- Walk among the extraordinary limestone pinnacles of Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park
- Enjoy the chance to see lemurs in their natural habitat
- Visit the Alley of Baobabs to see the ancient trees at sunset
- Explore Isalo National Park, home to amazing rock formations, spectacular canyons and natural swimming holes
- Discover the incredible wildlife living in Andasibe National Park

Madagascan Discoverer
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Reviews
Add your own reviewMadagascan Discoverer 16 day tour
In general the trip was good. I enjoyed the scenery. We had a small group, only 7 people which was good. If there had been the full 16 guests, the bus would have been far too small. I loved seeing the Lemurs and the various treks that we did, especially the Tsingy. The hotels were very basic, quite disappointing in many places. The hotel at Ifaty Beach (La Plage) was the worst that we experienced. It is neglected, dirty, very poor quality beds, my room was musty, the fans didn’t work, the bedside lights didn’t work, we were there for two days and had no hot water. There was a smelly dog in the public area. The covers on the sun loungers were dirty. As a solo traveller, as usual with Exodus, I got the worst room, that is compared to what the couples in the group get. One hotel we stayed in, (Les chambers du Voyageur) the room was so small, I couldn’t open my suitcase inside the room, unless I put it right up to the entrance door of the room! There was no wardrobe, no place to put anything, so I had to put my rucksack on the bed beside me, I didn’t want to put it on the floor. The breakfasts were also very poor, quite often stale bread and an omelette made with just one egg! There was no toiletries in any of these hotels, just soap! The other big negative for me, was the extremely long drives on such poor roads. We had breakfast each morning and within minutes of eating, we were on these really bumpy roads. As a result, we all had stomach problems throughout the trip. One day we were on the bus for 13 hours and for the final five hours, we never stopped, neither to stretch our legs nor for a comfort stop! If the bus was full with 16 people, it would have been close to torture!
Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the lemurs up close and doing the Tsingy walk.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Claudia was great, quite inspirational and with a great personality. She too had some medical issues during the trip but she kept going and behaved very professionally. She also had a personal tragedy to deal with, but we never suffered because of the things that were going on in her personal life. She was wonderful, we loved her.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Be very aware of the long journeys on such poor roads. For me this was a daily torture.. I hated the long bus journeys..! I think that the level of activity rating for this trip it not correct. The Tsingy walk was not for the faint hearted. I was well able for it, but it was tough for others. If I were to go again, I would take old clothes with me and donate them to the locals at the end of the trip. My clothes got really dirty on this trip! I would also take some goodies for the many children that we encountered along the way (Pens, pencils, note pads, yoyo's for hair, anything that would be light to carry!). I can't recommend this trip to any of my friends, because any of my friends wouldn't be able to cope with the long days and the long journeys. I appreciate that it is a big country and if you want to see it you have to travel. It was quite exhausting. One day we left our hotel at 05:30...!
Suggestions
Please Exodus, treat your solo travellers the same as the couples. We pay a single supplement, so we are entitled to be treated as equal to the others. I have been a customer for many years and I have done a number of trip with Exodus, Explore, G Adventures and Intrepid and sadly, the company who treats me least favourable are Exodus...!
Only in Madagascar, a real adventure!
I’ve wanted to visit Madagascar for some time, mainly to see the lemurs and to visit the giant baobab trees, but there is so much more to Madagascar, it has to be one of the most amazing and unique places I have ever travelled to! Everyday there was something new and exciting to experience. This is a fast-paced trip and you are always on the move, with quite a lot of long drives on poor roads, but I have to say it’s totally worth it, you just have to embrace it as part of the adventure. Even during the long drives the landscape is constantly changing, we travelled through cool rainforests, paddy fields, sandy beaches, canyons, deserts, spiny forests, rivers, and some really the fascinating towns and villages.
Most Inspirational Moment
We had great wildlife spotting - lots of opportunities to see lemurs in the wild and hearing the call of the Indri in the morning in Andasibe is just magical. So many highlights! The night walk in Kirindy was my favourite of the night safaris, and getting to the top of the Tsingy, was an unexpected yet terrifying highlight! The most unique though has to be the ‘ferry’ crossings on the Tsiribihina River – only in Madagascar!
Thoughts on Group Leader
The whole trip ran smoothly thanks to Claudia, our fabulous guide, who spent most of the trip checking ahead to make sure that everything was organised for us. She always kept us informed of all aspects of our itinerary and managed everything so that we didn’t waste time, particularly when ordering meals, wearing the right clothes for each activity, finding us good shopping spots (and bush toilet stops). She is also very knowledgeable about the country’s history, wildlife, food and we all enjoyed her talks on the Malagasy culture - which is also quite unique! Also all the local guides were fantastic and very engaging, they gave great detail and interesting explanations especially of the endemic wildlife, only to be found here. We had some amazing trackers seeking out lemurs, chameleons, mongoose and the tiniest of geckos and frogs. I was travelling with my sister and we both felt we had a great group too, lots of fun, like-minded people, who really added to enjoyment of the trip.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Read the trip notes thoroughly as they are full of really useful tips and information! My own top tips – definitely do laundry on two-night stopovers – everything gets very dusty! A travel pillow is doubly useful for both bus and flights! Make sure you take a head-torch for the night and cave walks. Stock up on snacks for long drives and I also recommend trying the local beers and infused rums! If you want five-star accommodation and amazing cuisine, this is not the trip for you. You’ll get a comfy bed and (generally) hot water, sometimes limited wi-fi and electricity, a limited (but cheap) menu of well-cooked meals of zebu/chicken/fish and rice.
Suggestions
Parts of Madagascar are extremely poor and it can be a lot to take in, but I was humbled at just how friendly everyone was, especially the children always smiling and waving from the side of the road, asking you for ‘bon bons’ and families so eager to talk to you. The unique wildlife and culture make Madagascar such a special destination, I felt we saw and experienced so much that it will take me a long time to process the whole trip.
Madagascan Discoverer
A fantastic adventure holiday. Yes the days are long with a lot of travelling, but the rewards along the way more than make up for it. The spotters ability to find lemurs, chameleons, frogs, geckos, etc (even in the dark!) was unbelievable. Our guide, Claudia, was one of the best guides we’ve ever had. The landscapes are varied and the people are lovely.
Most Inspirational Moment
Our day at the Tsingy. We saw lemurs and other animals as we walked through the forest, we enjoyed the via ferrata climb and were rewarded by the view from the top of the Tsingy.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Claudia, our guide, was absolutely excellent, one of the best we've ever had. She was super organised, knowledgeable and great fun.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take a spirit of adventure. As per the trip notes, there are some long drives, but the wildlife and other activities more than make up for it.
Suggestions
We were pleasantly surprised by the standard of the hotels and the food.
Madagascan Discovery review
This trip fulfils its promise of seeing Limas in their natural environment. However the country is extremely poor. All the sealed roads are riddled with potholes and the dirt roads are rough. Electricity is hit and miss and there are no street lamps even in the cities. Piped water is a rarity, Meat is butchered locally and sold from wooden huts (no fridges). If you survive this trip without diarrhoea then you are extremely lucky
Most Inspirational Moment
Lima watching
Thoughts on Group Leader
Generally excellent
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take extra care of hygiene
Madagascar
“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.
Most Inspirational Moment
See above.
Memorable Madagascar
This trip gives you a glimpse of an incredibly varied country rich with unique wildlife and landscapes. Yes the roads maybe a bit bumpy 🙂 but you soon forget that when every day you see so many endemic lemurs, sifakas, chameleons and, if you are lucky, a fossa. The tour leader Rija is the best that I have ever met on an Exodus trip. Her vast knowledge and infectious passion made the trip even more special and memorable.
Most Inspirational Moment
Each type of forest -rain, spin and dry offered something different but they don’t prepare you for the spectacular limestone forest at Tsingy. Simply stunning. .
Advice for Potential Travellers
Be prepared for delays on the internal flights !
A bladder stretching, inspiring, bumpy, simply amazing adventure!
This is not a trip for anyone seeking a rest. The days are long and you aren’t going to get a nap on the bus unless you nab a front seat or can sleep literally anywhere. However, you will get to see some absolutely amazing creatures in the wild that you will not see anywhere else, see the magnificent baobabs, fake baobabs and fake fake baobabs and find yourself in more different landscapes and climates than you can reasonably expect in one country. So many people have told me Madagascar is on their wish list but, until you have been there, you can not imagine it. They need all the tourism they can get in order to help more locals understand how conservation can actually benefit them and, with the rarity of species that Madagascar has, the sooner you go, the better.
Most Inspirational Moment
I admit to getting tearful at my first sighting of an Indri in the wild - these animals do not survive in captivity. And actually finally getting close enough to a mouse lemur for me to see it with my own eyes - I could have watched them all night ( as they didn’t pay any heed to us). And, of course, actually getting up ( and down) the Tsingy. And the photos of the Alley of the Baobabs at sunset still take my breath away.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Rija is simply fantastic. She exudes passion and knowledge for her country and its peoples and nature, always seeking ways for us to understand more or have the answers to our questions. I particularly appreciated how she sought ways for us to interact with the locals so that we could all gain from the experience. She is very thoughtful, seeking to consider everyone’s particular preferences or circumstances and maintaining a sense of humour through out that is positively delightful. However, the test of a good guide is when things don’t go to plan and we had a little bit of an unscheduled extension to our trip. Rija was calm, clear and reassuring and, even when we had no idea when and how we would get home, we were happy to trust her judgment. I trust Exodus to treasure their relationship with Rija, she is an ambassador both for Exodus abs Madagascar.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take a good torch and spare batteries. I hadnt realised just how many hotels do not have 24 hour electricity and I used my torch for pottering around inside my bungalows at night much more than for the night walks! The roads in Madagascar rival any I have seen anywhere else in the world for poor condition. But Dama, our main (modest) driver is capable of taking that bus anywhere. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised at the standard of hotel and food throughout the trip. There is an opportunity to do laundry after a week. All hotels we were in had WiFi at reception when they had electricity on and some had sufficient connection to support WhatsApp calls... how times have changed.. I suffer from vertigo and I managed the Tsingy ( with the help of my fellow travelers) - and I am glad I did. This trip ends with an internal flight back to the capital. When the trip notes say that internal flights can be unreliable, take that very seriously and don’t plan anything you really can’t miss for the days immediately after you get home just in case. Exodus did a brilliant job in getting us back as soon as they could, just like we knew they would.
Suggestions
If you have a sense of humour, a sense of wonder and like an adventure, do this!
Review
Loved the trip! See a lot but flip side is you are constantly travelling and some very long drive days. It would have been good to have more free time in places. We also had quite mixed abilities in the group but I think our tour leader managed this really well.
Most Inspirational Moment
Tsingy was the stand out but all the landscapes and parks are beautiful.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Mel was awesome. He really made the trip!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Bring snacks.
Honeymoon
We booked a personalised tour of Madagascar for our honeymoon. We saw everything we wanted to see and had local guides to help us spot the rarest of animals on our list. We arranged for a few additional days in Nosy Be (unguided) so we could finish our adventure with some scuba diving.
Most Inspirational Moment
The animals; a grey mouse lemur seen at night just inches away from us in Kirindy Reserve. A satanic leaf tailed gecko and brown leaf chameleon hidden in the rainforest of Ranomafana. Playful King Juliens. Turtles while diving. Many wonderful lemurs including seeing baby sifakas attached to their mothers. Truly wonderful to see so many amazing animals in their natural and protected habitats.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Bodo was excellent and a credit to Exodus. She gave us detailed information as we went along, a particular nicety was her writing down the animals we had seen so we could keep accurate records. She struck the perfect balance between being with us and giving us information and letting us enjoy some time alone. Besides being a great tour guide, she also showed extraordinary kindness and generosity as we explored the country, often handing out small gifts of food, water or school supplies to children along the way when it was appropriate to do so. It was a pleasant addition to our trip to spend time with such a lovely person.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Air Madagascar internal flights can be unpredictable. We had two problems which scuppered some plans including missing a connecting domestic flight because of a flight delay, and moving another flight forward 5 hours so we couldn't do an island tour to Nosy Komba that we had arranged. Not terrible as we adjusted our plans, but worth knowing.
Suggestions
We had a great trip! Credit also to our various drivers who were all superb.
Madagascar wonderful adventure
our guide Armel was fantastic he showed us so much on our journey through Madagascar, he was so proud of his country and wanted us to experience as much as we could in the short time we had in each place
The experience from start to finish was amazing, we got to see the variety of scenery, culture, wildlife and so much more.
I would highly recommend going to see this part of the world 🌍
Most Inspirational Moment
The time we walked up peak Toby Camping overnight then setting off at 4.30am having breakfast on a ledge with our porters were all set up and organised Then finally reaching the top with an amazing view
Thoughts on Group Leader
Armel is a credit to your company taking great pride in his job and organising everything to presision We had some lovely surprises Even had a Easter cake delivered in the middle of nowhere on Easter Sunday That was something that wasn’t expected Voiding to malagasi homes The list goes on
Advice for Potential Travellers
Buy malagasi dollars
Suggestions
I can’t wait for my next adventure x
Start
Finish
Availability
Adult Price From
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Thursday Thursday
13 Jun 2024 13 Jun 2024
Friday Friday
28 Jun 2024 28 Jun 2024
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+£ 440
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View Trip NotesThursday Thursday
08 Aug 2024 08 Aug 2024
Friday Friday
23 Aug 2024 23 Aug 2024
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Optional Single Supplement +£ 440
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View Trip NotesThursday Thursday
22 Aug 2024 22 Aug 2024
Friday Friday
06 Sep 2024 06 Sep 2024
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Optional Single Supplement +£ 440
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View Trip NotesThursday Thursday
19 Sep 2024 19 Sep 2024
Friday Friday
04 Oct 2024 04 Oct 2024
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Optional Single Supplement +£ 440
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View Trip NotesThursday Thursday
26 Sep 2024 26 Sep 2024
Friday Friday
11 Oct 2024 11 Oct 2024
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Adult Price From £ 3,799 £ 3,799 Book with 25% deposit
Optional Single Supplement +£ 440
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View Trip NotesThursday Thursday
03 Oct 2024 03 Oct 2024
Friday Friday
18 Oct 2024 18 Oct 2024
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Optional Single Supplement +£ 440
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View Trip NotesThursday Thursday
10 Oct 2024 10 Oct 2024
Friday Friday
25 Oct 2024 25 Oct 2024
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Adult Price From £ 3,799 £ 3,799 Book with 25% deposit
Optional Single Supplement +£ 440
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View Trip NotesWould you like to include flights with your booking?
- ATOL protected
- Competitive flight prices
- Full refunds in the event of FCDO cancellations or major disruption at your UK departure airport
- Specialist support to rearrange flights and transfers
- Regional flights available from many UK airports
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