Reviews

MMI Cycle Morocco’s great south

Really loved the cycling, it was challenging and very rewarding .Our guides Mohamed and Yusuf were excellent as were the drivers. And the food was wonderful. Apart from the hotel in Agadir which survived very ordinary buffet food. Sadly neither the bikes or the transfer vehicles were up to the job. The bikes were worn out and constantly needing attention and the vehicles did not have enough legroom for comfort, particularly the Prado, which was painful if you were unlucky enough to be in the back.

Excellent trip

What a fabulous week in the Dolomites

Nearly excellent

I do feel a little mean just giving 4 stars but there were a few niggles. It’s a great trip and particularly satisfying in that there are no transfers until the end – you cycle from hotel to hotel for 6 days. Lovely scenery, though not quite as gorgeous as described in other reviews. Accommodation basic but clean – no luxury but you don’t spend much time in it. Sardinian food and wine is pretty awesome but mostly fish based.
Gripes. Bikes are old and heavy which make the second and third rides more onerous than they should be- 3400 feet ascent in 36 miles does not usually faze me but knees were complaining for a few days after. I experienced a degree of bike envy for the guide’s lightweight gravel bike. As noted elsewhere the flight times are awkward and we were pretty bored by the end of the last day awaiting our transfer to the airport- a late check out from our rooms on a hot sticky day would have been good. The trip notes were inaccurate which, sadly, is a common issue with Exodus trips. Biggest grouse was, however, that there was only ever one guide on the rides, which meant that the weakest member was either cycling alone or dependent on the good nature of other participants for company. To my mind a bit of a safety risk but I guess we might have been spoilt after our trip to Indonesia where there were always three guides.
I am sounding a bit negative. We had a great time but some minor alterations would improve the experience substantially.

Walking The Algarve in Portugal

Roberta Johnson
September 2024

We have been on many Exodus trips and this one was one of the most beautiful places I have visited. The varied scenery on our coastal walks and paths were breathtaking. This is a very unspoilt, tranquil, cultural region with passionate local people. Each hotel we stayed at was lovely, especially the Aljezur as it was set in a peaceful, uncrowded location with very friendly, fun staff. Francisco and Rafael guided us throughout this wonderful trip doing their utmost to make our holiday special and enjoyable. They were very passionate in every way and extremely knowledgeable. They explained things to us in a kind, caring, relaxed and fun way. They always made sure we were comfortable and happy with what we were doing each day. They worked very hard and well together.
I felt privileged to share this trip with inspiring people, exploring the region and making this a magical holiday.

A fabulous Trip

Our first guided tour with Exodus, and first ever, was great. The setting, food, group dynamic and leader were all more than I for!

Exotic trip with a few flaws

The itinerary for this trip was remarkable – saw oragutans and Komodo dragons in the wild, snorkeled, and enjoyed touring around Bali and the various islands. Did the Gili Trawangan extension and went scuba diving there. And Elly was a wonderful tour guide. However, there were some downsides, including the boat in the Komodo islands and some of the other transportation. The boat itself was not very comfortable, and actually a little dangerous in certain regards. The boat was not set up to accommodate the number of people on the tour, so was at times crowded and uncomfortable in the common area. There wasn’t just an option to sleep on the deck, but a requirement for a few people, as there were not enough cabins to accommodate the entire group. And when those deck sleepers needed to use a restroom in the middle of the night, they had to barge in to one of the cabins in the dark – no restrooms on the boat except inside the few cabins. The dining table where they served all the food buffet-style was crammed in a small room, with the stairs leading down to a couple of the cabins right alongside of the table -as you were getting your food, it would have been extremely easy to fall down them if you weren’t very careful. The refrigerator with all of our drinks was very often blocked by people sitting at the table, so there was major shuffling to do you when you wanted to get a drink. There was a low railing around the boat, which in rough seas would have been very easy to fall overboard.
there was only one support skiff with the boat that could only take half of us ashore at a time, so getting everyone onshore took forever. The local guide that accompanied us on the Komodo boat trip was not very good. He didn’t do any kind of assessment of everyone’s snorkeling abilities but instead took off on the first snorkel in a strong current, and didn’t look back to see if everyone was following, or try to keep the group together. People fell way behind and because there was only one skiff, that skiff couldn’t (nor ever intended to, it seemed) stay with the snorkelers. People were scattered over a large area in the water and in some cases, were told to just wait in the water when the first half of the group had already filled the skiff for the return trip to the big boat. It was a situation ripe with the potential for disaster. And the guide wasn’t around to stay with the people who had to remain in the water waiting. And if you wanted to jump in and swim off the big boat, the ladder was so high in the water that it was very difficult to get back on the boat – and there was no safety line deployed behind the boat to make it any easier, or safer, to get to the boat.

Other transportation was disappointing. The small group of us that went on the Gili Island extension had to wait over an hour at port the ferry terminal, after arriving back in Bali, for the driver to show up to transport people to the airport for thir flights. I stayed a couple extra nights in Bali before going home, and the driver that was supposed to transport me from the hotel to the airport never showed up at all – the hotel had to make alternate arrangements for me.

In closing, it was a wonderful, adventerous trip, but Exodus has some work to do to make it a little safer and comfortable.

Great trip

This is a wonderful trip! So many great sights from the two cities of Porto and Lisbon and all of the beautiful scenery in between! The coast is so scenic with the rugged cliffs and blue ocean

Spectacular Coastline

This was a brilliant walking holiday for me. Always wanting to be near the sea, and not disappointed this time! The walks were well chosen, a mixture of easy and slightly more challenging bits. Our brilliant guides, Francisco and Rafael made sure the pace was right for all of us, pointing out interesting features of nature or history along the way. They seemed to go the extra mile, treating us to a glass of bubbly at sunset on the Castle in Aljezur, a lovely touch!

An excellent tour for those interested in history and architecture

The real strength of this tour was the use of local guides who gave us their stories of life under Soviet occupation and family histories of displacement. Learning about the terrible war time history of the region was balanced by moments admiring beautiful buildings and lovely beaches and forests. There was enough free time to wander and visit a few museums – recommended the Maritime museum in Tallinn, The Occupation Museum (take a tour) and Art Nouveau Museum and Ghetto Museum in Riga. In Vilnius and Tallinn the KGB Museums. There were some long bus journeys, very flat landscape but plenty of coffee and toilet stops!

Good trip but some misgivings

This was a good trip but could have been even better. Highlights were seeing orangutans, proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants in their natural setting.
On day 2 trip notes state a day trip to Bako NP and we left hotel at 7.45am. Unfortunately we were back at hotel by 1.30pm and this included an hour spent having lunch at Bako. Felt that if Exodus weren’t giving us the day trip promised then they could have added in an optional afternoon trip perhaps to Semenggoh to see orangutans.
On day 5 you fly from Mulu NP to Kota Kinabalu and meet new guide as Exodus have recently changed the trip so that you have different guides in Sarawak and Sabah. This is difficult for both group and guide as you no sooner meet new guide than you have a free day in KK (unless you choose the snorkelling day trip option). Unfortunately the hotel in KK has no outdoor space or swimming pool and Exodus need to upgrade this hotel to make free day more comfortable.
Stay in longhouse on Day 7 is a one-off experience and some on group really didn’t enjoy the basic facilities on offer. Unfortunately day 8 was a Sunday and the tea factory was closed so this spoiled the tea factory visit as there is no atmosphere being shown round an empty factory.
When i booked trip we were meant to get an included lunch on day 8 because the Gomantong Caves were closed to the public. This was outwith Exodus control so this was an acceptable compromise however in July the caves were open to public. Exodus cancelled the “free” lunch on Day 8 but we then had to pay to enter Gomantong caves when we visited on Day 10. Seems a stupid example of penny pinching on a fairly expensive trip.
On the nights of days 10 and 11 we stayed at Nature Lodge on Kinabatangan River. No mosquito nets were provided in the rooms and most of the group were bitten. Food at Lodge was included but was fairly basic and poor quality. Three river cruises were included whilst staying at Nature Lodge but entire group was charged 60MYR a head for the final cruise because they took us upstream in search of pygmy elephants. It seemed unnecessary to charge group this extra £100+ as we had an included cruise, were not out for any longer than we would have been and probably used the same amount of fuel. Also didn’t like that it was compulsory- if entire group didn’t agree then trip to find elephants wouldn’t happen.
Borneo rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley was lovely but unless you opted out of arranged activities it was full on for the entire visit and exhausting.
My main concern on this trip was the amount charged for single supplement. This is not something that you give much thought to until you find yourself travelling solo. On this holiday paying the supplement only gets you your own room for 10 nights as you have to share for 2 nights at Mulu NP and Rainforest Lodge in Danum. The other 10 nights are spent in fairly average hotels and a quick check of prices showed that the entire cost of a room in these hotels was fractionally less than the single supplement. Given that the basic tour cost includes accommodation surely the single supplement should only charge the additional 50% cost of the room. I and other solo travellers on trip definitely felt ripped off by single supplement charged.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing orangutans in the wild

Thoughts on Group Leader

Two group leaders (Nik and Rony) - took a couple of days to get used to change. Both very good.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take plenty mosquito spray for Kinabatangan River and good waterproofs for Mulu.

Reply from Exodus

Thank you for taking the time to submit a review, Linda, and we were pleased to read that you generally enjoyed your time in Borneo with us, particularly witnessing a variety of wildlife in their natural habitats. On the other hand, we are genuinely sorry thar you were disappointed with several other elements of the tour, which took some of the shine off your holiday. Our product team endeavours to produce the most up-to-date and accurate trip notes possible; all our trip notes are thoroughly checked and signed off by our local manager at the beginning of each season and these are updated throughout the year if any inaccuracies are brought to our attention. It is certainly never our intention to provide misleading information, so we regret that you felt this was true of some of your tour.  Regarding day 2’s itinerary, this generally involves a very early start to Bako National Park, lunch, and a mid-afternoon return to the hotel to relax. Though, due to the nature of adventure travel, timings are always flexible, it sounds as though your group completed this activity quicker than usual and we regret if this left you feeling as though you missed out on the opportunity to do an afternoon activity. Next, recent changes to guiding legislation on Borneo has forced our hand into have two leaders on this trip. Whilst this may not be everyone’s preference, it is standard on our other trips in this region and we have found that it generally works very well. We appreciate that clients enjoy comfortable accommodation throughout their trips and we are sorry that the Kota Kinabalu Hotel fell short of your expectations, particularly as you had a free day here. This trip is classified as “classic” according to our comfort ratings and we feel the hotel meets this description, as well as being perfectly located in the centre of town. On the topic of accommodation, we note that some members of your group didn’t particularly enjoy the longhouse; we do specify in our literature that it’s fairly basic, which usually sets our clients’ expectations accordingly, but we feel it is worth doing as it provides an authentically Bornean experience. The Nature Lodge on Kinabatangan River is also rather basic, but we should mention that options in this part of Borneo are extremely limited and it is visited for its prime wildlife viewing opportunities, which we hope you enjoyed. We acknowledge, however, that the food service here could be improved and I can assure you that we are currently discussing this with the management to ensure better culinary experiences for future groups. The Gomantong Caves and day 8 included lunch were removed from our WOH itinerary for 2024 as we were advised they would be closed to the public all year. We understand that the caves were, in fact, open during your trip and you were given the opportunity to visit on day 10 but were disappointed to be asked to cover your entry costs. This is not an official optional activity we advertise and it appears your leader simply offered this at the time; however, as this was entirely optional, we do not feel that you were left short-changed on this occasion. We recognise that value for money is important to our customers and we were, therefore, concerned to receive your feedback about the cost of your single supplement. We negotiate rates with hotels a long time in advance of departure dates and we are held to those rates for a season, even when hotels may lower their own prices for last minute walk-ins, online bookings or other avenues through which guests can make reservations. The hotels we use often charge us the same rates regardless of room type, with no reduction for singles, which further impacts our ability to reduce the single supplement charge. Nevertheless, we endeavour to negotiate rates which are fair and favourable for our clients and we can assure you that the amount you paid for your trip was reflective of its inclusive elements. We would like to thank you, again, for your detailed feedback, as this will allow us to make improvements to this tour for future Exodus customers. We sincerely hope that, despite certain disappointments, you will continue choosing us for your adventure travel plans.

 

Kelly Reid, Product Manager