Earth Trip Avaliações 

Unfortunately we had to cancel our holiday due to COVID, having paid a sizeable deposit. Aleem was very understandable and professional trying to unravel the booking and sort out the deposit. His communication , even though he was in Sri Lanka , was prompt and clear. Having heard stories how BA and Virgin have dealt with customers , Earth Trip is a small business that knows what good customer service is. Highly recommended.

Having booked for Summer 2020, but sadly had our trip cancelled for C-19, I am very pleased to say that Aleem dealt with us very honourably throughout, and our deposit was refunded to us, without issue. We very much hope to book again with Aleem once things return to normal, and this very much reflects Aleem’s patient and customer-centric approach on our original booking.

We met Aleem at a travel show. Unlike others, he had no flashy videos but just having a conversation with him convinced us that we should let him suggest a 3 week trip for us to Sri Lanka. His itinerary reflected everything we discussed and, apart from one upgrade for a special birthday, we didn't change anything.
The trip really worked well and was very good value for what we got.

This company has a lot of good reviews here on Trustpilot, one of the reasons I chose to travel with them to Madagascar for three weeks, September 2019. However, with all facts on hand, I should have traveled with the same company as the time before this one.

We were of to a good start though. Once we received their offer I could see that their price level was acceptable given the hotels we chose, they promised separate beds for my mum and dad that where traveling with me, they promised extra services as an cell phone available during the whole trip, english speaking guides in all parks, they will be booked in advance to ensure we receive good ones, english speaking drivers etc. So 9 months before the trip we made our booking with them.

Things started to deteriorate from day one upon arrival.

Day 1
Last time we visited we stayed at La Varangue in Antananarivo, a very unique hotel. We had booked the same one this time to show my parents. Upon arrival they drop us of at a different hotel, and surprise, my mum and dad doesn't receive separate beds. Swedes as we are we don't want to make a scene so we decide to think this is just a small mistake at this hotel. They later told us Varangue was fully booked. Strange when you book your trip 9 months ahead I would say.

Day 2
When we arrive at our hotel for the night guess what? Still no separate beds for my parents. Maybe I should use my cellphone to give the travel agency a call? But wait, where is the cell phone?

Day 3
We are going on our first tour in a reserve. Our guide shows up in flipflops and PJ's. Nothing wrong with that, she can still be a good guide. However, she impersonates the stereotype of a person strolling around in flipflops and PJ's. Her english vocabulary was quite poor. It was basicly limited to the words lemur, chameleon, bird and fossa. Not what I would define as an english speaking guide. Is this really the best you can get when you book guides in advance? I know it isn't because I've visited before and I also saw and heard many better guides around us.

Day 5
We are going to Tsingy de Bemaraha today. We're told by our driver to bring a full bottle of water, sun screen, a hat and mosquito repellent. Turns out we should have brought some more. A detail in our program that we didn't discover until afterwards was that we were to discuss which circuit and what kind of thoughness we would like. This wasn't done. Before we left the car we asked if we should bring our lunch. "You can if you want but it's better to eat when you come back" was the answer. Bear in mind that my parents are in their 60's. After about 4 - 5 hours of highly intensive trecking and climbing we where back at the car. All the other ones that we passed had their lunches with them and ate it half way through. Unfortunately my mum fell and hurt herself quite badly in her legs just as we were about to exit the tsingy area. Tsingy rocks are super sharp. Our guide bearly raised an eyebrow. Clearly he was paid a fixed amount and not by the hour. They later told us that there is a special system in place here and that they can't affect which guide you get. Well maybe you shouldn't write that all guides are booked in advanced then? Because they aren't.

I was in contact with ET multiple times but still no improvements. Corners keept being cut. We started skipping excursions that were planned, it took almost 1,5 week to get separate beds, it took 2 weeks to get the cell phone (it worked for one day then it stopped working) etc. I've been to Madagascar before and I know you can get a lot more for your money than what we did, especially the level of the guides/drivers.

Our final compensation? We got a 30 minute massage the last day... And as soon as the trip was over the replys to my e-mails stopped. Surprise. So as long as everything goes as planned, this might be a good company to travel with. But if you ever run into problems, don't expect much. Please choose a different company, it can't be worse.

We had a fantastic 18 day trip focused on wildlife around Sri Lanka. We were met by Danesh our driver, who made sure our trip ran smoothly,sharing his knowledge of places we visited and insights to the Sri Lankan culture. The guides were very knowledgeable about wildlife and went out of their way to make sure we had the best experiences possible - Gal Oya NP, Bundala NP, including 3 sightings of Blue whales (Raja and the Whales company, Marissa). The hotels were of a high standard with great staff who couldn't do enough for us, worthy of particular mention here are Dolphin Beach -Kalpitya, Thamaravila -Willpattu, Gal Oya Lodge - Gal Oya, The Plains - Ambewella and Jansens Bungalow - Sinharaja. Thanks Aleem for putting the trip together, dealing with our questions and queries to ensure we got the best trip and value for money. Hopefully we can visit this beautiful country and it's friendly people again and see the other parts we couldn't this time round.

I chose this holiday as a present for my wife's special birthday because of her interest in birdwatching. I knew very little about Sri Lanka and chose The Earth Trip because of the quality of the information Aleem supplied about the proposed itinerary. I chose the Earth Trip after looking at four different providers. It wasn't the cheapest quote but met my desire to support responsible touring. Aleem provided a suggestion for the basis of the holiday but was responsive to the tweaks I needed to met my wife's and my needs.
We were met at the airport by Malick, our driver, who was with us and looked after us for the duration of the holiday. The hotels which were chosen for us were excellent. There were resident naturalists at the Ibis at Wilpattu and The Other Corner who took us around the grounds and were excellent in pointing out the wildlife. Unfortunately, we did not see the Loris on the night walk at the Ibis but saw the Nightjar at The Other Corner.
We had heard mixed reports about The Rainforest Hotel but we really enjoyed it and sat in the natural pool watching all the birds around. The trip to the Sinhraja Rainforest was quite an experience after a 1 hour 4WD journey up a very rugged road. It was worth it because we very fortunate to see the endangered Scaly Thrush and the Malabar Trogan, Frogmouth Owl and Lesser Yellow Cape Woodpecker among others.
We were wary of climbing Sigiriya because of medical conditions but Malick arranged for us to have a thoroughly enjoyable Tuktuk ride around the base which included a stop at Pidurangula archeological site which we had all to ourselves.
There were many other highlights on this tour. At Kandy our naturalist guide, Nashanti, not only took us to the botanical gardens and Udekattewele, but to an unscheduled visit to the forest area above the city. - and for a beer at a local bar afterwards.The guides on the safaris were knowledgeable and the whale watching was a treat as were the three rest days on the beach at the end of the holiday.
We met up with Aleem and the back office staff of the Earth Trip at the end of the holiday and were able to thank them personally for a magical holiday.
We would thoroughly recommend them to anyone thinking of visiting Sri Lanka and would like to think we will do so again.

Just want to thank you for organising a truly amazing holiday. Your organisation was fantastic, with such a different variety of hotels and different areas of the country. Our driver Chaminda was excellent, very knowledgeable and his English was very easy to understand. We visited Koggala air base were the group captain interrupted his game of golf to speak to us. As Hilary's father had been stationed there in 1946 it was very poignant as he had passed away 12 months ago; they were very interested in his photos he took back then.
Sri Lanka is a wonderful country and we would love to visit again in the future, maybe visiting the north..
Once again, many thanks
Hilary & Owen.

We had a marvellous tour around Sri Lanka with our driver Chanka, who was very attentive and mindful of our needs.
He coped excellently with our delayed departure from Heathrow, re- arranging the timing of our first safari at Wilpattu.
The Ibis Hotel at Wilpattu proved to be a lovely introduction to Sri Lanka, the friendliness of the people there and the food were outstanding.
From the first day Chanka managed the timing of our tour brilliantly. He had organised all the excursion tour guides in advance and, in most cases, they were there to open the car doors for us!!

All the guides were very knowledgeable with very good English.
The family that hosted us for the cooking of an evening meal were lovely to talk to and we have already attempted to follow their recipes this week, but we need more practice!!

The only time we felt rushed was after the whale watching trip, not that anybody was at fault but to see the whales, which we did, the boat has to travel out to where they are, so the crew cannot predict how long the trip will take. In our case we overstayed the hotel check out time. However, Chanka sorted this out for us. If we were to do this again we think an extra night at Paradise Mirissa would be a good idea.The hotels you selected for us were very good especially The Ibis, St Andrews and 98 Acres.

All in all an excellent tour around Sri Lanka which we have already recommended to our friends.

We booked with Aleem at Earth Trip to visit Sri Lanka and were very happy with the service provided and the variety of places booked for our itinerary. We chose his travel agent as we were recommend by a friend and glad that we did! His prices were also very fair and provided good quality accommodation. A special mention must go to our driver, Chanaka who drove us to each place and acted as a tour guide as well - he made our trip special and made sure we were happy at all times! We really enjoyed our holiday and would recommend Sri Lanka and using Earth trip for your travel arrangements. Thank you! Karen & David.

We obtained itineraries and quotations from four different tour operators before deciding to go with “Earth Trip” for our 17 day tour of Sri Lanka. It was clear that Aleem took time and care in putting together an itinerary which matched our wishes for a mixture of wildlife, culture and comfort at a reasonable cost.
Our holiday went without a hitch and exceeded our expectations. We stayed in eight different hotels, and all were excellent. We preferred the smaller hotels where the service was more personal and the food more authentically Sri Lankan, and some of these were truly very special.
Our wildlife experiences in five different parks were memorable- the guides first class and we saw everything that we could have hoped for.
Similarly, the guides used by Earth Trip at the various cultural sites were helpful, knowledgeable and informative.
Finally our driver (Ushanka) was excellent- enthusiastic, informative and good company. He ensured that we were safe and looked after at all times.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Earth Trip.

We would like to thank Aleem and his team at Earth Trip for organising an excellent 27 day trip to Sri Lanka. We explained our interests to Aleem and he put together a very well thought out and balanced itinerary. His in depth knowledge of the country was invaluable in ensuring that we got the best out of our time in Sri Lanka. We were delighted with some of the smaller lodges or more ‘quirky’ places where we stayed and were also pleased that guides and companies used were of a high standard throughout. Our driver in Sri Lanka, Malick, looked after us very well. He understood the activities that we liked or were of particular importance to us and was happy to alter the itinerary slightly to ensure that we got the best experience.
We highly recommend Earth Trip for their personal service, local knowledge and commitment to responsible and sustainable tourism.

We chose The Earth Trip to organise our honeymoon to Sri Lanka as they offered us a fantastic unique itinerary compared to other companies. Plus The Earth trip focus on responsible travel which was a bonus for us. We stayed in so many beautiful places and did so many incredible things that incorporated our interests of nature, wildlife, food, culture, history, hiking and beaches. Aleem really listened to our needs and came up top trumps with our honeymoon. We had a truly magical time in this stunning country and can't recommend this company enough. We also had an excellent driver in Sri Lanka called Danesh who was so professional yet friendly and knew when to give us space. This was a holiday of a lifetime and one that we'll never forget.

A truly excellent organisation with so much knowledge that ensured our best holiday ever

We spent three weeks in Madagascar in October on a trip arranged for us by Aleem. We consulted three tour operators when planning the trip and chose to go with The Earth Trip because we were impressed by Aleem's efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness, and also because of the competitiveness of his price. We normally travel independently, but recognised the need for local support in Madagascar, so going through a travel company was a new experience for us. We had some concerns beforehand about whether we would be able to arrange things our own way, but Aleem was very accommodating and took full account of our specific interests and wishes.

Prior to our departure, Aleem provided us with a lot of information about travelling in Madagascar, which was extremely useful.

Our trip went very smoothly - or as smoothly as possible in Madagascar, where conditions aren't always easy. The local agent was very good and we had two excellent driver/guides (for two different legs of the journey), who did all they could to ensure that our experience was what we wanted it to be. The accommodation booked for us was all of a high standard - most of it probably higher than we would have booked had we arranged the trip ourselves, but actually that was no bad thing!

Madagascar is a fascinating country, both in terms of its wildlife and its ecozones, as well as culturally. But it's one which is quite challenging to visit independently - even for seasoned independent travellers - and we were glad to have had the support we did. We were more than happy with the service we had from Aleem, and have absolutely no hesitation in recommending The Earth Trip.

We have used Aleem and Earth Trip for our last two Holidays to Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
Earth Trip make travelling so much easier, organising all trips and picking some truly excellent hotels. They tailor the holiday to your exact needs and if there are any slight problems sort them out immediately.
I can't recommend Aleem and Earth Trip enough and they have provided us with two exceptional holidays !

We booked our honeymoon in Sri Lanka. We spoke to Aleem on numerous occasions as we fine tuned our itinerary to ensure it was tailor made for our requirements. Aleem listened and designed our holiday of a lifetime. We'd spoken to other national tour operators prior to speaking to Aleem, and were impressed with Aleems knowledge and responsiveness to our needs- breaking up long journeys with activities, great accommodation choices and locations. We were greeted at the airport with a big smile and a gift from Sampeth who was an excellent driver and kind, respectful guide during our 2 week stay.
The people of Sri Lanka were truly friendly, helpful and welcoming. The itinerary was fabulous consisting of safaris, whale watching, cookery sessions, temples, tea plantation, tuk tuk rides and lots lots more. Sampeth enriched the trip with local knowledge, stopping off whenever we requested to shop and experience local food.
We loved the authenticity of our hotels, small and boutique. Just perfect
We can not recommend Aleem and Earth Trip enough for organizing our truly unforgettable experience. Sri Lanka is a fantastic country to visit, and can't wait to see more of Sri Lanka on another trip!

We had a brilliant 2 week family holiday in Sri Lanka over July/August 2019. It was a great mix of wildlife, beach R&R, walking in the mountains and seeing ancient sites. The hotels were very well chosen for us - well located and several were small and unique in style. We enjoyed various experiences such as visiting tea plantations, a gem mine, spice growing gardens, and a local cooking experience. We had a very good driver and guide who was extremely informative, helpful and flexible - so we could decide if we wanted to stop for lunch or not, how long we wanted to walk etc. Having spent a bit of time while booking the holiday choosing what we wanted to do, the holiday was very relaxing as everything had been taken care of and all we had to do was enjoy ourselves! Everyone was also very friendly.

We have recently returned from a 17 day holiday to Sri Lanka booked with The Earth Trip. We first met Aleem (the founder of the company) in August 2018 and booked our holiday shortly afterwards. For the whole time between booking and departing Aleem kept in close contact with us, providing us with a bespoke itinerary and making well informed suggestions as to what would suit our family of 5 with children aged 20, 17 and 11. He assured us that Sri Lanka would have something for all interests and he was certainly right. Our holiday included visiting ancient sites in the cultural triangle, going on safari, spending time at the beach, exploring tea plantations and riding on one of the most scenic railways in the world.
Aleem always responded quickly to emails and addressed any queries we had. This was particularly appreciated following the April bombings when we were uncertain as to whether we would be able to go ahead with the holiday. Thankfully the foreign office lifted their warning against travel and we were able to visit this beautiful country. We felt totally safe there and if anyone is still in two minds as to whether to visit I would wholeheartedly say go for it!
The highlights of our holiday were seeing a herd of approx 100 elephants, travelling up to Liptons seat in tuk tuks and going on a night safari organised by our accommodation ( The Ibis, Willattu) and seeing a loris and nightjar, but the whole holiday provided us with amazing experiences.
The accommodation we stayed in was all excellent and most had eco credentials which was important to us. Gal Oya lodge and The Ibis deserve a special mention for environmental awareness.
My slight concern about visiting Sri Lanka was that we may have difficulty feeding my vegan daughter! I need not have worried, every hotel was extremely accommodating and served her with bespoke meals. It was like having her own personal chefs! Much of the food is vegetarian anyway and all of a high standard.
The best aspect of going on this kind of holiday is having your guide/driver. Our guide, Mangala, was amazing! He was so friendly and helpful and truly went above and beyond to make our holiday special. He was a font of local knowledge and also expert at spotting wildlife. He suggested places to visit, found restaurants for us, took us to a clothing shop, basically anything we asked for he could do! We really enjoyed spending time with him and he certainly enhanced our holiday experience.
I can honestly say our holiday to Sri Lanka is one of the best experiences I have had and would highly recommend visiting this wonderful country and booking with The Earth Trip to get a high quality, personal service at a very reasonable price.

We made a four-week trip to Sri Lanka in July/August 2019 with our nine-year-old son, organised by Aleem of The Earth Trip and it was superb. We would thoroughly recommend working with Aleem to organise a trip to Sri Lanka. He has brilliant local knowledge and had personally visited almost all of the places we chose to stay so they came with a personal recommendation and insight. Aleem was incredibly patient with me in the planning of our trip and extremely accommodating of our needs. He never tired of my endless questions, concerns and requests and went out of his way to ensure we were happy with the itinerary. We were lucky enough to have dinner with Aleem and his wife while we were in Sri Lanka, which just added to the truly personal touch that Aleem offers. The choice of accommodation was excellent (make sure you do a home stay when in Sri Lanka. It was the highlight of our trip and a memory we will always cherish. Aleem has some great contacts for this) and the recommendations of places to visit were very good.

Our driver, Rathna, was wonderful. He became a friend who our son adored. From the minute he greeted us at the airport with an enormous smile we felt safe and happy in his company. He went above and beyond to look after us when we needed to change accommodation and had to seek medical treatment. He was fast, decisive, solutions-oriented and all the time made us feel safe and secure. Rathna made our stay in Sri Lanka a joy.

We felt entirely secure the whole time we were in Sri Lanka and would have no hesitation in returning or recommending people to visit. We were thanked by local people on a regular basis for visiting as the country is suffering as result of the Easter attacks but there really is no reason for tourists to stay away. Book your trip now with The Earth Trip. You will have a truly memorable experience. Thank you Aleem for a trip of a lifetime.

We had the most fantastic holiday/experience in Sri Lanka this July. Our trip itinerary was arranged by Aleem (who we had the pleasure to meet whilst in Sri Lanka), he tailored the holiday perfectly for us, adding visits to break up long journeys, great accommodation choices and locations, everything ran perfectly from the minute we landed, we didn't have a single issue, we are both vegetarians and all this was provided and arranged. our accommodations in the areas we did our safari trips were rustic and just perfect for putting us in the mood for our trips. every place was very clean, perfect fantastic staff, amazing food, all had air con (which we needed!)
we felt safe the whole time we were there, not a single issue, and the people of Sri Lanka are so friendly, helpful and welcoming.
our itinerary was great, starting with 2, 12 hour full day safaris which were amazing (5 leopards seen on day 1! wow!!), then towards the end of the holiday 3 shorter ones (our only negative comments are that we would have preferred these to have been longer, but that doesn't distract from the amazing wildlife we saw), we saw elephants, sloth bears, water buffalo, birds galore, reptiles, deer, monkeys, insects, jackals, frogs and more, fantastic!
All the safari drivers were 1st class, all brilliant at spotting wildlife, and they run to your choice, if you want to stop to look at something, they do.
Then we get to our personal driver/guide Danesh, from the moment he met us at the airport with a big smile (which he had the whole holiday) and a lovely gift, Danesh was the perfect driver, guide, companion, never late, always informative with lots of information about this beautiful country, history, culture, things we passed or saw. He has a great knowledge about the wildlife of Sri Lanka and you can tell he loves wildlife as much as we do, making the safaris even more enjoyable.
On the car journeys if we passed wildlife or something interesting, if it was safe to stop he would for photos etc. he really did become our friend and not just our driver during our amazing experience and we both send him another big thank you for this.
We can not recommend Earth Trip/Aleem enough for organizing this awesome experience, we cant recommend Sri Lanka enough as a fantastic country to visit, we will defiantly visit it again in a few years time!