6 Day Esperance & Margaret River Adventure Tour

I got a mixed feeling for this tour, tbh. it's hard to description with one word good or bad. You have to understand how the tour will be like before you make a decison. Got to say the view was super great along the whole tour, especially lucky bay. Western Australia got the amazing nature and we got the chance to explore. However, it was not an easy one at all. Sleeping in a swag without a tent upon that was so challenging. Even if it's not raining during the night, your swag and even your sleeping bag would got wet. Not to mention my shoes, who were outside the tent. Everyday I woke up like that and felt like freezing. It would be a lot better if they could put up a tent upon the swag. All the schedules were full so you got to wake up at 4 or 5 AM every day and everything you got had to be packed by 6 AM so you could head up to the road again. And remember, your sleeping bag and swag were still wet by them but anyway, they had to be folded. There was nowhere to charge your phone or anything other devices in the campgrounds as most of them didn't even have lightnings in the kitchens or toilets. You had to catch any chance when you were in the town to charge. The food was not bad as I already read some reviews before I booked the tour. Last but not least, as some other reviews had mentioned, this company don't have guides who're familiar with this route. They just sent someone who had experience but ours was a guide 10 years ago...so you can imagine...he hasn't been to this part of WA for 10 years. He's a good person but not a good guide...he didn't even do head counting on the way. Lots of time someone was not in the bus and we had to tell him that someone was missing instead of himself doing head counting. He sent us to a trail that was marked medium to hard and he just left with the bus with telling us that it would only take 1.5 hours. There was absolutely no signal. We didn't even have a map. It took us 3 hours to survive while he was enjoying his life on the beach...Some of us were bited by cow ants and it immediately led to redness and swelling. Thank god no one had allergy to that. When we asked for first aid kit when we were back, there was no badge or anything could help... So...that's why i said it was complicated at the beginning. It was a very new experience to me and the view was amazingly good. But it was also a survival game with hard mode. If you know what you're expecting, you can go and try it out as it would definitely be something you won't forget.

This trip was amazing . I got to experience everything i wanted and more . My fellow tour passengers were great fun. The scenery was out of this world. The weather was not always our friend but it did not matter . Huge shout out to Rachel our guide . It was also lovely to meet cameron

+4

Great way to traverse the South West of Australia in a small diverse group of like minded travelers. Driver & Guide Scott was super, well informed on the areas, kept us all in time, cooked terrific meals and showed considerable kindness to each individual guest. Scott went Above & Beyond each day. I would not hesitate to travel with Untamed Adventures again.

The whole tour experience was amazing. Everything was well planned and the food was fresh and delicious. The nature is incredible and the campgrounds were well chosen. Shawn and Rachel were great guides and shared their local knowledge throughout the trip. They were flexible and accommodated different options. It’s an interactive tour with many scenic hikes and stunning beach stops.

This was our first tour with Untamed Escapes and indeed our first trip to Australia (from France). So we jumped at the opportunity to experience camping, Australian style, i.e. swag camping, knowing there was little chance of rain. Scott, our leader, was amazing. He did the driving, shopped, cooked our meals, and narrated our way through the countryside, telling us about Australia, past and present. And he always had time to answer specific questions. (He even arranged for me to pick up a book that I left on the bus at the end of the trip a couple of days later.) There was also an assistant, a "2IC", who was also very friendly and informative, but he spent most of his time flirting with the young women in the group. We saw lots of kangaroos, heard lots of unfamiliar birds, and slept under the stars of the southern hemisphere. Now for the negatives. When we signed up, we had the distinct impression that we would be spending a good deal of our time hiking in the various locations we'd be visiting. So much so that before leaving we bought new trainers that we could use for trail walking, city touring, running, etc. We needn't have bothered. There was only one real day of (very enjoyable) hiking - day 3 of the 6-day trip. Day 2 was supposed to be a hiking day, too, but Day 1 got transformed into a minibus repair day, so we couldn't make it to the originally-planned destination. Mind you, it's not that our minibus broke down during the trip. Rather, Scott for some reason had to change the agenda before we even set out, so that he could get the minibus repaired. This meant we had to cool our heels for an afternoon in a salt-water swimming hole, rather than continuing on to Fitzgerald River National Park. We never hiked in the park. Repairs aside, the minibus was not a spring chicken. The suspension left much to be desired. It was underpowered for the weight of the trailer it was pulling. I was wondering if there might be a second repair stop during the week. There was also less legroom than in any airplane seat I've sat in. Anyone measuring more than 1m75 had to turn his - or her - legs to the side or choose an aisle seat. Maybe this was all part of the adventure! Lastly, there was so much time on the bus that there were only a couple of hours each day to tour. I know that you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, and if you're going to see Western Australia, you're gonna have to cover a lot of distance, but still.... We weren't even able to walk around in Albany or Margaret River, because we made so many other short stops, specifically to a chocolate factory, a honey shop and two wineries! Personally, I need to spend time in a place to soak up the ambiance, the vibe and to remember it without everything becoming a blur. To my mind, perhaps we could have spent two nights in each of three locations (rather than 2 nights in 1 location and 1 night in each of the other 4 locations), thereby leaving more time for outdoor activities, even if that were to mean we'd cover less than the 2,500 kilometres we did cover.

Great camping trip - great group and beautiful scenery - highly recommend this fun trip. Thanks untamed escapes

Unfortunately, the tour was quite a disappointment and the worst I have ever done. That was largely due to our guide. She was busy most of the time with her boyfriend instead of taking care of us : e.g. she drove up the window between the driver's cab and the baking machine as we sat, listening to music and accordingly gave us no information about the area, the flora and the wildlife. She didn't run a hike with us, but sent us before and then came strolling with her boyfriend Also she put her own interests in the foreground....just to list a few points.

The proposed cultural march was almost cancelled, the organizer arrived 30 minutes late. On the previous excursion, it was cancelled because the organizer did not come. The agency is aware but does not change the itinerary. You will spend most days on the bus, with very little stop. If you like me to discover the paradisiacal beaches of Esperance (and not be disappointed, as I was), I strongly advise you to rent your own van in order to do it yourself, you will see much more than with this rushing route. If you’re unlucky like us, you’ll even have a guide who decides not to walk the route and not even inform you about the possibility of doing them, enough to spend even more time on the bus! In addition, following my complaints, the company can tell me that I was expecting a “luxury” ride, simply because I did not have a sleeping bag, which is required. You will therefore have to buy your own sleeping bag, to spend only 5 nights in it, since the company does not offer to rent one. Finally, the equipment offered is not given: the tents to protect from the rain were not provided to us (but I should not expect a luxury tour). Our guide’s answer to the question was: in any case the tent does not protect from the rain. I learned new things during this tour, just as apparently you have to make a “tourniquet” when you get bitten by a snake. Fortunately nothing happened to us during this tour, we would probably be dead. RUN AWAY!

The sites we visited were absolutely stunning. The tour had a perfect mix of hiking, beaches sightseeing and relaxation. I was a bit nervous at first never having done something like this before but our tour guide went above and beyond to ensure I was very comfortably immersed in the experience. Janei's knowledge, skill, attentiveness and patience added an extra layer of WOW to the experience. I can't thank her enough. This is a highly versatile tour allowing for all ages and levels of fitness. I can't recommend it enough 😀

This was such an incredible trip to see the beautiful south west of Western Australia. Pristine white sand, crystal clear blue water and lots in between from wineries to educational indigenous walks - we were expertly looked after by Jenai who is an absolute superstar! Having done over 15 group tours from Australia to Africa and Peru, she one of the best tour guides I’ve met and made it such a fun, informative, chilled and happy experience for all of us. There are some long drives, but worth it for the regular beach swims, beautiful hikes, well equipped campgrounds and sunrises. The swags are comfy and well maintained and we were well fed every day! Highly recommend this trip, or any tour of Australia with Jenai at the helm :)

+2