to take the altitude sickness pills – this is what all the doctors in Peru also confirmed. The situation also wasn’t helped by the hotel in Cusco with cold rooms and showers that took for ever to get warm. The night before ending up in hospital my wife had endured a freezing cold shower and then went to bed shivering until she fell asleep. It turns out this also did not help her condition and was very likely a significant factor in the edema developing. Thankfully Smithy, our guide, was quick to spot the symptoms so medical attention was brought in fairly early.

Most Inspirational Moment

Travelling along the river in the mist.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Smithy was good company, knowledgeable and did his best to accommodate us. There were only 4 in the group so he was able to suggest and arrange alternative activities.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Unless there is a medical reason not to, take the altitude pills. Otherwise, find another route to start the Inca Trail. Machu Pichu itself should be fine at about 2,400m, it's just getting there without the sudden increase to over 3,000m that Cusco entails is the problem

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Thom for his review, although we remain very sorry that his wife was unwell during the tour.  We hope they both felt well looked after by our local team during the team’s daily visits to the hospital.  We recognise the risks of travelling to altitude and on our tours which reach high altitudes we do try to be clear about these risks in our trip notes, and as we are not medical professionals we, as is the case for most tour operators, direct clients towards medical health professionals when it comes to medical travel advice.  We are very sorry, however, that Thom received advice which he and his wife do not feel was correct as we recognise that this must have been incredibly disappointing. 

 

Lucy Crabb – Exodus’ Customer Services Manager

Great to see machu pechu but exodus are a rip off

We went to peru to see machu pechu and it was brilliant, well recommended to go if you get the chance but do not book it with exodus as the rip you off

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing machu pechu and the trek to get there, also going to the amazon and the wild life

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank James for his feedback. We were pleased to read that he found Machu Picchu to be brilliant, although we are sorry that he has concerns about the cost of the trip. Following previous correspondence, we have responded to these concerns on an individual basis. Taking into account all of the reviews we have received, we remain confident that the price of our Inca Trail & the Amazon Rainforest tour offers excellent value for money and we feel that we are very clear in our trip notes about the expected tipping amounts.   Sarah Ahern – Product Manager

Great trip

A really full on trip to Peru… jungles, Machu Pichu, Cusco and Lake Titicaca…what more could you ask for! Thoroughly recommend.

Inca Trail, Amazon Forest and Lake Titicaca (20 Jul-4 Aug)

Overall, a very well-organized trip by Exodus and I cannot commend enough our Tour Leader (Smithy) and also the local guides in the Amazon Forest (Joel and Moises) and Inca Trail (Johnny). Smithy, as a Tour Leader, has demonstrated excellent leadership skills in the midst of adversity esp after the Inca Trail wherein our train back to Cusco has been delayed due to unforeseen incident that is beyond of anyone’s control. Smithy has been very transparent of the situation and as a group I do feel we pull together and watch out each other. I think Exodus has been excellent in ensuring we will still continue our holiday despite of these setbacks.

This is our first exodus experience and will definitely be using them again.

Inca Trail, Amazon Forest and Lake Titicaca (20 Jul-4 Aug)

Overall, a very well-organized trip by Exodus and I cannot commend enough our Tour Leader (Smithy) and also the local guides in the Amazon Forest (Joel and Moises) and Inca Trail (Johnny). Smithy, as a Tour Leader, has demonstrated excellent leadership skills in the midst of adversity esp after the Inca Trail wherein our train back to Cusco has been delayed due to unforeseen incident that is beyond of anyone’s control. Smithy has been very transparent of the situation and as a group I do feel we pull together and watch out each other. I think Exodus has been excellent in ensuring we will still continue our holiday despite of these setbacks.

This is our first exodus experience and will definitely be using them again.

An amazing adventure!

Wow – we packed so much in – three holidays in one; the Amazon, Inca Trail and Lake Titicaca including incredible wildlife, landscapes, culture and history. The itinerary was full on but we were expertly guided by Smithy who looked after our group so well. The icing on the cake was the group we were with – what a wonderful bunch of people we shared this amazing adventure with!
The kit list is a good guide and a battery for charging your electronics is a must.

Wonderful trip!

This trip provides the opportunity to experience some very diverse, but all incredible, landscapes of Peru. It includes a bit of everything: adventure, trekking, wildlife, culture, history and great food – especially whilst camping on the Inca Trail! Our experiences were always enhanced by the seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of our various local guides. The trip was very well organised and communication with us, members of the group, was excellent throughout. It involves lots of packing and unpacking of bags for the different parts of the trip, so we needed to be organised too (!!), and Peruvian journeys by air, bus, train and boat! Day 2 of The Inca Trail is very challenging because of the altitude and the length of climb, but once you’ve got through that, Days 3 and 4 were fantastic walking, culminating in our first thrilling sight of Machu Picchu.

Trip of a Lifetime

An absolutely fantastic trip. From start to finish Exodus excelled themselves. It’s not often you come back from somewhere and feel you’ve truly “seen” a place. With this, you do. Spanning landscapes, terrains, cultures, altitudes – you see it all. The Amazon is breathtaking; wildlife, the noise, the vastness of it – it’s incomparable. The Inca Trail is a true pilgrimage. Beautiful scenary, a challenge but so worth every. single. step. It’s hard to not feel overwhelmed and in awe on arrival to Machu Picchu. The people are wonderful, the food is wonderful, the sounds, smells, early mornings, late nights – worth every single penny. It’s not a holiday, it’s an adventure – the more you immerse yourself, the greater the rewards. As my first solo trip in my 20s, this was the most supportive environment to see a place, I felt safe and never in any danger. Thank-you to my wonderful group, every guide, every Porter and our wonderful guide for looking after me!

Inca Trail & Amazon Rain Forest + Homestay

All in all a great trip – I met some great people and saw some amazing sights, but this is no walk in the park and I don’t think any of us on the trip fully appreciated just how mentally and physically challenging this trip would be -with a rating of just 3 I think most of us who are experienced hikers – myself and two others hiked in Nepal last year and one of our grp had hiked to Everest base camp thought although a challenge we would not have to many problems – we had underestimated the effects of walking at altitude and not taken into consideration that it would most likely rain as it did for 2 days solid and then having to sleep in tiny tents which let in water whilst wet and cold was not exactly much fun

Experience the best of Peru in 2 weeks

This rates among my top trips ever (and I’ve been on quite a few). Peru is an amazing destination. It is also a huge country and it would be difficult/impossible to organise the variety of activities that enable you to sample some of its highlights without the top organisation of Exodus’s UK and local teams.