Dadamanga: The 5-star Madagascar tour company chosen by you

  Great two week tour - My sister and I went on a two week tour with Dadamanga and definitely recommend it! They did a great job helping us create an itinerary that fit our interests,... read more and everything went super smoothly during our time there. Our drivers Fano, Gideona, and Rado were all super friendly and made sure we had an amazing time!

  We booked a 23 day holiday directly with Dadamanga from the UK. We discussed their suggested itinerary by email with the company and agreed a couple of minor changes. Dadamanga... read more arranged our guides, drivers, hotels, internal flights, and excursions. Everything worked absolutely perfectly: the guides were helpful and knowledgeable; the drivers and vehicles were if a high standard; the hotels exceeded our expectations and our wildlife excursions in the National Parks were the highlights of our holiday. In summary; an excellent experience with a highly professional company.

  Wonderful 5 days in Madagascar - Lemurs & culture  - This was an excellent bespoke tour arranged by the team and wonderful 5 day introduction to Madagascar. From the moment we arrived we were guided through the airport and... read more helped to get currency and Simm cards, through to our departure where we were waved off! The pre trip organisation and information was comprehensive and fully delivered to expectations. Our driver/guide Mihaja was wonderful with very good English and knowledge of the wildlife, culture, traditions and history of this beautiful country. Hotels were very luxurious and in beautiful settings. Yes we saw lots of lemur! Fascinating creatures with many varieties. We highly recommend ..and don’t be nervous to wire the funds as Brett and team can be trusted to deliver! Ps Be prepared for bumpy roads & brush up on some French as it is the second language. Misaotra Brett and team!

  Great tour company! They gave me a very detailed and clear draft itinerary when I asked for a quote, and answered any questions I had promptly. Dadamanga designed a 9... read more day itinerary for me, which includes 3 days of trekking in Andringitra National Park. The Park was amazing, and the team assigned to me (guide + porters + cook) was great as well. I was a solo female traveler and felt safe the whole time. My driver throughout the week, Mikael, was great - very polite and nice young man who made me feel comfortable and was very accommodating!
Overall, it was a seamless experience and I highly recommend the experience.

  A 5/5 trip in fascinating beautiful Madagascar - Touring around some of Madagascar with Dadamanga was so good a few years ago I just had to do it again!

From Tana we went west to Miandrivazo, Morandavo,... read more and Kirindy. That drive is long and arduous and absolutely stunning! We both agreed that it was the highlight of the trip. The landscape is gorgeous, the different villages and peoples are so interesting, and the drive is a 'do not miss'. The Baobab alley is spectacular, and the dry forest of Kirindy is so different to the rainforest parks later in the trip. And, we did see the Fossa! Much to my husband's delight.

After we repeated the long drive and stayed at Tana for one night we went East to Peyrieras Reptile park to view the variety of chameleons and other animals. We went to Mantadia N.P. and Analmazatroa N.P. and Mitsinjo reserve for day walks and night walks. We saw a variety of lemurs and even a Satanic Gecko. The rainforest in all places is absolutely beautiful.

We then went further East to The Palmarium via a really bad rough pot-holed road, then a lovely speed boat ride through beautiful scenery. The lemurs at The Palmarium are semi-domesticated and quite friendly at times. It is terrific to see them up so close, and so many different species, which is both 'good' and 'bad'. Seeing a tiny day old lemur was so cute. And seeing the Aye Aye so close was amazing - and again, 'good' and 'bad' that they are in semi-captivity on an island.

Brett and all the people involved in planning and executing our trip get our big THANKS!

Rado is the most careful driver, a person who is very informative about everything we saw and about the country, and great company too! He was so good on my first trip with my adult daughter I specifically asked Brett if he could be our driver again.

I cannot recommend Dadamanga Tours highly enough! And Madagascar as well.

  5 star trip to Madagascar - I rarely write reviews but our trip to Madagascar was so well done I feel I owe a review to Dadamanga. Every detail was taken care by... read more Dadamanga from planning what to bring to having local currency ready for us to use even coming in at 11 PM at night from Paris.
Our trip was exactly the way we wanted it to be done. We drove about 50% of the time to the National parks and took a private charter the other 50% of the time.
On our 12 day trip we spent time at Andasbie, Tsingy, Avenue of Baobab's, Ranomafana, and Isalo National Parks. The coordination on logistics was great! The lodges that Dadamanga picked for us were spectacular. The food was fantastic at the lodges and very inexpensive. The hikes picked by our Guide were perfect for us.
I can't say enough about our English speaking guide Nambi. He was amazing and catered to all our needs from checking into the hotels and lodges to making sure we could read Menu's. He was always on time and would allow us to modify the schedule if we needed to make the most of our time in Madagascar. Our trip was a private trip with just myself and my wife. We never felt unsafe or in any danger.
We had a blast seeing soo many different species of Lemurs and reptiles. I must give this trip with Dadamanga a 5 star experience . P.S. Ask for Nambi if you want a fantastic English speaking guide!

  Excellent trip planning and great guides  - The planning of our trip to Madagascar was excellent. We liked the proposed hotels a lot. Changes in flight schedules were proactively managed.
The guides and drivers were excellent.... read more We received a warm welcome from Roberto.
It was a pleasure to have the company of Nirina in the South. He shared his knowledge about the country, the customs and the fauna and flora. Always kind and respectful.
In the East and the capital city we learned a lot more from Herijaona.
Besides some stomach issues we had a wonderful trip.

  Thorough, Knowledgeable, and Personable Guides through Dadamanga - During the pandemic, I put a lot of energy into planning a six-week trip to Madagascar for myself, my husband, and another couple. After numerous postponements, we finally made this... read more unforgettable trip in September-October 2023.

We used two touring organizations, chosen based on their stellar ratings on TA. It would probably have been more efficient to choose one, but after corresponding with both, I felt some loyalty to each of them, and I proceeded to coordinate segments of our itinerary with each. Both were excellent! But they are quite different, and one might fit your needs better than the other. We remain happy that we worked with both. (My review of Elysée Velomasy’s Masoala Ecotour can be found under “Masoala National Park.) I first “met” Dadamanga because of Brett’s wonderful responses to my queries on the TA Forum for Madagascar. He was consistently helpful—and never even hinted that he could provide the services I would undoubtedly need. He is truly dedicated to being helpful to those interested in Madagascar.

I am also including some specific comments for visitors like me who have mobility challenges. (I use trekking poles for normal walking due to balance issues, have osteoporosis in my knees which limits my flexibility especially in going up and down uneven stair steps, and my stamina is limited.) I wish I had made this trip 20-30 years ago! If you’re fit, do it now!

In getting around in Madagascar, you sometimes have the option to fly between destinations (or more typically between the capital and a destination). I would definitely recommend this over driving. One of the biggest obstacles to tourism is the appalling state of the roads. But many destinations are only accessible by driving.

Brett and the office staff at Dadamanga, especially Urbain and Huguette, with whom I had the most contact, were amazing in organizing all our details and providing step-by-step support in a written guide to everything you need to know as you plan and implement your trip, down to details like what address to use on your visa for your “in-country” address. Dadamanga also went above and beyond to accommodate some last-minute changes we requested as we grew to understand our own limitations as well as to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

We had two different segments of our trip with Dadamanga. First, we flew to Toliara (Tulear) and drove back to Tana along the N7 route, spending 12 days visiting Zombitse, Isalo, Andringitra, and Ranomafana National Parks, plus Anja Community Reserve. The second part was in the north for which we flew to Diego Suarez and spent four days in Amber Mountain NP and the Ankarana Reserve.

Our driver-guide for the overland trip along the N7 was the incredible Tsiory! First, he was a capable, prudent, cautious driver—and we definitely appreciated that! He also did a fantastic job of providing background on wildlife, cultures, customs, history, and geology as we drove. He organized the best local guides within the National Parks and for city and village tours that included exposure to local culture and to industry and handicrafts. And he was personable and fun! While the number of walks I could handle was limited, Tsiory did a great job of assessing that and providing alternatives. (I had already enjoyed shorter treks in Masoala, Nosy Mangabe, and Andasibe, where I had seen and heard the indri, aye-aye, and many other lemurs, so I didn’t mind.) The rest of our group did more demanding hikes and saw common brown lemurs, sifakas, golden and greater bamboo lemurs, and sportive lemurs, as well as painted frogs, many geckos and chameleons. They also hiked through fascinating geological formations and terrain, while I had the good fortune of visiting a Betsileo village, learning about their customs, and enjoying a traditional lunch in the home of our local guide.

A highlight for me was visiting the Anja Community Reserve and seeing large troops of ring-tailed lemurs. This community had endemic ring-tails who, because of limited natural fruit trees, were raiding the villagers’ crops. Instead of fighting that, they started planting more trees that yield the lemurs’ preferred foods. The lemurs have prospered, and the community now gains some revenue, which they have used for community resources: school, clinic, etc.

The accommodations were incredible! By my standards, they were quite luxurious, with spacious en suite rooms, several with swimming pools, terrific chefs (with varying amounts of menu choice), and lovely grounds, little oases in the dry region of the country. Our final hotel, the Relais d’Ankarana, was the simplest of those arranged through Dadamanga. It was certainly adequate, and the family who own and staff it were absolutely delightful and accommodating, including an excellent chef. It just contrasted to previous hotels, like Hotel Au Bois Vert, the Moringa, le Relais de la Reine, Betsileo Country Lodge, Couleur Café Hotel, and the Nature Lodge, which were impressive.

While our initial focus had been wildlife, we were fascinated by the view into local culture, visiting spice production, craft industries like a paper factory, woodworking, and seeing how so many things are made by hand, including bricks and aluminum pots.

I can’t speak highly enough of Tsiory, whose English is very good, and who took all of our interests into account. Although we aren’t birders, that is his specialty, and he often leads bird-watching groups, so, if that is your interest, definitely request him as your guide!

Our last, shorter segment was with the guide Enyse. He was with a company that Dadamanga subcontracted with, and he was an excellent guide with good English. There was a separate driver, and I understand that Dadamanga normally uses a driver-guide. In our case, there were some problems with the vehicle, and Dadamanga completely supported getting the best situation possible to resolve it. I think it will influence how they arrange visits to that area in the future.

Seeing the incredible Red Tsingy was amazing! Additional lemur sightings included Sanford’s brown, crowned, Amber Mountain mouse, Amber Mountain dwarf, and northern sportive lemurs.

I can highly recommend Dadamanga and confirm their consistent high ratings!

  Amazing Experience!  - We travelled 3 women - friends from different countries to South-West Madagascar with Dadamanga. I found Brett on TA site and wrote my first email to him way... read more before i planned journey.
3 months later, after extensive back and forth correspondence, we carefully choose our 15 days itinerary. Thank you for all the patience Dadamanga team had with us.
Our 2 weeks were awesome! 3-days boat trip recommended by Dadamanga were highlight of our tour. Home-cook melas, evening bonfire entertainment, local rum testing, visit to local villages. Sleeping in the tents, shower at the waterfall, swimming at blue lagoon. Amazing!
Dadamanga choosed a comfortable lodges for us during our 15-days journey and suggested diverse itinerary.
Great drivers, English speaking, fun and charismatic guides made our trip memorable and fun!
Thank you Dadamanga for a great tour of our lifetime!