Southern Africa Active and outdoor Trips

This is a great trip if you are interested in seeing wildlife. A large part of the trip is spent on safari, whether it be in the Kruger Park or St Lucia. We were lucky enough to get several leopard sightings, and numerous close encounters with elephants. We saw plenty of hippos, zebra, giraffe and antelope, and large variety of birds. The trip covered a lot of ground, so there were inevitably some long bus journeys, but it was worth it. There was also some stunning mountain scenery too in the Drakensberg and Eswatini. The accommodation was on the whole good, mainly staying in simple eco lodges, which I felt was in keeping with the nature of the trip. It could get cold in the evening, depending on what time of year you are travelling, and the lighting was never good when it got dark. The accommodation at the Kruger, I felt could have been better, particularly at the Phabeni Sleepover, where I thought the barbecue they provided was expensive for what they offered, and the takeaway breakfast not great. Overall, I hugely enjoyed the trip. Good company, good guide. It was tiring with a lot of early morning starts, but worth it. In some places I felt it was a bit rushed – barely 30 minutes at the Talana Museum, and 30 minutes at Rourke’s Drift, so it was difficult to assimilate anything much. I would have been quite happy for the trip to be a day or 2 longer, even though it would be more expensive, so it wouldn’t feel quite so rushed.

We were only 4 explorers, and we had an amazing time with our lovely guide and driver. The country is so green and beautiful . I was pleasantly surprised about the quality of accommodation and food. I would highly recommend this trip.

Our tour leader was excellent and really made the holiday! The itinerary was jam packed and I felt we got the absolute most out of our time, despite not being very restful!

A very varied trip, including time in historic towns like Kotor and Sarajevo, time in the countryside, walks, boat trips and even a narrow gauge railway trip. The roads are good so although it looks like a lot of travel, it was easy going. Two things to note: take seriously the warning about no lifts in hotels. This proved to be true and many of them have lots of steps up and down! Also, it can be very cold up in the mountains in late Sept/Oct while still hot and sunny on the coast so bring clothes for all seasons.

We greatly enjoyed our Lake Como trip with Explore. The trip leader, Kris, did a great job of guiding us, making sure we were fully briefed, and ensuring the group were all managing well. Kris provided a lot of local history and color as part of the walks. He was knowledgable and communicated very well. The hotel, The Regina, is very well situated on the shore of the lake, and affords some amazing vistas. The staff were friendly and helpful. The food was okay but not fine dining. The rooms were comfortable but lean towards spartan. The trip is rated level 3. Perhaps two of the walks were level 3; the others were level 2. The walks blend time on trails and paths with time on roads going past homes and through small towns. All the walks include lovely views of Lake Como and the surrounding Southern Alps. You will need to count on time waiting for public busses as you go to and sometimes return from daily outings. It's good to have a lower impact on the environment but can be tedious and requires careful timing to ensure busses are not missed. Overall, this was an enjoyable hiking / walking trip with great scenery and expert guidance.

This was a interesting trip to a fascinating place. The flight from Nepal to Paro passing Everest and through the tree covered valleys set the scene for a week in a stunningly beautiful country where the air is clean and the people welcoming. The trip was well paced and most of the hotels were of a very good standard. We could not have been in better or safer hands than with our excellent guide Sanom and driver the Captain. The walk towards the Tigers Nest is doable if you are reasonably fit and take your time, although the altitude adds an extra challenge. And with rain setting in I found the descent more difficult and could not have been more grateful for our guide assisting all the way. The final two days in Kathmandu were a good taster for a very different but equally interesting country. I very much appreciated the knowledge and passion for their country of the local guides we had.