Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

My main reason for travelling to Africa is always viewing wildlife and therefore for me walking to see rhinos in Maputo NP and the full day in Hwange were the best. The scenery in the Bulawayo area was also completely different and interesting.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Cesar (Ceasar?)was an excellent leader, always on top of everything and always kept us informed. He is also an excellent cook and his meals in the Okavango Delta were the best we had during the trip. The driver Sofiso was also good and sociable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Depending on the time of year bring warm clothing for early mornings but also sunblock as during our trip the day's temperature ranged from 9C to 29C and add wind factor in when in open safari vehicles and you can see you go from cold to hot easily. We all did the night safari and like someone mentioned in a previous review we didn't see much - we saw a couple of male lions which was good but that was more or less it and we were all really cold on our return.

Most Inspirational Moment

Goodness! What to say? I enjoyed so much of the trip... the mountains, seeing all the amazing produce growing all around in the country side, the remaining Ottoman houses and mosques and the few Byzantine churches that survived the communist destruction, the old towns like Kruje and Girokastra. The Icon museum in Korce. Also hearing from the owners of two fascinating Ottoman houses we visited whose families had managed (just) to keep their homes during the communist regime.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was hard working and very well organised and the trip ran smoothly. We always had interesting stops en route, and good places to eat. However his level of English was not what is expected of a professional tour guide, and he had particular difficulties in pronunciation and the use of tenses which at times caused difficulty in understanding. But he was a nice guy who was very knowledgable, punctual and worked hard for us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Enjoy being in a country on the cusp of being on the tourist map. So some museums are still being refurbished and some coastal areas are not yet highly developed. Enjoy the amazing local produce but dont expect your dishes to necessarily arrive when you expect them! Enjoy the countryside - drink from mountain springs and bathe in hot springs. Enjoy visiting castles and ancient sites. You will see so much on this trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

For me the most inspiring activity was the day trip to Venice in which we had a backstreet tour by the excellent Chloe and a fascinating visit and talk in the studio of a gondola oar maker.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Veriano was assiduous in guiding and looking after us at all times. I really appreciated the extra meals he organised in the evening for us in the early part of the trip. Eating together really helped the 13 of us to gel, and we did. He went above and beyond on our day off helping us plan our trips with train/bus timetables and even menus of local restaurants. He had a great sense of humour which kept us going when the walking was more challenging, 'just five more minutes....'

Advice for Potential Travellers

Quite a few people have written about the ascents and descents. It is true there are plenty of them on this walk and the descents can be slippery if it has been raining. But I don't think you need to be particularly fit to do this holiday. Do consider bringing sticks though. There are also comments in other reviews about low temperatures at the higher altitudes on the final day's walk. Our holiday was the first week of June and I didn't need a fleece or jacket at any point. The weather can be changeable though so bring waterproofs. It is easy to get to Venice on your own on the free day.

Most Inspirational Moment

Reaching the Richjusa Gorge after bouldering up the river - not suitable for everyone!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Absolutely excellent - great fun, wonderful english (he was Italian), very knowledgeable, coped well with the gruop who had very different walking speeds

Advice for Potential Travellers

Always carry a lightweight waterproof coat and rucksack cover a syou never know when it may rain

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader,Arthur, spike very poor English, often translating things word for word (FROM Italian or Albanian) .this made it very difficult to understand especially as his pronunciation was so poor. He constantly repeated the same facts which became very waring and talked almost all the time on the bus even when asked for some quiet ti.e. When people stopped listening he shouted louder and several times he snapped at some of the group. He became angry when people wanted to visit sights and museums and I found myself avoiding him at all times.

Advice for Potential Travellers

this was an interesting trip if you had a different guide.

Most Inspirational Moment

Looking out of our bedroom window in Cairo to see the three pyramids looming out of the mist.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Rania. Brilliant with an encyclopaedic of Egyptian History and the ability to put it across. Perhaps a little too much fine detail and not enough of the big picture. Great organiser.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do not go at the end of May or indeed during the Egyptian summer. It is staggeringly hot.

Most Inspirational Moment

The views along the Vjosa river - and watching fireflies during dinner at the Coli guesthouse ("Hani i Coles"). A testament to life before agri-business, although damned hard work for those still farming in semi-traditional ways

Thoughts on Group Leader

Professional and proud Albanian. This translated into clear route briefings / handling of the coffee kitty / food advice etc - but having previously completed the Balkans' trip I was expecting more insights into Albania itself

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be interested! And don't be intimidated by the distances or gradients. The traffic in and around Sarandë is awful, but fortunately only represents a few hours out of the whole trip

Most Inspirational Moment

Views of the Mont Blanc Massif

Thoughts on Group Leader

Friendly and helpful, environmentally aware and interesting insights

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared not to do the hikes per trip notes as weather dependent obviously and to climb up a hill to see nothing at all, but also carry sunscreen just in case!

Most Inspirational Moment

Traveling through the spectacular Gramos Mountains next to the Vjosa River between Erseke and Permet. Skenduli House in Gjirokaster was a particularly interesting visit. The host, whose family had lived in this house for many generations, spoke excellent English and explained the historical uses of the different rooms including for weddings.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our Group Leader was a lovely man who worked very hard and had good knowledge of Albanian history and culture, unfortunately his level of English was not good so it became difficult to follow what he was saying. He also felt he should be constantly giving us information when travelling on the mini bus which led to a lot of repetition which also became trying. At some sights we would preferred to read the English information boards ourselves but the Group Leader insisted on doing this for us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The Albanians are friendly and helpful but I would visit before the tourist boom starts to dominate the culture. Most of the museums we wanted to visit were closed for repairs or renovations. It didn’t actually look like much work was happening so I would check this out before going.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing wild flower meadows in the mountains with the shepherds & their flocks plus a predominance of agricultural land. The profusion of home grown fruit & vegetables. A veritable time warp. Also, the large amount of Roman & Byzantine ruins showing the importance of the country years ago.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Artur was enthusiastic about his country & extremely knowledgeable. However, he went into too much detail; he tended to over talk so we had no reflection time until he was asked to have periods of silence. His command of the English language was sufficient for us to understand him, but at times I felt he did not really understand our questions as he would not answer them with a relevant answer as he seemed to miss the point. He did repeat the same information more than once even when on the bus with the microphone. Maybe this was to ensure everyone had heard it but that did become rather wearing. Maybe this is the way he has been trained…

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a full on trip with no spare time; we were mostly moving on each day.