Incredible experience - My husband and I planned an 18 day trip to Madagascar in mid December 2023. We cannot speak highly enough about the team at Nature & Culture Madagascar for making our experience truly spectacular. This is a locally owned and operated tour company who are all experts on Tourism in Madagascar. We first began communicating with Manitra to help us plan the itinerary. Manitra asked us what we wanted to see and do and then he provided us with destinations that would work well for our time of year. After finalizing our itinerary, Manitra booked all our domestic flights, accommodations, national park visits, transportation, etc. We found it easiest to send our deposit money via Western Union from the US. He was waiting for us upon our arrival at the airport and welcomed us warmly after our long flights. Next we met our wonderful guide Colegue and driver Fano who were with us for the remainder of our trip except for a few days for us to enjoy beach time in Anakao. Both Colegue and Fano spoke excellent English and we enjoyed our time with them so much! Colegue explained in great detail the different cultures of Madagascar and spoke from personal experience as he grew up raising Zebu as a child. We enjoyed hearing all his stories and he was so kind as he translated all our different interactions with the locals. Colegue and Fano were happy to make stops along our car journeys to pull over to various villages and see the local everyday way of life. At the national parks, they organized more local guides and experts to explain the specifics of each place. All of these guides were also excellent, and we were impressed at their English speaking abilities. We were warned about the poor infrastructure in Madagascar and it is true, the drives are very long and the roads are bumpy. However, Fano is an excellent driver, the car was comfortable, and we enjoyed all our conversations in the car with both Fano and Colegue! Some of our trip highlights included Morondava (Baobabs and Kivalo village), the drives through Antsirabe and Fianarantsoa, Isalo, and Andasibe. Our hotel accommodations were also wonderful and you can work with Manitra to choose your levels of accommodation according to your budget. We were blown away from the hospitality of the team at Nature & Culture Madagascar, the kindness from the people of Madagascar, and the stunningly beautiful nature. We hope tourism can grow in a sustainable way so more travelers can experience this incredible country. Many thanks to Manitra, Colegue, and Fano and we hope to send some travelers to you!

Unforgettable adventure trip from East to West of Madagascar! - We had a wonderful two-week adventure trip from coast to coast of Madagascar under the guidance of Manitra, and everything was perfect down to the last detail! From the splendid plateaus, to the savannah up to the Avenue of the Baobabs and the incredible rock forest of the Tsingy of Bemaraha, then the sea on the pristine beaches of Belo sur Mer, with snorkelling and whale watching, ending in the tropical forest, among chameleons, lemurs and nature wild. Manitra has chosen for us the best hotels, always clean and tidy, the restaurants with the best typical foods and the most expert local guides who respect the territory. As we traveled he told us about the legends, habits and customs of the country making the tour even more interesting, and every time he could he added a stop to show us something more, also taking time to introduce us to the people of the villages and their lifestyle. Our Fano driver faced all the most difficult terrains, dirt tracks, on sand, on barges, always bringing us to our destination safe and sound and on time with the schedule. He and Manitra were nice, helpful and friendly company. It is certainly a journey that we will always carry in our hearts, highly recommended!

Customer-focused professional who speaks almost perfect Italian. - Attentive professional who speaks almost perfect Italian, who loves his country and makes you experience it as if you were one of them. Perfect tour organization with the right times to visit the villages and indigenous populations. Tireless driver (with thousands of potholes) and patient. Every customer need is satisfied. Capable of adapting to each customer he interacts with. Highly recommended for visiting Madagascar.

Excellent guide - What can I say about Manitra? He’s a great guy and even better guide. During the 13 days we spent together he acted as translator, cultural guide, photography partner, videographer, and porter. He made my experience comfortable and tailored everything to me. If I didn’t feel like going on a particular leg of the trip? No problem, we rearranged things. He provided nice commentary throughout our long drives, without being too distracting from my own private experience. The thing I appreciated the most was his understanding of light when I was trying to get great shots of wildlife. Many animal spotters and local guides just want you to get as close as possible to the animals, not understanding that the angle and the direction of the sun are far more important for us. Manitra understands these things and it makes a HUGE difference in the field trying to walk away with great shots. He arranged for unique cultural immersion stops, shopping stops- with no pressure- and good food choices. I opted for the luxury hotel options when possible and I was satisfied with everywhere we stayed, especially mantadia lodge and jardin du Roy. The jeep could have a more comfortable backseat- but it is Madagascar after all… A+ experience and I’m so happy to have met Manitra and entrust my first experience with Madagascar to him. I’ll be back. Reach out to him via the WhatsApp number listed on the site. TripAdvisor emails may go unanswered and don’t rely on the booking here. I was solo and we had to work out something different than what is listed as the price per person quoted on TripAdvisor assumes a larger group. For a solo it will be much more expensive. My 13 day with luxury hotels was 5600 euro for example. Highly recommend.