Lacking holiday inspiration? Think you’ve travelled the world? If the answers are yes, I’d suggest looking at the Native Eye Travel website which includes an amazing list of countries, including many like Chad and Guinea-Bissau, which were totally off my radar.
We found Native Eye through Responsible Travel after we’d asked them for recommendations for a company to take us to Central Asia and the ‘five stans’. Although offering a huge range of both tailor-made and group adventures, they are a small company, and our initial inquiry was knowledgeably handled by the owner, Jim O’Brien. Using the outline of a group tour covering Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Jim tailor-made it with less flights, a more relaxed timescale, small hotels and more importantly, within our budget.
Prior to our trip, we were provided with the letters of invitation required to obtain visas at the Turkmenistan border and the information required to obtain an e-visa in advance for Tajikistan. Our pre-trip paperwork contained country notes, suggested packing tips and pre-reading and when we had queries, it was easy to get through on the phone and emails were answered quickly.
Bearing in mind our itinerary took in five countries over 31 nights, staying in 20 different places, it ran extremely smoothly and when we had two minor queries whilst away, they were quickly resolved.
On return, they were keen to hear of our experiences, which they can hopefully build into the plans of future travellers. I would highly recommend Native Eye Travel, particularly if you want to go somewhere a little different and off the beaten track.
The only downside is that they don’t arrange flights, so we booked these through Trailfinders.
