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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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Covers all the expected areas and some unexpected ones. Pacing often seemed hurried but in retrospect was about right. Reasonable vehicle used with enough space, although the single seats seemed rather narrow (the seat belt connectors were recessed make the narrowness less noticeable) Lots of early starts but in most cases there was time to look around the overnight stops in daylight. The lunch stops in most cases offered options, but not all. Evening meals were of a good standard throughout. Hotels were very varied, from bunkhouse to very good. As expected the Athens hotel was the worst, tiny room, impossible to walk round the room without climbing over the bed and in a dingy sidestreet.
Being in the Olympic Stadium ruins completely alone.
Very good on detail and organisation but does need to limit the static time or learn to talk and walk.
Ignore the advice about the water being safe, it is if you are southern European but very iffy for the north European. Came back with a water borne bug.
It didn’t get off to a good start as the prearranged taxi that I paid £114 for wasn’t at the airport I waited for about 20mins then thought I should get a local taxi which quoted me $50 for the ride to Crooked Tree which was about 20km So I think Exodus ripped me off charging so much for a poor service The arranged taxi did eventually turn up and said he’d been there all the time which was a lie as it’s a v small airport and I would have seen him
The trip itself was great with a lot packed in and an excellent guide Jorge who was unfailingly good humoured and v helpful and kind He even offered to lend me his glasses when I lost mine! The accommodations and food were all good The Jungle Lodge in Guatemala didn’t offer any drinking water except in plastic bottles which rather goes against Exodus policy The ATM caves were interested but I felt were a health and safety hazard as there would have been limited access for rescue services or evacuation Also the ancient artefacts were on the ground just taped off so could easily have been damaged by visitors and some already have been. I felt the administering authority should have taken better care eg providing walkways,emergency exits etc Finally I felt Caye Caulker was marred by a lot of plastic pollution bottles etc along the shoreline and the corals out at the reef were bleached I know that’s not an Exodus issue but maybe you feed back to the resort how to improve the tourist experience
Dawn at East temple Tikal
Excellent Really considerate to improve the tourist experience eg setting off early to avoid the queue at the Guatemala border
Don’t go with Exodus taxi if you’re not in the group transfer
We would like to thank Kim for her feedback. We were pleased to learn that she enjoyed her holiday and felt that her tour leader, Jorge, added value to the trip, but we’re sorry that she had difficulty at the start regards to her arrival transfer.
We request that our drivers are at the airport 15 – 30 minutes before the customers arrival time as we don’t want our customers worrying that they have no-one waiting for them in a new country. There are 2 exits at the airport, one of which leads outside where all drivers wait with their respective signs. The driver mentioned that he walked around with his sign looking for Kim until he eventually reached her, so this may possibly be the reason she was unable to locate him at first.
We’re regret that Kim feels overcharged regarding her transfer costs, however, it is possible that the taxi thought she wanted to visit the Bird’s Isle Restaurant in Belize City instead, as this is about 18km away from the airport and correlates more with the price that she was quoted. The distance to Bird’s Eye View lodge is 46.3km from the airport and we believe that this would have reflected closely to what she was initially charged.
We appreciate Kim’s comments regarding safety at the ATM caves. The guides undergo specialized training before being granted their license to the ATM cave, including rescue training. They are required to carry a backpack with all the necessary rescue equipment and the cave management has a set procedure for emergency rescues. Due to the mineral formations of the cave it’s not possible to create another entrance or build additional walkways as the idea is to preserve the natural integrity of the cave. A lot of the artifacts are within guests’ reach and the tape is meant to serve as a buffer between the artifact and guests, as well as a marker to guide guests on where to walk. To further protect the artifacts, cameras and phones are not allowed as the guide would have explained before entering the cave and generally visitors are respectful and abide by the rules.
Regarding her comments on the use of plastic bottles, we do request that customers bring along a refillable bottle as outlined in our trip notes. We also offer them a reusable bottle at the beginning of the trip. We will pass on her comment to the hotel; however, this is how they serve water at the restaurant. Whilst we appreciate that we are not going to be able to dramatically change local circumstances through tourism, we assure Kim that we continuously engage with our supplier partners, sharing best practices on environmental initiatives such as eliminating sing-use plastics.
We’re grateful for the time she took to leave a review and hope that we can welcome her on future trips with us!
– Emma Cambers, Product Manager
This was our first trip to India although we have previously travelled widely across south and south east Asia. The variety of sights, sounds and colours encountered on our trip was amazing and we covered a lot of ground in just over a week. We felt there was a bit too much emphasis on visiting religious sites and would have preferred to have seen more of the countryside and city parks and green spaces such as Lodi Gardens in Delhi for example. A bit more free time for private exploring would also have been welcome – although we were happy being on an organised tour, the trip had a breathless quality about it despite its supposed ‘leisurely’ classification. We particularly enjoyed the visit to Ranthambore nature reserve and were thrilled to see a family of four tigers in the wild. Our trip to the Taj Mahal was inevitably a highlight notwithstanding the 5.30am start to catch the rising sun falling on its majestic domes. We also enjoyed the short walking tour of the Chandni Chowk street market in Old Delhi and wish it had been longer. While everything we saw had its interesting facets, we would have been happier to have seen fewer places of worship and seen more of ‘normal’ Indian street life and the everyday life of secular India and its people.
Getting a close up view of a family of tigers in the Ranthambore nature reserve and seeing a wide variety of birdlife in both towns and countryside.
Our tour leader Mayank was excellent - hardworking, patient and knowledgeable. He was always helpful and acted as a very effective advocate for the group when dealing with day to day issues. Given his many years of experience in the business, nothing seemed to take him by surprise and he seemed to know everybody wherever we went. He was also very helpful with my attempts to identify local birdlife.
The 'leisurely' label does not do justice to this tour - there are frequent early starts and long days on buses and trains with the consequence that we skipped quite a few hours of sleep in order to arrive early at some venues. India is a big country of course but a little more time genuinely 'at leisure' would have been appreciated.
This is a superb trip, experiencing Vietnam at its best. As always we travelled with likeminded people who added to the experience.
The trip is full on and some people added an extension, which would have been great to chill after the trip.
The walking, canoeing and cycling were great.
The accommodation was largely good, some exceptional.
Would certainly recommend this trip
The walk across the countryside with our local guide, the balancing on the rice terraces, scrambling up the hills, the welcome ,unique hot tub Bath,food at the home stay.
Vuong was an excellent leader, always available, great fun and of course knowledgable.
Slim down your packing, the trip is relaxed and laundry is available on the 2 night stays. Strong shoes for the walk.
Costa Rica is such a beautiful Country. Can recommend it 100%.
Touring Costa Rica was a very humbling experience for me. Nothing could have prepared me for the way a lot of Costa Rican people live. Driving around Costa Rica I noticed how many people live in accommodation that is no more than a shed with a tin roof but the people were happy and smiling. Costa Rica is a poor country compared to many countries around but they are contented . I have loads of wonderful memories of Costa Rica. My most memorable were 1 zip line at Monteverde. Just an amazing experience. 2 swimming at La Fortuna Waterfall 3 seeing animals in their natural habit 4 swimming in the Pacific Ocean 5 Kayaking in the Mangrove Swamp
Pedro was very passionate about his country. From him I learnt a lot about Costa Rica. Knew all the tricks of the trade to try and encourage the wildlife out of their hiding places. Nothing was to much trouble made sure that everyone got so much out of the tour. Tock us on many early morning hikes to spot wildlife.
Go on this tour with an open mind. What I mean by this is the Caribbean was not how I imagined it to be. The sea was wild and the sand was not the colour I expected it to be. Before going on this tour I watched a lot of wildlife programmes so I was expecting animals to be everywhere and easy to spot in the rainforest/jungle. Yes saw a lot but sometimes on the hikes we didn’t see a thing. Didn’t really mind this as just hiking through the rainforest was an incredible experience . Something that I will treasure forever.
Remote rice terraces, train ride, boat trip, bustling cities, cool caves, it’s all here.
Ascending the slippery slopes of rice terraces
Can’t praise the group leader too much! He was continuously attentive, enthusiastic about his homeland and open about his life and family history.
Prepare for a range of climates and activities.
A tour of 15 people. Everyone got on well. Some queries with the itinerary. We passed by fabulous beaches without stopping such as Jeffrey’s Bay and Wilderness, yet stopped at service stations for lunch. This actually happened three times; once shortly after Knysna which would have been far preferable. The rooms were not always very good. In Tsitsikamma the room was very good, but it was at least a mile walk each way for breakfast. I’m fit, but this was classified as a leisurely tour. The rooms in Hermanus and Cape Town overlooked car parks. Our room in Hermanus also had no air conditioning. I expected better accommodation quality from Exodus based on personal recommendations. I would say it is comparable to mid range G Adventures. There were no whales (not the season) but also the waterfall in Karoo had dried up and Storms River was very low water also: Our tubing became bouldering. Cape Town and Cape of Good Hope were magnificent. Food provided or purchased throughout was consistently of high quality. A quite expensive trip when excursions, tips and food is added but we probably got what we paid for. A few simple tweaks could have made things better. Enjoyment – 8 out of 10. VFM – 7 out of 10. I regret not seeing some of the wonderful beaches on-route.
Cape of Good Hope and Schotia game reserve (a paid excursion of £100 pp) - why wasn’t this part of the standard itinerary?
Petro Pretorious - very good; always cheerful and helpful. A very competent driver.
Check the season. In March you miss the whales and rivers are low water. Ensure you visit Schotia Game Reserve. South Africa is dangerous. Take high personal precautions over safety and security.
Travelled with my daughters and partner, largely repeating a backpacking trip of more than a quarter of a century ago ( the roads have dramatically improved) this trip delivers the highlights of Rajasthan plus Agra and (briefly) Delhi in a compact timescale leaving you planning return visits to your favourite sites. The driver and helper were tremendous. unfortunately there were question marks over the quality of a couple of hotels ( Pushkar Jaipur) and the pace of the itinary leaves little time for snagging if a room change is required. The main downside, having experienced previous Exodus trips, was the failure to deliver on engagement with local traders, food providers, food producers, charities outside of the mainstreem tourist economy and the seemingly non optional arrangements for food and additional activities at additional cost. Group visits were to high end carpet, spice and marble suppliers. The train trip form agra to Delhi was somewhat chaotic – porters were hired at Agra but not Delhi leading to a long walk through traffic with cases to our transport.
Of course the Taj Mahal (excellent local guide), Udaipur from the water did not disappoint and Bundi was a great surprise package -but the top award has to go to the good natured paint throwing mayhem of the Holi festival in Jaipur!
Opinions varied. IMO did little to promote group cohesion ( group member supported slower members of the party) and he tended to blame his local admin back up for problems. The first night group meal was curiously expensive and It was unclear what the tipping budget covered. Local specialist guides (Bundi Fort , The Taj) however were well informed and added value.
The 1 night stays leave almost no time in which to open and close a suitcase so fanatical attention to packing detail required. Also Insist on interaction with local traders, not just the tourist economy.
We’re delighted to read that John enjoyed many aspects of his return trip to India after a long time away, and that he found some of the sights covered on the tour to be amazing. We regret, though, that he was somewhat disappointed with some areas of the holiday. Regarding the hotels in Pushkar and Jaipur, we have recently changed the hotel in Pushkar and are looking for an alternative to the property in Jaipur, which we’ll be using from October of this year onwards.
We understand that John would have appreciated more interaction with local people and small, local businesses. We would mention that the visits to carpet, spice, and marble vendors John comments on are only offered to clients as optional visits; however, we take John’s point and have raised his suggestion to include more engagement with local people on this tour with our team in India. Similarly, we get John’s disappointment with the cost of food at times. Our leaders arrange group meals and, especially early on in the trip when clients are getting used to the food in India, our groups are taken to restaurants with high hygiene ratings, which do tend to not be local establishments and can cater for tourists. Customers are, however, always free to opt out of group meals if they wish, or organise them amongst the group members themselves.
Regarding the tipping budget, this is outlined in our trip notes, and our leaders carry a tip sheet which lists all the tips they give throughout the trip, and which clients can ask to see at any point during the holiday.
Finally, we were disappointed to note John’s mixed feelings about his tour leader. This is not at all common feedback for us to receive about our leaders in India, and we will follow John’s comments up with our local manager to ensure that all our leaders are providing conscientious, personable support to all members of our groups.
We’re grateful for John for taking the time to leave a review, and hope we’ll be able to welcome him back on another Exodus trip at some point in the future.
– Sarah Puttnam, Exodus Product Manager
This is a fast pace trip, long days travelling but there is a lot to see.
The first glimpse of the Taj Mahal was breathtaking, it is jaw dropping beautiful. However I think joining in with the Holi celebrations especially being at the Krishna temple In Jaipur is a memory that will stay with me.
Gaj was an excellent tour guide. Loved that on our travel days he would pick a subject about India ie education, caste system and explain to us how it works in India. Explained clearly with out any information overload as can be the case on some trips.
Good to go with a bit of knowledge on the indian culture. It is a full on fast pace trip, a lot of travelling. some found the climbs at the forts hard going especially in the heat. Get used to the sound of car horns!!
This was a very interesting and enjoyable holiday in the tropical rainforest. Monkeys and birds were plentiful.
Seeing an orangutan mother and baby in the wild and many other monkeys and birds.
Rony enthusiasm and knowledge of wildlife contributed hugely to the success of the holiday. He brought his telescope which allowed us to get very close views of the animals and birds.
Kuching where the tour starts is a very relaxing and interesting place to spend a one/ two extra days.