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Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

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14208 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Anonymous .

Reviewed September 2010

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

This trip is packed with experiences. Fantastic wildlife that will leave you speechless, friendly local people who will make you feel welcome in their home and teach you about their history and culture, and stunning scenery. If you're in ay doubt about going on this trip, my advice is BOOK THIS TRIP!!

Most Inspirational Moment

I can't narrow it down to one single thing. There were lots of inspirational moments. We went at the time of the migration, so the Masai Mara was teaming with wildlife. A million wildebeest is quite a sight - as are the crocs and other predators waiting for them to stumble! The lions were especially spectacular. We saw hunting behaviour and kills, lions teaching their cubs to hunt, defending their kills from hyena, etc - and all at very close range. We also saw cheetah, black and white rhino, and so much more. The balloon ride over the Masai Mara is also an incredible experience. The trip to Chimp Island is fantastic too. To see the work people are doing to rescue and protect chimps is admirable. We also learned a huge amount about this species and conservation efforts. It's fantastic that Exodus are supporting this project. The visit to the orphanage in Uganda is humbling, heart-breaking and joyous. Again, well done Exodus for supporting this cause. These kids need you. Jinja (Uganda) is a great place. The genocide museum in Kigali (Rwanda) is a sombre experience, but gives you a real unerstanding of modern-day Rwanda. Finally, the gorillas. So much more than I expected. The trek is interesting and well worth it. Gentle, comic and incredibly human-like - I dare anyone to look in the eyes of a gorilla and leave unchanged. A peak experience. In fact the whole holiday is a peak experience! When are we going back??!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader (JJ) was fantastic. Knowlegeable, organised and a great sense of humour. Is there anything this man cannot do?! He worked alongside our cook (Bernard) and driver (Q). As a team, they were simply Brilliant! They definitely contributed to making this holiday an experience of a lifetime. I miss them all.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Prepare yourself for quite long journeys in the overland truck on the road. These are longer than mentioned in the Trip Notes. However they are interesting and a really enjoyable part of the holiday. Don't take too many clothes - there are opportunities to do laundry en route - and there isn't a huge amount of room in the lockers on the truck. The truck (our lovely Isabella!) has recharging facilities, so take your phone, iPod, camera battery rechargers. Speaking of cameras, go armed to the teeth with memory cards! We got through memory cards at a phenomenal rate due to the amount of things we saw. The weather can change in a nanosecond, so go prepared to be roasting hot, soaked to the skin, cold...! And speaking of being wet and cold, not all the camp showers are hot ones! Take plenty of wet wipes if you can't brave a cold shower. There's lots of interesting nick-nacks to buy on the way, so take your dollars! I'd also recommend taking a nail-brush. I couldn't get my hands clean after several days of camping!

Anonymous .

Reviewed August 2010

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

What an amazing experience! I cannot praise this holiday enough! If you are wondering about whether to book this holiday or not, stop wondering and hurry up and book it!

Most Inspirational Moment

There were some incredible moments from the trip, here's my top experiences...1) The gorilla trek - I was unsure what to expect but we completed a 'medium length trek' (our group had the choice of either medium or short length walk). It was approximately a 2 and half hour trek on a hot day. I'm not particularly fit but managed okay, although there were occasional out of breath moments during the steep sections! The group stopped regularly for water breaks and a chance to catch your breath though so don't worry! Eventually we told to crawl on our hands and knees through some bamboo and suddenly the gorillas were right in front of us - incredible! It truly was a once in a lifetime experience to have the honour of spending an hour in the company of these fantastic animals. Brilliant!2) White water rafting at Jinga - I was unsure before the trip whether I was going to do the rafting, but couldn't resist when we got there. It was so much fun! The raipds are really quite daunting but they kept repeating to us that the river is one of the safest to complete the rafting in as there are very few rocks and the water is really deep. Our group went in two different boats, the other boat didn't flip over at all and our boat flipped over once (I actually fell out twice but that's a whole other story!) If you're a fairly okay swimmer I would definitely reccommend completing this!3) Balloon ride over the Masai Mara - this was excellent! The ride was so smooth and the take-off / landing weren't as scary as I imagined. The photos we took from the balloon were magical, and we completed a brilliant game drive straight after the balloon ride where we saw a cheetah up close.4) School / Orphanage - this wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed visiting the children. We were all greeted by lots of smiles, songs, dances and general good fun. We all took some bits and pieces for the children such as sweets, bubbles, balloons, pencils etc.5) The Masai Mara - it is incredible! I bored all of my group to death by comparing it to the Lion King the whole time (it really is just like it!). I'm not particularly a wildlife mega-fan, but I really enjoyed seeing all the animals and learning little facts about them.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Julius was our group leader and he was fantastic! After the first day we all got used to his own interesting way to describe the various optional extra excursions we could choose! He was a great leader as you always felt that he was very much in control and looking out for all of us.Francis was our driver and he was fabulous! He was nicknamed Jazzy Jeff (from Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and was always there with a smile and a joke for us.Leo was our chef - wow! I was a little bit nervous about the type of food we would be eating, but it was amazing! I still have no idea how he managed to cook such great food! I honestly ate better in Africa then I usually do at home! No-one on our trip got ill at any point which we think was down to Leo's impeccable cleanliness.We had a bit of a nightmare on the way out there as our flight was cancelled so we had to travel a day later than expected. The boys managed to re-organise everything for us so that we didn't actually miss out on any aspect of the holiday! Thank you all so much!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Here's my top ten tips from the trip....1) Zip off trousers - I lived in these! The mornings needed trousers but by 11ish we were ready for shorts, so just zip off the bottom bit and you're good to go.2) Uno cards - I became slightly obsessed with Uno (also known as You Know! by our Aussie group member - sorry Em!). It was great fun to play on truck. Other card games I can reccommend are cheat, chase the lady and poker!3) Hand sanitiser - takes lots of little bottles and carry it everywhere with you!4) Head torch is essential!5) I bought some new Andrex toilet roll stuff called 'on the go' which was basically loo roll without the cardboard in the middle! Makes it much smaller to carry around with you.6) 100% Deet Mozzie repellent worked well for me... around 5ish cover any exposed areas in the stuff and you'll be fine! (Although remember to take off watches etc as it can seriously damage them!)7) I took 4 gyms bags (like kids might use for going swimming) which were really useful for carrying stuff from the truck to the tents.8) Don't worry about getting visas beforehand (if you're British).... it was very straight forward at all of the borders and our group leader organised everything for us.9) Don't forget a travel alarm clock and I used a travel towel which takes up a lot less room.10) I took one thin-ish fleece and one thick fleece which I used alot.I wasn't sure what to expect from the accommodation, but it was a lot better than I expected! There was only a few nights in actual tents, the rest of the nights were in walk-in style tents which was basically like a normal room but with canvas walls. Final top tip - for the gorilla trek you will be given a wooden carved walking stick to use. At the end of the trek you can buy these sticks (for $10) which were really nicely carved. The sticks are made by the local villagers and are a great memory item to bring home. The other groups weren't told that they could buy the sticks and were gutted that they didn't have one to bring home as a keepsake. So make sure you ask your guide about whether you can buy them.

Anonymous .

Reviewed July 2010

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

An amazing adventure that we will never forget! This has to be the best way to experience some of East Africa's most breath-taking scenery and meet some extraordinary people.

Most Inspirational Moment

Meeting the Agashya group of mountain gorillas! Getting all tearful as 3 baby gorillas came helter-skeltering over one another to get to within 2 feet of our group - per magic! You cannot help but be moved by the presence of these truly magnificent gentle giants. Remember to listen to them too - the noises as they communicate with each other are absolutely delightful!Visiting the orphanage which is a short walk from the Adrift camp-site in Jinga and meeting Justine who provides shelter for 29 children there. She is an inspiration! She has little money for food and to pay the much-needed teachers to come and educate the children, but she has barrels of affection and a desire to make life better for the orphans in her careComing within a couple of metres of a family of lions and having the utter privelege of watching and listening to them interact, play and have the occasional grumble. All this as the sun slowly sets over the Masai Mara. Bliss!Travelling along the roads of Uganda and especially Rwanda and being greeted by bright smiling faces and enthusiastic waving from children and grown-ups alike. The are wonderful and just thinking about them still brings a little tear to my eye!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Often is a SUPERSTAR! He was so helpful, organised, supportive, informative, flexible and good fun! He always provided us with clear guidance on the day ahead and we all genuinely looked forward to his post-dinner talks! He is clearly passionate about the people and places we visited on this trip, always urging us to interact with the locals and experience their culture. He also goes the extra mile - we adopt a gorilla who was a member of the Agashya Family. We were desperate to meet her and Often ensured we were included in the group visiting this family. Not an easy task when 50+ people turn up at the visitor centre in the morning all with their own preferences on how far they want to trek and which family they want to visit!JJ and Bernard were also fantastic! Bernard is the chef who every night informed us that 'dinner is calling for you to attack/terrorize it...'!! He never made the same meal twice and everything was fresh and well-prepared! He also has the best sense of humour!This team work SO HARD throughout the trip - they do everything to make sure your trip is perfect. They are a huge credit to Exodus!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for long bouncy drives along rough dusty roads - we made some great friends on this trip so much of the time travelling was spent chatting, giggling and waving at the local people and children who never tire of smiling and waving to the passing 'muzungos'! Sleep is tricky on these journeys but not impossible!Bring books/pens/football/bubbles for the children in the orphanages - there are two which you can visit. The children absolutely love to play and the teachers are very grateful for any items that will help educate them.Try and 'muck in' and help your tour leader and his team. This is not expected at all but we found it impossible to sit back and let Often, Bernard and JJ do all the running around for us. We helped get the chairs out and put away for meals; preparing the vegetables/fruit; keeping the truck tidy; washing up and clearing away, etc. It generates a great team spirit!Enjoy every hot shower you can along the way! Showers are available in most campsites...but they may be nothing more than a lukewarm drip at times! Pack your wet wipes and be prepared to have a more basic approach to your morning routine!

Reviewed September 2009

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Overall a great trip, we had a fantastic time. The Masai Mara was incredible and Zanzibar exactly what we wanted, i.e. chill out for a few days!

Most Inspirational Moment

See lions on our first foray into the Mara was a great start to being in the area. Also the day we spent by the Mara river was just amazing. We were a few days late for the great migration but they were still thousands of animals about, pretty awe inspring stuff.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Charles was first class and was ably assited by Robert. They both tried very hard for us to see qas muhc as possible. We only missed out on cheetah and leopard and saw lots of lions so can't grumble too much. They organised everything very well and were very accomodating of the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are thinking about doing this trip and can't quite make your mind up, my advice would be DO IT!!! It really is holiday of a lifetime stuff. We had one disspointment along the way and that was a slight debacle around the hot air balloon ride but even then the rest of it was so good it wasn't too bad.Don't get too concerned about the mosquito's - we didnt see that many at all which was a relief.Take most of you money in Dollars, and you will spend a bit more than you think - drinks were fairly expensive at the camp in the Mara (which is incredible by the way!) and at the lodge in Zanzibar. Book the Ballon ride when you get there - see below.

Reviewed January 2009

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

I went on this trip without any expectations. I have a fantastic time. Saw more animals than I ever thought I would and met some great people in the group. Zanzibar was fantastic and to spend New Years Eve in a sailing regatta with the locals will be something I will remember for a long time.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing Rhino's on Christmas Day.Seeing dolphins in the wild for the first time.Sailing regatta with the locals from the Fumba village on New Years Eve.Dinner on the beach on our last night at Funba Beach Resort.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Robert was full of knowledge about the animals.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Find out about tipping from your guide. It would be useful to take some small notes with you as everyone expects a tip.

Reviewed January 2009

MOUNTAINS & VILLAGES OF EVIA

A really great way to spend Christmas. Good walking, great people, really excellent week.

Most Inspirational Moment

When we started our walk down the gorge from -2 degrees and ankle deep in snow at the top, to warm enough to eat Christmas lunch outside at the bottom!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Thanos was wicked! He was flexible and adaptable, and worked well around the amazing range of weather we experienced

Advice for Potential Travellers

I was given a single room without paying a supplement. I don't know if this is done routinely but it is a fairly basic hotel with twin beds close together in every room. I don't think I would have wanted to share when there is such close proximity and no real other place to go except the bar. If personal space is important to you pay the supplement!!

Reviewed April 2008

FESTIVALS OF BHUTAN

Fabulous! A once in a life time and a definite ‘do before you die’.

Most Inspirational Moment

Too many to adiquitely explain! The people were the highlight. This country is still largely un spoiled by tourism, i hope it stays that way. The children have no fear of strangers and love to see thier photos on the back of your digital camera. We were welcomed so warmly and seen as a novelty which was lovely. The most powerful moment for me was being invited into a section of one of the monestaries which tourist arnt usually allowed into. It was beautifully decorated and we recieved a blessing from one of the monks before we left.The most peaceful moment was standing ontop of a mountain over looking the capital, Thimpu, surrounded by fluttering prayer flags.The most heart warming was being invited to our guides home to meet his daughter and see how Bhutanese people really live.Last but not least - arriving in Nepal to co-incide with Holi, one of the main Hindu festivals where people throw coloured paint at eachother.

Thoughts on Group Leader

He was fantastic. He allowed our itineray to be flexible and managed to meet our varied expectation and aspirations. He really made the trip worthwhile. In nepal we didnt really have a guide but we had a local rep who explained to us about the local area and how to get to the places we might want to see. He also arranged for us to do an extra guided tour of Baktapur which we paid for out of our spending money.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take clothes for varied weather conditions - it was very warm while we were there (march depature) and i ended up having to wash most of my tops to wear them again. The temples and the festival require women to wear loose fitting clothes with arms covered to below the elbow. Skirts shouldnt be above the knee. Also do not wear hats at the festival or in temples as it causes offense. We were advised not to change travellers cheques at the airport which was a disaster. Most hotels dont hold enough funds to change travellers cheques of any size. This left several people in our group without spending money for most of the trip. My advise would be take US dollars which are widely accepted. Nepalese rupees are also accepted and change travellers cheques at PARO AIRPORT as you cant change them anywhere else easily. There was no problem with using travellers cheques in Nepal. In case of emergencies it is worth taking a first aid kit which has some steralised needles in it. That way if you need to go to hospital, for what ever reason, you dont need to worry about hygiene.

Reviewed February 2008

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI

We had a great holiday in Kenya, despite the upheaval in the country we felt safe and were lucky enough to experience the Masai Mara with very few other tourists.

Most Inspirational Moment

On our last morning we went out on a game drive and were lucky enough to follow a male lion who then met up with his 2 brothers which we thought was incredible. More was to come, however, with the alpha male insisting that a lioness be banished from the pride. What followed was a scene from the Lion King with one male chasing the female up and down the river bank and hounding her away from the group. To make his feelings very clear, the alpha male then roared with the loudest noise I have ever heard. It was truly an incredible experience that we were very fortunate to have watched and witnessed.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Charles, our group leader, was very well informed and helpful. I learned more about Kenyan politics than I probably needed to know but we trusted Charles and his local knowledge. He also ensured our safety by securing us a flight out of the Masai Mara rather than risk the 6 hour journey in very volatile circumstances.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I would thoroughly recommend this trip. Lake Elementatia whilst still firmly stuck in Edwardian times was an experience but be aware that the accommodation is not quite up to the standard you might be expecting, especially if recently arrived from the UK. We were lucky enough to stay at Basecamp Explorer which is an incredible project to be a part of - do some research about it before you go. It's still a long way to go, and quite an expensive trip, for only 5 nights accommodation - consider going to Lamu or Zanzibar as an extension to make the very most of the trip.

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