Madagascar 9 Days Baobabs and Lemurs Tour

Customer Reviews

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  Judy

  · November 9th, 2024
  I didn't do this tour
  Trip date: October 2024
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  Lennart

  · September 24th, 2024
  Perfectly organised and always on time! Great experience through and through. Perfect for seeing as much of central madagascar if time is limited.
  

  Fosa Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for the awesome review, Lennart. We work hard to meet expectations like yours and are happy to hear we hit the mark for you. Come back and see us soon. Cheers!
  Trip date: September 2024
• RL

  Robert

  · August 12th, 2024
  Felt safe and everything worked as planned. Got to see a lot, but much time was spent driving so you have to enjoy seeing the countryside from a car. And all the roads were seen in both directions. Zaka was a good driver and a gentle person. Be prepared for up to 4 hours walks in steep forrests and resorts with many stairs. Apart from the stay in Tana Wifi was missing or unstable in the room. Buying 3 GB eSIM was a good investment. What could be improved was practical info, both before the trip and before leaving the resort for an excursion. Local guides could ask like "What? Did you not bring a torch?" or "You should have had sandals".
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  Fosa Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for the awesome review, Robert. We work hard to meet expectations like yours and are happy to hear we hit the mark for you. Come back and see us soon. Cheers!
  Trip date: August 2024
• BH

  Becca

  · August 2nd, 2024
  Fabulous tour! Antsa was far more than a driver—he added so much to our experience. Priceless!
  Trip date: July 2024
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  Ian

  · July 30th, 2024
  As other reviews have said, there is a LOT of driving over less than okay roads. Outside of that, this is an excellent introductory experience for Madagascar. Plenty of lemurs and baobabs, as advertised. What makes this -- or any trip like this special - is the guide/driver. And Antse was incredible. Always in good humor and had stories and history to tell during our long drives in the vehicle. Be prepared for some great food -- and more just okay food (but that's not what you take this trip for!) Some bathroom stops if necessary in the middle of nowhere... all part of the experience, in our opinion! You could spend considerably more and fly from point to point, but you'd be missing out on the changing landscapes and seeing how the wonderful Malagasy people live.
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  Trip date: July 2024
• 

  Marius

  · April 1st, 2024
  What an amazing experience! The tour was very well organised, we managed to see all the attractions as presented in the itinerary, with plenty of time to explore at each stop. Our driver guide Antsa was super polite, knowledgeable and made his best to keep us entertained and informed. He accommodated all our stop requests and was flexible with the schedule of the day. I couldn’t have asked for a better driver guide. The distances between the attractions are quite big and the infrastructure of the Madagascar needs improvements, one must be aware that some big amount of time will be spent in the car travelling (and as mentioned in the itinerary), but we made the most of this and enjoyed the scenery snd got plenty of local stories from Antsa to keep us entertained. Hotels were acceptable (with a bit of a quality challenge in Morondava where rooms can be better cleaned and updated, and card payment was not always available, with the change being a challenge for the cash payments). However, amazing experience and definitely will do it again if I’ll have to decide.
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  Trip date: March 2024
• DM

  Douglas Neil

  · August 13th, 2023
  We had a great 9 day experience in Madagascar! It was just the two of us on the tour which surprised us but Roger was a fantastic driver and was happy to answer our questions, and also to indulge our requests to stop by local markets to sample the foods. The wildlife and baobab trees were incredible however, like over reviews, please be mindful that you will spend about 3 days in total just driving in the car. One day was 11 hours. If you are happy to look out of the window and enjoy the beautiful scenery (may be download an audiobook!) then you’ll be fine but they are long days. We were a little surprised to find some items of the itinerary were not included (no rickshaw rides) mainly due to travel time (understandable, dirt roads and broken down trucks are common) but also that we were expected to buy the driver lunch (we would be willing to buy anyone a lunch after driving us 11 hours! But to know in advance would be appreciated). There was one day we requested not to attend another nature walk considering it was another 4 hour drive (after an 11 hour drive the day before) and that allowed us a little time to stop and enjoy the beautiful beach and scenery. That said, we look back on our trip very fondly. And thank Roger for always making sure we were well looked after!
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  Trip date: July 2023
• CK

  chanphouth

  · July 12th, 2023
  Mannitra is the very kind and good tour guide and driver . He know what he doing and the tour just great . And I will tell more of my friends for sure
  Trip date: July 2023
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  Claudia

  · April 25th, 2023
  Overall, this review must take into account that Madagascar is a developing nation with poor infrastructure, and so you cannot expect the comforts from your home country here. That being said, I think there are a few things that could have been disclosed from the offset to manage travelers' expectations and improve the overall experience. I think what previous reviews fail to highlight is the extent of how long you will be on the roads (you will be traveling to some locations for consecutive DAYS: from about 7:30AM to 5:30PM). Additionally, the poor state of the overall road systems in Madagascar in general are noteworthy--with potholes everywhere and hours spent winding around them in extreme heat. If you don't mind spending 9+ hours in a car WITHOUT air conditioning in up to 91 degree Fahrenheit (32.8 Celsius) weather, then this is the tour for you. Also note that there is no smog/car exhaust control in Madagascar, so you will be exposed to car fumes all day, and have black secretions when you blow your nose at night. I honestly felt that most of the tour was spent just getting to locations, rather than actually seeing things. The countryside of Madagascar is pretty (with rich green forests/rice paddies and bright red/orange soil), but it looses its appeal in the days-long car rides riding in mostly pure silence with the driver/guide. As a solo female traveler, I was also surprised to be notified that I was the only person on my tour only when I asked upon my arrival. I ended up spending 9 days almost completely alone and dependent on "Roger" (the driver/guide for the trip). It would have been far nicer to have known this well in advance!! I will also comment that Roger is a strange person in general to be in tourism because he appears disinterested and can even be rude on occasion. Multiple times, Roger would make fun of my attempts to pronounce names/say words in Malagasy, even asking me to repeat things for his own amusement. (You would think he would be friendlier and be willing to promote his own culture while working in the tourism industry!) At one point, I actually said: "I don't make fun of your English, so why are you making fun of my Malagasy?" He also asked strange questions such as: "Have you ever felt rice?" or outright saying: "I want to die." (Probably NOT what you want to hear from someone you're tied to for 9 days and who is driving you around the country!!) I ended up asking other individuals questions about what I saw on excursions over Roger, just to avoid him making fun of me. Towards the end of the tour, he was also clearly ill and almost ran into a child that was crossing the road. If you're interested in flora and fauna like I am, the tour does accomplish the goals of showing you baobabs and lemurs, but at the expense of your time (i.e. taking days to drive you to locations). To be honest, I'm not quite sure the country is well equipped to handle tourism as a whole and I would recommend just flying directly to Morondava from Antananarivo to see the baobabs, for example. Also of note: some hotels will also charge you for breakfast when it is allegedly included as a part of this tour package. From my experience, you will need bottled water to brush your teeth at Vakona Forest Lodge because the water from the sink is brown, and the only hotel that includes breakfast is the Renala Hotel in Morondava. All accommodations are overall comfortable: with electricity/AC, WiFi (only available in the lobby at Vakona Forest Lodge), warm water, and a comfortable bed. You will see a mix of lemurs in the wild and in private zoos. However on one particular excursion, I was told that I would go to a "Botanical Garden" (and so I dressed accordingly,) but I was surprised that the location (Zazamalala Forest: Botanical Garden and Turtle Breeding) had no botanical gardens at all. In fact, the staff was clearly taken off guard to my visit and scrambled to show me the few animals they have (most of which I had already seen before). I had also dressed to go to a garden, so I was surprised when I was asked to hike through wild brush to look for lemurs in the area. I ended up with quite a few scratches and mosquito bites as a result....I wouldn't recommend the place, to be honest. In conclusion: Will you see lemurs and baobabs? Yes....but prepare to sweat to the point of 100% saturation and expect to have long uncomfortable car rides with a strange guide!
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  Fosa Travel commented on this review

  Thank you very much for taking the time to write this review. We are sorry to hear about your experience. Because of the bad weather, Kirindy Forest was not reachable. That's why we arranged Zazamalala Forest instead and also an extra visit to Lemurs... Show more
  Trip date: March 2023
• PB

  Penelope

  · October 25th, 2022
  We really enjoyed the tour. Good mix of wildlife trips, driving and stop offs to see different areas of the island. Hotels were comfortable and couple of them were very nice! All well organised and our guide Roger was friendly and knowledgeable as we travelled around and also on the trips/activities Alex at Fosa Travel also very responsive to any questions and helpful as we added a few days to the standard itinerary. No issues between Alex and Roger switching one of the nights midway through the tour as well. Thanks both, we very much enjoyed it! :) Penny and Alex
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  Fosa Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for the awesome review, Penny. We work hard to meet expectations like yours, and we are happy to hear we hit the mark for you. Come back and see us soon. Cheers!
  
  Trip date: October 2022