Do Something Extraordinary

Excellent. It was quite an adventure and very different from other places I have visited. The accommodation was much better than I expected . Some wonderful wildlife .

Pioneer Expeditions offers a fantastic itinerary which covers the West, East and South of Madagascar. We really wanted to see the Avenue des Baobabs and also visiting the Tsingy was a must (after talking to Laurenne about this back in 2018), so glad we were finally able to do this tour with Pioneer Expeditions (albeit 8 years later!). These are located in the West of Madagascar and requires an additional week to include these but so worth it. And added to this we were delighted to see the elusive Fossa in Kirindy and even more so that we actually got to see 3 of them. As well as seeing 5 different types of lemurs in Kirindy, including nocturnal lemurs (grey mouse; pale fork marked lemur and red tailed sportive lemur). The route to Kirindy and Tsingy are on unmade bumpy roads, go prepared for this and enjoy the ride! Then moving over to the East starting in Andasibe and then onto the South - Antisarabe, Ranomafana (rainforest), Isalo and finishing in Ifaty. All very different experiences, great scenery, wildlife viewing for birds, lemurs, reptiles and insects. Here were saw around 14 different types of Lemur including the vocal Indri and several different types of Sifaka (dancing lemurs). Isalo offers fantastic scenery (known locally as the Colardo of Madagascar) and a variety of insects (including well camouflaged insects). Ifaty offers the Spiny forest and the beach, ideal for relaxation at the end of the tour. The roads in the East and South are mainly made up roads with sections of loose chippings and be prepared for the large 'crater-type' pot holes! Again go prepared for a bumpy ride and enjoy! Laurenne and her team put a great itinerary together, paperwork came through efficiently. The hotels were all good, we did upgrade two. The food was really good. The guides were excellent Jonny in the West and Larah in the East & South. During the trip I had, what turned out to be a minor health issue, and am grateful to Laurenne, Manantenasoa, Larah and Haja (our driver) for the help, assistance and support they provided whilst I was in Madagascar. For scenery and wildlife there is no other place like it. This tour and Pioneer Expeditions are highly recommended.

A truly memorable and unforgettable 900 mile journey in which I saw a wide variety of lemurs, chameleons, geckos, birds, insects and plants found from rain forests to dry deserts. Superbly organised by Pioneer Expeditions, who are truly Madagascar travel experts gained from their many years of running these trips. I had the privilege to travel with the owner Laurenne Mansbridge and saw first hand the extra mile she went to ensuring that client satisfaction was her priority and how the company are always looking to improve upon their trips. Although we endured a number of long days travelling from one national park / reserve to another, due to the appalling road conditions, our driver Willy always ensured we arrived safely. Tojo, our superb guide and naturalist, was very informative and has a wealth knowledge about all aspects of nature and wildlife which he was only to happy to share. The accommodation in hotels and eco-lodges were to a high standard and set in fantastic natural surroundings which added to the authenticity of the holiday. I would highly recommend Pioneer Expeditions to anyone who has an interest in seeing this fascinating country.

We had the absolute best time. I was pretty apprehensive before having never been on such an adventurous trip with my kids. But everything went really smoothly. Laurenne created a perfect itinerary that met our needs well and then our guide in Madagascar took care of every practically and attended to details to ensure we didn't have to worry about logistics and could just get on with enjoying ourselves. We saw loads of lemurs, enjoyed being in natural and remote places of beauty, seeing the milky way and had a lot of time together as a family. By the time we were relaxing on the beach at the end we were ready for a rest and the kids were rightly pleased with themselves for having tried so many new things.

The holiday was excellent. Madagascar is a very unique place with some very unique things to see. The roads were uncomfortable, but everything else about the trip was pretty comfy. I'm very glad I visited. The national parks were fantastic. It was very exciting to find lemurs and birds and chameleons. The Malagasy chilli condiment was also a highlight. Local people seem to benefit from tourism (especially with tips), though the tourism industry is small. I hope that making the national parks more financially beneficial for local people will help to limit further impacts on those parks. All of the guides we had were certainly very considerate of environmental impacts. It was excellent. Madagascar is a very unique place with some very unique things to see. The roads were uncomfortable, but everything else about the trip was pretty comfy. I'm very glad I visited.

My friend and I booked the Komodo Dragon and Kayaking trip in Indonesia and loved every moment of it. The 5 days and 4 nights on the boat/camping are so special and please make sure you don't miss out on the camping experience because you feel too comfortable on the boat. The crew will setup the most beautiful camp sites for you and make it so special. The tents are massive so you can stand up in them and you even get a stretcher bed to sleep on. I would happily have camped every night although the cabins on the boat were great too. I loved all the kayaking and snorkeling we did but the highlight was absolutely snorkeling with the Manta Rays. Could not believe how lucky we were being surrounded by at least 10 of these elegant creatures the first time and 5 the 2nd time. The lead guide was excellent and always made sure we were at the right place at the right time so we also the only ones in the sea with the Mantas. When all the other boats turned up the Mantas were gone. It was also great to see the Komodo Dragons and again we were the first to enter the NP so had the whole place to ourselves when we did our bush walk. You get really close to them and it is very special. The crew on the boat just couldn't do enough for you - they were always there to help and support and were all so kind - smiling, laughing and singing all the time. We also loved all the food we were served and there were a massive variety and plenty of it - everything being so fresh. Only 1 minor suggestion to improvement is to skip the welcome meeting in Bali. The women who turned up there was completely useless. Couldn't give us any recommendations or tell us anything about Bali and then she booked the next day transport so early so we were in the airport 3 1/2 hours before our domestic flight, which was really unnecessary. Suggest that the reception just hold the flight tickets for the Domestic flights and hand them out when you check in and then you can sort out your own shuttle with the hotel to the airport the next day. Everything else was perfect and I would happily travel with Pioneer Expeditions again.