Balkans Cruise Trips

Great itinerary; visiting a variety of wildlife hotspots and scenery. It was the rainy season with many animals having recently produced offspring. We were lucky and saw a great variety of animal families from elephants, giraffes, hippos, jackals and various species of antelopes to lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs, not to mention the huge number of birds. The quality of accommodation varied from luxury lodges to simple tents. Camping in the rainy season has its challenges; everything is always damp and roads can be flooded. Our tour leader was excellent. Not only did he expertly navigate the roads there was nothing he didn't know about the animals we encountered. He also made sure that we had enough time to observe them and take plenty of photos. The tour ended with a visit of the spectacular Victoria Falls and we took the opportunity to go on a helicopter flight over the area which was well worth it. A memorable trip overall.

We had 2 Explore Leaders both were very knowledgable and helpful. But I think our Cambodian Leader was more experienced and this came across in his over all engagement with us

A most enjoyable trip. It was quite full on but thats OK for me. It was well organised. The ancient sites were amazing and brought to life by our very good leader Mohammed who told excellent stories which made it interesting. I was disappointed with the pollution we experienced on the Nile cruise, not just on the water but the diesel fumes from the many cruise ships which all seem to move at the same time. The train journey was an adventure as many people mention, but thankfully its only one night and it gave us plenty to talk about. Take dollars if you can, otherwise you need to take out thousands of (Egyptian) pounds from the cashpoints to cover all the extras.

It was very detailed and very thought through. With everything a tourist from another country would want to see going to London for the first time. Just wish it was longer.

It’s New Years Eve. I haven’t finished my holiday yet having remained in Krabi for a further six nights after the Explore holiday. I have done this holiday twice in the past three years and will probably do it again. It isn’t full on touring with long travel days…….even transferring between island by speedboat is nice. Sometimes you need a more relaxing holiday at this time of year. Thailand and the Andaman Sea is the perfect place for this. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was being allocated a top bunk on the overnight train journey from Bangkok to Trang as this was enforced lying down for eleven hours on a narrower bed because of the curvature of the train roof. The wider, more headroom, able to sit up bottom bunks cost 150 Baht ( about £2.50) more which I would have willingly paid for.

We really enjoyed the trip! The guides treated us very well and explained everything to us in detail; The drivers were very clean and very punctual. Tessa, who was in charge of our trip and itinerary, was always available to us in case we had any questions. I highly recommend it!!!!