Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Strolling around the beautiful streets of Khiva at night - hardly anyone else around and very atmospheric.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our tour leader Barbor was very proud of his country, and certainly knew his history. However, he was not the best at handling or organising a group, and I feel that our tour did suffer because of this - it felt like we had a lot of wasted opportunities. For example, instead of using the long bus journeys to explain what we would be doing that day, and the approximate timings and activities, he would wait to tell us everything on arrival, wasting valuable time. In addition, he was often vague about the sequence of sites and visits. This was particularly relevant in Samarkand when we lost the opportunity to visit the bazaar, which then turned out to be closed the next day when we had some free time. He would also sometimes "disappear" when we most needed him (e.g., on our first day in Tashkent when we were told we had 30 minutes for lunch but had no idea how to find it [especially given we had just arrived on a late night flight]). I feel that with another guide we could have had a richer experience. As it was, the tour was just ok.

Advice for Potential Travellers

It is easy to change money from dollars/pounds on the first day - we found that $200 each for the whole trip was just enough. It is almost impossible to use your credit card anywhere you visit apart from Samarkand, so you will need cash. Enjoy the bullet train from Samarkand to Khiva. I is a real treat and it was fun getting to 231 km/hr - beat that! Walking around at any time of day or night felt completely safe, and the tourist police (in Bukhara) are especially helpful even if it is just o ask directions. Buy any souvenirs in Bukhara or Khiva - Samarkand surprisingly does not have the same opportunities. Organise your own final group dinner in Tashkent or, perhaps better still, have it the day before in Samarkand. We ended up at the Gabrielle hotel in Tashkent were we were staying, the service is awful and the food expensive (perhaps why the tour leader chose not to stay and eat).

Most Inspirational Moment

Petra - walking along the Siq towards the Treasury, climbing to the High Place.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Not a lot!. Mikhel failed to deliver on many levels. He was barely audible because he spoke so softly yet so fast. He was not very resourceful or creative when it came to food, especially for vegetarians. He though it was acceptable for me to eat a bowl of boiled veg and pita bread whilst the meat eaters tucked into a nice plate of hot food! Mikhel was complacent when it came to recounting the history, politics etc of Jordan. To him, mentioning "there's a field of solar panels to the left" would interest us and yet he didn't extend the story behind why they were there, apart from the obvious. This is just one example of how inspirational he was. I met a couple on the flight home who did the same trip but with Explore and I learnt more from them about Jordan because their tour lead oozed knowledge, unlike Mikhel.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you're thinking of going to Jordan then look at Explore's trip, and they don't charge for transfers if you pay for your own flight! You might want to take a travel kettle.

Most Inspirational Moment

The hiking in Zingaro Park, as well as the visits to the different towns. The ocean swims were the best!

Thoughts on Group Leader

As I mentioned, it would have been helpful for the leader to facilitate more connections and introductions between the group members from the start.

Most Inspirational Moment

Being so close to the Ringtailed Lemurs in the Anja Nature Reserve with the mountainous backdrop was something we will always feel privileged to have been a part of. Impromptu visits to a school and a church service were also inspirational.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Armel was a brilliant guide who had a wealth of knowledge and experience and who put our safety first at all times. He had a great supporting team around him who could not do enough to ensure that our holiday was the best it could possibly have been. Armel had a constant smile on his face and this cascaded through the whole team , making our holiday an unforgettable experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring any medication with you that you could possibly need including paracetomol, ibroprofen,diarrhoea medication and rehydration salts as we only saw a couple of chemist shops on the entire trip. Best to be prepared! Bring some supplies for schools as they literally have nothing and if you visit, it would be great to give them things they need in person such as pens, pencils and crayons.

Most Inspirational Moment

"Seeing the magnificent ancient landscapes of Western Sicily and learning about their history from millions of years BC. Swimming in the wild sea Exploring the old town in Trapani Eating delicious local food and gelato"

Thoughts on Group Leader

He was kind, friendly and thoughtful.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were so many. Seeing molten magma in the masaya volcano with my son a graduate geographer). Swimming in cold springs and lake Nicaragua. Going to a remote school and meeting the school children. Cycling through the rainforest in the rain. Seeing sloths and crocodiles. The friendliness if the mystic hotel. The warmth of the guides and support crew.

Thoughts on Group Leader

We had two Roberto. Nicaragua Excellent leader , great communicator well organised and funny. Shared knowledge of the countries. Brilliant. Memo. Costa Rica and Panama. Very warm and friendly, at the same time very organised and thoughtful. Really good knowledge of the environment and nature. Very good at finding and highlighting points of interest and went out of his way to show us things and maximize the experience. The support crews both of them were exceptional too

Advice for Potential Travellers

Important things to take. Bug spray and sun cream. The rides are quite physically challenging as it is hot and hilly. Don't get local currency take US dollars and use cards. Don't forget a sunhat as I did.

Most Inspirational Moment

As a runner, visiting Olympia the home of the Olympic Games was special for me, particularly as I was able to run the length of the ancient stadium. Delphi was also spectacular with it’s site on the side of a steep hill.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Eva was amazing. She was really friendly and presented information on the different sites in an interesting and engaging manner.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for quite a bit of travelling on the minibus, particularly on the last three days.

Most Inspirational Moment

Delphi and Meteora were pretty spectacular. Really enjoyed olive oil centre as an optional add on

Thoughts on Group Leader

Enthusiastic, well organised, very knowledgeable, very helpful when I needed medical help

Advice for Potential Travellers

All the ancient sites are on hills and uneven surfaces so if you have any knee/hip issues consider taking walking poles. If taking the return flight in evening of last day beware there are no tubes that late at night on a Sunday. Could only get to Paddington !!!!!!!!!! and no further. If making own way to joining hotel Metro is cheap and takes about 30 mins. Hotel is only a 5 minute walk away from station but good idea to have a map to hand as Google maps was not firing up.

Most Inspirational Moment

The dinner at Assirto. While this was a recommended, not included dinner, it was a great suggestion. It was a very memorable experience with great food.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Michele was good guide and very knowledgeable of the area and culture. He did have a big challenging of leading a group with an extreme difference in abilities. We also had a group which was largely fractured in regards to going to dinners together. Given all those challenges, he still did a good job. I would be happy to do another tour with him again, and probably will.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be aware you will have to scramble and have steep declined. The trip may also much much more challenging than you expect due to the temperature and humidity in Italy. The trip will cost more than you expect as the trip notes are grossly out of date in regards to expenses. Everything cost roughly 40% more than expected, which I think caused some of the travelers in my group to not have a great experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

The breadth of experience on this trip is what sets it apart. The variety of activities is excellent, from safari drives in Addo and Schotia, to coastal walks and zip lining in Tsitsikamma, to whale watching and wine tasting near Hermanus, and finally to penguins and history in Cape Town. It is impossible to pick just one moment, as we had such an amazing time throughout the trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Tallis was an absolutely amazing guide, very knowledgeable and always in good humour. He went out of his way to organise any and all optional trips for the group, including taking half our group to a bonus wine tasting venue just outside of Hermanus which was a fabulous way to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon after whale watching. He dealt amazingly with the issues we encountered following the storms, either by re-routing our drives where the roads had been washed away or organising alternative restaurants, activities etc without us ever feeling like we were missing out. I missed the first night of the trip in Port Elizabeth due to a combination of British Airways cancelling my international flight and then the huge storm in PE preventing my plane from landing. Tallis managed to contact me when I had landed back at Joburg (after 8 hours and 4 failed attempts to land in PE) and organised to pick me up at at PE airport first thing to following morning on the group's way out of town, so I amazingly did not miss any of the actual trip, for which I am incredibly grateful. He also dealt with two lost baggage issues, arranging for them to be reunited with their owners at two points during the tour. Overall, I could not have asked for a better trip leader.

Advice for Potential Travellers

As others have mentioned, you must pick up any checked baggage in Joburg and re-check it in for the onwards flight to Port Elizabeth. Even better, travel with hand luggage only if possible - there are places on the trip that do laundry for a very reasonable fee. Do the optional extra Schotia safari drive. This small reserve is excellently run and we saw 4 of the Big 5 there (no leopard). Our experience was that Schotia was significantly better in terms of safari drive when compared to Addo. Go prepared for the unexpected and try to embrace it. We had the fall-out from the huge storms in a few places (no power in Tsitsikamma, no water in Hermanus, certain roads detoured) but none of these things had any real impact on the overall enjoyment of the tour and both Tallis and the local hotels did their best to help wherever they could. Accept that these things can happen and are out of any person's control and you will have a fabulous trip with a few bonus stories to tell.