Baobab & Tsingy Family Safaris, Personalized & Daily Start

Customer Reviews

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  Stephanie

  · August 14th, 2024
  Overall the tour was great--especially the guides. The biggest problem involves pre-tour information. Several hotels have limited electricity. This caused an expensive problem for us as one traveler was dependent on a c-pap machine at night. Had she known about the electricity problems in advance she could have purchased a battery pack for her machine that would have been less expensive than the $300 it cost to keep electricity for 3 nights. Advice about dealing with the dust during the grueling car trip on dirt roads would have been helpful and probably would have prevented the pneumonia I developed at the end of the trip. Simple advice to consider wearing a mask on those trips, especially if one has any respiratory problems could have helped avoid coming home to a week in the hospital.
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  Agate Travel commented on this review

  Dear Stephanie, thanks for your feedback on tours. We feel deeply sorry about your experience. Madagascar is suffering from power supply in the whole country and power cut is very common everywhere. Usually hotel has a generator but some of them may cut... Show more
  Trip date: July 2024
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  Julian

  · June 5th, 2024
  Touring Madagascar with Agate Travel was an absolutely incredible adventure, especially as a big nature lover and lemur fan! Our guides were fantastic and greatly enriched our understanding of Madagascar’s beautiful environment, people, and culture in a way that greatly exceeded expectations. The flight, accommodation, and transport inclusions also made for a really seamless experience so we could just focus on having fun. We can’t wait to work with Agate again on our next Madagascar trip!
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  Agate Travel commented on this review

  Dear Julian, thank you for taking time to post your memorable experience! It is very encouraging to see everything of your trip was perfect, which is what we strive for. Thank you again for choosing us. We have tour service in more than 120 countries... Show more
  
  Trip date: May 2024
• EB

  Erika

  · July 21st, 2023
  It was absolutely lovely to take a recent amazing private tour! The vacation was amazing because to the group of amiable native guides and our fantastic private driver.
  

  Agate Travel commented on this review

  Dear Erika, thank you for writing this kind review. It’s very pleasant to know you enjoyed a lovely journey, which is our experienced team struggle for. Thank you again for trusting us. We look forward to planning the next trip for you! Best regards.
  Trip date: July 2023
• JD

  Jeremy

  · October 30th, 2022
  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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  Agate Travel commented on this review

  Dear Jeremy Drage, We highly appreciate your time to write such a detailed and attentive tour review on your travel experience with Agate Travel. Your kind tips on lemur observations, accommodations, meals and tipping are very practical and helpful.... Show more
  
  Trip date: October 2022