Reviews

Fabulous way to experience South Africa

The outlined itinerary covers the vast, varied, and stunning scenery of the more rural South Africa. Plus time spent in Kruger National Park. This trip is for easy going and seasoned travelers who are willing to ‘go with the flow’. There are times when a route might change, the weather isn’t cooperating, or a pause for mechanical issues is necessary. This trip is a value !!! Together, in the sprinter van, long transfers are covered, the host/guide, makes comfort stops accordingly, and our bikes are on the trailer, with us. We are never too far from our day packs , snacks, and fluids. Having our own van in Kruger gave us flexibility for our own game drives. Having our meals prepped in Kruger gave us more time to use the pool, rest, birdwatch, and at night, watch the evening sky. We had little cultural interaction with the local people, yet we cycled through small town centers, farmland, and housing settlements with waves of “hello’ hello’.

Most awesome trip around the mountains and Lowveld

Very well organised with two incredibly knowledgeable guides. The Eco lodge at Sungabala was sublime. Max and Rea (the guides) could not have been any more helpful and accommodating to our needs. The cycling itself was tough at times but immensely rewarding; to get the sense of being closer to the wilds rather than viewing from a car window.

Fantastic trip & Guides

Highlights: # seeing abundant wildlife/bird life throughout trip # cycling through varying landscapes # the tour leaders/guide/driver/cooks The entire trip covered 2000km (cycled almost 500km of it) and we saw varying landscapes, some of which was quite stunning.

Brilliant trip!

Excellent trip, so well organised and carried out. Lots of cycling made easy with the great guides.

Fantastic trip

Wonderful cycling amidst fantastic scenery . The roads were smooth and quiet , some challenging ascents and wonderful descents. Accomodation was often basic but always comfortable and clean. Food was often cooked by our guides – this was a real positive, both were good cooks and this allowed us to stay in some remote and beautiful places. The whole trip was a real adventure.

Spectacular scenery, amazing wildlife, a really memorable trip

This trip exceeded our expectations on lots of levels. The scenery when cycling is unbelievably spectacular (the cycling is not for wimps as lots of climbing!). It is not a luxury trip but accommodation is comfortable and allows you to access such beautiful places. We had a great group, hard cycling mixed with activities such as swimming at waterfalls, short hikes, historical sites with lots of information along the way from our 2 guides Adonia and Evans who had great local knowledge. 2 days at Kruger were incredible, so much wildlife at such close quarters including Elephants, Giraffes, Lions, Zebras, Water buffalo, Hyenas, Impala and beautiful birds. We seemed to pack so much in it’s hard to remember all that we did. The weather was mixed, with blazing sunshine, torrential rain, some cold evenings as at altitude and hailstones the size of walnuts but all added to the experience of adventure (pack for all seasons!)

MZD221113

Brilliantly crafted trip. Cycling, accommodation, places we visited Excellent👍

Simply the best!

This was our first Exodus cycling holiday and it won’t be our last! The scenery was varied and beautiful, the hotels were better that I was expecting and the cycling was challenging but manageable and a great way to see the countryside.

We were able to ride at our own pace through out the trip, with one of the guides at the front and one bringing up the rear and breaks every hour or so for water and snacks.

Food from the Exodus Mobile Kitchen was excellent – every meal was something different and we were often the lunchtime the envy of other tour groups! The buffet meals in the hotels were also good – a range of options to suit everyone.

Drakensberg & Kruger

Correctly graded as challenging, the first few days were harder than I expected with the altitude and head winds. It was quite cool there too, so a warm and windproof layer is essential in the misty conditions, arm warmers were handy too. The Blyde Canyon ride is long, but you start early (earlier than the trip notes suggest, and without breakfast before setting off); the first and last thirds have an uphill bias but the middle part is a really nice undulating section – the wonderful views are a great distraction too. It’s an enjoyable trip, with some good biking including some fabulous descents safe enough for some good top speeds, and we certainly saw more wildlife than I was expecting – take some binoculars, you’ll be glad you did.

Most Inspirational Moment

The wildlife. This time of year we were told that the animals can be harder to see in Kruger because they’re more scattered in view of the wider availability of water, but we saw plenty - and with the added bonus of lots of babies, including some lion cubs, playful young elephants and the cutest of little antelopes. We also saw some herds of zebra galloping joyously across the meadows earlier in the trip, which was wonderful to see. And late in the trip we passed some people praying by a river family close to the road; hearing their wonderful singing whilst cycling along was very uplifting.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Adonia, Rea and Innocent made an excellent team, I hope for future travellers’ sake that they will work together again because they definitely helped make it a really good trip. They obviously got on well and joined in with the group far more than I’ve experienced with most other Exodus trips (I’ve been on at least fifteen). They were knowledgeable, fun and Ado in particular was very keen to ensure we were all aware of the safety aspects of the trip. They were also good cooks, the beef stir fry and barbecue were definite highlights.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Sleep on the first part of the transfer on day one, after the lunch stop there are great views and animal spotting opportunities. Make sure you get a three round-pin adapter, only one or two places had European two-pin sockets. I bought mine at Heathrow but dare say you could get one cheaper beforehand. All accommodations have charging points, although a battery charger pack might be useful on the safari days if you use your camera a lot. You won’t need a huge amount of cash as most meals are included and there aren’t that many opportunities to buy things; if you see something you like buy it as you may well not see it again. There were ATMs at a few of the places we stopped for the guys to stock up on food, however I’d recommend getting some currency before you leave the UK or exchanging some cash when you arrive at the airport. There weren’t that many opportunities to pay by card, particularly for the smaller purchases. Take a travel towel or sarong for the day-time swimming opportunities, you may like to have water shoes for some too. Worth having a change of clothes handy on part-transfer days to avoid sitting in your cycling gear for longer than necessary. A couple of places didn’t have any soap in the bathroom and some provided a kettle but no tea/coffee. Take a few snacks or buy some at the well-stocked supermarkets along the way; the provisions at the snack stops were generally limited to peanuts, wine gums and liquorice all sorts - sometimes with a banana, apple or orange too; I have been on many trips which provide a wider variety of options at the snack stops (exotic fruits, biscuits, chocolate bars, snack bars, crips, energy drinks and so on). The larger bikes had two bottle cages, but even if yours doesn’t two water bottles are handy if you like to drink lots, especially on the safari days (most of us bought a 5 litre bottle of water each for the days in Kruger and Hazyview, everywhere else you can drink the tap water). Lots of the roads were quite light in terms of traffic, but some days were busier and the vehicles can drive quite close as they’re not used to cyclists in this part of S Africa, there were often decent hard shoulders though. Roads were generally in good condition with a few areas having potholes, sadly broken glass from discarded bottles was pretty ubiquitous. Take cleat shoes and clip-in pedals if you’re used to using them. It’s definitely worth taking one of the optional extra game drives as the drivers are expert spotters and are in contact with each other, meaning they know where the best sightings are (ours cost R700 which was quite a bit more than the trip notes suggest, but was longer and very worthwhile). The knowledge-sharing led to us seeing a leopard as well as the other members of the big five gang. That said, our guides and driver were pretty impressive when it came to spotting animals and birds too, we saw a cheetah whilst driving through the park with them; they have a keen interest in the flora and fauna of the area, and a great deal of knowledge to impart.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Sandra for her review; we were very pleased to read that overall she had an enjoyable trip, but we were sorry that she was disappointed with some of the meal arrangements on the tour.  This tour is structured in a way that we feel offers our customers a range of experiences, from those provided in accommodation, prepared by our local team and eaten in natural surroundings, and also, when they are not included, the opportunity to buy some locally and sample the variety of dishes and snacks available in South Africa.  In some locations, due to the remote nature of the places we stay, there are no restaurants nearby, and meals are cooked and served by our fantastic local staff.  While we regret that Sandra feels this could be improved, we hope this explains why the tour is set up in this manner, but having said this, we have made some minor amendments to the itinerary recently, with three lunches and one dinner removed so clients have additional opportunities to visit local restaurants.

 

We also understand that Sandra and some other group members had some difficulties with the gearing on their bikes.  We would like to assure her that our local team have a thorough servicing and maintenance procedure, with all bikes being checked before each trip; a mechanic also travels with the group to assist in the event of issues arising as the trip progresses.  While we are sorry for any issues Sandra experienced, we have discussed this with our local team and can assure any customer considering joining this trip that we usually receive excellent feedback regarding the bikes.  We are, nonetheless, sorry for any problems Sandra encountered.

Great itinerary, excellent guides, shame about the bikes

The bikes are key to the enjoyment of a cycling holiday. I have enjoyed at least 12 previous cycling holidays with Exodus and the bikes provided for this trip were the worst I have ever had. It was difficult or impossible to change gears smoothly on both the front or rear gears. The chain frequently hopped 2 gears, no gears, or changed on a whim entirely by itself. Frequent adjustments were made by the guides, but any changes didn’t last more than 20km. I suspect the cables needed changing, but this wasn’t in their remit. The display on the handlebars were completely obscured so you had no idea what gear you were in unless you memorised the back and looked down at the front, making it easy to cross chain and exacerbate the problems. On first sight of the bikes at least 2 had new chains which were drooping almost to the ground.

Most Inspirational Moment

We saw the most astonishing range of animals, including a cheetah, a leopard and 4 baby lions in The Kruger National Park and quite a few outside. The view of the porcupine moving at speed 2 night running on the same route between the toilet blocks in the campsite at dusk was just amazing. I loved the tours of the Rourkes Drift and the Cave paintings

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader Adomi was brilliant; well organised, very well informed . His team consisting of Rio as support and Innocent as the driver worked well and they were friendly and, chatty and mixed in with all of us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't book this trip until you have assurance that the bikes have been replaced or all the key components changed

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Sue for her review; we were pleased to read that she enjoyed the itinerary and found her tour leader, Adomi, and his team to be friendly and helpful, but we were very sorry that she was disappointed with the quality of the bikes provided for the trip. All of the bikes used on our South Africa trips are fully serviced at the end of each season with new components fitted, and our local trained mechanic carries out checks on each in between each tour.  Should mechanical issues occur during the trip, at least one member of the team working on the trip, who carries spare parts and a toolkit, is trained to address them.  Our head mechanic in South Africa has explained that in this instance, the bike had been fitted with a new derailleur cable before the trip, which we understand led to Sue having some difficulties with the gears.  Whilst we sincerely regret it was felt this was due to issues with the bike, we feel it is worth mentioning that we generally receive positive feedback regarding the bikes on this tour, and we genuinely hope that this helps reassure that the condition of the bikes is closely monitored.  John Penge – Product Manager.