Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Hearing the morning calls of the Indiri Indiris in the forest in Andasibe NP. Hearing those beautiful, mournful cries ringing out across the tree-tops was literally like listening to the voice of the rainforest and then shortly after being surrounded by a large family group of Diademed Sifakas and being with them for more than 20 minutes as they leaped and chattered- incredible.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Armel was superb! What an absolute gem! His experience and professionalism made the trip the success it was. He worked tirelessly to ensure we enjoyed every possible experience and saw as much as we possibly could in the time available and became not just a tour leader, but a friend who made us feel genuinely welcome in his country. Organising and managing a trip like ours in Madagascar cannot be easy but Mel made it appear effortless. We cannot thank him enough for his hard work, enthusiasm and humour together with his encyclopedia knowledge.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't think twice about booking this trip! Please go and enjoy this country and its wildlife. The Exodus trip helps to support local businesses and aims to help local economies which is something very important to this country. Road journeys are long but they are worth it- don't be put off- the scenery is so diverse and beautiful. We travelled in September and the first half of the trip, especially in the higher altitudes, was cooler than some of us expected so we'd suggest taking more lightweight, long sleaved trousers and shirts than shorts for example. They are not only useful when it's cooler but also help avoid scratches when hiking in the rainforest or spiny forest. On the internal flight back to Tana, hand luggage is weighed and there is a strict 5kg limit that you have to adhere to.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing a turtle laying eggs and seeing turtles mating at sea, seeing a whole flock of macaws, spending 10 minutes watching a tapir munching fruit, and of course, seeing the quetzal! Waking up to the sound of howler monkeys and the forest. Too many to mention!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Randall was fabulous! His fun, friendly and organised way of leading the group, combined with his enthusiasm, expert knowledge of wildlife, plants and of CR more generally, made him one of the best tour leaders. As well as the itinerary activities and optional trips, he arranged other things not on the itinerary such as stopping at a cafe where there was a good chance of seeing a quetzal (which we did!), and organising a trip to the sloth sanctuary at Cahuita.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be realistic when wildlife viewing - trying to looking for birds and animals often in dense forest means that wildlife can be difficult to spot even when there is plenty of it! Although Costa Rica is not a huge country, some places are quite remote so travel can take time- but travelling by boat is always enjoyable!

Most Inspirational Moment

0’Celebrio and final day , save your energy for both.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Caring and considerate, Alfonso was a good tour guide.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Train for two tough days.

Most Inspirational Moment

The trip is a series of discoveries and revelations that expand what you know and give context to many of the key events of the last century making us all too aware of how fragile our peace and security are. Visiting the nuclear launch site that is now a museum of The Cold War was a chilling reminder of this. But it was a trip filled with fun too. I loved swimming in the Baltic and cycling through the sand dunes. The cities were visited were lively and full of great bars and restaurants with people young and old enjoying life. Particularly memorable was the brilliant band in the Jazz club. I’m not sure if the dancing of Andrius and me did the musicians justice but we certainly had a great time.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Andrius was an excellent guide - intelligent energetic, informed, funny, opinionated and thoughtful - and good company at all times. I always felt that he was working really hard to make the trip enjoyable and rewarding for everyone in the group - a very challenging task when different people sometimes had very different expectations he had to balance. I think he did this with tact and good humour. He always kept us informed about his plans each day but also gave us scope for doing our own thing when this was appropriate. When he did have to deal with a very unfortunate accident involving one of the group members he managed it very sensitively, professionally and compassionately. The success of the trip was in very large measure down to him. Thanks, Andrius! Our driver, Mindaugas, was super too. Totally professional but always with a smile.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Read the trip notes and you will be fully prepared. If you have wanted to try a cycling holiday but haven’t been sure about it, this would be a great trip to start with. I loved it and would now like to try something a little more demanding.

Most Inspirational Moment

I enjoyed visiting Dubrovnik and hearing about its history, walking the walls in Dubrovnik is a must.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ivan the group leader was brilliant, really well organised and super helpful to all of us in the group. Arranging great places to eat and unique experiences along the way.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Pack some beach shoes as some of the beaches can be made up of sharp stones.

Most Inspirational Moment

I enjoyed the optional glacier walk - we had a very charming and supportive Nepalese guide. Really outstanding. It was a great experience to get up close with glacier ice and experience the beautiful blue colour. The first day on the Jostedalsbreen National Park was stunning - we were walking on snow in August!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Anders is the owner of NES Gard as well as the guide for most days. He certainly runs the trip along his own principles rather than as you would expect an Exodus trip to pan out. He is quite intolerant of slower walkers to the point of making them sit out or turn back unsupervised on a walk as the pace is holding back the elite walkers. In my opinion if you want to run a group for mountaineers, you need to specify at the point of booking and only accept bookings from qualified people. I paid 3k as did others so we were entitled to full participation of the walks on offer. There was a walk in the Mykkersdal valley which is very dark and gets no sunlight and in addition on this day it had rained all night and all day so the rocks were very slippery and there were lots of boggy patches. So at lunch in a clearing, Anders picked people out to turn back as they could not keep pace. I wAnted to continue but was told to turn back. There were 4 ladies and one very concerned man who was also a doctor, accompanied our group. The terrain was very tricky. Unfortunately we seemed to take a wrong path as the markings were not obvious and we got some way before realising this route was not correct. We carried on a bit further as we thought it might come out at the carpark but then decided to turn back. Meanwhile the elite group had got back to the bus to find we had not returned so Anders set out to find us. There was no phone signal in the valley so our messages had not been received and if anyone had had an accident, we had no way of contacting anyone. Also Anders did not carry a satellite phone for emergencies. This really was not an acceptable regard to the health and safety of the clients and Anders should not have split up the group. Usually Exodus guides stop frequently for catching up and normally take the opportunity to tell clients something about the history or geography of the area but Anders didn’t seem to have any such information to share. I did not learn anything about the history or mythology of Norway from Anders or the geology

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don’t go on the trip unless you are A frequent hill or mountain Walker or walk on uneven terrain at a fast pace. You might come home feeling you failed to keep up. The terrain really is very uneven and you might have to scramble over rocks on your front occasionally . That said, the scenery is stunning!

Most Inspirational Moment

The visit to the Soviet nuclear missile site. It brought it home what the Cold War was all about.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Andrius was a absolute star. His command of English was excellent and he also understood (I think) the British sense of humour. His knowledge of the history of the region was encyclopaedic and there were very few questions on almost any topic which he was unable to answer. He took great pains to arrange our itinerary so that we saw as much as possible within the limited time available and built in little "extras" where he could. His organisation was superb and the whole tour, which was action-packed, ran to schedule. Andrius made a big contribution to our enjoyment of the tour and we were very appreciative of his efforts. (By the way the driver was also a real star: hard working, always smiling and popping up in the right place at the the right time to load our bikes or replenish our water bottles.)

Advice for Potential Travellers

Wear padded cycling shorts. It might be worth while reading up on the history of the Baltic States although you will get a thorough briefing from Andrius on the day.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing the animals, landscape and people, especially the helicopter trip over the Delta.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Adonia was excellent and very helpful

Advice for Potential Travellers

We recommend the helicopter flight over the Delta. Take a lot of small US dollar bills i.e. 1 and 5. Take a power bank to charge devices (just in case)

Most Inspirational Moment

Coming into the Serengeti - a sense of wilderness over and above the Masai Mara.

Thoughts on Group Leader

All four of the team were outstanding - and were a real team.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Group leader kept everyone together, had enormous knowledge, was very friendly.....had a weird taste in music....but made sure the holiday was brilliant.

Advice for Potential Travellers

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