Madagascan Discoverer

I was in a group of twelve on the 4 September 2014 trip, led by a very popular Malagasy guide (favourably referred to in many reviews) whose very long name was conveniently shortened to "Sol". Weather at this time of year turned out to be mainly very good - not over-hot in the later stages of the trip. Unfortunately, our first few days in the rain forest were pretty damp - it rained non-stop. This did not prevent us seeing any of the wildlife but some of the initial photos inevitably reflected the difficulty of taking them. Occasionally, as in the Kirindi reserve, the lemurs are habituated to humans and, if you sit quietly, one troupe will come and mingle - especially if you give them some water. (Don't touch their tails!) Others stick to the high trees and are often frustratingly difficult to photograph because so many branches and twigs get in the way. After the rain forest we flew back to Antananarivo ("Tana") and, thereafter until the last day, all travel was by road. Apart from splitting the group into four 4WDs for the Tsingy excursion, all driving was in a smallish bus. The bus was reasonably comfortable and air-conditioned but we rarely felt the need for the A/C as long as the fan was on. There are a lot of long driving days but the roads on the circular part of the tour are all pretty good and, if you want to see the country properly, there is really no alternative. Sol made sure we had plenty of stops so the experience was fine for most of us - if not all. The road up to the Tsingy was a different matter and was in serious need of improvement. It will probably get this before too long - graders were already in evidence and tourists will wonder what the fuss was about within a couple of years. Ferry crossings were slow and inefficient but provided a good opportunity to chill out. The worst length of dirt road is probably between Tulear and the hotel north of Ifaty. This requires a lot of patience and will probably not be upgraded anytime soon. Hotels were, as indicated by previous reviews, surprisingly good and pretty clean for the most part. For those who cannot get away from their phones or tablets Wi-Fi is available at most of them - if only in Reception. Electricity is sometimes rationed (e.g. 7-10pm only) and room lighting usually leaves a lot to be desired. One "tented" camp was a bit basic but perfectly acceptable. Meals were good - although menus were not particularly varied. If you like Zebu steak and chips you will enjoy this trip a lot. That said some of the fish is excellent and I had one meal of lobster which was greatly enjoyed. Desserts are mainly fruit so it is difficult to over-indulge too much. As regards health issues I was lucky - being on antibiotics for a pre-holiday infection. I suspect this protected me because everybody else had tummy troubles during the first week, although nobody seemed much under the weather for more than a day or two. Few mosquitos were in evidence - even in the rain forest. I took great care to smother myself in DEET throughout the trip and only relaxed the regime when we returned to Tana at the end - when, inevitably, I suffered several bites. The Tsingy is a strange area of pinnacles and extremely sharp rocks. It is well worth seeing and the climbing element is worth experiencing (not for the faint-hearted but not onerous). We had no problems but it is probably worth making sure that your insurance covers helicopter evacuation (assuming a helicopter is actually available - which may not be the case). To my surprise the scenery on our later circular route did not vary very much - rolling brown/yellow hills with scrub and lots of little square houses. (I had been expecting mountains but we only saw them from a distance in the south). Others have commented on the "slash and burn" approach to agriculture and the deforestation evident, with all the wildlife under threat and confined to reserves. Whilst there is a lot of truth to these observations I felt that most of the scenery we saw had probably not changed much for many years. That said, the change will probably accelerate in the near future so now is a good time to go. Baobabs are nearly everywhere on the west coast and you will get baobabbed out! Tana has some interesting areas and the older buildings on the central escarpment (where the wealthy live) could almost be from an old European town. The lake in the centre of the city is a disgrace - being widely (and openly) used as a latrine and the smell is offputting. Baobab alley was good - although the locals tend to congregate there a lot (some with herds of Zebu) and there were comments to the effect that they spoiled the pictures! Sadly we didn't get a decent sunset there. Others may be luckier. I think now is a very good time to see Madagascar. Tourism, whilst increasing, has not yet taken off and one does not get pestered to buy souvenirs to anything like the irritating extent one does in so many other countries. I think I would still recommend seeing Ethiopia first but this was a good and enjoyable trip and can safely be recommended.

This was an amazing trip using a variety of transport through a culturally diverse country with varied landscapes and incredible flora and fauna much of which is endemic to Madagascar. This is far more than a wildlife spotting trip, it is an active trip with early starts and most days were packed full-every day was an adventure.

My wife and I have had Madagascar at the top of our "must go" list (which is a pretty long list!) for many years so it was really exciting to eventually book this trip and then hope that we hadn't set our expectations of this far away island too high. Before we left the UK, we were a little daunted at the amount that was being included in the itinerary but once we arrived, we recognised that all of this was expertly organised and that we really were going to see the maximum number of highlights in a two week period. But the "glue" holding the itinerary together was our marvellous guide, Solofo (Sol), who calmly and efficiently made sure that we got from place to place, seeing all the key sights and experiencing the real Madagascar. There is something for everyone on this trip - the variety of landscape, wildlife and activity shows off Madagascar at its best. I've only had a little exposure to travel in the African continent but this unique island seems somehow different. I really felt that we were explorers seeing the island as it opens up to tourism but also struggles with tough ecological challenges. The welcome we received wherever we went was warm and genuine and that connection to both the people and the island has really remained with me since returning home. I can't recommend this tour highly enough.

This was a brilliant trip which covered a huge amount of territory and exposed us to many different types of landscape and countryside. There were some very long drives but they were fascinating and comfortable and there were plenty of opportunities to get out and stretch our legs. The accommodation was better than expected and in places absolutely lovely, and generally the food was very good, although the breakfasts were sometimes less than appealing. It was easy to buy good South African wine almost everywhere for dinner, and cold beer was available everywhere. We saw much more wildlife and far more lemurs of many different varieties than I had expected, and there were many good photo opportunities.

"Madagascan Discoverer" was a truly wonderful, very enjoyable, multi-faceted trip with a really excellent guide, Rija. I am writing this review to inform future customers about 1 less-than-good aspect because it might be a safety issue for some people booking this holiday. In addition, Exodus has failed to respond to the comments I made in my on-line post-holiday evaluation about this, so I do not know if Exodus has read the evaluation and is going to do anything to improve the situation. My criticism relates to the harnesses provided for the walk in the Grands Tsingy. Mine was too big for me, even when the smallest harness the company had was adjusted to the smallest possible size. This same problem also affected another person in the group. Both of us are slimmer than most other British adults. Fortunately, neither of us fell and came to any harm. If we had fallen and had had to rely on the harnesses to keep us safe, there would have been the potential for an accident or injury. If you are slim or if you have children who are intending to do the Via Ferrata in the Grands Tsingy, please consider bringing your or their own harness(es) that fits you/them. A harness that does not fit the wearer is of little use. I climb regularly and know how important this piece of equipment is and how a proper fit is necessary for safety. This deficiency on the part of Exodus is made worse because I had actually queried with Exodus BEFORE the trip whether I should bring my own harness to Madagascar. The reply that the Exodus rep gave me was that we would not be doing Via Ferrata and there was no need for the harness. This reveals that the Exodus representative does not know her product: we definitely did a Via Ferrata and we used climbing equipment. Other than this failing, and one or two things which were beyond the control of Exodus, the holiday was very good, hugely interesting and varied and I had a great time. I fully recommend this holiday and in particular, commend Rija for her excellent guiding.

This is a fantastic trip! The scenery is quite breathtaking at times, and the wildlife encounters were better than I expected. You get to see a lot of what is a very big island, and you can get a peek into Malagasy culture.

Although an awful lot of driving -- plus two internal flights -- it was a "Discoverer" trip and we certainly did see -- and do -- a lot and, OMG, having been on many trips/tours, Madagascar was more "In the Past" than I have been on before but, while extremely poor, peoples seemed well-fed and were invariably pleasant and always putting forth their best effort to keep things neat and clean (where dirt and dust was everywhere)

An amazing holiday full of colour and interest.

A good trip which covers a lot of ground, literally. There are some very long days travelling on pretty rough roads in hot and dusty conditions. Perhaps I should have studied the trip notes more carefully before booking the trip. Clean and comfortable hotels, although occasionally only a "set menu" was available. At a small resort, like Grace Lodge this was quite understandable, but at some of the larger places it seemed to be more for their convenience than the guests.

I loved this trip and would even rate it as excellent, but future travelers need to understand that Madagascar is a third, possibly 4th world country. So there are, as some others have said, days of long drives on bad roads and heavy dust, and days with limited electricity, but it is all worth it to discover the beauty of Madagascar and its wildlife and people. This is a fascinating place, albeit being slowly destroyed, and my hope is that her future can be secured by people interested enough to tour there.