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An overwhelmingly exhilarating and rewarding trip into Western Europe’s mountainous heart. Vistas & experiences which will stick with me forever, an undoubtedly touching group dynamic and all this guided by the most enthusiastic of all tour leaders, Mel Potter. Well done!
Finally ascending the second col on the penultimate walking day in a somewhat less than healthy state.
Am I allowed to give Mel marks of eleven out of ten?
Unless you are incredibly unfit or have an overwhelming health concern which you have discussed in detail with your GP and Exodus, do consider this two week nature extravaganza. Some training before hand of course would not go amiss.
Lovely mountains with beautiful plants and wildlife. The guide and driver went out of their way to be helpful and the hotels were friendly and welcoming.
Walking through a mist shrouded forest and then emerging onto a sunny plateau
Excellent leader. He gave me a memory stick full of Bulgarian folk music after we discussed listening to local musicians.
I had waited two years to join this trip led by Paul and it was definitely worth the wait. Backed with a passion for wildlife and photography , I wanted a trip that would ensure every moment in the Mara wasn’t wasted. This was it.
Just being in the Masai Mara is inspiration in itself. There were too many moments to account for but three stand out: spending 6 or more hours with a pride of lions, watching them interact with each other and their lion cub was truly special, seeing a python swallowing a male impala out in the open field was a first for many, but the moment of the week was in our final hour – seeing thousands upon thousands of Wildebeest & Zebra crossing the Mara River eagerly awaited by the crocodiles. I had always wanted to witness a crossing but nothing prepared me for how emotional I would get. One of nature's wondrous spectacles we were all extremely lucky to see.
There is no one word to describe Paul. His passion for the Mara is contagious and his drive to get us to the right place at the right time made for some incredible shots. For a beginner photographer like myself, there is a lot to learn from him but he will only say something once, it is for you to retain! He is a true entertainer and storyteller and you will never get bored in his presence. Be warned, his photography skills may leave you on the jealous side!
Bring a sense of humour and a thick skin! Make sure you have all the essentials with you: a hat, a light scarf or sarong can come in handy for protection against dust, sunscreen etc. Know your equipment well before you go, I only had a small lens 55-250mm, may have been worth hiring a lens for my first trip. Ensure you have a wide-angle lens and your polariser with you. Ensure you bring a second camera body to be on the safe side, lots of memory and extra batteries, as you will need it. Try not to drop your camera outside the vehicle, however much amusement it provides the lions…. Sweets and a few good jokes if you know some, never go amiss during the long days.. But most importantly, learn to put your camera down from time to time and take it all in. You will never forget it.
It is tougher than i thought everyone agreed it was a bit like standing on top of ben nevis and then walking up and down another ben nevis every day for a fourtnight.
Just to have completed it switzerland had the worse summer for twenty years we got snowed off one mountain but in the end we all started and all finished .
Like all tour leaders he did an excellent job it cannot be easy to marshal and look after 15 people on a mountain and be able to engage a wide range of people and try to keep everyone happy.
Take good water proofs and an umbrella it is a lot easier to have to hand if you need a wee in the middle of the night.
Excellent holiday, thoroughly enjoyed the week. Five hikes with a variety of sights and different terrain. The Chalet Savoy is a perfect base for this trip and size of group. Food was fantastic (thanks Elaine) and wonderful tour guide Oliver (except the jokes).
Best sights for me were at Lac Blanc, where I would recommend you hike to the far side of the lake for photos, plus on the descent from the Brevent, especially the sights back into Chamonix on the short balcony walk before reaching the midpoint refuge. Oh, and the Billberry tart.
Oliver knows how to run the group well. Very knowledgable and experienced guy, a sheer pleasure to be with. The first two hours on Day 1 seem a little slow, but then you realise that while he is hiking, he is also checking out the group, judging the pace and expertly finding a speed suitable for all. By Day 5, when your legs no longer work, you will realise that a) He is still in front of you and b) He will be doing all this again next week while you recover ! Have to also mention that if Elaine serves the ginger/honey cake for packed lunch, steal/bribe/beg for as much as you can get.
The meeting point for this trip is at Geneva Airport at about 10:30 am on Saturday morning. The Exodus group flight for this trip is the BA flight out of London City airport. This in my mind is quite hard to get to from most places in the UK for say, a 7 am check in. It is also an expensive flight, plus if you want to drive to the airport, the car parking charges are huge.I flew out on the Friday night instead, Easyjet flight from Gatwick and stayed in the Holiday Inn near the airport. Flight was £105 return, hotel booked on Expedia was about £65 and the next morning my travel consisted of a five minute courtesy bus trip to the airport.
This was my first Exodus trip and it exceeded my expectations! I have always travelled independently and this trip combined joys of travelling with ease and organisation. There would have been no way that I could have visited all of these sites in the time allotted! Sri Lanka is a beautiful and varied country.
Far too many! The Elephant orphanage, White water rafting, yala
Group leader was fab!
If a well known beer did safaris, then it wouldn’t be possible to surpass this one. The only reason not to recommend it is that it books out so fast that if I say how good it is I may find myself unable to get on the trip again.
I love Africa and its wildlife. I've travelled there quite a bit and seen some amazing things. However, seeing herds of wildebeest battle across the Mara river is something I will never forget. First, you wonder, will they make it across? How will they get out? Then the crocodiles start moving - and the tension increases even further. In the wildlife programmes they tend to show crocodiles winning out every time - in real life, they are known to miss - will they succeed this time? The great thing with this trip, whilst you know you will never forget what you see, you end up with some incredible photos to record it all. You get to spend the time out on the plains that means you have the best chance of seeing, and photographing, Africa's animals at their most interesting - a black rhino taking a morning stroll, a leopard checking a scent, a lion cub battling to climb a tree stump, a cobra eating a Thomson's gazelle - and much more.
This trip is made by Paul. His passion for Africa and its wildlife and photography is obvious to all and he is determined to make sure that everyone has a trip they will never forget and that they get to go home with the best photographs they could take. His knowledge of both animal behaviour and photography makes him a brilliant leader for this trip.
If you want a trip where you spend as much of your time as possible on the plains of Africa looking to see in real life some of the action you have seen on the wildlife documentaries then I would definitely recommend this holiday. It's important to remember that wildlife is unpredictable and that therefore it's necessary to be patient - there are times when you may begin to think that every animal in the Mara has gone into hiding. Overall, you will come away with some amazing memories. Pack a sense of humour and remember "hakuna matata" and you will have a fabulous time.
it was a great experience!beautiful scenery,challenging walks good food fantastic group of people and perfect guide-michael cheng was helpul, friendly and good fun!!!
seeing the sunrise at jinshanling part of the wall-what a profound experience and calmness
the best one
just enjoy the experience
Our 4th Exodus holiday and as always it met our expectations and we would highly recommend it. Lovely hotel, small and friendly in a beautiful location with great views. The rooms are simple but very clean and and the food is really great with lots of choice and plentiful. Nobody will go hungry. I do not eat meat and was impressed with the variety of choice of meals that I could eat. We enjoyed sitting on the terrace having a beer after a day walking. The barman is really friendly and provides peanuts or crisps with your drinks. The walking was great not too strenuous but a decent length. We started our walks at 9.00 and were usually picked up in the mini-bus around 4 – 4.30. The people in our group were great, very friendly and chatty which added to the enjoyment of our holiday. The ages of our group were mixed and as usual for an August holiday many were teachers.
I loved all the walks, unfortunately due to the weather we were only able to do one peak.The Cares Gorge is lovely and it was great dangling my feet in the icy cold, refreshing water in the river in Cain before having lunch and a beer. Seeing a Golden Eagle flying over the valley in Inguanzo.
Jim and Pilar the hotel owners were friendly and helpful. They provide the transportation from and to the airport and also do the drop offs and pick-ups for the daily walks. We were never left waiting very long.Victor our mountain guide was great, a local young man, highly qualified and considerate of everyone. He ensured everyone was safe and told us how much water would be required each day. He had a great sense of humour and always had a story to tell.
Be aware that changes in weather will alter the programme of walksMake sure you drink enough water and take heed of Victor's advice regarding filling up at different springs.Take time to walk into the village and visit the Cabreles Cheese Museum.We haven't ever used poles but the majority of walkers had poles so you might want to try them before you go.
The trip was as good as expected from the description except for some long, rough days travelling, arriving at some destinations too late to explore. The scenery and people of East Africa were fantastic. The final few days of R&R on Zanzibar were welcome.
The game drives in all parks were exceptional, particularly a personal game drive in the Serengeti (whilst the remainder of the party were ballooning) spotting a hyena and jackal tug-of-war with an unfortunate young buffalo, just killed by the hyena, just 20m from the truck. The bird life was amazing, a personal bird guide is required to identify them all, although Often, the driver, made a good attempt. I made good use of the local motorbike gatherings, hopping on the back for a lightening photographic tour of some of the towns in exchange for the cost of a gallon of fuel.
Emius was friendly, helpful, very informative and a good conversationalist, offering the right advice at the appropriate time. He was ably joined by Often who had a good knowledge of the bird life and Leo, a master cook, both of whom were resourceful, friendly and informative.
Unlike Namibia, where I have also travelled with Exodus, the non-metalled roads can be extremely rough. There are a few long days travelling (10-12 hours) on these very rough roads where the priority was to get to the destination rather than sample the route. I would have liked more scenery to explore on foot during the long travelling days.The Zanzibar dolphin excursion is one to be avoided. What is not explained on arrival at the hotel is that the sea is invarably rough (a 4 or 5 ft swell on the day) the dolphins elusive and swimming with them impossible in those conditions, had we seen any. More importantly, there were no lifejackets in the small wooden boat which went at least a mile offshore. This was a waste of a 6 hour trip.