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A brilliant “taster” trip to Costa Rica, which our Guide (Jorge Diaz) skilfully adapted to the group preference for wildlife discovery with several early morning starts to capture the best viewing.
I really enjoyed the hot springs near Arenal (and the Pina Colada's!)
Excellent
Temperatures and humidity vary with elevation and location. If you are travelling in the Winter (peak) season you will need a sweater or fleece for early morning Quetzal hunting in Savegre
Hi had a great time, Alex was one of my best group leaders ever. Chile was beautiful. I give the trip 5 star. Thank you, Rich Semega.
The scenery was beautiful.
My group leader Alex was one of the best ever.
Bring many different kinds of clothing.
Accommodation good(though lighting in Roni room inadequate) and beds very comfy.
The food was good – though if you were a true vegetarian, the choice would be very limited. We eat fish and so the food was fine.
Stunning scenery and remote.
Interesting activities organised by the leader
The snowy views on day 2
He was very enthusiastic and clearly loved his native Catalonia, and had arranged for us to experience true Catalan food at a youth hostel and to meet a cheese maker. He put a huge amount of energy into the holiday and enthusiasm into the holiday and brought wines for us to taste and appreciate. Even on the Day Off, he came along to the excellent Eco Museum to translate for us, and then to go to a cafe for lunch. He had researched the walks well and they were varied and beautiful. We were slower than most of the group and had to turn back on a couple of occasions because of a muscular strain. We felt it would have been better if he'd discussed it with us quietly away from the group rather than so publicly.
Remember there are no shops in either village - and change money before you arrive.
My first trip to India was everything I hoped it would be. This was my 4th Exodus trip and I knew I would be in good hands. I was a woman in my 60’s, travelling solo for the first time, but had no fears or worries. Everything went smoothly and I was in good company from start to finish.The whole experience was incredible and I have over 600 photos to prove it!
If you’ve never been to India before, this is a great trip, avoiding the big cities like Delhi & Mumbai for the gentler pace of Kerala & Tamil Nadu. That’s not to say you won’t encounter mad tuk tuk drivers and incessant horn tooting – but that’s just India! I’d recommend this trip 100% – an adventure of a lifetime. Definitely want to see more of this fascinating country now!
Too many to mention. For me a lifelong dream of watching the Kathakali theatre and visiting the fabulous Meenakshi temple in Madurai have to be at the top of the list. But lots of other cultural experiences, like visiting a local laundry in Fort Kochi, eating palmyra palm fruit from a seller at the side of the road, trying out the tea picker's tool near Munnar, travelling through the Western Ghats with it's fantastic tea bushes. The journey on the houseboat was wonderful too as was visiting local markets and eating parathas and drinking masala chai at roadside cafes and my Ayurvedic massage in Periyar! As an ex teacher,the visits to 2 local schools were an eye opener, I even got to sing a song to the children, who were very appreciative!
Ajith Kumar was amazing. A kind, helpful, generous guide, with a great sense of humour who was passionate about his area of India and who wanted us to experience as much as we could in the 2 weeks we were with him. Nothing was too much trouble, he was especially helpful when I developed a nasty cold and cough, seeking out appropriate medication for me. I'm sure it was only due to him that we saw so many incredible sights. From visiting a site to see how clay bricks were made, to buying samosas and fruit for picnic lunches and for me - interpreting the menus in restaurants and hotels, so I didn't have to eat too much chilli! Aji as he liked to be called was a fabulous role model for other tour leaders, I know I wouldn't have had such an amazing time with so many brilliant memories had it not been for him. He gave us an amazing amount of information, but I didn't feel I had information overload, as can so often happen. We were caught up in the Jallikattu demonstration in Madurai, which meant we didn't see the Gandhi museum which was disappointing, but couldn't be helped. Aji handled the situation brilliantly and there was never a time when we felt overwhelmed by the huge crowds of demonstrators.
The pace is quite full on, but feel free to drop out of experiences if you need to, it's your holiday after all. When I was ill, I missed the jungle walk but needed the time to relax and felt better for it. However if you can, embrace everything that's on offer as it will enrich your experience. Be prepared for some hotels to be basic eg the eco homestay. The beds at Sona Palmshore in Kovalam are rock hard too! I took a small feather travel pillow, which I was grateful to have as many of the hotel pillows aren't comfortable but maybe that's just me! I didn't need the suggested £15 a day for food, the food is extremely cheap, - I took £300 sterling and came back with £75! I did buy some souvenirs & I would suggest Periyar & Kovalam as the best places. We mainly changed cash at money lenders so didn't have to shfow our passports. Be prepared to haggle! Otherwise take plenty of hand gel or antibac wipes. No one in our group had an upset stomach as far as I'm aware.
Quite possibly the best holiday of my life (and I’ve had a few).
There were many. The majesty of the Drakensberg mountains, seeing a leopard drink from a river, the beautiful and so very different landscapes, and learning about the animals from the extremely knowledgeable guides.
The tour leader Petro was amazing, and she was supported by two others, David and Andrew. All three were friendly, approachable, open and fun, as well as knowledgeable, enthusiastic and clearly proud of their country. This was possibly the most important thing for me as a lone traveller, as I could rely on them for company, though I didn't need to as we had a close, cohesive group anyway. I was on a trip last year where I didn't have the same feeling about the guide, and while it hasn't tainted my experience the trip, it made me reluctant to ask questions or have fun. This was the complete opposite where in fact the guides were one of the best things about the trip.
Go. Doing the trip in this direction rather than the Jo'Burg to Cape Town direction is probably a bit more exciting. As the trip progresses, the ante is upped and the end of the trip is much busier than the start. If you want to relax, I'd consider doing it from Jo'Burg to Cape Town as it is more chilled at that end. I'm glad I did it the way I did though, as for me, the best was saved for last, i.e. game drives. Read the trip notes, and in addition with a couple of days without electricity, I was glad to have packed my portable batter charger for my phone/camera, etc.
A lovely group, an efficient guide and a varied itinerary, we got to see a lot of Vietnam, a beautiful and exciting country. It was definitely a holiday that left me with some brilliant memories. The only thing which let us down was the rain in Hue and Danang with its consequent inactivity.
There were loads of moments but in particular I loved the cycling round the Mekong Delta, lovely food, walking round vibrant Hanoi in the evening and the trekking in the Truong Son mountains. Will always remember singing our hearts out on the overnight train trip from Hanoi to Hue! Also the New Years Eve party in Hue was perfect, with games, karaoke and dancing.
Ticked all the boxes! Bac was lovely and bent over backwards to get the most out of our stay in Vietnam.
Go for it! It's not too strenuous activity-wise, most of us could have happily done more. I took a more comfortable saddle which I was glad about. In Hoi'An you can get clothes tailor-made for you, so if you have a favourite item of clothing, take it along so they can copy it. Also, laundry can be done at the various hotels so there's no need to take 2 weeks' worth of stuff. Wished I had stayed on a little really, which some members of the group did, as there are some beach resorts close by which are cheap.
Great scenery most important if all great snow
Being so fortunate to get huge snow making for great snowshoeing
Miguel loves these mountains and communicates his passion so well
Lots of layers first you get hot then you get cold
Cuba is amazing, fantastic country and people. But Exodus were poor from start to finish.
Before we left – most staff were great. One asked us for same info 3 times!
On arrival, we had booked an extension in Varadero. We weren’t told that Exodus can’t guarantee your hotel for this part of trip. We found out at airport we couldn’t stay at hotel we booked. Disappointing, but the substitute hotel was lovely too.
Havana – hotel so far out of town hotel we couldn’t do sightseeing as planned. Took an hour to check in! Room was dirty and badly maintained. On a road so noisy the windows shook as big trucks drove past constantly. I asked to move and was given a quieter room, but with no hot water!
Vinales – beautiful place, but more issues with room. It was cramped, grim and noisy. Could have coped with that, but also had swarms of mosquitoes in my room. I killed dozens. Told tour leader, who chided me for not telling her immediately, although I had no way to contact her! My phone wouldn’t allow me to make outgoing calls in Cuba. Owners sprayed my room, but I still killed another couple of dozen mosquitoes later that evening. This room is available for $20/night on airbnb. Massive mark up charged by Exodus.
Cienfuegos- decent, quiet room, although windowless. Air con broken and leaked all over bed. No one to report this to. Told tour leader in morning and she looked at me blankly and said nothing! Breakfast was bread and jam. Pot of coffee to share that allowed only half a small cup each. If we wanted more coffee we had to pay! In this hotel, my iPad was stolen. It was charging and never left my room. In morning, I checked the room was clear. As soon as i sat on bus (at 7.45am), I realised I hadn’t packed ipad. Told tour leader immediately, hoping she would call hotel. She didn’t call them until we reached Trinidad and she told me my iPad wasn’t in the room. Only explanation, it was stolen by hotel staff, either before or after I left. I told Exodus hoping they could use influence to pressure maid into returning stolen item. Exodus did nothing for THREE DAYS! After a lot of hassling, they called me, but still did nothing to try to get the iPad back. I believe they still use this hotel, so beware!
Trinidad – decent room, but didn’t get any breakfast one day. We think they mistook the time we requested food, due to language barrier. Girl was barely listening to us when we booked breakfast. Tour leader arranged breakfast for us elsewhere.
Havana – finally a decent hotel! And trip home was fine.
Vinales - beautiful place, fantastic way of life for the locals, in my opinion.
I took a while to warm to her. I had a lot of problems on this trip and she made me feel uncomfortable when I told her about them. I only complained when I really felt it necessary. For example, I didn't tell her I got food poisoning from 2 of the restaurants she took us to. She talked too much for my liking. She was interesting and very knowledgeable. But on a 7 hour bus journey, she probably talked for 6.5 hours. I couldn't talk to my friend on the bus or I got a glare from her! Couldn't talk to her privately for most of the trip, she was always talking to the group and didn't like being interrupted, unless it was a question relevant to her lecture. On the plus side, she was fun, very interesting and knowledgeable. Happy and able to give advice on anything I wanted to do or know.
I wouldn't recommend travelling to Cuba with Exodus, sorry! The accommodation was below par. I expected basic, but it was worse than any back packing hostel I've ever stayed in and massively overpriced. You need to get up horribly early every day in order to beat the other crowds of tourists. You're very much on the tourist trail. I would not have chosen to go to the tobacco and rum factory where crowds of tourists stare at the workers, it was weird and an uncomfortable experience. Could have done without the mojito lesson and I found the one on one salsa too intense and awkward. Two Cuban lads baa'd at us and I agreed with them. I felt like a herded sheep! Best times were free time. So much to see, but not enough free time to see it all. Exodus are useful for getting you around the country, but if you can do this another way, I would advise it.
Everything about this trip was excellent – snowshoeing, scenery, comfortable accommodation with friendly, helpful people and delicious food. There was also the opportunity to taste local food and wine and visit an Eco museum. Miguel was an outstanding guide and organiser.
The last day in the Aiguestortes National park. We were the first group walking on a meter deep of fresh snow.
Excellent in every respect.
The trip notes are accurate but of course need to be modified depending on the snow conditions.
An excellent trip with good leaders, brilliant cycling, excellent food, amazing sights and a really friendly group.
Meeting the local people who were incredibly friendly and welcoming Scary cycling in some towns/villages Cooking our own meal under guidance! Staying in a plantation owner's family house Exploring vegetable, flower and spice markets Cycling from door to door with only 1 transfer
Seaker was a really good, knowledgeable leader who adapted the schedule to allow for the particular interests of the group. He was able to give confidence to those of us slightly worried about the amount of traffic in a few of the places we cycled through although we were mainly on very quiet roads. He found us brilliant places to stop for tea breaks and lunches at small local restaurants and made us feel that we were truly seeing the "real" India
Respect local traditions, pack light, go with the flow, make sure you get your visa sorted and join the right queue at the airport in India!