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Cần Quan Tâm

Đánh giá

• Trip of a lifetime

  937callump,

  8 thg 9, 2023

  - Đánh giá từ Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Hard to convey exactly how phenomenal this experience was. We did a long trip to Madagascar (31 days) going East, West and South and had the best holiday of our lives. Manitra arranged this trip at pretty late notice (about a month and half beforehand). We contacted him because of his position as President of the Guide Association, and due to the focus of Nature and Culture on sustainable tourism. Additionally, they work primarily with Malagasy guides and Malagasy owned businesses, which was an attraction for us. Manitra was very responsive to our emails, and had a video call with us to learn about us and what interested us about visiting Madagascar. He was informative and helpful, guiding us well despite our naivety about visiting the country. We wanted to primarily see the wildlife, so Manitra created a tour for us that was tailored to focusing on visiting different national parks around the country, as well as having the full amount of time to experience these different diverse and wonderful places. He arranged our itinerary for the month of adventure, always looking for our feedback and thoughts, while offering his own experience about what would work for us. We travelled East to see Akanin’ny Novy, Pangalanes, Analamazaotra and Mantandia, West to see Morondava, Tsingy de Bemaraha and South to see Ansirabe, Amositra, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Isalo, and we ended our trip with a week on the beach in Anakao. We saw over 30 species of lemurs in the wild; dived and heard humpback whales singing; saw fossa, hundreds of interesting birds, chameleons, snakes, frogs, and wonderfully bizarre plants and trees. The people of Madagascar though are a real highlight and we felt welcomed and safe everywhere we went - at times having people open up their homes to us (once we were included in funeral celebrations). The Malagasy are incredibly resourceful and almost everything produced in the country is done by hand - the wood carving in Ambositra was particularly impressive. Even 31 days was not enough to do the country justice, there really is so much to see, and to even scratch the surface, you need to take a long holiday here. We are already talking about what we will do when we go back. Our tour was led by one tour guide, Vivace, and one driver, Fano. Both made this a fantastic experience for us, and because they were so professional and serious about their work, we could both relax and learn how to live ‘mora-mora’. The roads are abysmal in Madagascar, main ‘highways’ included. However, Fano made us feel like we were in safe hands in the car, and he is a very patient and attentive driver, always prepared for the unexpected, and always driving in a highly conscientious way. His English is much better than he is willing to admit, and he is a considerate and courteous man, who approaches life with a smile and an interest in you and in learning about the wider world. Both of us felt like we formed a strong bond with him on the trip and he did everything he could throughout to make sure it was an enjoyable and rewarding experience for us. Vivace led the tour and he has a wealth of knowledge about everything in Madagascar: the fauna; the history of the country; the different tribes and their customs. His English is excellent and he is a good person and very professional in his role. He is funny too, and a pleasure to spend time with for three weeks. Vivace was thinking ahead throughout the trip to make sure that we were always enjoying the experience, and he was very responsive to our needs. We are both vegetarian, and he always informed hotels beforehand, as well as aiding in restaurants, so that we did not have to worry. He always ensured that we had the best local guides in national parks (Christian in Mantandia/Analamazaotra and Lala in Isalo were particularly good). Going above and beyond is a tired phrase, but it just feels so applicable here, he did everything possible to make sure that we enjoyed our time in Madagascar. You can tell he loves his work, and loves sharing his amazing country with tourists. We would have no hesitation in recommending Nature and Culture to other tourists, we are actively encouraging our friends and family to visit Madagascar with them. We cannot begin to convey in a post on TripAdvisor what this summer has meant to us, we had such a fantastic trip. Misaotra and Veloma to Manitra, Vivace and Fano. Thank you again from Callum and Rachel.