Madagascar Natural Tours Head office
Madagascar Natural Tours
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $1,562 to $8,679 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
CA
Email Mark | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding & flexible support - before and during our trip
From initial communications, through itinerary changes to accommodate flights and interests, Harilala provided prompt, excellent service. Throughout the trip, the main and local guides had fantastic personalities and were excellent when managing rough roads and helping with challenging climbs. Pricing was very good value for what we received in both support and experiences. Madagascar is challenging but amazing and incredibly rewarding. And, don't miss the opportunity to eat at the Mad Zebu. Great food, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I can't recommend Harilala and his team at Madagascar Natural Tours enough.
IT
Email Manuel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible
We entrusted Harilala with our Madagascar tour, explaining what we wanted to see and visit. What can I say? He exceeded our expectations! Besides the wonderful tour, Solo and Fidele, our tour leaders, made the difference. We spent 20 days in Madagascar, and they flew by; everything was fantastic. We'll definitely be back to see the southernmost part of the country.
CH
Email tamara & alissa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
absolutely great
Harilala made a special week for us in Madagascar and was even after our tour still in contact with as we had some questions not about the tour, but the country. he always answered fast and it was handeled easy over whatsapp. we had some issues as the political situation was not so good, but he changed hotels and kept us safe all the time. we really recommend booking with natural tours, was great! thank you Harilala!
Email Carol | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great tour, great value, helpful and understanding
31 day custom tour for birds and wildlife. Had great guides and drivers, thanks. Harilala was lovely and organised tour well, always on hand for questions etc. Quick response always.
166 species of birds, lots of chameleon and lemurs plus aye aye and fossa. Fantastic.
Excellent and comprehensive service
We spent 2 weeks in Madagascar on a private tour. The drivers and guides were knowledgeable and articulate. The hotels chosen were top notch. Harilala met us at the airport and again between domestic flights. The price was very reasonable. Go for the best hotels, and use flights as much as possible as the roads are terrible, and bring good binoculars The rangers at the parks are well prepared to show where the lemurs are but they are high up in the trees
NL
Email Roderick & Jasmine | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent, Local (!), Eco-Conscious, and Professional Operator
We booked a 2-week, eco-friendly tour with Madagascar Natural Tours (MNT) and Harilala to see as much as possible of Madagascar, combining a few “off the beaten track” nature-experiences with some special (local) eco-lodges.
And in this MNT delivered with 5/5 stars! We had the most amazing, nature trip Madagascar can offer!
Beforehand and throughout the trip Harilala (as coordinator) was quick, responsive, thought along, flexible, and pro-active in helping to organize for our wishes. Especially with the recent unrest having some unforeseen negative consequences for detailed planning (for example changes in flight plans)
Most importantly, in the different nature reserves we visited, we always had an excellent, experienced (local!) guide, that was very knowledgable and spoke English well.
What is important to understand when visiting Madagascar for its amazing nature, is that Madagascar (contrary to mainland Africa) has extremely diverse and highly location-specific diversity and landscapes. This is what makes the Madagascar ecosystem so special and unique in the world, but from a tour-organization perspective, this necessitates you work with experienced local guides, as literally every forest is a different ecosystem (much much more vs other countries). And this is exactly what Harilala and MNT delivered.
On top of this, the fact that Madagascar is a very poor country, for us knowing our money directly goes to Malagasy and their communities was a huge plus.
Furthermore, in the rest of our travels, we were very wel accommodated, without any worries on planning or accommodation issues at all. (Which is not an easy feat in the highly decentralized, and hard-to-travel Madagascar!)
Would 100% recommend and use again for a next experience! Go local everyone!
Email Greg Atkinson | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip to Madagascar and Kenya
This was my wife and my first visit to Madagascar and Kenya. Harilala from Natural Tours was a great choice. He arranged a 10 day tour of Madagascar, including Rainforests and Nosybe Island and a 10 day Safari in Kenya with an associated tour company Holidayworks. He communicated through WhatsApp timely and clear. Flight delays due to the Iranian war at the end of the trip required an additional day at the last hotel which was accommodated . The cost for our driver and guide was very reasonable. The guide’s English was excellent and he was informative as we drove out to Andasibe and other national and local parks. We went on night hikes and saw lemurs, chameleons and other animals. Went for many day hikes and saw lots of different lemurs. Harilala’s service was great including local boat tours of smaller islands near Nosybe, where he provided a local guide for the island. Highly recommend using Natural Tours.
Email Jeni | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experience
I had an amazing trip through Madagascar Natural Tours. The tour was private and customized to add things I was particularly interested in. Harilala was available when I had questions during the tour and even stopped to meet me a few times along the way and make sure everything was going well.
It was nice to leave the booking to someone who knew the area and could find the best spots to see and eat and provided really knowledgable tour guides who excelled at finding hidden animals during our hikes.
Email Colin MacLachlan | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well run, reasonably priced company offering multiple tours to meet the needs of a diverse clientele
My wife and I went on a 20 day trip starting with a 2 day stay in the capital, Antananarivo, followed by visits to two eastern rainforest areas (Andasibe-Mantadia and Ranamofana) where our guide (Nambinina) not only ensured we saw multiple lemur species, but also many chameleons, geckos, butterflies, and birds unique to Madagascar. We were even fortunate enough to hear and see the largest and critically endangered lemur species, the Indri, thanks to some excellent spotting by our guide. Our visits were both at night and during the day as some lemurs and other wildlife are more active at night or more easily seen then. From the eastern rain forests we headed south and west, stopping in Antsirabe and Ambositra to visit the daily street markets and learn about the local crafts unique to the area including those made with Zebu horn. We then proceeded to the dry forest and grasslands of Madagascar where we had multiple, close up visits from Ringtail Lemurs and were fascinated by the sideways leaps of Verreaux’s Sifaka (another Lemur species) when making their way on the ground. We also enjoyed multiple, unique and colorful birds in both Isalo National Park and Zombitse Vohibasia National Park along with vegetation found only in Madagascar like Elephant’s Foot (Pachypodium) and endemic Aloe plants. The end of our trip was spent on the beach in Anakao where we did some snorkeling, visited Nosey Ve island and saw the endemic population of Tropic Birds who nest there. We also visited Tsimanapetsotsa National Park which has a large salt pond occupied by Flamingos beginning in April and lasting until the rainy season in November. The park has caves with blind fish along with a Baobob tree believed to be more than 1600 years old.
All of our itinerary and the arrangements for transportation, hotels, meals (breakfast and dinner), and water each day was arranged by Madagascar Natural Tours. Our hotels were always clean and comfortable and the food offerings were excellent. With two exceptions, every one of our hotels had a pool should you want or need it.
We were provided with both a driver and a guide (Nambinina, who I mentioned above). We were very happy to have the driver because driving conditions are not the best with both road and traffic conditions being subpar. Our two drivers, Desi and Solo, were excellent.
I should mention that the owner, Harilala, is always available via What’s App and he went out of his way to accommodate us when we decided to change the date of our visit from last October to this past May. He advised us on the next best time to visit and kept in touch with us. He even arranged some additional services for us while we were on the road which included a park visit outside Toliara while we were waiting for our plane back to Antanarivo on our last full day.
Finally, I should mention that Madagascar Natural Tours arranged ATM stops for me when I needed local currency (mostly for driver, guide, and hotel tips, but also for lunches and souvenir purchases). I had read that ATM’s were unreliable and that you could often only draw 200,000 Ariary per visit. That was not the case for me where I could always draw 800,000 if I chose to. The ATM fee is 9500 Ariary (a little less than $2.50). You can decide if that works for you.
I highly recommend Madagascar Natural Tours for anyone wanting to visit Madagascar and wishing to do it on a reasonable budget without sacrificing quality. I also strongly recommend asking for Nambinina as your guide. His English is excellent and his knowledge of the flora and fauna of his country is superb.
Email Mary Ann | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Harilala provided a wonderful experience to enjoy the national parks and preserves!
Harilala was wonderful to work with; responsive and clear in his communication. He had excellent staff driving me safely and guiding me in the national parks and preserves. I was a solo traveler!
I contracted his company based on the review of coworkers and I was not disappointed! He even designed my trip with a one week interruption for a medical mission trip I was on. During the medical mission I had to postpone resuming my tour because one day and he totally understood!
I saw a lot of animals and plants unique to Madagascar. My guides were not afraid to answer my questions so I could understand the culture and economy of Madagascar.
