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Turtle, Ecuador

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.

Simply use the selector below to search our trip reviews and start reading real feedback from real Exodus travellers who have ‘been there and done that’!

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Reviews

Evia

Overall great trip. Really beautiful island, miles of gorgeous coastline, great food, comfy hotel and all round excellent week.

Most Inspirational Moment

The gorge walk on the last day - just really beautiful and a lovely walk.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent. Thoroughly kind and considerate and couldn't do enough for us. Obviously knew the area really well in terms of geography and history, and his enthusiasm was catching.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Although the walking wasn't excessively challenging, the heat did add to the effort. Definitely take a hat, and consider flexible walking footwear e.g. gortex boots as feet will swell in the heat and leather is less forgiving. Take long walking trousers as some of the walks are through very thorny pathways.

Suggestions

no.

Great trip

I had a great trip staying at Braccicorti and walking in the remote mountains.The accommodation is a family run hotel. The family are very friendly and the food wholesome and locally sourced. The trip was full on, we were busy most of the time. The walking was quite tough but very enjoyable, we reached lots of peaks and there were always options for the less able. Apart from our day off and one of the day’s of walking we were very much off the beaten track and did not meet too many other people. The whole group gelled well together over a common love of walking.

Most Inspirational Moment

I was very happy to have got to the top of the highest mountain in Tuscany - Monte Prado - at 2054 metres. The views from the top were amazing.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sara was amazing - she was beyond excellent. She couldn't do enough for us. She was very well organised and planned all our transport arrangements for our free day in Lucca. She was always on duty from breakfast to dinner (and no doubt beyond). She looked after us really well.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are not a regular hiker, make sure you get fit before you come on the holiday and you will enjoy it much better. Age is no barrier, as long as you are fit. We had a couple in their late seventies on our trip who tackled the peaks no problem. Make sure you are well equipped with proper walking boots with ankle support and clothing for all weathers - sun hat, sunglasses, waterproof jacket and trousers, hat and gloves - the weather can change suddenly. If you are in need of a holiday to relax and read a book, this is not the holiday for you. We were busy the majority of the time. On the other hand, if you like to be busy and to be walking, you will enjoy the trip.

Suggestions

Just to say thank you to Sara and the family at Braccicorti for making our stay so enjoyable. A great holiday, to be recommended.

Fabulous Trip!

One of the best Exodus holidays I have been on! The hotel was excellent, with the best view ever, very friendly and helpful owners and staff, and the food was the best I’ve ever had on any of your trips! Our guide Luis was an exceptional young man, with the most amazing knowledge of the area, historically, geographically and flora and fauna-wise! He is a gem and Exodus should keep him as a treasure in their chest! The scenery in the Picos way surpassed my expectations, and the Cares Gorge walk, although 7.5miles each way is one of the wonders of the World and well worth it!

Most Inspirational Moment

Summiting 2 of the 3 peaks that we were led up by Luis, felt very proud! The 3rd one on the last day I did get to within 75 metres pf the top but then vertigo prevented me from going any further. Luis was very supportive throughout and was pleased that we knew our limitations.

Thoughts on Group Leader

As I have said previously, he was THE BEST!!

Advice for Potential Travellers

You need to be quite fit for this trip, and walking poles are really needed for some of the steeper ascents and descents. Do not worry if you are a mild vertigo sufferer as it is really only the last peak on the last day that will really challenge you, and Luis always provides a nice comfortable area in a col to wait while the braver ones attempt the climb.

Suggestions

The day off trip to the coast is well worth it! The walk that Jim (Hotel owner) points out on a map he gives to one of the people going, is absolutely wonderful! The stunning bays and cliff coastline, with the mountains framing it all is well worth it. For those who do not wish to do that walk, they are dropped in Llanes where we all meet up at 4pm after a wonderful day at the seaside. You can swim in the bay at Llanes and there are lots of little restuarants in which to have/buy lunch.

Two weeks of cycling, food and sweat

We had great time with the group for this two-week holiday. We were spoiled by the team who were looking after us. It’s not just the cycling your, but food, culture and team. Finally, I managed to put some photos and video together. Hope you enjoy it: https://youtu.be/98upKDJQQN4

Wonderful introduction to the beauty, culture and history of Albania

Wonderful way to explore Albania aboard a bike saddle will be for us less fit people pretty challenging cycling, but the rewards for one’s efforts were great incredible views, fantastic mountain scenery, beautiful coastline and rural landscape. Once again, having a local guide made a massive difference introducing us to a wonderful range of Excellent local food much of it, organic locally grown and us very tasty and nutritious. The history and culture of Albania is fascinating. Although it’s difficult to burp watch while cycling, it was wonderful to hear the gold orioles singing, and the bee aters calling above your head as you rode for a beautiful rural countryside

Most Inspirational Moment

Soaking up the stunning mountain landscape, especially at the end of a long, hard climb

Thoughts on Group Leader

Erlis Our local guide was simply outstanding in every way. He and his support driver mechanic Klodi made the trip for us. They are truly wonderful ambassadors for their country. Both of them keen and enthusiastic throughout the day and evening, ever ready to help and guide. Erlis’s organisational skills are 2nd to none, despite having a relatively large group and on occasions arriving at quite busy restaurants we never waited long for food and always received superb service. Superb presentation, superb food at a very reasonable price. He clearly has a very good relationship with all his contacts out there. Travelling alone it’s a real lottery to Find a nice place to eat or have a coffee and in some areas. These places were few and far between but he and the locals didn’t let us down. He made himself available, 24 hours a day and hand with everybody and every situation with total competence and superb people skills. His command of English was exceptional and one evening he gave us a talk on the history and culture of Albania up to today and explained how the Albanian people of moulded and why they are as they are today. Also why some of the younger generation are leaving for other countries. Even though the talk lasted over an hour it seemed far less.On occasions, I looked around and everybody was transfixed he was constantly gauging, the level of interest from the people around him, and accurately detected. They were all fascinated by his presentation of his country’s history.He Deliver this presentation, which included many small details in an incredibly eloquent way, applying chronology of events throughout. I don’t believe he has had any training as a teacher, but I wish my history teachers had been as good as him. He came across as someone who genuinely loved his country. and wanted others like us to be aware of its history warts and all so they could understand his culture. It’s sad that so many people in the UK make generalisations about the Albania And the flood of your legal immigrants. Throughout our time in Albania, we were greeted with friendliness and given wonderful full hospitality. The Albanians, we had contact with warm hard-working people.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Erlis Our local guide was simply outstanding in every way. He and his support driver mechanic Klodi made the trip for us. They are truly wonderful ambassadors for their country. Both of them keen and enthusiastic throughout the day and evening, ever ready to help and guide. Erlis’s organisational skills are 2nd to none, despite having a relatively large group and on occasions arriving at quite busy restaurants we never waited long for food and always received superb service. Superb presentation, superb food at a very reasonable price. He clearly has a very good relationship with all his contacts out there. Travelling alone it’s a real lottery to Find a nice place to eat or have a coffee and in some areas. These places were few and far between but he and the locals didn’t let us down. He made himself available, 24 hours a day and hand with everybody and every situation with total competence and superb people skills. His command of English was exceptional and one evening he gave us a talk on the history and culture of Albania up to today and explained how the Albanian people of moulded and why they are as they are today. Also why some of the younger generation are leaving for other countries. Even though the talk lasted over an hour it seemed far less.On occasions, I looked around and everybody was transfixed he was constantly gauging, the level of interest from the people around him, and accurately detected. They were all fascinated by his presentation of his country’s history.He Deliver this presentation, which included many small details in an incredibly eloquent way, applying chronology of events throughout. I don’t believe he has had any training as a teacher, but I wish my history teachers had been as good as him. He came across as someone who genuinely loved his country. and wanted others like us to be aware of its history warts and all so they could understand his culture. It’s sad that so many people in the UK make generalisations about the Albania And the flood of your legal immigrants. Throughout our time in Albania, we were greeted with friendliness and given wonderful full hospitality. The Albanians, we had contact with warm hard-working people.

Suggestions

Exodus information about this trip was disappointing. It’s not checked properly and there were errors which showed a lack of care and due diligence. In fact one of the excursions was priced at £75 when it was only £7.50 and this was not the only error in the calculations conversions so as far as I’m concerned, very poor attention to detail, and on the basis of this, my initial thought was. we would not do excursions as to expensive in the and we did move, and they were very reasonably priced, and it would’ve been a shame not to enjoy them or not budgeted for them It was only when I contacted Exodus that you realised it had not been checked properly. Also the photograph that is the introduction to your documentation for Albania to put it. Bluntly is dreadful. We saw so much beautiful landscape and culture and between us shared many photographs of this stunning country so I found it very disappointing to see such a bland poorly selected photograph on the documentation designed to attract people to visiting this country which so desperately needs tourists. It is only because I have done previous trips with you that I had sufficient faith and overlooked this, but to be honest if this was my first trip with you that I was considering, the lack of detail and checking, would’ve been a warning sign to me, and I definitely would not have signed up and paid hard earned money to join a trip. We were also disappointed that there was not more detailed information about where we checked in for our group. BA flights. Everybody went to several wrong BA desks or stood in the wrong queue before they found the right group departure desk having spoken to one of the staff. Apparently this is ALWAYS the case THEY HAVE SOECIFIC DESK FOR SUCH FLIGHTS and won’t deal with you at other desks for group bookings, a minor thing, but airports are stressful time is limited and it would’ve been nice to been given more information on.that.

Amazing landscapes, relaxed culture, lots of horses!

A great experience and quite different to our previous trips with Exodus. A good itinerary which allowed us to see amazing diverse landscapes from spectacular waterfalls to glaciers, icebergs and rugged coastlines. We also really enjoyed hearing about Icelandic culture, both new and old, with stories of trolls and Vikings.

Most Inspirational Moment

The fact that Icelanders were very resilient and have caring, close communities with a relaxed way of life. This is very refreshing, coming from a pressured western lifestyle. A small example is that cars are very likely to stop if they see you looking to cross the road.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jon was well-organised and very caring, looking to the needs of each individual. He had a great sense of humour and relaxed delivery. He was very enthusiastic, obviously enjoys guiding and shared a wealth of knowledge about Iceland, the country and its people. It was lovely how he shared snippets of his own family life to illustrate how life is like for people living in Iceland. He told endless entertaining stories relevant to where we were travelling at the time. He saved me from eating fermented shark from a buffet and shattering my taste buds at the start of the meal! We really enjoyed his company.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take walking shoes/boots as the terrain is quite rough in places and don't be afraid to use walking poles. We did use waterproof trousers, especially near waterfalls. As you move on every day, clothes that easily dry out are handy and also small laundry bags to group stuff in your suitcase. A waterproof cover for the back pack would have been handy and plastic or waterproof carrier bags. A large refillable water bottle is essential for the journeys. Keep your window shut at the Hotel near Lake Myvatn to keep out gnats.

Suggestions

If you want to see Reykjavik book an extra day there.

Perfect trip

Loads of wildlife, orangutans, komodo dragons, snorkeling with huge manta plus monkeys, turtles, water buffalo, wild boar, deer.. The list goes on. Hindu temples and shrines, great scenery, food, an excellent guide, good local guides and transport, comfortable hotels and a group that gelled. A fantastic mixture of wildlife and culture.

Most Inspirational Moment

Sleeping out on deck on our boat. Baby orangutans playing in the trees. The friendliness of the Indonesians. Snorkeling with manta.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Elly was excellent. Everything you want in a group leader and more. Organised, enthusiastic, warm. She really looked after us and made sure we made the most of our trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The walking in Sumatra is muddy and slippery. You need walking shoes/boots, not trainers or sandals. And insect repellant. If you have your own snorkeling gear, bring it, you will get good use out of it.

Suggestions

One of the best wildlife/cultural trips I have done.

WOZ - Sept.

Excellent trip, great group and great group leader. Guides also excellent. People very friendly and helpful. Went smoothly and fulfilled expectations.

Most Inspirational Moment

The Great Argus Pheasant (aka the 'Sumatran pigeon').

Thoughts on Group Leader

Elly was Superb. Nothing to suggest for improvement other than a little more research on restaurants.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Ignore hotel and accommodation restaurants. There are much better and better value restaurants outside the accommodation. Go in the dry season. We had very little rain (other than the usual afternoon downpours in the jungle).

Suggestions

If you do the long walk int he jungle of Sumatra, cover up and watch out of leeches. They will get you so remove them as soon as possible.

Possibly my favourite Exodus trip so far

This is a great trip. More challenging than it looks on paper as most of the steepest climbs are off road. We had great weather although it was very hot for the most challenging climb. Even so, we all made it to the top successfully. Javier and Alberto were our guide and transporter and really made the trip special. I didn’t do the Camino for religious purposes but collecting stamps in your pilgrim passport along the way and travelling to the same places as everyone else on the route made this trip a bit different.

Most Inspirational Moment

Finishing the final difficult climb up near the airport of Santiago. We all made it and in plenty of time to know we would get to the centre with time to spare. There was a team spirit in our group by then and we were all pleased for each other.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Javier was great. Just the right amount of help, advice and encouragement. Very knowledgeable too. Alberto was wonderful too, always on hand with water or a pump when needed. Spotting the van was always a good feeling.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take the climbs slowly and you’ll be fine if you are fairly fit.

Suggestions

The accommodation in Leon and Santiago isn’t the best on the tour, especially if you are in a single room.

The Alternative Vuelta!

We cycled 325km from Leon to Santiago in 6 days with over 5000m of climbing. We saw amazing sights, churches, cathedrals, castles, medieval bridges and forts. Javier and Alberto were great guide and support. The company of the group was great, food amazing and we all arrived safely with a great sense of achievement.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were many, from climbing to the tops of mountains above the clouds, to passing cheering pilgrims, to finally reaching the main square in from of the cathedral in Santiago and attending the Pilgrim Mass.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Javier was brilliant, he looked after us very well, his local knowledge was extensive, he took us to amazing places you would never find on your own. The restaurants and coffee stops he found were never crowded and always served the best local cuisine. Thank you Javier. And not to forget Alberto who provided excellent support and entered into the banter with the group! Go Alberto!

Advice for Potential Travellers

To get the most from the trip you will need to do some training. The terrain is challenging, the mountain climbs require some stamina and you will need good bike skills for some of the off road sections.

Suggestions

I had the most amazing holiday. Thank you.