Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

For me i think seeing a grizzly bear and her cub playing in the river was a real highlight, it was an absolutely stunning area and to see the bears in their natural environment interacting with each other was amazing. The journey back on that day was fantastic too we managed to see a large group of Orca's together which was breathtaking and at one point the boat was being followed by around 20 dolphins playing in the sea.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our team leader was fantastic, she was extremely organised and enthusiastic throughout the trip. She made the trip easy for us by suggesting places for dinner and organising picnic lunches for most days. She knew so much about Canadian history which she bought into the holiday and was fun to be with throughout the break.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a fantastic trip to do and i would definately recommend this to anyone, Vancouver Island is a stunning place. Just be aware that seeing wildlife is not guaranteed and just make the most of what you do see. I would suggest taking a small waterproof bag to hold your camera and binoculars for the bear and whale watching on the zodiacs as you can't take a big bag and you don't want to get your camera wet.If you do the kayaking then take a set of dry clothes to change into as you will get wet and i would also advise a hat as my head got a bit burnt and being out for 3 hours you need to be careful.I would also suggest participating in as many of the optional activities as you can as these for me really added to the trip for me, the snorkelling with seals was great fun and the seals were so relaxed on the island occassionally taking a dip in the sea. The kayaking as also great fun, although this is not with whales but round the little islands, it is lovely to see the starfish, fish etc. 

Suggestions

This is a fantastic trip, for me it was a great introduction to Canada and to a wildlife holiday with lot's of activities to try out and get involved in along the way. The hotels were a mix although this was a new trip so this may change, all hotels were comfortable and clean which for me is all you need. The hotel in Uculet was by far the best and was a real bonus for the holiday, very comfortable with lovely views etc. The one in naimomo was a motel and very basic but it was only for one night and was clean and comfortable.You should be aware that we did have to lift our luggage onto the roof of the van which again may change as this is a new trip, this was not a problem for us as we had a couple of helpful guys in our group who were happy to do most of the lifting but i would advise to pack a bit lighter because of this. Overall for me this was the trip of a lifetime, we had a fantastic group and saw so much throughout the week, i would recommend doing this trip to anyone.

Most Inspirational Moment

Felt comfortable rather than inspired. Highlights were time spent chatting with other travellers, watching sunrise over the Aegean, and arriving in port on each island. Old town on Naxos was lovely and worth an extra visit.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Cheerful, charming and helpful but not very interested in or knowledgable about the places we visited. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour, but I did not feel I learnt a lot about what it was like living in the area, and I'm sure there was a lot more historical interest than we had drawn to our attention!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take a good book or Kindle for the ferry journeys, or get lucky and have good company (which I did)

Suggestions

Carafes of local rose wine go down a treat, and leave no hangover!

Most Inspirational Moment

The cookery demonstrations were also entertaining and a highlight for me. Our visit to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Oplontis were wonderful and gave a real feel of Roman Italy.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was Eduardo who had lots of patients and was very knowledgeable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

There are mosquitos so take creams, repellent etc. Things are more expensive than you think e.g. €3 for a can of soft drink so take more money than you had planned to avoid being caught short or having to hunt down an ATM. We went the second week in September and were lucky enough to be there during the festival of the Santa Maria which mean we were treated to the parade through the village with the statue of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, marching band and fireworks. It did also however mean we had to put up with the Fair ground in the vacant lot next to the hotel in the run up to the festival which blasted dance music until midnight every night, so ear plugs are essential if you want an early night.

Suggestions

Ok small negatives, the website says that “the hotel overlooks the Agerola plain” not from any of the rooms our group stayed in, we all had views of either the neighbouring buildings or the other part of the hotel. To get to the view of the Agerola plains it’s a short walk through the village which our guide took us on. If you like a savoury breakfasts your only options are buttered toast and a boiled egg. There are cereals, pastrys, fruit and various jams to choose from but if you dont have a sweet tooth your out of luck. You might want to pack some marmite. I felt the extra expenses section in the Trip notes needed a bit more detail for those of us wishing to plan/ budget properly. For example; If you are a teacher or an OAP you can get in free/ discounted to some of the sites so don’t forget your ID. The packed lunches we took on a number of days from the local bakery and added to our hotel bill were €5 each, for this you got a sandwich with your choice of filling and a small cake (which I don’t think was made at the bakery given its packaging). Going into the Crypt at the Amalfi Cathedral will cost you €3 each and is well worth it for the beautiful paintings in the Crypt alone never mind the small museum of church artefacts. You will need to cover up for the Cathedral and you can’t use flash photography. There is also the option of the paper mill museum which was also €3 each. In Revello going to the Villa Cimbrone will cost you €6 each and is also worth a look around and has some lovely views and gardens. For our guide at Mt Vesuvius we had to pay €10 each (We were a group of 16) I personally didn’t think this was worth it as she spent about 15 mins 20 at most with us and didn’t say anything I hadn’t already read in a guide book or heard from our guide. On our free day we all opted to go to Pompeii and then the Villa Poppea in Oplontis in the afternoon.The transfer was €25 each, our ticket into Pompeii was €8 each, the cost of the Pompeii guide was €11 each and the ticket for Oplontis was €5.50 each. Oplontis was very beautiful and is a world heritage site, it has some of the most well preserved wall paintings in Italy as it was more recently excavated (60’s), it well worth a visit. For our free time in Naples the optional activities were the National Museum of Archaeology, entrance is €8 each and an audio guide is €5 each or you can explore the tunnels under the city for €9.30 each. In the hotel a glass of wine at dinner is €2 unless you have more than one in which case its €5 so if you are having more than one glass it pays to have three. A glass of Prosecco is €4 each, but it is lovely. On your free night you can go and eat your evening meal outside the hotel, but there aren’t that many options to choose from and when the food was so amazing in the hotel you don’t want to go anywhere else. The food is also reasonable priced.

Most Inspirational Moment

All of our days on the Great Wall were excellent, and I wouldn't have missed the experience for the world.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jerry (Wai) is a very good tour guide, and does his best to accomodate everyone in the group, and goes out of his way to do it.Jackey, our tour guide in Xian did his best to accomodate the two of us while we were there, but as there were demonstrations, the Drum and Bell Towers, and City Wall were closed, so we were unable to do what we really wanted, while there. However, our trip to the Terracotta Warriors was excellent.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for rock climbing on the second day on the wall.

Most Inspirational Moment

Most inspirational? Probably the last bit of the final day approaching sungate - i felt like a real intrepid explorer searching for the lost city!! Real dark dank jungle inca path with the echoing sounds of birds all around you....

Thoughts on Group Leader

Bobby was great, really upbeat, sociable funny guy. He has completed this trip about 500x so he knows his stuff. Our group had a few problems with people needing to leave the trail and come back in due to illness. He dealt with this easily and efficiently. Everybody got what they needed. He also helped some of the group organise onward journeys in Peru, very helpful and likes a game of cards!!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Wear insect repellant of the first day from Mollepata, mozzies are rife in the daytime and the 20 or so bites i got that day plagued me for the rest of the trip! Once i wore repellant - no bites received.Take it easy when you get to cusco, a few of our group got ill, possibly a bug or possibly altitude sickness. It ruined the trip for some, so take it easy and eat simple food you know!  Even though restricted on the inca trail, take a book! Sometimes you get to camp at 1-2pm theres time to kill. We played a lot of cards too. It rained everyday about 2pm...but tea time at 4.30 with crackers annd popcorn relly helped!!

Suggestions

A great trip with a mix of the mountains and the classic trail experience. The only really tough day is the pass at 5000m on the 3rd day. Dead womens pass on the trail around day 5 ascends 1200m and then immediately descends 700m to camp - although some found this tough we got to camp around 1.30pm so this could be done a lot slower if needed.Remember to look up and enjoy! its easy to look down at your feet all the time. Youre not particularly rushed for time during the day, youre only going to sit in your tent when you get there! 

Most Inspirational Moment

Ambling around Cusco and suddenly being surrounded by an explosion of colour, music and dancing in the streets, which seemed to fill the whole city for a few hours.. The second day actually reaching the top of the "Gringo killer." I think we all found that hard, but getting there was rewarding.Being woken with coca tea each morning. The third day. That's a day to have your camera out constantly as around every corner was a scene of outstanding natural beauty interspersed with fantastic Inca sites.A lone condor circling our camp on the third evening as the sun set.The sun gate with the first glimpse of Machu Pichu. A well deserved beer or two in the hot springs.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Disnarda was a veritable wealth of local knowledge. A lovely, warm person who was proud of her beautiful country and made the trail all the more enjoyable. She would remind us to drink water at every avaiable opportunity, bless her, & let the various members of our group set their own pace / breaks on the trail which i think was imperative. For Tina, our second guide, i believe this was her first Exodus trip, she again added to our experience in a positive fashion. I hope this will be the first of many for her with Exodus, again a lovely person.Special mention to chef, who prepared two cakes on the first evening, one for Jamie's birthday and another for Martin and Diane's aniversary. Baking two cakes after climbing up a mountain carrying a hefty pack where our group were all ready for bed around 7pm was above and beyond!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Read all the reviews on here. PICK UP YOUR LUGGAGE AT LIMA, EVEN IF YOU'RE TOLD IT'S CHECKED ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!!  Essential items:Camera + extra batteries / memory stick. Waterproof jacket and trousers.Sun hat and glasses.Warm hat and gloves.Deet & sun cream.Fleece & thermals for the evenings, change of footwear.Warm sleeping bag / liner.Head torch.Merino wool t-shirts / hoodies were good.comfy boots + enough socks. comfy quick drying hiking trousers.Trek towel.Antiseptic hand gel / loo roll. shorts / swimwear for the hot baths.Ammonia for bites, although I was lucky, others needed to borrow that quite frequently.Imodium, again i was lucky but others weren't so, but that's enough said there. Enough dollars / soles for the tips and the hot baths / pisco sours / beers etc. A hydration pack / camelbak with maybe an electrolite / isotonic powder to mix in. Diamox / Ibuprofen. Excited anticipation.

Suggestions

It's funny that the Spanish built on older Inca structures, but this wasn't known until local earthquakes demolished the Spanish structures but the Inca remains were revealed intact. When you see the stonework close up you can see why.It's so impressive how the Incas made the most of every available local resource showing a natural flair for ingenuity.If you're thinking of doing it you won't be disappointed. None of my 5 friends or myself have anything more than a reasonable amount of fitness, but it's not just doable, it's fantastic doing it, you can set your own pace. If you do book it, i'll be jealous of you, getting back to the 9 to 5 wasn't easy for any of us after such an unforgettable experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

The moment, when nearly back at base, our cameras packed away safe from the pouring rain, a transient pair of orcas, male and female, surfaced near our boat. To hear them scythe through the water and breathe through their blowholes and realise their size was truly a tremendous experience. Normally the boats strictly adhere to the 100meters distance rule so as not to cause the animals undue alarm but in this case their was no warning that we were in their path as it was unusual for them to be so near to the harbour.Later on the trip, in brilliant sunshine this time, we were able to observe two pods of orcas meeting thus making up a group of 11 but at least the 100metres away this time.I went sea-kayaking for the first time and as I can't swim was very apprehensive. This was soon forgotten as I viewed the forest of sea-urchins and starfish straight down below me.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader just couldn't have done anymore to make our holiday special. This trip did not include any meals so she always made sure that we went to nice places to eat or bought supplies in and took us to scenic areas for picnics.She was very informative about Canadian history as she drove us on city tours or hiked the trails and spoke very enthusiastically about the massive trees we saw on the way.The mini-bus we travelled around in had to have all our luggage loaded onto the roof everytime we changed hotels so she had to be very fit to manage this and it was lucky that there were one or two in the group tall enough and strong enough to pass suitcases to within her grasp.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go on a special interest holiday as that will mean you have something in common with the other members of your group.Wildlife watching at 100mtres away, especially at sea, isn't easy so invest in a decent pair of binnoculars.Try and remember to put your camera away now and again so that you can soak up some of the magic of your wildlife experience directly. Sometimes it can be very fleeting and you may never have that sighting again in your life.

Suggestions

Enjoy the countryside, the company and the food aswell as wildlife doesn't just turn up to order so that anything you do see on this type of trip is a bonus. Headrests in the minibus would have been a bonus too!

Most Inspirational Moment

There were so many - just to pick a few: Tortuguero - the river trips, the lodge and seeing the turtles nesting and hatchlings heading for the sea.Seeing the woolly opossum on our first night walk and the sloth trying to navigate the cables outside El Avion restaurant.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Gio was fantastic.  Not only was he a thoroughly nice person and unobtrusively well organised but he obviously loved the wildlife and his job which shone through.  His knowledge of the wildlife and spotting ability were superb.  He freely gave of his time running extra spotting opportunities and providing us with hand written lists of everything we had seen after we left each lodge.  Gio had excellent English, a quiet sense of humour and gave us just the right amount of extra general information about his country as we were driving along. Gio was ably supported by our driver Gerardo who was a lot of fun and also helped to make sure we didn't have a wasted day by taking us out when Gio was taken ill.Both were unfailingly helpful above and beyond the call of duty and worked hard to make sure we all had great time.

Advice for Potential Travellers

For many walks sandals were fine and they were good for travelling and round the lodges.  On occasion you will need shoes with 'closed toes' as Gio put it - for safety reasons. For those take whatever footwear you would use for a muddy, occasionally steep, walk at home.  For me that was walking boots and poles on occasion but younger and/or fitter folk were fine in lighter walking shoes/trainers as long as they had a good grip.  Insect repellent was useful on occasion but insects were not as much of a problem as I had expected so I wore short sleeved light clothes and shorts much more than long sleeved ones.  It is difficult to get washing dry because of the humidity and in some of the lodges laundry is cheap ($3 for 1 kg) so it is worth considering.Take a towel for the waterfall walk if you want to swim.  The steep walk down and up is all steps.While the recommended bird book in the trip notes was useful if birds are your main interest - for more general wildlife you might find 'Wildlife of Costa Rica - a Field Guide' by Fiona Reid more useful.  It covers the most common birds as well as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and some insects.  You can get it on Amazon or in CR.

Suggestions

It's a great trip and a wonderful country.  Go and enjoy it.

Most Inspirational Moment

too many to say.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was magical.  He really brought Jerash and Petra to life for us with his wonderful stories and frank open nature.  We felt truly looked after and loved having him as our host and guide to this wonderful country.  I would visit Jordan again, and would specifically search out Zuhair to be my guide.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I was worried about clothing but, I shouldn't have.  Take a light pashmina, which you can wrap around your head in the hot sun, or, in the evening if you want to go un-noticed in the street.  However, Jordanians are very hospitable people and, they will not comment on your clothing or make you feel uncomfortable. It is you who will want to blend into the surroundings so that you can observe these kind people without being invited in for tea!

Suggestions

Really, please do use Zuhair.  He is wonderful.

Most Inspirational Moment

having breakfast as the mist cleared revealing the tuscan view - beautiful.

Thoughts on Group Leader

took great care of us, very clear in her directions, made sure we had nothong to worry about, and went the extra mile.

Advice for Potential Travellers

be prepared for it to be wamer than the UK, possibly humid too.