Reviews

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

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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14216 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Melissa Hammond

Reviewed January 2024

Stunning Landscapes

This trip was a great way to see the top highlights while leaving you wanting to explore more! Perfect ‘Discovery’ trip! There are a lot of flights and the airline can move around the timings so you have to be flexible and open to late nights/early starts. There really is no other way to cover so much distance in just 2 weeks. Its well worth the travel as you get to see 2 completely different sides of Chile, the Desert and Salt flats of the North and the Lakes and Mountains of the South, both equally beautiful but very different. The food wasn’t as expensive as I thought, similar pricing to London restaurants so by no means cheap but not unaffordable and if you take some snacks with you its easy to skip lunches as dinner portions in every restaurant we went to are very generous. The hotels were clean, spacious and comfortable. The only pool in use (we were early in the season) was in San Pedro. Both optional excursions are well worth doing but I would recommend doing a little research into star constellations before going to help things make more sense as its a lot of information to take in. Our guide Miguel was very knowledgeable and clearly loves his country and the outdoors we were in good hands especially in the National parks as he knows the area well. He is also a keen photographer so we were going to great photo locations and he was always willing to stop the bus whenever wildlife or a good photo angle was spotted! There are long drives, but the scenery was so beautiful that the drives were just as special as the walks and plenty of stops to stretch our legs or take a photo or toilet stop.

Most Inspirational Moment

The town and location of Puerto Varas is so sweet and beautiful, that was the one area I feel like i could go back to and spend a while enjoying the lakes and mountains, it has inspired me to increase my fitness levels to get back out there for some outdoor activites.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very funny, laid back, knowledgeable. Was willing to be flexible and move things around if it suited the group or the weather and when one of our flight times changed. He was very sociable and joined us for most meals. He knew every bit of wildlife we saw and was really good at getting us photo opportunities.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take some snacks in your case for lunches or pack a little lunchbox and make some things at breakfast if you are concerned about spending money. Lunches are the easiest meal to skip and save on! Don't over pack, you will need both warm and cooler clothing due to the two locations but its such a casual tour and no one cared if people were re-wearing things. You have more than enough luggage allowance but you are repacking quite often so keep it simple for yourself. It can be windy down south, take a wrist or neck strap for cameras/phones and have a hat with a chin strap! Don't change money in Santiago airport the rate is terrible, there is an exchange shop just round the corner from the start hotel with a much better rate. Credit cards accepted but everywhere added on a foreign card fee of around 5%. If sensible with belongings/bags I felt more than safe enough having cash for the duration of my trip I just left most in the hotel padlocked in my case and just took out what i needed each day.

Elena G

Reviewed January 2024

Like a Fairytale!

This whole week felt like being in a fairytale! The scenery was absolutely breathtaking – the snowshoe hikes and cross-country skiing routes took us through the forests of Oulanka National Park with beautiful snow-covered trees, picturesque spots along the Oulanka river/rapids like a frozen waterfall, and vast frozen lakes covered in snow! We were lucky to be there during a week with very clear skies which meant lots of pink, purple and orange colours which made it feel extra magical. Because of the clear skies, we were also able to see the Northern lights on most evenings! All the activities, such as husky sledding and snowmobiling were extremely fun and took us through even more beautiful places.

We were there during the coldest week of the season (most days were between -30 and -35 degrees C) but we did not feel the cold at all (and I am someone who always suffers the cold back in the UK) because the clothes provided by Basecamp were extremely warm! I even felt too hot at some points! The accommodation was lovely, cozy and warm – there was underfloor heating which warmed up the whole room and made drying clothes very easy. There is a sauna and hot tub available for the whole group to use each afternoon/early evening which was a perfect way to wind down every evening after a day full of activities. The food was also delicious!!!! We ate very well during the whole trip and we could eat as much as we wanted which was great! All of the staff at basecamp were very friendly and helpful!

Most Inspirational Moment

It is hard to choose just one as they were all inspirational for different reasons! Husky sledding took us through the most beautiful scenery and was a real pinch-me moment, the snowshoeing/skiing was amazing as it took us through all the snow-covered trees and very beautiful viewpoints overlooking the Oulanka river, and the snowmobiling was so fun!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our very friendly guide Elina was amazing - she had a real passion for the wilderness and nature which was very inspiring. She was very knowledgeable about the area and was very keen to share her knowledge with us. We learned a lot from her and enjoyed spending time with her. She was always smiling and you could see how much she enjoyed taking us through the wilderness and teaching us!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring moisturiser!!! The climate is extremely dry and you need very strong moisturisers to keep your skin hydrated to prevent it from cracking! I suggest buying Finnish creams/lotions at Helsinki airport (there is a shop there that sells creams) as they are much better as they are designed for this climate. The ones I brought from the UK were just not good enough to cope with how dry the climate was. You also don't need to bring many clothes at all apart from a tight-fitting base layer and maybe 1 or 2 jumpers for the evening. You are able to exchange the basecamp clothes at any time if they get too wet/dirty or if you want to change the size so you don't need to worry about that. They also have thicker layers for if the weather gets extremely cold like it did on our trip so you don't need to worry about bringing thick jackets and trousers.

helen davies

Reviewed January 2024

Fab tour

Highly recommend this tour, so many different highlights to mention them all but cycling the backroads through the rice fields, seeing the wonderful wildlife, felt like i was on the set of Madagascar on several occasions, even saw wild elephants. The tour guide, Suresh, and his team are great. Making sure everyone is well looked after, with regular breaks with great snacks, sampling some of the local dishes..the pancake with dessicated coconut being one highlight. 😋 The food was great, suresh organising some great lunch stops and also an evening meal demonstration from one of the local chefs was great, so good to get some curry tips and it tasted delicious.. This cycling tour is a great way to see the country, especially with suresh providing great commentary, good insights and passing on his knowledge and passion for his country.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing the wild elephants. Cycling along the backroads and seeing all the wildlife. The descent down from ella was grt fun.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Suresh was great. Can see why he has been tour guide of the year twice. Very attentive, made sure everyone was happy. Gave some great insight into his country which he talked about with great passion and humour.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do it. You won't regret it. Fab country. Maybe take a few days after to enjoy the beaches on the south coast near galle. They were fab.

Paul Watling

Reviewed January 2024

Disappointing

This was a trip that is advertised as a culture trip but is most definately is not. There is little emphasis on culture and it should be more accurrately advertised as a nature and photographic trip. While i enjoyed the contrasts bwteeen different parts it was not the trip i thought i was getting.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing the majiestic Patagonia mountains and the Lake Grey Glacier

Thoughts on Group Leader

My opinion of the Group leader was very mixed. He did a fantastic job when my luggage got lost on an internal flight, and dealt admirably when our flight got cancelled, but equally continually changed the advertised itinerary and delivered what he had been told to deliver by the local office. There were too many many stops and attempts to add more to an already packed timetable, meant that at times the basic and advertised trip was not delivered. His delivery of the trip was aimed at photographic opportunities directed at the fauna and Flora, rather than delivering a cultural trip, whic may have suited some members of the group, but did not deal with the cultural aspect of theis trip

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are going on this trip to learn more about the culture of Chile, its history and its people, then this trip is not for you. If you want amazing photographic opportunities of the contrasts between the Atacama desert of the north and the panaramic south of Patagonia then do it. But be prepared for an awful lot of travelling, waiting at airports and the subsequent risk of flights being cancelled or delayed, that does eat into the itinerary. Be prepared to deal with changes in the weather from the +30 degree heat of the northern deserts to the minus tempertures of Patagonia, high altitude excursions and very little downtime. The food is amazing and everything is geared around fish, Lamb and wine.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Paul for his review and were pleased to learn that he enjoyed Patagonia and the Lake Grey Glacier. On the other hand, we were disappointed that he felt there was not enough emphasis on Chilean culture and too much on nature and photography. Chile is of course known for its varied wildlife and stunning scenery and many of our customers appreciate the opportunity to capture this on film. That said, any photography stops should be incorporated into a group’s schedule and should certainly not impact the delivery of the main itinerary. Upon reviewing the feedback submitted by Paul’s group, we are satisfied that this trip was delivered in keeping with our expectations, despite the unfortunate travel disruption they encountered, however our customer services team are in direct contact with Paul to try to address his concerns.

Troy Glennon, Product Manager

Angela Parry

Reviewed January 2024

Namibia camping

An interesting trip with fantastic landscapes and good wildlife viewing.

Most Inspirational Moment

Watching a Kudo at night following a Cheetah and sending out warning signals to other animals. This was on an optional extra charge game drive

Thoughts on Group Leader

He was professional and friendly. With good knowledge of animals. Some more information on the rock formations etc would have been good. He did not accompany us if we had a specialist guide when at times it would have been useful. He had a difficult time with the other 2 men who were the driver and cook however he tried to keep this from the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take good hiking shoes and be fairly fit for this trip

Reply from Exodus

We appreciate your review for this trip, Angela. We are encouraged to view your comments of your tour leader’s professionalism, which has been shared, and that you found the overall trip to be interesting with good wildlife viewing. However, we were regretful to read that you were displeased with some aspects of your trip, especially your arrival transfer. Regrettably, your transfer details were incorrectly added via our system on your Final Joining Instructions, but pulled through correctly on the information sent to our local team, and they, therefore, attempted to meet you upon arrival to provide the service you will have expected. Unfortunately, no one in the Exodus team picked up on this error, meaning that the transfer driver was not aware you were making your own way to the start hotel, and while this is a very rare error, we sincerely apologise that it happened.

As you have mentioned, this is a full-service camping trip, and we are very sorry if you felt pressured in erecting and taking down your tent. Having looked into this, your tour leader advised that the general procedure occurred where groundsheets are opened and all that is required of guests, is to place their bags and mattresses on the ground cover and the local team do the rest. On these trips, it is not uncommon for customers to choose to participate in the camp set up, but this is never expected.

Pertaining to accommodation used in Etosha National Park which is run by the local government; we generally receive better reviews regarding these sites but have recently noticed a trend on more negative feedback regarding the upkeep during the busy month of December. We choose to stay inside the park as it provides better access to the waterholes and, unfortunately, the government have a monopoly over accommodation within the national parks in Namibia. Our local manager has raised this with the park management, though, as I am sure you can appreciate, we have limited influence on government run establishments. That said, we do find that customers enjoy staying in these sites despite the slightly lower standard compared to other accommodation on the tour, given their unique setting.

We were regretful to learn that you found the food to be subpar, the truck to be too cramped and the cook and the driver to be unhelpful; this was naturally concerning, so we asked our local manager to look more closely into it. They have confirmed that the feedback they received from your departure was particularly positive regarding meals and dietary options provided and that further positive comments were made, in general, regarding the driver and that it was a 14 seater truck for a group of 12, which we find reassuring.

We are sorry that you felt some parts of the tour could have been improved, but please be assured your comments have been shared with the local team. Moving forward, we will closely monitor future feedback, and should we receive comments of a similar nature to yours please be assured these will be followed up on accordingly, as it is always our aim for our customer to have the best experience on their trips with us.

– John Penge, Exodus Product Manager

Kristin Koblis

We are very grateful for your review, Stephanie, and are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the variety on offer in Costa Rica. On the other hand, we were sorry to learn of your disappointment with the service and cleanliness at the Savegre Hotel & Spa, as this is not the type of feedback we expect to receive. The Savegre is our usual property for nights 12 and 13 of this tour and it is generally well-received by our groups, however, we would certainly not wish to downplay your review, which we have put to the hotel’s management. They have offered their sincere apologies for the unclean bedding and have followed up with the housekeeping team to ensure it is not repeated. They have also explained that the slow catering service may have been due to high occupancy during the holiday season, however, their staff will be better prepared ahead of subsequent busy periods and the head chef will endeavour to improve the menu. We realise none of these improvements will change the experience you had, but we trust it shows that we have taken your concerns on board for the benefit of future Exodus guests. We, nevertheless, remain apologetic for any impact your stay at the Savegre had on your overall enjoyment of your holiday.

Sarah Ahern, Product Manager

C Knights

Reviewed January 2024

Do this trip if you want a sense of adventure and don’t mind testing yourself on the hills

Our group had a fantastic 2 weeks cycling through the back roads (and a couple of busy roads) of Sri Lanka. There scenic views of course come with some hills and harder days but the bus was always available for those in need of a rest. Food was varied and safe (no real GI issues despite consuming salads and ice) and excellent especially if you love curry and usually consisted of a varied buffet at each meal which often included western options as well. I can’t eat gluten and there was no problem with options on this trip. Vegetarians also seemed to be well catered for. We saw endless monkeys, lizards, birds, fruit bats and much more and explored temples, coastlines, went in safari in search of leopards and elephants and stopped frequently for tea and local snacks. You’ll never go hungry on an exodus trip and this was no exception! While Sri Lanka has had some tough times in recent years, don’t let that out you off. The locals are friendly, the areas visited felt safe and Ruwan our guide was exceptional in his knowledge and leadership

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ruwan was excellent all round

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just do it!

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