Most Inspirational Moment
The last hiking day where the hiking was on a high mountain
Thoughts on Group Leader
He's fun and very experienced
Advice for Potential Travellers
It's great fun...
Reviews
Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers
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Reviews
CORSICAN MOUNTAINS & VILLAGES
It was absolutely fantastic. The Island is gorgoeous, the hotel was nice, the hikings was great. The only dissapointment was the average age and maybe exodus can be on their website the average age of the group?
CANADIAN ROCKIES & VANCOUVER ISLAND
There was a great mix of activity on this holiday. It was a wonderful experience
Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the bears and the whales in their natural habitat.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Good. Very knowledgeable.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Make sure you have taken suitable precautions for any injuries you may be carrying. Spraining my ankle again meant I couldn't take part in all the activities I wanted to.
CYCLE THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO
A fabulous experience, with a fabulous group of people of a wide age range!
Most Inspirational Moment
Walking from the valley up to O Cebriero - I had fantastic views before the clouds came down.The arrival in Santiago and knowing that the challenge had been met.
Thoughts on Group Leader
A superb group leader and backup person who couldn't do enough for us; everything planned to make each stage of the journey achievable and flexible enough to sort out any bike problems along the way.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Ensure you get in some practice climbing hills before the trip; not totally essential, because the backup vehicle is a fail safe. If not, be prepared to walk fast and push!
CYCLE INDOCHINA & ANGKOR
Great trip from start to finish
Most Inspirational Moment
Sounds trite but there was something to amaze me everyday.Obviously the temples-but the friendliness of the people, the motorbikes and how organised everyting was!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Al made the holiday -much more than a leader a friend too!. Nothing was to much trouble-everything was so well run that it seemed so relaxed.Poor Al was the only one to come off his bike on a very wet, slippery bend- only bruised thankfully
Advice for Potential Travellers
Money from atms no problemSunscreen, a hat, and insect repellant vital!
KILIMANJARO CLIMB - RONGAI ROUTE
An amazing experience, great scenery, long hard days, excellent food and catering, great guides. The trip is tough but well worth it as one of these once in a life time events
Most Inspirational Moment
The most impressive sight was mid way in when i walked out of my tent and saw that we were above cloud cover. At 3,500m in the morning, feeling like you are standing on top of the clouds is an odd sensation. That was a better sight than the summit.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Very knowledge, had been up the mountain 104 times and our trip was his 105th! I didn't see him much, the other guides were the main people who walked with us, but the best kind of group leader is one who makes sure everything is done and sorted and the one you don't see rushing around shouting at people. It was all very professional. The other guides were amazing, they didn't talk too much, but you always knew they were there, ready to help.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't underestimate this trip. Even though Kilimanjaro has become commercialized with 30,000 people going up each year and the whole fan fare of the celebrities going up it, the trip is still hard. Altitude is hard to adjust to and you will have no idea how you whilst you are sitting at sea level reading this. I got bad altitude sickness which actually prevented me from gettting to the true summit, I only managed to get to Gilman's point, as I was being sick for a good 4 hours prior to getting there.If you are getting headaches and feeling ill early one, i.e. before base camp, take altitude sickness pills. I acclimatised slowly and usually over night, but at base camp (Kibo Hut 4700m) you may be able to acclimatise, but once you start summitting you are climbing 1000m in one night to the true summit (5900m), there is little chance to acclimatise whilst climbing, so if you get sick it is too late to take pills. In heinsight i would begin starting altitude sickness pills from the start. If you weren't going to get sick its fine, but if you were, then taking them may reduce the effects of the sickness. Essentially I didn't take them and if i had, i may have summitted, something which i am gutted about. The only problem about pills is that the side effects can be the effects of altitude sickness, so if you don't think you are going to get and then take the pills, the side effects from the pills could be make it look like you have altitude sickness when you don't. Hard choice. Obviously you need to seek professional advice around this, and I can only say what I would have done.
CYCLE INDOCHINA & ANGKOR
This trip was great and was the first one for me as a single traveller I couldn’t have had a better time.
Most Inspirational Moment
I can't pick one inspirational moment as it was all equally good.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Al was absolutely fantastic nothing was a problem.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't take a waterproof you won't need it, its so hot that if it rains its welcomed!
CARPATHIAN CULTURE AND WILDLIFE
A great mix of walking & sight seeing in a relatively untouched part of Europe with the added bonus of a lovely hotel.
Most Inspirational Moment
The walking was great, especially as we were really lucky with the weather (7 days of sunshine!). Wonderful views throughout and a nice mix of woodland and mountain pastures. The two main walking days were certainly my highlight.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Cosmin was great, one of the best Exodus leaders I have had. Extremely knowledgable and it was really nice to have a local guide who grew up in the area.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Try to read Bram Stocker's Dracula before you go and stock up on tasteful Dracula souvenirs at Bran Castle!
WALKING IN TUSCANY
The 5 days walking were awesome a good variety of walks. The farm house was great, especially the pasta and the pool. Liz was a great guide. The only disappointment was that we didn’t spend longer by the pool or on the mini golf course at the end of the afternoons, our schedule regularly overran, on the first day by over 4 hours! Given this was no fault of Exodus I haven’t knocked down the star score although it definitely did impact on my overall enjoyment of the holiday.
Most Inspirational Moment
Bob and Alan we inspirational, both are just under double my age at somewhere around 60. Both were amongst the fittest people in our group. When I was told Bob had run 5 miles and swum 100 laps of the pool before breakfast before the upcoming 6 hours walk I thought they were pulling my leg, they weren’t. I aspire to being as fit as they are when I am nearing retirement. As one of 4 mild vertigo sufferers, still being alive having walked across the ridge was pretty inspirational (challenging departures only). Having muttered a raft of expletives on first sight, with Liz’s and the group’s encouragement we all got to the other side, this was very gratifying. On the later walks looking back at the mountain one you had already been up was very cool.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Liz was awesome and dealt fantastically with everything that was thrown at her. She is almost certainly never going to have so many people keel over exhausted or injured on her again. 4 vertigo suffers, myself included, on an exposed ridge would test the patience of a saint. Although Liz clearly doesn't get why some bits are particularly terrifying, she never ran out of encouragement.Very good driver, which helps in the mountains
Advice for Potential Travellers
Some departures are moderate and some are challenging. Pick your departure carefully being realistic about your own level of fitness. If you can't walk at a brisk pace for 5 hours don't book a challenging departure! The exodus web site describes the grading system in massive detail http://www.exodus.co.uk/walkinggrades?Just like in any sport, get fit to play don't play to get fit. That said if you are fit, the challenging departure was awesome.
GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE CRUISE
A great trip, a long flight out but if you are interested in wildlife and are wondering about visiting the Galapagos then go for it. I experienced several of those moments when I couldn't believe what was happening right in front of me.
Most Inspirational Moment
I cannot possibly describe everything I enjoyed but here are samples: rising at early light to see storm petrels dancing on glassy smooth water before the morning breeze comes up; flamingoes in dayglo red, as vivid as the vermilion flycatchers; small flightless cormorants with bright turquoise eyes that stood preening themselves as we passed by or surfaced near the panga as they returned from fishing expeditions; male frigate birds sailing through the air with red throat sacs inflated to impress their girlfriends; gorgeous green dragonflies in the highlands of Santa Cruz and elegant coffee and cream dragonflies near the beach at Floreana; a great blue heron, taller than I am, that I was cautiously approaching when it decided to walk towards me, I might be exaggerating about its height but I don't think so; marvellous sea caves with nesting noddies; evening on the north side of Santa Cruz where hunting sealions swam rings round hunting sharks and opportunist pelicans perched on the boat waiting to pounce on the dozens of fish that shot across the surface in fright; hunting packs of blue footed boobies that form merry-go-rounds of dozens, if not hundreds of birds when one of them spots a shoal and whistles for its friends so that they can take turns at diving and circling round to have another go; Espanola where, rather surreally, albatrosses with pretty faces sat on their nests gently touching each other's bills and necks whilst in nearby bushes the mocking birds were attacking each other ferociously.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Darwin Alvarez is probably the best group leader I have met, very knowledgeable, helpful and considerate and well able to adapt the daily trips to circumstances and the particular preferences of individual members of the group.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Do read the trip Notes! They do tell you what to prepare for in the islands. It helps to be moderately fit but the walking is lightweight compared to that on Exodus walking trips, no more than 2.5km on any walk and the greatest height gain was about 140m. The steeper paths had flights of steps and often handrails. To get the most from the trip you should be able to snorkel (often opportunities twice a day). Plenty of shallow water beach visits and life vests are provided if you are not a strong swimmer. James and Suzy have given good advice on keeping baggage light. I wish I had taken earplugs. The engine and generators are noisy and you move between islands at night!
TROPICAL ISLAND WANDERER - FAMILY HOLIDAY
An excellent holiday with an amazing variety of activities. Our guide Sampath was brilliant, informative and entertaining. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and the Exodus trip certainly makes the most of all the best bits.
Most Inspirational Moment
Lots of moments that could compete for this, to name just a few - lunch next to the river where the elephants came to bathe, trying durian and other exotic fruits from the roadside markets, climbing Sigiriya and cycling round the local villages, playing traditional games, relaxing on the south coast, elephant rides (realised rather too late that elephants don't need bananas peeled for them).
Thoughts on Group Leader
Sampath was excellent - he looked after all of us, entertained us and gave us a real feel of life in Sri Lanka. Was also brilliant at effortlessly organising us all without us feeling over-organised. Never too busy to answer questions and manage all the behind the scenes running of the trip. It was also reassuring to learn from Sampath how much Exodus have given back to country particularly following the aftermath of the Tsunami.
Advice for Potential Travellers
We arrived a day early and left a day late than the Exodus trip dates - an excellent decision as those booked on the Exodus flight didn't arrive at the first destination until the evening so essentially missed this part of the trip - a lovely beachside hotel. The Exodus flight also left very early on the last day leaving no time to explore Colombo. Sampath gave us ideas of what to do in Colombo for the day and we had a brilliant time.Sampath was very open to suggestions from us re things we would like to see and do and accommodated as many as he could eg sampling roadside food, organising tuk tuk ride, tasting toddy etc.