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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14253 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Paul Watt

Reviewed March 2023

Superb Trip

We were a private group of 9 chaps, none of us spring chickens. We went early-March, and the weather was generally warm apart from a couple of very chilly mornings. We were led there by our brilliant leader Mikhled; nothing was too much trouble for him, and he is very knowledgeable. A wonderful country, very friendly. The trip was a good mixture of biking and mini-bus transport. Highlights were Petra, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, and Red Sea/Aqaba. Some steep cycling downhill sections and the odd walk up hills – no great surprise at our age! Accommodation fine and food generally excellent; alcohol is sometimes available, sometimes not, so you need to plan a bit in advance if you like to imbibe, as we do. Overall view – highly recommended. (One tip – we were advised to take US dollars as well as Jordanian dinar; you only need the latter in reality).

Yolanda harris

Reviewed March 2023

Cape Town to Johannesburg

This is a good tour covering a lot of South Africa. There is a lot of travel but it is worth it!

Most Inspirational Moment

The walking trip in the National Park. Seeing the rhino come to the waterhole in the early hours in Eswatini

Thoughts on Group Leader

Warren is very passionate about his role as a tour guide, and about sharing the countries with his clients. He is not frightened of answering questions about the politics and communities in the countries

Advice for Potential Travellers

Expect a lot of travel in between. South Africa has many beautiful areas, but is also a troubled country, so be careful of your possessions and your well-being

Jola T

Reviewed March 2023

Jam-packed holiday

I think this trip should be called Chile Highlights, as you do see best sites of Chile. There is a lot of travelling – planes and buses, so be prepared! Luckily with our trip we didn’t have any plane delays or cancellations, weather also didn’t spoil the plans, which was great! The standard of accommodation was adequate, I particularly liked Hotel Del Paine -mainlyy for the location and views, and Hotel Diego de Almagro (Atacama) had the best facilities and a great location next to centre of San Pedro.

Most Inspirational Moment

So many! Flamingos at Chaxa Lagoon Seeing Milky Way at the Atacama Desert Walk at Osorno Volcano Colourful Valpo the view in Torres del Paine National Park Grey Glacier boat trip

Thoughts on Group Leader

Felipe was great; there was not a question he couldn't answer about Chile and its history or culture. There was a lot to organise on this trip, 4 Flights (including one connection flight), bus transfers - everything worked like clockwork! He reserved dinners for the group for the most evening, all of them were a hit with the group!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared to move around a lot; there are many plane journeys, so you need to get yourself organised so it doesn't overwhelm you! Packing cubes are handy to organise your luggage. For shopping, any jewellery or home accessories/decoration, the Valporaiseo jewellery shop seemed particularly good! For clothing and textiles, the market at Puerto Montt is excellent and has very good prices! You don't get to return to these places, so you must make some quick decisions.

Kieran Daly

Reviewed March 2023

Excellent organisation with great guide providing a satisfactorily challenging experience & educational visit

Group of 16, with 12/4 f/m split, aged late 40s to late 60s. Trip is accurately rated on the Exodus scale – so some fairly stretching treks mixed with highly enjoyable steep sections. Everybody got round with no significant difficulty. Weather in mid-March was really nice – pretty warm at times by day but mostly ideal, and chilly but nothing more dramatic than that at night even at higher camps. Lovely inclusive group chemistry with non-stop chatter. Food is terrific – really quite something for a field kitchen. Just when the idea of another tagine is becoming a little less inspirational then along comes Berber omelette with chips to die for. In general camp life is a bit cushier than the notes might suggest – toilet obviously pretty basic but you learn to adapt. Tents are snug but no trouble sleeping after days like that. And the final day has an optional hamam visit in Taroudant – do not even consider turning it down – it’s the real thing, and not the flaky tourist version elsewhere. A glorious experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

Well, a personal observation here - for me the coolest thing about this part of the world is the sheer awesome vastness, emptiness and silence of it. Unfortunately an Exodus group of 16 is not ideal for experiencing that. No complaints - it was very late in the trip when this occurred to me. But there's a thought for any of you next time - perhaps have a chat about this early on and see if you can get group consensus to agree 30min of silence one evening. Perhaps too much to ask but you never know...

Thoughts on Group Leader

Leader Lahcen is born and bred in the High Atlas and is terrific to talk to regarding life in the mountain villages. Very educational on aspects of how those societies work which would not be obvious, all delivered with a fine sense of humour. Some smart planning on his part making timings work and dealing with an unforeseeable logistical snag due to local flooding. Also did a rather elegant job of patching up my partner's knee after a minor tumble - now healing nicely back in UK! An absolute asset to Exodus.

Advice for Potential Travellers

You will get through Dh1500-1700 each during the week one way or another. Tips, snacks, souk...

Lesley Williams

Reviewed March 2023

Amazing

A thoroughly enjoyable trip. It was a priviledge to be able to go to Antarctica, where so few actually go. Very difficult to put into words what the trip meant other than amazing.
I would do the trip again.

Most Inspirational Moment

Standing actually on the snow on Antarctica itself.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Quark were excellent in all they did for us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Enjoy the trip.

Susan Dick

Reviewed March 2023

Jordan by bike

This was a great trip because of the staff that were with us. The guide Anas was so accommodating and helpful, always smiling and wanting to share as much knowledge about Jordan as possible. No problem was too difficult for him to try to sort. The driver Walid was also hugely experienced and helpful. We were a very small group-3 of us and another super couple. Luckily it worked very well. There was a private group of 9 who were doing the same holiday and I presume that was how the 14 was made up. We were made to wait an hour every morning to let the private tour go first and this was probably the most annoying thing about the trip as we had to wait until 9.00 or 10.00 to leave and so had less time in the evening at our destination – a bit unfair but nothing our group had control over. Also think you should state there is really not much cycling in your brochure. And what cycling there is, is predominately downhill-and some of the downhill is very scary. Quite a few accidents between the 2 groups. We had a poor cycling guide who did not maintain a steady pace and this did not help with uphills and downhills. He seemed to care little what the group was doing, rarely looked behind and was also focusing on his training! Our guide spoke with him but I would suggest he is moved on. We had a day with an excellent cycling guide-ammar and so this guy’s failings really stood out.

Most Inspirational Moment

Jordan really was the most inspirational thing. It is a fantastic country to visit with so much to see. This is a holiday really jammed packed with sights. The backdrop of many of the cycles was also marvellous-great views of incredible rock formations. Nearly every day there was so much to see. Petra was hugely impressive and we had a great day there. However we stayed at Petra for 3 nights which was 1 night too long. This was also the poorest hotel and the food etc not great. Little Petra only took us at most 2 hours and it was quite a made up cycle that day-only 12 miles so we ended up with a free afternoon and another night there. Anas was great at suggesting activities for the afternoon but it was really just filling in time. We ended up in a very touristy Turkish baths which were not very nice. Luckily Anas organised a meal with a family that night and that was a superb evening. Other highlights were swimming in the Dead Sea, seeing the mosaics of Madaba and Mount Nebo and the fabulous Roman site at Jerash. The trip to Wadi Rum for the night was also wonderful. Lovely little camp in a perfect setting with a wonderful evening looking at the stars.

Thoughts on Group Leader

As mentioned above, Anas was a marvellous group leader. He really looked after us so well and really wanted us to have a good time. He dealt with things immediately and was very good at reporting back to us. We were a very small group but he was impressive at working out the best way for the group as a whole making sure no-one was left out. His leadership meant there was not one moment of stress to contend with! He had a great back up staff who all got on very well which also reflected well on Anas. He clearly loves his country and was very happy to share his life and customs with us. We learnt a lot from him. The cycling team who fixed our bikes were very helpful and good fun as was our driver. The only weak link was the cycling guide Josif, whose very uneven cycling pace could have endangered the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I think after the trip, that it is a good idea to consider a couple of days at the Red Sea-unfortunately this trip takes you back to Amman but if you can work it out, you can get a lift down to Aqaba and stay at the Sea-there is a short flight from Aqaba to Amman or you just do the car transfer to Amman at the end of your Red Sea adventure. Very easily arranged independently but we were very lucky that our group leader and driver helped us arrange transfers to our own hotel at the end.

Helen Bouchami

Reviewed March 2023

Challenging but worth it

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and it showed. Many roads are unpaved. People subsist on a daily budget – don’t work that day, don’t eat. But, although the trip has some challenges – altitude, long, dusty transfers, road blocks and strikes around Santa Cruz, the sites are spectacular and worth a bit of discomfort.

Most Inspirational Moment

The time in the desert and the salt flats. I'd seen images of the salt flats and was not disappointed, but the desert was a revelation - lakes streaked with crimson and white, or a vivid blue. Multi-hued mountains in the 'Salvador Dali' desert, Flocks of flamingos, rocks carved by the wind into fantastic shapes.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Melanie was outstanding. She coped so well with the road blocks - often negotiating our way through, or finding ways around. The group trusted her judgement. I owe her a special thank you. When walking in the jungle at Refugio de los Volcanos, I hit my head on a tree branch. I bled so much and the only way out was a 4-wheel drive up a steep and rocky track. Although it was Sunday evening she managed to summon a doctor, who opened up his clinic, cleaned, stitched and dressed the wound and gave me some antibiotics - all for the equivalent of £7! As we moved around, she always located somewhere for my dressing to be changed. Fantastic service. I should also mention our drivers, especially those in the desert who organised a lovely lunch in the middle of the flats and later, sunset drinks and snacks.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Being an Exodus group, the attitude to the challenges of the trip was, 'it's all part of the adventure.' Go with a similar approach and you won't be disappointed. The strikes and road blocks around Santa Cruz, and also some of the long road trips, made getting food difficult. As I'm diabetic, the snacks available in shops weren't suitable, so packing some healthier options would have been a good idea. On the plus side, I lost 4kg!

Richard Armishaw

Reviewed March 2023

A great cycling trip

An amazing trip cycling, taking in breathtaking and varied scenery.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were so many but cycling up the Tizi n’Test pass, reaching the snow line and enjoying a fantastic lunch, taking in the stunning scenery was a highlight.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Abderrahim and Hassan, were excellent leaders. Nothing was too much trouble and they were friendly and knowledgable and always with a smile. Also mustn’t forget our drivers who supported the group throughout the trip and again they were always there to help, whether it be a bike repair, water top ups, snacks or preparing amazing lunches.

Advice for Potential Travellers

We travelled in early March and were lucky with the weather (sunny all week), but it was cool up in the mountains, so earlier in the season be prepared and bring layers. Also, we found having a bike multitool useful for small adjustments to the bikes as they are re-assembled most days at start / end points during the trip. This is a fantastic but hilly cycling trip with ascents between 4-7% with some smaller sections between 8-10% so some cycling fitness /experience would help enjoyment of the trip. Those on the trip with e-bikes certainly appreciated the extra assistance and they were good solid bikes.

Andrew Cameron

Reviewed March 2023

Voyage of discovery

This was the first trip to Central America for my wife & me. The group size was only nine, so not too large which helped a lot when it came to looking through one mono scope at yet another new bird. The trip mainly involved birdwatching, though bathing in hot springs, a river & the Pacific ocean were features. The hotels were all to a good standard, however, the Suria hotel had a limited menu for all four main meals. Distances travelled were generally less than 5 hours, however, one day that was exceeded when a bridge partially collapsed. We visited tropical & rainforest as well as cloud forest & mountane (transitional) climates. Our amazing guide David, helped us to spot literally hundreds of birds & he was so knowledgeable & enthusiastic. He also ensured any problems were dealt with diligently & effectively. This was truly an incredible adventure & we can thoroughly recommend it.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing an anteater cross the road on a wire with a baby on her back.

Thoughts on Group Leader

David Vargas was the best leader one could ever have hoped for.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is the rain forest, ensure good waterproofs!

Neil Thomas

Reviewed March 2023

Sunrise, sunsets, monks and monkeys

This was our ninth trip with Exodus and although Cambodia didn’t make it into my top three of countries visited, this tour was simply the best so far. This was as much due to sharing the trip with a lovely group of like-minded travellers and having an excellent leader as it was to the experiences we enjoyed together.

Most Inspirational Moment

I suppose everyone expects the highlight to be the visit to Angkor Wat to see the sun rise over the temple, but for me the real wow moments came elsewhere. The cyclo ride around Phnom Penh was great fun, the bamboo train in Battambong an experience like no other. There were three boat trips to see the sunset, in Kampot, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, all of them memorable. And then there was the two-day stay at Koh Rong island, including a delightful group meal on the beach.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Chan Ly was exceptional. He was permanently available for help and advice - even sending a WhatsApp message at 3.45am to confirm our Angkor Wat trip would go ahead as planned. He did everything with a smile and bonded well with all members of the group. He was on hand to support when various members suffered stomach upsets. Most of all his knowledge of and pride in his country enabled us to see so much of Cambodian life.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Cambodia is a rapidly developing country. I was astonished at the number of high rise buildings, many still under construction, in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Siem Reap, and some of the trunk roads are in the throes of an upgrade. And beware of the monkeys. My wife lost her camera case after an unequal struggle with an aggressive macaque at Angkor. We also spent much time before heading for Cambodia trying to find an appropriate plug adaptor. Don't worry. Almost all sockets accept UK plugs. Finally, consider adding a day or two to your holiday. There is more to do in and around Siem Reap than can be fitted into the Exodus itinerary.

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