Highlights of Madagascar

Madagascar is amazing with so much unique wildlife, plants and trees. A well organised trip, with good accommodation. Comfortable bus with lots of breaks on the long journeys. A mixture of leisurely time on the bus and in the towns, with some very strenuous treks in the reserves. Be prepared for heavy rain and blistering heat as you pass through the varied landscapes.

What a remarkable journey of exploration, a rare opportunity to begin to understand, at first hand, a country, people, landscape and biodiversity unlike any I have experienced before. An intimate trip which does not try to disguise the challenges and difficulties of life in Madagascar but very honestly celebrates its diversity and energy. Whilst our main reason for taking the trip was the unique, endemic wildlife, which we were lucky enough to see so much of, we were equally staggered by the incredible range of environments and landscapes that we journeyed through and the glimpses that we got into the villages and lives of the proud, friendly people who call Madagascar home. Travelling by road in order to include so many high lights in 2 weeks is quite hard work, but surely the best way for any visitor to really appreciate this incredible country.

A really varied trip with the opportunity to see several different areas of Madagascar; the gorgeous beaches, some beautiful national parks and delightful lemurs and chameleons!

There were only six of us on the trip so this was a real bonus. It meant that we had lots of room in the minibus and when being guided around we could spend a long time viewing the wildlife. Saw more than was mentioned in the trip notes and spent longer in the national parks as being a small group we all agreed on what we wanted.

Loved the trip, great country, great people, great guide and great wildlife

I have been dreaming of seeing lemurs in the wild since I was young and this trip did not disappoint. I had never done a group tour before and was admittedly very hesitant to sign-up for one, but the itinerary allowed me to see most of what I wanted to, so I thought I'd give it a try. In the two weeks, we were able to see thirteen species of lemurs, which was thrilling and more than I had expected. The itinerary is thoughtfully laid out and even the long days travelling were made better by the many stops and stories from our group leader. I can't describe the feeling of first arriving to our cabins in Andasibe to the sounds of Indri calls in the forest. It was really out of this world. The diversity of landscapes and parks that we visited was excellent and I couldn't have planned it better myself. Having a local guide and engaging (mostly) with local tour operators and businesses was an important aspect of the trip for me as well. Overall, excellent adventure that I wish I could go back in time and do again.

This was our first holiday with Exodus and our first group holiday and looking back was probably one of the best holidays we have had. It was great to see such a wide variety of landscape and we were very lucky with the amount of wildlife we saw. We were in a group of 10 people and it was nice to share the experience with others. Our group leader, Rija made the trip so interesting. The final few days on the beach was very relaxing.

The main objective of this wildlife trip was met in that we saw 14 species of lemur thanks to the efforts of the local guides and their spotters. This was interspersed with about 90 species of birds over two thirds of which were endemic species with examples from most of the endemic families. Other wildlife such as reptiles and other mammals were few and far between mainly because the majority these are nocturnal. The travel between the National Parks enabled us to have a good insight into the culture, beliefs and customs of the local people together with visiting various historical sites. We found the hotels better than we might have expected and particularly enjoyed the 3 nights at the beach hotel at Anakao. The food also was generally good especially the fish and seafood at Anakao. Wifi was available everywhere we stayed. Insects didn't seem to be a problem. You should easily have enough local currency if you follow the Exodus advice and most of us changed currency back to Euros at the airport before coming home.

The trip gives a good insight into the exotic fauna and flora of Madgascar and into several of the "cottage" industries that have been set up, mainly to provide items for the tourist trade. The trip involves many hours of travelling on roads that are in many cases badly surfaced, even when classifies as a "Route National" - this is not a trip for those that don't like long coach journeys! The arrangements were very good and the hotels, in the main, excellent though facilities were quite varied.

The trip is rated as leisurely & I would rate it challenging. We had extremely long travel days in the vehicles on winding bumpy roads (5 hr, 6 hr, 11 hr, etc.) The trip notes advise some long days, but we weren’t expecting such challenges just traveling in the van; our muscles were all tensed up by the end of each drive. The hiking to get to the Lemurs requires a person to be very fit in order to scramble up steep banks, cross streams, climbing steps up & down, & bushwhacking for 4 hrs at a time. It would be helpful to put this information in the ‘Is this trip for you’ section