We have recently returned from a 16 day adventure in Madagascar, booked through KimKim and planned, booked and organised through Esther in South Africa.
We had an amazing time. Everything pretty much went to plan, apart from Air France losing our luggage on both our inward and outward journey and my needing a doctor after a bad reaction to malaria tablets. Esther remained in contact throughout and did an amazing job planning an unforgettable holiday for us. Everything about it was spot on...
Read more
We have recently returned from a 16 day adventure in Madagascar, booked through KimKim and planned, booked and organised through Esther in South Africa.
We had an amazing time. Everything pretty much went to plan, apart from Air France losing our luggage on both our inward and outward journey and my needing a doctor after a bad reaction to malaria tablets. Esther remained in contact throughout and did an amazing job planning an unforgettable holiday for us. Everything about it was spot on and special occasions were made very special.
Our in-country driver and guide, Dolly, was an amazingly calm, kind, friendly and knowledgeable individual who taught us so much about the country as we travelled round. We really did enjoy his company, and his mastery of the extremely difficult roads. He always planned and timed our stops carefully (for banks, western toilets and ‘safe’ food) and discussed each day with us the evening before.
All our accommodation was fantastic. We had our favourites of course! If anything, I think some of the activities and locations were undersold, which made them all the more exciting. Camp Catta , Isalo Rock ( amazing food), and Nosy Be Hotel were our favourite places to stay.
Our main requirement was to see ring tailed lemurs, and other lemurs along the way. The different reserves (national and community) provided amazing opportunities to see different lemurs, frogs, birds, chameleons, lizards and more in different environments. All the while we seemed to secure the services of the most knowledgeable, friendly and enthusiastic local guides.
We found the Malagasy people warm and welcoming. Even those in great hardship seem to smile. However, it is a country of extreme poverty, awful roads, and chaotic traffic-filled cities so people must be prepared that everything might not go to plan.
Our trip was an unforgettable combination of impressive scenery, abundant wildlife, lovely people, great food and accommodation combined with scenes of everyday life. It was well planned and organised throughout. We would encourage everyone to take some time to chill on the coast before leaving and to enjoy the marine wildlife too
This is our second time booking through KimKim and we will certainly use them again.
Special thanks to Esther and Dolly.
Hotel Reviews
AU BOIS VERT
Antananarivo
Very close to the airport, good food and friendly staff. Lovely, secure grounds and comfortable rustic room. No mosquito net but we didn’t see any.
Sun goes of the pool fairly early in the afternoon as the trees shade it .
Authenticity & Character
Interesting rustic room
Location
Close to the airport, quiet. Lovely wooded area with lots of birds
Staff
Staff were all very smiley and English wasn’t a problem
Cleanliness & Comfort
Bed was very comfy
We loved this place and really weren’t expecting to from the photos! Views are fantastic. The pool is amazing. The food is good, despite the hotel being in the middle of nowhere. The room is fairly basic but has everything you need including a mosquito net.
The camp is home to ring tail lemurs who happily roam around and jump up and down on your roof at 6am. I loved being able to fit and watch them for hours.
Authenticity & Character
Location, lemurs, light
Location
Tricky journey to get here in that the road to the hotel is essentially a track - takes at least an hour from the nearest awful road . Views of the chameleon mountain are superb. Great for climbers
Isalo Rock Lodge
Ranohira
Wow. Amazing view, amazing room , amazing staff and amazing food. The best food we ate anywhere- delicious and stylish presentation . Congratulations to the chefs.
Authenticity & Character
Modern luxury
Location
What views. We’d have happily stayed longer.
Eco Lodge Les Chambres Du Voyageur
Antsirabe
We only stayed here one night and they weren’t doing food that evening. We found the room cramped and dark, with lots of mosquitoes. I did swim in the murky pool but half expected a creature to emerge from the deep! clean and adequate gor a night in the road.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Clean but cramped and dark accommodation. Lovely floral touches, nice balcony and tea and coffee facilities.
Hotel Thermal Ranomafana
Ranomafana
Lovely hotel in. spectacular and extensive grounds adjacent to the river . Modern comfortable room and en-suite. Good and well used outdoor bar area. Natural thermal spa pools are worth booking.
This is a really interesting and beautiful town to wander around with an outdoor swimming pool, riverside walks etc . A great base for the national park. We also visited Setam Lodge for lunch - amazing zebu steak.
Authenticity & Character
Provide an indoor bar area
Staff
My French and their smiles . Also asked not to be disturbed until 10am as I wasn’t well, but we were constantly harassed by cleaners.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Nice bed, good shower
Relais des Plateaux & Spa
Standard rooms but comfortable. Good food with availability through the day and evening - obviously popular with locals who leave their kids in the pool while they eat. Also used by airline crews.
Great pool, good service - we were impressed as it had everything we needed to relax before travelling home.
Authenticity & Character
Everything goes on around the pool . Be plenty of bar and restaurant space.
Location
Close to airport
Staff
Very friendly and helpful on reception
We only stayed here one night and arrived mid afternoon so the sun had gone of the pool and we didn’t get to enjoy our whacky outdoor space. Accommodating staff who were very kind when I wasn’t well. Cash only for settling up for food and drinks.
Amazing huge room and bathroom which was lovely, but poor sound proofing!
Sadly I didn’t try the menu
Authenticity & Character
Probably deserved a 5 but we weren’t there long enough
Location
Close to airport and beach resorts
Great hotel. Beautiful room, location, facilities, grounds, staff, pool, beach and bar. Only thing that stops this being a 5 is the food which we found disappointing. Breakfast was fabulous and breakfast staff lovely we found the evening menu largely disappointing and there were obvious tensions amongst the staff .
We would still recommend this hotel for everything else.
Authenticity & Character
Really well laid out, comfortable and relaxed
Location
Right on the beach
Staff
Most were special, one we found to be rude to us and the staff she managed
Cleanliness & Comfort
The comfy bar sofas really made a difference!
Activity Reviews
Arrival in Antananarivo & Transfer to your accommodation
Antananarivo
Air France left our luggage in Paris, and that of a number of other travellers who had originally boarded a connection in London. The flight arrived late in Madagascar so the extra hassle after a long flight was particularly unwelcome. Luckily we weren’t leaving the capital straight away but I’m sure it caused real issues for people departing early next day.
We were met and transferred perfectly and our driver was very patient whist we tried to sort things out.
The airport staff were also very helpful.
Note: luggage not arriving on this route is not unusual . There is no Friday flight, so if you travel on a Thursday and your bags don’t arrive then they will come out on Saturday night - and if you’re not there at the airport to pick them up they are unlikely to follow you until Sunday or Monday.
Transfer itself was perfect.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Patient and helpful despite very late hour
Antsirabe City Tour
Antsirabe
We chose not to do this . Spent time chilling after late night and shopping to find essentials until our luggage arrived
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Day excursion to Nosy Komba & Tanikely
Nosy Be
Great day seeing the islands. Our boat driver and guides were fantastic. Lunch was cooked for us and was one of the best meals we had all holiday.
We hadn’t appreciated how much shopping was part of the experience at Nosy Komba so would probably have taken more cash with us . The shopping and stalls leading up to the nature park were colourful and interesting - but be prepared for pressure to buy. (although please do buy to support the community)The reserve was busy but our guide was knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour and the plants and creatures we saw made it really worthwhile. The black lemurs are attracted and fed with bananas to encourage them on to visitors shoulders for photos . And yes, you can expect poos! An interesting island, this contrasted well with Tanikely which we loved. Beautiful beach , snorkelling over coral, tropical fish and turtles. This is a protected island - we saw bee eaters too.
Quality of Experience
A really well planned day offering a range of experiences
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Guides were so knowledgeable and keen to talk and share that knowledge
We didn’t do this activity . We live in a dark sky area of the UK!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Local specialist: Esther Ruempol
