Reviews

Fabulous Holiday

I had a fabulous holiday to two inspiring places – Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. Although the journeys were long and tiring everything worked like Clockwork. We were lucky to have like-minded fellow travellers who we got to know really well by the end of the holiday. The Galapagos was particularly good and the boat ad it’s crew were excellent. We were well looked after with hikes, snorkelling and excellent food.

Excellent

This was a joint celebration of our 70th birthdays so we wanted it to be extra special. It was an amazing experience, with a wonderful group of people, led by an extremely professional, knowledgeable and proficient guide, Johnny Villalobos. Thanks to Johnny’s extensive knowledge of bird calls and habitats, we were able to see a huge number of birds, including the elusive Quetzal. Johnny also had a wide knowledge of the many mammals we encountered.
Apart from overnight stays in San José, we stayed 2 nights in each destination which was enough to enable us to explore what each habitat had to offer. Johnny ensured that we maximised our time in each location, though you always had the choice to opt out of an activity.
Each location was well chosen in terms of being a representative sample of what Costa Rica has to offer, from hot steamy jungle, to cool, high altitude cloud forest. The accommodation was excellent in each place but we particularly enjoyed the remoteness of Esquinas Lodge, surrounded by the sounds of the forest, especially the frogs. An added bonus was the stream fed pool and later, a night walk in the forest, led by a guide from the lodge who was able to identify the many frogs contributing to the incredible cacophony of frog calls.
We were given a warm welcome in each location by the hotel/lodge staff and served some delicious food. However, crucial to the success of this holiday, was Johnny’s enthusiasm for what his country had to offer and his exceptional knowledge, organisational and people skills.

Would I go again? Yes I would.

From tropical beaches, through steaming jungles to Scottish moorlands Sri Lanka has it all. Where else can you grow where they grow pineapples, coconuts and cashew nuts a few miles down the road from tea, potatoes and leeks? Fantastic scenery, great food and wonderful people.

good

The home stay was awful, it would have been good to have an option to have a stay at hotel instead.
It’s not my idea of a holiday being a strangers house.

People nice enough.

Some environmental issues that were offensive, think Exodus should be insistent that the locals improve on.

good

The home stay was awful, it would have been good to have an option to have a stay at hotel instead.
It’s not my idea of a holiday being a strangers house.

People nice enough.

Some environmental issues that were offensive, think Exodus should be insistent that the locals improve on.

Beware of the Altitude

Only rated as good because my wife and I were only able to complete the rain forest part. The trip notes mention consulting your GP about the altitude sickness pills. Ours advised against. As a result of the jump from rain forest to Cusco on a 1 hour flight, my wife ended up in hospital for 6 days due to altitude sickness and a pulmonary edema.
We really enjoyed the rain forest and have previously enjoyed many holidays with Exodus.
It’s a pity the trip notes do not stress how it is really essential to take the altitude sickness pills – this is what all the doctors in Peru also confirmed. The situation also wasn’t helped by the hotel in Cusco with cold rooms and showers that took for ever to get warm. The night before ending up in hospital my wife had endured a freezing cold shower and then went to bed shivering until she fell asleep. It turns out this also did not help her condition and was very likely a significant factor in the edema developing. Thankfully Smithy, our guide, was quick to spot the symptoms so medical attention was brought in fairly early.

Most Inspirational Moment

Travelling along the river in the mist.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Smithy was good company, knowledgeable and did his best to accommodate us. There were only 4 in the group so he was able to suggest and arrange alternative activities.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Unless there is a medical reason not to, take the altitude pills. Otherwise, find another route to start the Inca Trail. Machu Pichu itself should be fine at about 2,400m, it's just getting there without the sudden increase to over 3,000m that Cusco entails is the problem

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Thom for his review, although we remain very sorry that his wife was unwell during the tour.  We hope they both felt well looked after by our local team during the team’s daily visits to the hospital.  We recognise the risks of travelling to altitude and on our tours which reach high altitudes we do try to be clear about these risks in our trip notes, and as we are not medical professionals we, as is the case for most tour operators, direct clients towards medical health professionals when it comes to medical travel advice.  We are very sorry, however, that Thom received advice which he and his wife do not feel was correct as we recognise that this must have been incredibly disappointing. 

 

Lucy Crabb – Exodus’ Customer Services Manager

Fantastic walking and cultural combination

This holiday exceeded my expectations. The walks were stunning and our guide Severio’s knowledge and insight into the region made for an action-packed, superb holiday. Sharing this holiday with a sociable group fondly referred to as the Walking talking heads made the holiday complete.

We saw tigers!

We travelled to India solely to see tigers in their natural habitat and we were not disappointed. We saw tigers in each of the three national parks we visited as well as many other animals, most notably three sightings of a leopard. The accommodation used on the trip was, we felt, of a good standard. We appreciated the pool at each of the hotels and went to the pool every day after the morning game drive.

Walking The Amalfi Coast

This was an enjoyable tour, with 2 great guides. Saverio leading and Tony assisting. We felt in capable hands the whole time.

SRI LANKA - A SMALL COUNTRY THAT HAS SO MUCH TO OFFER.

GREAT HOTELS, SIGHTSEEING, FOOD, PEOPLE. SRI LANKA HAS ALL OF THIS.
OUR TRIP WITH EXODUS TRAVELS WAS GREAT. WE HAVE SEEN SO MANY GREAT TEMPLES, CLIMBED THAT AMAZING SIGURIYA ROCK, OBSERVED MONKEYS AND ELEPHANTS IN THEIR NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS, TASTED SO MANY YUMMY DISHES. OUR BUS DRIVER DARMAN WAS A VERY SKILLED DRIVER (THAT YOU NEED SO MUCH IN SRI LANKA). HIS HELPER SAMAN WAS ALWAYS READY TO GREAT US WITH A SMILE AND ALWAYS MADE SURE THAT WE WERE WELL HYDRATED, AS HE SUPPLIED US WITH WATER THRUOUT OUR JOURNEY. THE HOTELS WERE ALL OF A VERY GOOD STANDARD AND SOME OF THEM DID OFFER A BREATHTAKING VISTAS. MY FAV. WAS THE HOTEL GIRITALE IN GIRITALE AND ALSO THE HOTEL TILANKA IN KANDY, AS THEY HAVE OFFERED MOST AMAZING VIEWS.