East Africa Cultural, religious and historic sites Trips

This truly is an excellent trip, and way to see beautiful Sri Lanka at a good pace. You cover so much in 2 weeks, and every day is different with sightseeing, walking, cycling, wildlife - there really is something for everyone. Sri Lanka is a fantastic country with wonderfully welcoming people. This trip really makes you feel you are benefitting the local communities that you are interacting with - spending time with local families, playing traditional games and getting a deeper understanding day-to-day life and traditions. You get a better understanding for the tougher and sadder side of the history of the country, while gaining a deeper appreciation for the resilience of the joyful people who live there. It really is a wonderful trip, made better by a great group and leader!

We had two leaders - one in Sri Lanka and another in the Maldives. Both were excellent, but particularly Su in Sri Lanka because we encountered very difficult circumstances due to exceptionally heavy rainfall during our trip.

Collette scored again with this tour! Our tour guide, An, was the ultimate professional. He was extremely knowledgeable and caring. We were apprehensive about visiting this part of the world but An made it a fantastic experience. This tour is chock full of experiences and really speaks to getting immersed in local culture. Be sure to include the Vespar tour in your planning!

1. Loved Murano Glass, felt they should have let us know they had discounted stuff in the lower level--believe more $$ would have been spent by the group. 2. LOVED the serenaded gondola ride. It felt magical and awesome!! 3. Loved the tours in Rome, but felt the Vatican did a terrible job of crowd control, and could have designated lanes for timed entry. It was scary when the crowds pushed and everyone shifted because we were so tightly packed in as we waited. And our group, dispite having a leader holding a "flag" was splintered into 3 as we struggled to move forward. Some not so nice people attempted to "snake" their way through the crowd by holding hands, moving single file and pushing forward. I had terse words with a man and his group that were doing that. Would NOT choose to go back in a Jubilee year again. 4. Disliked the hotel on the canal in Venice--can deal with no A/C by opening the windows, but we were on the second floor (convenient for walk up from lobby) but with windows open and no bars on the windows-someone could have climbed out onto the ledge that was on our side of the second floor-traveled down to our window, and climbed in through our bathroom---so I felt vulnerable going to sleep with the windows open, and and was uncomfortably warm with them closed. 5. LOVED the Castello del Trebbio visit. Pasta making was a fabulous and memorable event and tasted just as fabulous. Their environment was "happy-sigh" inducing. I was glad I volunteered to cut the pasta. The chef was informative, and collaborative, and did a great job teaching the pasta making class!! In the future, Collette could consider offering entry to the Duomo, or other Pay-entry churches as choices for excursions. 6. LOVED walking Assisi. 7. LOVED walking Cortona and Perugia. 8. LOVED the hotel in Perugia-Sangallo Palace Hotel 9. LOVED the hotel at Lake Como--Hotel Barchetta Excelsior. Would definitely go back to Italy again. Even though this was our second time to visit Rome-I was amazed that we saw different things this time.

My first trip with explore after being introduced to it by a couple of colleagues. A great trip fitting in a lot of Morocco into the 9 days so quite fast paced and a lot of travelling but this is mentioned in the trip notes and expected due to the amount of the country you cover in the 9 days.. Nabil our tour leader was excellent, very knowledgable and made the trip very enjoyable especially the long bus journeys..

We had the most amazing tour guide! And we got to see so many places in such a short amount of time! Infinitely better than any trip I could have planned on my own, and cheaper! I made memories that will last a lifetime and got to connect with people from all over the world. Truly an experience I will treasure forever.