Last Minute Southern Africa Tours and December Deals

The Kolkata to Amritsar tour was a fantastic experience. If this is the first time to India, the traffic is nothing we’ve experienced before, and an initial shock, but it does work, very little accidents (goodness knows how) and you will get use to it. Highlights were, the Golden Temple, Agra Red Fort, the Taj Mahal, city tour of Kolkata (inc Mother Theresa orphanage) We added the Ranthambhore tiger trailing at the end of this holiday which was fantastic and a highlight. Be prepared for long hours on Indian trains, as the distance travelled was extensive. Most journeys are around 5 hours long and the overnight train is 14 hours! The toy train is a bit of a bone shaker and uncomfortable, but an experience (not one I’d want to repeat) Most of the hotels are clean and comfortable. The one in Bodhgaya is not good, but we understand we’re the last to be staying at this hotel on this tour as it is being changed. The one in Varanasi, is ok, but needs to be closer to the Ganges, as it is a 30-40 minute Tuck tuck ride away. Raj our guide was fabulous. He guided us through the very busy areas with his extensive expertises and with professionalism. He helped to book activities during our free time during the tour and between plane journeys. This was extremely helpful and kind of him. He also escorted us on the optional Kolkata city tour in his rest time. Overall India is an experience you won’t forget, so if you are undecided if to go or not, just do it!

Amazing tour made perfect by a fabulously knowledgeable and attentive tour guide (Miguel Vasquez). Great itinerary and even tho we did the ‘reverse’ think it was the best way round. Antigua at the end was the icing on the cake. Great mixture of adventure, nature, history and local culture. Food and drink good too. Accommodation is good some exceeded my expectations but not enough to warrant ‘excellent’. ..

Fast paced and organised, we saw so much on the way it was the only way to go! Tour director was very informative and the hotels we stayed at were great.

It would be good to spend less time driving but I can’t see a way around it.More time in Medellín would be nice.The hotel there was lovely but very out of the way.We arrived by 3 but did nothing that afternoon which was partly our fault.My preference if staying in that hotel would be for the guide to take us to the nearby subway station and suggest an interesting close neighborhood to go to for us to walk around and eat dinner.He did point out the station from the bus but in that concrete jungle all we were able to find was an uninteresting mall.We did a lot of interesting experiences but I would recommend that the botanical garden be included and skip the cooking class and shorten the coffee experience in the coffee region.

Excellent trip, full on and packs in all the highlights of the Golden triangle. The tour guide was absolutely fantastic, leading our group and taking advantage of his good relationships with local people to make sure we had the best experience possible.

Inside Vietnam was more than I expected. The Vietnamese are a smiling, welcoming people. Our guide Diem did a wonderful job of introducing us to his country. Through his knowledge and stories I came away with a much clearer understanding of the recent history of Vietnam. My fellow Explore travellers were a joy to be with. A wonderful trip. A fantastic experience.