Reviews

Average User Rating
4.9/5

Rating Breakdown
  • 5 star 33
  • 4 star 0
  • 3 star 0
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 1

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 1-10 of 34 Reviews
Marcelly   –  
France FR
Visited: September 2024 Reviewed: Dec 17, 2024

Email Marcelly

It’s often said that dreams can become reality!
5/5

Recently in September for a 16-day family trip, we visited East, West, South the most popular destinations in Madagascar with the agency Soul of Madagascar. Our guide Lova and our driver Faly are wonderful and professional people. Basically the organization of our trip was perfect, traveling with a country like Madagascar you have to expect everything and have flexibility. I think it was all part of the adventure and exploration. We would not hesitate to recommend Soul of Madagascar to other people who want to have a good time on this beautiful island !

Rebecca   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: October 2024 Reviewed: Nov 8, 2024

Email Rebecca  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Excellence with a smile
5/5

Theresia made some great plans for four days, what to see, where to stay and how to get there when I asked her for suggestions, for a reasonable price. I had some great days together with Eric, my guid and Safidy, our driver. Safidy made a good job on those crazy,bumpy roads- I felt secure all the time. Eric shared lots of personal stories, cultural traditions and knew a lot about both history and animals . we had a really good time. So, if you looking for a team that wants to do the best for your vacation- choose Soul of Madagascar.

Cindy   –  
Spain ES
Visited: August 2024 Reviewed: Oct 5, 2024

Email Cindy  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

An exceptional adventure
5/5

In August, we traveled with Soul of Madagascar, a group of friends of 3 people. A 3-day excursion to Sainte-Marie. I can't find the words to describe our adventure. It was incredible, a dream trip. Everything was impeccable. There were a few unforeseen events like bad weather, but we consider them part of our adventure. I plan to come back with other teams. Thank you, Soul of Madagascar Tours.

Marcelline HON HENG   –  
France FR
Visited: September 2024 Reviewed: Oct 5, 2024

Email Marcelline HON HENG  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

YES I highly recommend this agenty *
5/5

I visited Madagascar from September 12 to 25, 2024. I started contacting Theresia to organize our trip, 10 days before our departure. She was the first agency to respond to us first, and we stayed. When we arrived in Madagascar, everything was in accordance with our expectations. We did the North circuit and Nosy be. Madagascar is a developing country, but it is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. I am extremely happy with our trip with Soul of Madagascar Tours. They say there's no such thing as perfection, but I was having fun, excited and satisfied. We saw everything: culture, adventure, the beautiful beach... I will surely come back to look at the baobabs and the Tsingy de Bemaraha. I give 5 stars to the whole team, to say 'Misaotraa' and encourage them!

Amanda   –  
France FR
Visited: September 2024 Reviewed: Oct 3, 2024

Email Amanda  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Travel in peace, thank you!
5/5

In September, my family and I spent 15 days in Madagascar with Soul of Madagascar, including the East Andasibe, Palmarium, Tamatave and Ivoloina circuit. Everything went smoothly. The road in Madagascar is not like in Europe, but it is a common problem for everyone. We had a great time and admired all the scenery. In a country like Madagascar, it is essential to have patience and adapt. I am completely happy with the organization. I said YES thank you to the entire Soul of Madagascar Tours team. I highly recommend this agency!!

M and C   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2024 Reviewed: Oct 1, 2024

Email M and C  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of M and C and not that of SafariBookings.
terrible vehicle
1/5

We had worked for months with Soul of Madagascar for this holiday. We had quick and efficient responses from the office employees of Soul of Madagascar. We especially were impressed with Theresia. She was quick and efficient with her responses. We were expecting a wonderful holiday because of Theresia’s thoroughness. She sent us a picture of the Soul of Madagascar rep that was meeting us at the airport and a picture of the vehicle we would be using.

The lodges we requested were reserved by Soul of Madagascar. All were what we expected and met our needs. A few of the lodges exceeded our expectations. Bakuba Lodge was absolutely wonderful. It is a very unique lodge and would recommend this lodge. Bakuba Lodge and Le Soleil de Tsingy were the best lodges we stayed. We would not recommend Radisson Waterfront rooms 19, 20 or 21. They are in the basement. We would not recommend Gaspard Hotel in Ranomafana, the food was not good at all.

Our guide, Joushia, and the original driver, Rivo, were not very punctual. In fact, they were late over 95% of the time. We had to contact Theresia midway through our holiday because of Joushia’s attitude and the vehicle issues we had.

Oh, the vehicle issues we had!! Not one, not two, not even three, but five issues with the original vehicle. Then the second vehicle was a bit better but we still had no working air conditioning and ROACHES in the vehicle. We booked higher end hotels as we expected great service and a quality experience. Because of the service we received from Theresia, we thought we would receive excellent service from everyone at Soul of Madagascar. We also thought we would have had a higher end vehicle because of the higher end hotel choices we had made. Well, that was not the case. We had never experienced such bad service between the guide, driver and the vehicle like this. The best vehicle was the one that transported us to/from the hotel/airport and the one from Bekopaka to Morandava, which was not from Soul of Madagascar. Out of 14 days we have been with a vehicle, we had air condition for 4 days. Two of these days were transfer to/from the International Airport. Taking the total time we spent in a vehicle without air conditioning, it would be over 95% that we had NO air conditioning. We understand things happen. Maybe even twice, but five different things happened with the same vehicle. The first time, on the way to Kirindy Forest, the fan belt broke. It took about 2.5 hours to get back to where the fan belt broke. The next day, driving to Bekopa the air conditioner broke. We had to drive 5 hours on the dirt road with the windows down. It was SO hot and SO dusty. Our luggage, ourselves and everything was DIRTY. I mean DIRTY. Joushia and Rivo did not even seem to care that we were filthy. The next time the vehicle had an issue was on the way to Antsirabe. We stopped once for 15 minutes, then another time for 20 minutes and then an extra hour at lunch because the power steering pipe had a hole. And the air conditioning was not working. We had told Joushia we needed a different vehicle in Antsirabe. But he did NOT listen to us.


We were heading to Ranomafana the day after Antsirabe. We had told Joushia we absolutely wanted to do a night walk in Ranomafana as this was planned on our itinerary. Joushia said we had to insure we were on the road very early to arrive in Ranomafana for the night walk. We opted to not do Antsirabe city tour and the zebu factory to insure we had enough time to get to Ranomafana. We ended up paying the price for not getting a different vehicle in Antsirable as the vehicle broke down on the side of the road. We also noticed the power steering wasn't working, even though we were told everything was fine with the vehicle and of course the air conditioning was not work. That day the fan belt broke again, the same fan belt. We sat at least two hours at the side of the road while the vehicle was repaired. We repeated that we wanted to do one tonight but because of the vehicle breaking down for the fourth time, we could not. Rivo's reply was "This is life in Madagascar." WOW, what customer service is this?!?! We have not seen any other tourist's vehicles broken down on the side of the road. Obviously, it isn't life in Madagascar. We also have not seen any other tourist vehicles with their windows down! So many lies! Joushia lied to us! Finally, we got a different vehicle, but again, it had no air conditioning, and it had roaches crawling on the floor and on us!! This whole situation was unacceptable.

We travel the world as we have visited 95 different countries. Most of these travels has been on induvial tours such as this one. Never have had anything like this. We talked to other tourists while on our holiday in Madagascar; French, Hungarian, Dutch, English, Australian, Canadian, South African and Americans. None have experienced even one issue like we had. All we ever heard from Theresia was “Thank you for understanding”. Well, that is one thing, but it does not make the facts change. If we experienced any small issue on a previous holiday, we would have been compensated for any issues. It would have been a nice gesture, indicating these issues were understood, if a small refund or possibly including meals at several of the hotels. But no compensation was ever made. We paid a lot of money for this holiday and expected great service. Other than Theresia, we did not receive good service from Soul of Madagascar. We felt as if we were a nuisance and not a client.

We had communicated with Theresia during the trip for her to try to understand our situation. Her response was “my apologies” and she was grateful for our understanding. She also stated she did not know about all the issues with the vehicle until we had told her. Joushia did not tell her about the vehicle?? Upon our arrived home, we sent a lengthy email detailing all our issues we experienced on our trip to Theresia. This is her response, “I would like to apologize for the inconvenience you experienced during your trip. As a representative of our agency, I will take all your feedback seriously. I will take the time to carefully observe the people I will work with in the future. Once again, I offer you my most sincere apologies.” Apologies are one thing, but it is as if no one from Soul of Madagascar understood that we paid good money for a tour that was far below satisfactory conditions. We honestly cannot recommend Soul of Madagascar.

Ted   –  
Germany DE
Visited: August 2024 Reviewed: Sep 15, 2024

Email Ted  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Amazing tour from start to finish!
5/5

We took a tour with Soul of Madagascar this August and can absolutely recommend this tour agency :) Theresia was very friendly and willing to help us with all the questions we had prior to booking the tour. Once we arrived in Madagascar she also gave us all the necessary information about the beginning (and later about the end) of the tour.
Our guide, Eric, and driver, Tahiry, were very friendly and welcoming. Eric gave us a lot of interesting information about the local culture, differences between the tribes, cities and more. He also took care of all the hotel check-ins so we didn’t have to worry about anything ourselves. Tahiry managed to drive us safely through all the roads (including the ‘absent’ ones), which didn’t always seem to be an easy task. With both Eric and Tahiry we felt like we were in very good hands :)
We enjoyed the tour a lot!

P.s. we did self-driving in Namibia last year and would definitely recommend to not try it in Madagascar :)

Adeline   –  
Mexico MX
Visited: July 2024 Reviewed: Aug 19, 2024

Email Adeline  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

A trustworthy agency to recommend 💯
5/5

We spent 14 days as a family, my husband and I, with our two sons aged 11 and 17. I am really satisfied with the organization developed by the Soul of Madagascar Tours agency. Theresia, the organizer, was very attentive to everything. We had a great time in Madagascar. Our guide and driver are extremely friendly, responsible and experienced individuals. Everything is impeccable, down to the smallest detail. I recommend this agency and I give 5 stars for the review, because it is well deserved. Thank you Soul of Madagascar Tours.

Jen   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: August 2024 Reviewed: Aug 12, 2024

Email Jen  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

A fun and interesting tour of Madagascar
5/5

A fun 8 days touring Madagascar. The tour guide MJ was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The guide communicated well and he and the driver were reliable throughout the trip. The company adapted the tour to suit my friend and I and listened to and reacted to feedback from us. The hotels were of good quality and we experienced and learnt many interesting things about Madagascar.

Peter Wutherich   –  
Germany DE
Visited: August 2024 Reviewed: Aug 9, 2024

Email Peter Wutherich  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Super friendly and reliable
5/5

I highly recommend this agency. Staff is super friendly, competent, reliable, and they speak excellent English. We asked them to arrange a train trip for us with the public Madarail train from Tamatave to Moramanga. These first class tickets are very hard to get. Theresia from Soul of Madagascar queued up several hours at the ticket counter and then, after some negotiations with the manager, she managed to get the tickets for us, even though the train was officially sold out. —- The train trip was a pretty unique and authentic experience, running through magnificent landscapes and remote villages. We were the only tourists on board. With just 25,000 Ar it was cheap as well. Big thanks to Theresia!

Average User Rating
4.9/5
Rating Breakdown
  • 5 star 33
  • 4 star 0
  • 3 star 0
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 1
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