Reviews

Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It’s the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you’re interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.

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60 Reviews

4.6 out of 5

Bridget Bennett

Reviewed February 2024

A fantastic trip

This trip exceeded all expectations in terms of the iconic wildlife we saw and the spectacular scenery, with a wonderful guide and crew. Also we had a good group of only 7, and being outside peak season camp sites were quiet, and there was less competition between safari vehicles for prime viewing spots.

Most Inspirational Moment

So many - a pride of lions round a recently killed buffalo, a cheetah and later a lion walking beside us (all a few feet away), a leopard with kill in a tree, lions mating

Thoughts on Group Leader

Gathoni was a great guide, working incredibly hard, developing relationships with each of us individually, working really well with the rest of the wonderful crew (Ben, Dan and Godfrey), and always cheerful and funny

Advice for Potential Travellers

Note that yellow fever certificates may be required for entry into Kenya and Tanzania as well as Zanzibar, and as of January 2024 it’s easier to get the Tanzanian visa at the border than online as Exodus don’t provide sufficient information to do so online. Also note that optional activities in Zanzibar can vary in price depending on how many of the group want to participate and where you’re staying. It’s worth also noting that this trip is very full on with very little downtime or opportunity to get any exercise. It’s probably unavoidable given the distances involved, but good to come prepared.

Suggestions

The switch from Kembu Farm to Lake Naivashu for first night was excellent - a shorter drive after a sleepless night flight, and a wonderful sunrise boat trip on the lake to start our trip on a high. However, the use of Cristal Beach resort in Zanzibar was not good. The Thursday night disco pounded away yards from our rooms till 2 in the morning and the manager stayed away till we left in order to avoid dealing with our complaints. We were told that Exodus will no longer use it, but worth checking that’s definitely the case.

Susan Thackray

Reviewed February 2024

Kenya and Tanzania Adventure

This was my fifth trip to Kenya and my second to Tanzania and it didn’t disappoint. It was a small group of seven and we had a great team to lead us. There were several changes to the itinerary and all enhanced the trip. We camped the first night near Lake Naivasha and had a great boat trip the following morning, seeing hippos, fish eagles and other water birds. When it came to game watching in Nakuru, Masai Mara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro we couldn’t have done better. We saw a pride of lions devouring the buffalo they’d just taken down, a cheetah and prey, a leopard up a tree with its impala prey as well as vast herds of zebra and wildebeest between the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. Our two days at Cristal Resort at the end provided a relaxing end to the trip, apart from a noisy first night. We ate very well throughout thanks to our cook, Dan, who provided a wonderful range of freshly cooked meals, many of them vegetarian together with African specialties such as mandazi and ugali. Ben was an excellent driver and he and Godfrey were ever helpful, putting up and taking down our tents most efficiently. Caroline was an excellent tour guide, always cheerful and informative, always striving to improve our experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

Several listed above but also the dawn hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara with champagne breakfast in the bush.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Caroline was great throughout and seemed always to provide us with an exciting end to our game drives.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I took a self inflating sleeping mat which really wasn’t necessary as those provided were fine. A good pair of binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens really were very useful.

Suggestions

A really great trip made special by my fellow travellers and our wonderful team.

Emma Biggs

Reviewed October 2023

TIA: This is Africa

We were only a small group, the tour leader, the drivers and just three guests. This worked well for us as we were then able to take a cruiser rather than the large truck but it was very hard work for the trip leader as he was leading us and going out of the game drives and then once we got to camp he was then cooking too. We got to see the highlights of the area with the Maasai Mara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro, these are very broadly similar but they each have their own distinct feel to them. We mainly went for the animals and basically saw everything that we hoped to see.

Most Inspirational Moment

Lots of special moments on the trip but the one thing that made it for me was seeing loads of Wildebeest and Zebra going down the steel river banks and crossing the Mara river in huge numbers, this was a very 'Planet Earth' moment.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Asaph was a good leader, always wanting to keep us guests happy and wanting us to experience different cultural experiences.

Advice for Potential Travellers

It's fairly hard work so just be prepared and don't go if you are a princess, there are other trips for you. Camping in inevitably a bit harder than lodges although it's still fairly comfortable. Being bumped around in the cruiser is a little uncomfortable too but just go with the flow and see this as part of the adventure. Showers are not guaranteed to be hot and toilets are not always guaranteed to flush (ours all did) so be prepared to wing it a bit. Remember, TIA, This is Africa!

Sarah Jones

Reviewed August 2023

Incredible Wildlife

We got very lucky on our trip and saw so much wildlife, including the Big 5 – even the black Rhino and Leopard! Our group leader and crew were all amazing and so helpful. The journeys are very long and bumpy, and can get very dusty – but you see so much, its worth it. We were given the option to upgrade our accommodation a few times, which was nice to get a bed. But the basic camping was also a great experience and still had decent facilities like showers and toilets. The beach stay at Paje in Zanzibar was a lovely end to the trip – I didn’t want to leave!

Most Inspirational Moment

Wild camping in the Serengeti and hearing the lions roaring nearby during the night - unforgettable.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Darlene was great - so knowledgeable and enthusiastic, very fun group!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring a good torch/headtorch Bring small denominations of 'crispy' currency (USD post 2017) for tipping Pack layers for the colder nights Take a good camera with decent zoom lens Print out all your travel documents, like e-visas. Pack toilet paper and hand sanitizer - be prepared for basic facilities during the journey.

Barrington Smith

Reviewed February 2023

Safari Adventure

From initial contact through to updates and advise this was a very smooth and brilliant experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

We saw the big five : -) but seen the migration in Tanzania was the highlight for me.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader was excellent he went above and beyond his duties to ensure we had a smooth and fantastic experience. The groups chats every evening was informative and very useful we were kept informed at every stage. Any obstacles were dealt with efficiently and calmly this added to a great adventure.

Advice for Potential Travellers

As the advert says go there with a sense of adventure and you will have the experience of your life. Follow the advice on vaccinations, and paper work this will make your experience superb. A bring along a good camera to record your experiences.

Suggestions

The support staff were excellent, the setting up at camp every night the food the driving, advice and support were all in place to provide us the with the best experience. I would hesitate to go on one of theses experience again.

Jon Salt

Reviewed September 2022

Kenya and Tanzania Adventure

This was my first proper holiday since the pandemic started and was well worth the wait. Overall the intinery was very well considered – we had just about the right amount of time at the two major highlights – the Serengeti and the Masai Mara. The time at Ngorongoro is short but also happens to be as much as the tour operators are allowed so don’t be worried about missing out. I had a few misgivings about Zanzibar as I’m not really a beach person but it was a nice way to wind down – and also a very welcome return to having a bed instead of relying on a sleeping bag. Obviously the animals are the highlights of the trip. We saw all of the animals that you’d expect – highlights being a couple of cheetah finishing off a meal, a lion trying and failing to take down an impala at speed, giraffe necking. The one I’d really not expected to see was a serval at Ngorongoro. The success of any trip is made by the rest of the group and, crucially, the ground team. Jacob was an excellent and resourceful tour leader, Ray was a great chef – good variety of food both hot and cold throughout the camping part of the trip, Sam kept us safe with his driving on some very rough roads and Cash did some of everything. In fact – all four of the crew cover all of the roles – lead, cook, driver, mechanic – and there was real teamwork here.

Most Inspirational Moment

Coming into the Serengeti - a sense of wilderness over and above the Masai Mara.

Thoughts on Group Leader

All four of the team were outstanding - and were a real team.

Ian Lawrence

Reviewed August 2022

Safari Tanzania

Our family thoroughly enjoyed it

Most Inspirational Moment

1) waking up to find water buck and zebra staring at me 2) hot air balloon trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ten out of 10. 11 out of 10. Caring enthusiastic professional knowledgable and more. Superb communicator thank you Jacob I you can lead our next trip

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take a warm hat and warm clothing as well as safari gear. Ngorongoro gets cold. Buy the longest and best zoom lens for your camera

Suggestions

The vehicle gets quite uncomfortable at times. Wear a seatbelt and being a cushion to sit on

Stewart Allan

Reviewed February 2020

Great wildlife

The scenery and wildlife were wonderful and the team who looked after us on safari did an excellent job. Stonetown was fascinating and the 3 days by the beach were a relaxing end to the trip. The camping was very basic – small tents in muddy fields with primitive toilets.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing lions and vast herds of zebra on the Serengeti.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Patrick was extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take a lantern, not just a torch, so that you can see what you are doing better in the tent and read it you want to.

Susan Price

Reviewed October 2019

Safarai in Kenya,and Tanzania followed by 3 days in Zanzibar

This was one of the most fantastic holidays of my life. Crew on the truck were excellent and Clara the tour guide was a brilliant leader. The other guests were great and we all got on and they supported me as the oldest in the group.
Unfortunately Zanzibar was not as good. After a hectic time on safari with early mornings and sometimes long drives it would have been better to go to the beach bungalows first to recover before going to Stone town which was so busy with it’s narrow streets and always in danger of being run over by car or scooters.
I would rather have had a day in Nairobi to recover from the overnight flight rather than getting off the plane at 4.30 am and being driven to Kembu Farm campsite. One day less in Zanzibar would have been good especially as it rained hard on the last day and we were just hanging around until 4.30 pm drive to the airport.

Most Inspirational Moment

Too many awesome moments on the safari to single out one. There were incredible sightings of animals who were just relaxing and not running away.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Clara was a great leader well informed, always looking after our interests and safety. She was fluent in Swahili and was able to smooth our journey.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for early starts sometimes 5 am. Know that the campsites mostly are not fenced and at night animals wander around them sometimes roaring (hyenas) and you may unexpectedly meet an animal when moving about after dark, in my case an elephant was walking through a large campsite with many tents when I was walking to the toilet block at 9 pm. Take a really good head torch, rechargeable seem to be best, mine with it's 3 changeable aaa batteries was not good enough.

Suggestions

The Hotel in Stone town had dangerous bathrooms with an approximately 8 inch step down immediately in front of the toilet. I fell down this and luckily only suffered a badly bruised arm. At least one other guest fell down this twice.

Kayleigh Provins

Reviewed October 2019

A trip of a lifetime!!

This trip was a once in a lifetime trip and the memories we made will last a lifetime!!

Most Inspirational Moment

Hot air ballooning over the Masai Mara was incredible and the large numbers of young animals was simply great to see!!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was so knowledgeable and only to happy to answer any and all questions on the locations and huge variety of animals we saw!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Remember to take something warm for the Ngorongoro crater it got a little cold that night. Although there are some long drives the views and potential animal sightings are well worth it. Our drive through the Masai Mara and onto Lake Victoria was lone but absolutely amazing with Lion, Giraffe, Elephants, Crocs, Hippo and much more!

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