Client Comments

„We had planned to go to Estonia with Mark and Alice in early April. A combination of EasyJet and Icelandic volcanoes ensured that this did not happen: but we finally went with Alice only, late in May. We had booked our holiday with a really helpful lady, Marika Mann, who runs her own business organising birding tours and birding holidays in Estonia. She had arranged a 3-day tour for us, with a guide called Tarvo Valker, who turned out to be a lot younger than we had expected (he is low thirties). He is knowledgeable about birds, found a lot of birds because he knew the terrain so well and had a fantastic ear for the songs. He also speaks good English and knows the (English) names of all the birds.
An excellent few days. Estonia feels like management have taken a ‘quality’ decision: everything Estonia does will be done well, even if they cannot afford it. They are one of the ‘greenest’ nations in Europe, environmentally friendly, large areas of national park and protected areas, good walkways well maintained, decent roads with some bicycle lanes, hotels good, clean and friendly. Tallinn was a joy, but more so the areas outside Tallinn where the government is trying to create an aura of quality: this is all difficult in a country with the bear looming over the shoulder, and with such a low income. Prices are at euro levels, but incomes less than half those of UK/Germany/France. As Tarvo said, Estonia produces excellent dentists – but they all go to Finland, where they are paid three times as much.
In three days with Tarvo we saw an incredible 117 bird species, heard another ten (including three we have never seen!) and seven land mammals (and seals and bats). In Tallinn we saw an excellent ballet and an excellently-performed opera. Overall a really good holiday.“ P. & V.C. / Spring 2010 /