Reviews

Lovely!

Moderate level hikes but leisurely pace – all perfectly doable. Stunning views, walking up and inside Vesuvius is amazing.

Sylvia Herd

This was a great trip, showing off the main sights of South Africa, with the added bonus of Lesotho & Swaziland. Although there were some long driving days, we were a small group of 6 who gelled really well & had a very competent staff of 3. Personally I felt the Garden Route was overrated, so I was pleased that I’d done the reverse itinerary as this saved the best until last. But I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the trip.

Great mix of Exercise and Culture!

The trip was very much according to expectations and as the trip notes described. I was on an October departure and that was “out of season” for some places so some of the usual restaurants/stops that the guides would typically use were closed but they adapted accordingly… The guiding was excellent and as a pilot this trip had 2 guides based on previous comments/feedbacks that it was difficult for one guide to manage if group was fragmented. I was impressed by how they adapted the trip and listened to our feedback to make changes on the go. I was also positively impressed by the amount of history and information on the locations that the guides were sharing. The initial days were a bit hilly but very manageable for anyone cycling regularly. The bikes were hybrid/trek types which were ideal for the purpose as we had multiple terrain types but primarily road. The agenda was quite full so morning starts and new hotel every night… with typically 90mins to 2hours in the late afternoon between arriving back at the hotel and heading out again for a city tour and dinner. It was a wonderful trip with many varied experiences and locations!

Lots packed in!

This trip covers a lot of ground. I have been to Morocco several times so knew what to expect to a degree and I took my partner along this time to see some of things I have enjoyed in the past. We booked the Premium departure as I wanted to ease my partner into travel in the African continent with as many comforts as possible and we were very glad we paid the little extra as the better desert riad is definitely worth it! It has been mentioned that this is quite a sanitised trip, where there is little interaction with locals and I would agree with this to an extent but you do have free days and we took ourselves off to visit a local (non tourist) hammam, where we had a blast with the locals. We knew that the better parts of the trip would be the desert and mountains so went with the flow in the cities. The city guides were very good and knowledgeable and spoke very good English. I would agree with other comments that the day in Fes does become frustrating as you are herded from one selected shop to another, Fes is a maze and without help you would get very lost. We did feel we learned a lot though and the shopkeepers were good fun. It’s just a long and tiring day in the heat.

Many of the group were ill and I think this made it difficult for some of the group to enjoy much of the trip. One couple were quite rude about making sure they always had the best seats and their insensitivity extended to wildly inappropriate dress when visiting a local household. There was a fair bit of moaning and this spoilt the trip to an extent. I felt like a tourist at times and not in a good way but there were opportunities to make a break for it and do things on our own.

Visual highlights indeed, unique experiences not really

If you’re looking to see a vast amount of Morocco this is a great trip. If you want to meet and interact with Moroccans and have in depth experiences and understanding of Morocco, this possibly won’t deliver. There are several long days on the bus and we believe Essaouira could be deleted to spend more time in other interesting areas like Fes or the Todra or Dades Gorges.

Much of a trip’s enjoyment comes as a result of the tour leader and also group dynamics. We felt the group of 15 generally bonded (with a few exceptions) but that the tour leader was very restrained and overly cautious. We believe we saw a lot of beautiful countryside but never really met or interacted with any Moroccans who weren’t in retail or at a hotel.

The food was much more expensive and bland than we were expecting and seemed very generically “Moroccan” with unflavored couscous, limp vegetable tagines, and overcooked meat skewers. Bring some Tabasco if you like food with some flavor.

Hotels were generally of good quality but not always within walking distance of sights (in Fes it’s in New Town and nowhere near the Medina or restaurants).

We do enjoy learning about different cultures and their history, socio-economic policies, and arts and crafts, but each time we stopped somewhere to learn about these it became a (sometimes high-pressure) sales job. The afternoon in Fes seemed completely devoted to going from craft shop to craft shop.

Generally we are happy with the trip and the fellow travelers we met. The hotels were very adequate (this IS Africa, after all) but the food uninspired. The shopping pressure turned us off and we felt our tour leader’s over abundance of caution prevented us from really having contact with local Moroccans. It was disappointing due to heavy rain we weren’t able to experience the Kasbah Oliver hammam. There wasn’t very much physical activity. The long days in the van could have been made more enjoyable and interesting, but instead most of us spent the hours either reading, listening to music, or sleeping. On the days we had free time the trip notes mentioned optional activities but most were never presented to us, weren’t possible, or were reatedly forgotten by our leader. The free morning & afternoon before the camel trek seemed a complete waste with no optional activities and only shopping possible. It seemed we spent a lot of time sitting around between meals and group meetings.

Uzbekistan uncovered

Very nice trip, good company and leader. Historical monuments are not as old as some in other countries (modern compared with Roman). But good trip none the less – Beautiful tiles

A Taste of Cuba

A short but comprehensive introduction to Cuba – perfect for people that are short on time.

Great way to see a great wall!

This trek is a great way to get an impression of this magnificent wall. We only touched a tiny part of it and yet it felt like we’d seen a big part. All sections looked slightly different, some restored like you usually see in the pictures and some looked more like forest paths as there was so much growth and so little wall left. The pace was good, not too slow, not too fast, and we had plenty of free time to chill out and socialize at the end of each day. The food was excellent!

Walking the Picos de Europa

The picos de Europa are really beautiful. We had a fabulous week of weather at the end of September and got to enjoy them at their best! The scenery was magical – I kept thinking I must be on a Hollywood set, it just seemed surreal! We saw lots of animals – many birds of prey; chamois; a wallcreeper; lizards; goats; rats! Some people saw a salamander one day although sadly I missed that! Each walk was in a different place – we did one in each of the central, eastern and western massifs as well as the cares gorge and Juan Robre. Our guide for the week, Alvaro, was excellent. The hotel was very relaxed and it was handy to be in a little village.

Walking in Mallorca

We chose the week designated as Challenging, and thoroughly enjoyed 6 full days of walking through beautiful coastal and mountainous scenery. The weather was dry and mostly warm, and our group was able to complete all of the anticipated itinerary.

Highly recommended!