What to say about this Borneo trip? I don’t know where to start! The whole trip has been amazing, from meeting wonderful ladies, the excellent skills and support of our guides/drivers and the wildlife who were not shy. We were exceptionally lucky to see many aspects of the wildlife both in the wild and in supported sanctuaries, crocodiles catching prey to orangutan momma and baby nesting for the night. There were some nerves along the way and challenges were overcome, with support from everyone. Definitely recommend

What an amazing trip and unique experience swimming with whale sharks on Mafia Island. Mafia is such a special place with very few human visitors but lots and lots of whale sharks and wonderful marine life. The whole trip was really well organised with exceptional service. Would highly recommend.

From the moment I saw this trip I wanted to go! It mentioned places that I remember hearing about since I was in Infant school. Also, I visited Nepal in 2023 and thus had been to the country with the highest point in the world and Jordan is the country with the lowest point in the world - the 'symmetry' of these facts appealed to me. All went as planned. I was met at Queen Alia Airport in Amman and taken straight to our guide Bader, and the rest of the party at Bader's gym. Unusually for me, I had not slept since I'd got up on Saturday 17th October. I arrived in Amman at about 9:30. on 18/10/2026 I probably wasn't (definitely wasn't) at my best and found my self nodding off whenever the opportunity arose. My lovely fellow travellers (Sheila, Ranel and Julie) let me get on with it! I knew that I was to be sharing a room with a lady from America called Ranel and from the outset we 'jogged' along nicely. I met up properly with the whole group (Sheila, Julie, Ranel and our wonderful guide, Bader) at a restaurant later. We enjoyed a fabulous meal which I learnt was the 'norm' for food whenever we ate. The outings and activities mentioned in Vamoose came to be and our driver Mr Khalid was great. He drove steadily and carefully to each destination. And, he had internet access in his vehicle. It quickly became apparent that I had difficulty getting into his vehicle and so he provided a 'box' which enabled easier access to the seats for me. It really did become very obvious to us all, I believe, that I was not as fit as I'd hoped to be from swimming regularly every week. Julie lent me one of her walking poles in Jerash and thereafter Bader lent me his arm whenever the need arose. This trip proved to be all that I had 'hoped' it would be. Actually, I didn't really know what I had hoped for but as the 10 days progressed I loved it. I was complimented on my packing - the reason I did so well was because I had followed the packing guidelines. The 'What to Pack' in Vamoose was such a great help and ensured that I had what I needed , rather than something that 'would have been nice to have' but wasn't essential. In the end, I was able to wear shorts quite often and thus 1 more pair of shorts would have been useful but I coped! Footwear that would have been suitable for going into the sea (specifically The Dead Sea) would have been useful because the beach is shingly and very uncomfortable. Whilst we 'stuck' to the activity schedule it was so good that 'the schedule' was flexible. The spontaneous visit to a hot springs pool was fantastic - if I'd been told I'd be swimming in my 'birthday suit' with ladies that I had only known about 2 days I'd have been incredulous. But it worked and it was amazing and fun! Further spontaneity occurred when we were leaving the desert. The desert had been an amazing experience! Firstly, there's a lot of sand! But, additionally the whole environment is absolutely stunning! The surroundings are (in theory) 'brown' but there are many high outcrops of rock which have amazing stratification and a fabulous array of 'shades of brown' which make for a stunning backdrop! Especially when you throw a sunset into the scene. The photographs have been much admired but, really, you need to be there! It was on our way out of the desert, heading towards Aqaba, that we passed a 'zipwire'. we stopped and my immediate thoughts were 'I'm not doing that'. Julie and Sheila went for it and, on a ‘whim' I decided to have a go. After being kitted up with the harness there was a 20 metre climb up some steps to a rocky ledge. There, the harness was clipped to the wire and i was encouraged to kneel down! My aged knees haven't actually knelt for a number of years without leaning on something but suddenly I found myself on the edge and then . . .off! Wow! What an experience! Added to which, I was apparently 'the oldest woman to have gone down their zipwire'! Kudos to me. My children, family and friends were amazed or possibly bemused that I would actually do something like that! The volunteering was great. As they say - 'teamwork makes the dream work' and this was definitely the case. It was smashing to be working alongside my fellow travellers, our guide, our driver, and the owners of the nursery that we were giving a hand towards its eventual reopening. We plastered (in a manner of speaking - we really filled in cracks); we painted; we laid a breeze block each in a new wall (breeze blocks are heavy); we swept up and - (the icing on the cake) we thoroughly enjoyed the incredibly generous hospitality of our hosts. We were given a fabulously, tasty, lunch on the 2 days that we worked. Our efforts were to enable a children's nursery school to reopen following its recent closure because of Health and Safety risks. The completion of the project will not only provide a clean, well equipped nursery school but also a centre for women to congregate. Additionally, probably the best part of our contribution is that it was the start of an ongoing project that future visitors to Amman with EVA Travel will be able to continue consolidating. The ethical aspect of EVA Travel is important to me. I enjoy seeing and doing things anywhere but I believe the 'give back' is a 'win / win'. Everyone's a winner. And, we all agreed that another day of voluntary work wouldn't be a bad idea. I have recommended this trip to friends. In my view it was great (although I probably wouldn't go to a Turkish Bath again, but that was because of my 'ungainliness'). The whole trip was well considered and 'balanced'. There was tourism, leisure, fun, food (and wow, there really was incredible food), and general usefulness. I felt at home and safe in the parts of Jordan that we visited and the people that we had the pleasure of meeting were all very kind, helpful and considerate (especially as I am a sort of elderly, white haired woman who thought she could do it all on her own! I couldn't and I was pleased to be able to accept the offers of help. All our hotels were lovely - I always had a good nights sleep preceding an early morning start to the day. Would I go again? In theory I'd love to. But, actually, this visit was so wonderful and special that I feel a repeat visit would be very likely to be a disappointment. Thank you EVA Travel, Sheila, Bader (who contributed from B Adventure), Mr Khalid and Ranel and Julie. I feel we gelled brilliantly and the 10 days in Jordan will remain a real highlight of my life.

Comfortable and lovely garden hotel, friendly people, attentive staff, well organised and whale shark swimming every day.

Really amazing adventure as always with Catherine. The weather unfortunately prevented us from being in the ocean as much as we hoped but we still did plenty on the days we couldn't get in the water (and SO much on the days that we could!) and it gave us extra time to spend meeting the local community and learning about ocean conservation, so we still made the most of it. It was also a great opportunity to discover Mozambique, it's such a beautiful country and I am not sure I would have visited it if this adventure hadn't come up!