Intrepid Travel

Seeing a few people affected by the G Adventures Uganda Overland: Gorillas & Chimps cancellation. If you are looking at alternatives for gorilla trekking in the region, a few trips worth knowing about. Intrepid run Remarkable Rwanda and Gorillas of Uganda at 8 nights which covers similar ground — gorilla trekking in Bwindi, chimp tracking, and Rwanda. Closer in length to the cancelled 9-day than the G Adventures 15-day version. There is also the Uganda Gorilla Short Break through Intrepid at 3 nights if you want to add it onto something else, and Premium Uganda Rwanda and Kenya at 12 nights if you want more coverage. Worth comparing itineraries directly before booking. The gorilla permit cost is significant either way and the operators handle it differently.

Pulled these out separately from my trip report since they are easy to miss. Cash: Get a decent amount from KL before you head out. ATMs become genuinely scarce once you leave the main cities. We were advised to bring around 800 ringgit per person for incidentals and most people used close to that. The tip kitty was 100 ringgit and was fully used by the end. Torch: Bring a small handheld one. The nighttime safari needs it and some of the city evening walks are on unlit or uneven paths. Clothing: Cover knees, midriffs and shoulders throughout. Both for religious respect and because mosquitoes are active. Do not rely on repellent alone. Trains: Heavily air conditioned. Bring something warm to pull on even if it feels counterintuitive when you are sweating outside. Valuables: Most accommodation does not have room safes. Keep anything important on you or leave it at home. Swimwear: Bring it. The Perhentian Islands section involves boat trips and snorkelling. Food allergies: Not a good trip if you have significant dietary requirements. The vegetarian on our trip had a hard time despite the guide helping with ordering. Worth having a direct conversation with Intrepid before booking if this applies to you. Plugs: UK plugs work throughout Malaysia but bring an adapter if you are coming from elsewhere. The trains have underseat charging points which are useful on longer legs. eSIM: We all used them. The person with the best connectivity across all locations was using Hola Fly specifically — worth knowing if you are comparing options.

Just back from this so writing it up while it is fresh. Short version: enjoyable trip, good group, but the itinerary has gaps that Intrepid could address without much effort. The trip is essentially a series of train journeys through jungle scenery with a few activities along the way. Snorkelling off the Perhentian Islands was genuinely good. Jungle walking in Taman Negara was worthwhile. The rest is mostly getting from one place to another on public trains, which are comfortable enough but unremarkable. The guide situation is worth knowing about in advance. Commentary and cultural context from our guide only came on two sections — the Ipoh and Melaka walking tours. The rest of the time you are moving between places without much explanation of what you are seeing or why it matters. Malaysia has a genuinely interesting history and it is a shame the itinerary does not do more with it. A different guide would likely change this experience considerably. Ipoh in particular deserved more time. It is a city with real character and history and one day there felt rushed. There are obvious opportunities on these long travel days to break the journey — Cameron Highlands and a tea plantation visit would add something without disrupting the structure. That said, the group dynamic was excellent. We were all experienced travelers who looked out for each other and made the most of the downtime together. The trip works well socially even when the itinerary is moving you from point to point. Worth doing if you enjoy Southeast Asia travel and want a structured way to cover Malaysia. Go in with realistic expectations about the depth of the experience.

Just back from this trip. Pulling out the practical stuff because it's easier to find in its own post. Getting around: Download Yango before you leave home. It's the rideshare app in Senegal and it's cash only. Setting it up on the ground is a pain you don't need. Money: Bring more cash than you think you'll need. Cards are accepted at some hotels and restaurants but expect minimum spend limits, extra charges and machines that aren't working. ATMs exist but they're not always easy to find when you need one. Phone and data: eSIMs worked well, better coverage than I expected across both countries. Download offline maps before you go. Google Translate downloaded offline too, Senegal is strongly Francophone and you'll use it constantly. The Gambia is mostly English speaking so easier. Food: Heavy on seafood and meat everywhere. Vegetarians had a difficult trip. Coeliacs would find it very hard. Otherwise food is cheap and generally good. Swimming: Don't count on it until the last day in Saly. There's significant plastic pollution along most of the coast. Hotels with pools were mostly fine. Physical: Lots of walking in sand without proper footpaths. Some long days on rough roads. Comfortable shoes that handle sand are more useful than trail runners. Australians: I wrote a separate post about the visa situation. Read it before you do anything else.

Just got back from this. Ninth time Intrepid has run it, last departure of the season. Not a destination that'll top anyone's bucket list but the itinerary is put together well and you come away with a genuine sense of both countries. Here's what I'd want to know before going. The trip starts at La Madrague Hotel on the beach in Ngor, about an hour from the airport. Easy to book extra nights there directly if you want to arrive early. Worth it. Catch the ferry from the beach over to Ngor Island for lunch on your first day, much nicer than anything on the mainland. Day 2 city tour covers Dakar adequately. The real thing worth your full attention is Gorée Island. The history of the slave trade there is heavy and it should be. Don't rush it. Day 3 is the most varied: boat on the Pink Lake to meet the salt harvesters, some 4WD through dunes, then a long drive north to Saint-Louis near the Mauritanian border. Day 4 passes through Touba and the great mosque before an overnight in Kaolack. If you have any interest in Sufi Islam this is genuinely fascinating, not just a tourist stop. The Gambia days cover a slavery museum and Kunta Kinteh Island, which is worth the boat ride, then a car ferry across the Gambia River to Banjul. Two days there is enough. The trip then heads south to Cap Skirring near the Guinea-Bissau border and on to Ziguinchor before the final night in Saly. A few honest things. Several travel days are long with rough roads and heavy traffic. You walk a lot in sand, often without footpaths. There was no farewell dinner on our trip which felt like an oversight. The hotels were mostly fine, three star, but a couple felt tired. Vegetarians had a hard time throughout. The food leans heavily on seafood and meat and alternatives weren't always available. Coeliacs would genuinely struggle. For everyone else the food was cheap and decent. The people in both countries are welcoming and relaxed, rarely pushy. The cultural mix of Islam, colonial history and traditional religion still visible in the south gives the trip more depth than you might expect going in. Worth doing if you want something genuinely off the usual circuit.

If you're Australian and looking at this trip, please read this before you book flights. The itinerary crosses between Senegal and Gambia four times. Each time you re-enter Senegal you need a valid visa. The standard Senegalese e-visa is single entry, so it's done after your first crossing back. Useless for the rest of the trip. You need a multi-entry visa. Intrepid doesn't mention this anywhere in their booking or pre-departure materials. The Senegalese e-visa portal won't flag it either, their support team will happily send you down the wrong path. Getting the multi-entry visa means physically posting your passport to the Senegalese embassy in Tokyo along with a letter of invitation, supporting documents, application form and the fee. No online option. Give yourself at least a month. The letter of invitation has to come from the ground operator running the tour. On my trip it arrived eleven working days before departure, which happened to fall over a long weekend. Impossible to act on in time. The Gambia border posts don't issue Senegalese visas on arrival. The embassy in Banjul does but only twice a week. I made it through because our tour leader knew people. Most travelers in that situation wouldn't. The trip is genuinely worth doing. Just treat the visa as step one, not something to sort later. Don't wait for Intrepid to remind you because they won't.