Adventure Tours & Trips in Madagascar

What people love about Active Tours in Madagascar

• RichardTraveled in August

  4

  A very good trip with much to see. The lemurs were fantastic and the scenery was great and variable Because of the bad state NR7. The road is potholed and has numerous trucks which are making it worse by the day. The hotels were generally good but as in many locations there are only a couple for the operator to use there is not much scope for them to be changed. The food is a challenge. Avoid pasta curry or the like. They dont taste as you would expect. No flavour . For Italian the tomatoes are absent or minimal even though they are piled high on the local vegetable sellers tables. Zebu is the best bet and they are good at fried potatoes. With respect stick with beer and cocktails which are good and cheap. Wine is imported (>20 usd) and fairly ordinary. Don't try the local wine as we bought a bottle in the wine growing are. It was cheap 5 dollars . One sip each a photo and then used to water the lawn. A word about baggage on the Madagascar flight from Tulea to Antanarivo. The allowance is 23kg but only one bag. We had a 10 and 8kg and were charged us 40. Our driver and guide were very good. Its tough having to concentrate for 10hrs for the driver. The guide was knowledgeable on history and the wildlife.

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  Customized Best Madagascar Adventure, Daily Start & Private Guide
• JeremyTraveled in October

  5

  We had a fantastic time in Madagascar. It’s a fascinating place to visit…. Not just for lemurs, though they are adorable both close-up (at Palmarium and Lemur Island) and on day and night ‘safari’ to find them in their truly natural habitat, where they are harder to see but you feel that you are experiencing them in the wild. We saw about 12 different species from the biggest (Indri) to the smallest (mouse lemur). The ones you see depend on the areas you choose. The east side (drive from ‘Tana) proved best for lemurs. The west side (fly from Tana) also had good lemur experiences…. on safari. The west was also an eye-opening cultural experience, seeing and meeting the friendly Madagascan people in their challenging environment. We had no problems with theft or hassle. The scenic sites made the west side trip, notably the Tsingies and also the baobabs. On the organisation, Agate Travel planned, organised and supervised the trip very well. Questions beforehand were answered overnight. The two pairs of guides/drivers were absolutely excellent. In the east, Fafa and Niner were top class despite the tricky roads and traffic. In the west, Martin and Hari ran everything equally well. Both guides (Fafa and Martin) were extremely personable, knowledgeable and strong in English, and they sorted any issues seamlessly. The 2 drivers were professional and kept us safe in demanding conditions. Things ran well to time. Ask for them!! The local guides they selected were also extremely good without exception- all speaking decent English. We met some independent travellers who were managing alone, but as experienced travellers ourselves, we felt that it was a place where the advantages of tour guides were significant and we were glad we didn’t try DIY. By booking fairly close to time, we were unable to get one internal flight arranged which necessitated a two day road trip…. But this had some benefits of seeing more of the country. Long car trips are a necessary evil for holidaying in Madagascar…. if you want to see multiple locations, which I recommend. The 4x4 was comfortable and up to the job. (We we’re just 2 plus the guide and the driver.) On the admin, the accommodation was 3* as advertised and was universally well-chosen. The actual standard varies as some is of necessity lodge-style and some is hotel. Our only gripe was that the Kiridi lodge, where there was really no other option, was a bit run-down and could improve itself… and we had most of one day there. Generally the food was decent enough. Choice isn’t massive but it was generally wholesome. They select local restaurants for lunch that are suitable for tourists. If you’re of a sensitive disposition, you might plan to carry your own lunch meals? Also, you’ll be well away from any medical cover so take your own tummy medicine. Living costs are cheap. We changed $100per day into local currency at the airport and this covered lunches, dinners, drinks, souvenirs and tips… well, nearly anyway…. Depending on your outlay on the last two. We didn’t try exchanging at hotels, or paying in dollars/euros or paying by card. Try to get some smaller notes than the wad of 20000s (approx ~$5) you’ll get at the exchange. Otherwise tipping gets expensive! It would be nice if the travel company offered a ‘small change’ pack for purchase on arrival to overcome this problem. We found that Agate were good at being flexible in tuning the trip to our timings and desires. I noted that many companies were limited in dates offered, while Agate offered considerable variability. However, I would say that they were responsive rather than proactive when it came to information about the trip and Madagascar once we had confirmed. They answered all my questions but I felt a lot of them were obvious questions and could have been covered in an info sheet at the start. Overall, it was a great experience; well-delivered by the company and their people on the ground. Madagascar is a wonderful destination for many reasons - but it’s big, so you spend a lot of time travelling. It was well worth it.

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  Baobab & Tsingy Family Safaris, Personalized & Private Jeep
• KendraTraveled in January

  5

  a magical place, but you have to love the journey over the destination, as there is a lot of journey. Hotels very good and brilliant guide.

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