East Africa Beach Trips

I've never done a group tour before and I was terrific! Loved meeting the new people and seeing places along the way that I would have never stopped at on my own. Our tour director, Brian, was absolutely the best. Wouldn't have been the same without him. Some of my favorite stops were the gardens at Blarney castle, the farm with the sheep and scones, visiting the family home and seeing their organic gardens along with having tea, walking tour of Derry and learning more of the history. going to Faran's bar and Malin Head. The people were lovely and made some new friends.

It was the best tour ever. The hotels, extra excursions, entertainment and tours were amazing… the local guides along with our tour guide were so knowledgeable and friendly. The Architecture, museums, caves, pasta factory, buffalo cheese factory, pizza making, wine, lemon orchard, olive oil factory were among the many things that impressed me- the dancers and singers we saw were fabulous… The group itself was a wonderful mixture of single and married people. I would encourage everyone to to take this tour!

Pretty much everything on the tour went well, largely thanks to our tour guide, Julie Y. We enjoyed the dinners and included tours, plus extras like the Road to Hana. Hotels were pretty nice, although some locations could have been a little more convenient. I wish the flight to the big island had been earlier in the day. The later flight caused us to rush some and get into the hotel pretty late. Otherwise, the trip was well planned and run. We would use Collette again.

This trip encapsulates all of the amazing beauty of the Greek islands!! Amazing experiences and great friends made on the way. Amazing knowledge and experiences offered to us as well! Organisation and planning made our trip effortless.

Overall, this was a great trip! All of the included activities were culturally relevant to New Zealand - the kiwi hatchery, going to a Maori village and the tour of the founding grounds. It was really awesome to see the cultural significance embedded into it from the start. The free-time add ons also highlight the adventurousness of NZ as well! Our Trip Manager was extremely knowledgeable, laid back, and level headed. He worked as hard as he could to ensure everyone was able to get onto every single activity that they wanted to and really worked to accomodate everyone's needs and free time wants on the trip. One thing to mention is that this a modular trip - some people will be joining halfway through, and other will be leaving. There are obviously dynamics internally that will arise because of this. All in all, this was a fantastic trip with people that are kind and respectful. I would recommend it to others! I wish I had stayed on for the South Island as well :)

We like Explore! because of the small group mode of all the tours we've done with Explore! (5, so far). The Greek Island Wanderer was 5 guests and a guide, and we had 3 in our party. So, it was the smallest group ever for us. But it was like friends taking a tour and one of them happened to be a local expert. Panajotis was a brilliant tour guide who is passionate about his adopted country. I can't say enough about the tour guide, Pan. The calm nature he presented while the gears were turning in his head to find us the best places for history, the views, the coffee shops and restaurants plus the people of the places we visited. He figured out how to accommodate me and my need for MORE and my wife who's a marathoner but a shopper too. Plus, our cousin Gary with a physical limitation and a lady fresh out of an April surgery who was a total Champ. Folks could dial into all they wanted or chill out with the options Pan offered for 2 weeks. Just brilliant. Overall, the tour was fantastic, so my inputs are really only the stand-out goods or bads. Starting in Athens, the Evripides Hotel was a great choice. The location and the facility offered everything we needed. Initially, it seemed to be in a bad part of town, but it turns out that Athens just looks like that all over and its just fine. The location is unbeatable. We loved the long walks through Athens despite the heat. My wife would have added a few more water or refreshment stops. We absolutely loved the ferries. That's something new for Americans. The schedule was nice between islands allowing just enough time to really see the top spots. We also loved taking the night ferry to Paros. The Mykonos option was fun because of the Super Express Ferry, and we skipped the ruins stop. I’d have been happier staying on Naxos for that day but, indeed, Mykonos is a must-see on most folks list, so I’d do it again. I’d call it marginal. The Francois Hotel on Syros was a low spot. Its very small and the shower stall was ridiculous. We were glad to move on. Each island had its own charm, and the accommodation was just right in all the other places. On Santorini, Pan took us into an art Gallery where he knows the proprietors. I'm a rather-be-hiking guy but my wife and our cousin thoroughly enjoyed that visit. They both suggested more museum and gallery stops. Again, Panajotis made the trip what it was. I’m glad we had him almost all to ourselves even though we usually consider that the other guests and their experiences and conversation to easily be 50% of the reason for traveling in the first place. We’ll be perusing the Explore! Website soon for our next adventure.