Madagascar Wildlife Adventure

When it comes to unique destinations for nature adventures, you can't top Madagascar. More than 80% of the intriguing plants and animals on the world's fourth largest island exist nowhere else. An intimate discovery of this "world apart" requires a very small group and exclusive transportation features not offered on any other tour we're aware of. Discover what sets our Madagascar adventure apart:

1. Our Unique Itinerary Maximizes Your Time in Nature
   Compare itineraries carefully: on more typical tours, you may lose several days crossing the country on long drives, or your travels may be confined to fewer regions. With us, you’ll spend more time in distinctly varied wild places, rather than traveling great distances between them. By including chartered flights, we avoid long, tiring days on rough roads, and we access a greater range of rarely visited areas.

2. A Very Small Group (10 Max) Ensures Intimate Wildlife Encounters
   The best wildlife experiences are always more likely to occur in the presence of fewer people. We explore Madagascar with no more than 10 travelers—likely the smallest group you'll find—ensuring a quieter, more wondrous experience in nature. 

3. Chartered Flights are Key to a Superlative Experience 
   When other companies include flights, they typically use the national carrier, Air Madagascar, which frankly has a terrible track record for delays and cancellations. Travelers on Air Madagascar can often wait a full day or more in airports, or be re-routed in a manner requiring a 24-hour drive on very poor dirt roads. To be certain we don’t waste valuable time for wildlife viewing, we have arranged our own private chartered flights. This is a costly commitment, but it ensures we get where we want to be in a convenient and timely manner, so you don't lose out due to airline caprices.

4. Travel in the Company of a Top Expedition Leader, Plus Expert Local Guides
   Compare the quality of guides and guest-to-guide ratio: You'll travel with a top Expedition Leader plus a seasoned local guide who knows the country like none other. Our Expedition Leader provides expert tour management and the integrated perspective of a professional naturalist, while our Malagasy guide adds in-depth local knowledge, helping to maximize the variety of wildlife you’ll see. We're also joined by regional park guides in several places, who add even more depth and expertise. Our Expedition Leaders also get exclusive training and resources from WWF scientists—a Nat Hab exclusive! See Expedition Leader bios and traveler comments regarding the quality of our leaders.

5. We Tailor Activities to Varied Physical Abilities
   We often divide our groups on hikes in order to accommodate different physical capacities. Since we explore with a complement of guides, from our own Expedition Leader and in-country partner to various local guides in the parks we visit, we're able to split up based on physical challenge, ensuring you won't feel let down or frustrated when other travelers' abilities may not match yours (though all guests must be able to meet our minimum physical requirements for this trip).

6. Unique Accommodations Close to Nature—Including Anjajavy Lodge
   We emphasize secluded lodging on private reserves and/or close to protected national parks. From bungalows tucked in the rain forest to your own eco-villa on a nature reserve accessible only by private airstrip, our focus is on intimate natural settings. Anjajavy Lodge is a special highlight: Madagascar's only Relais & Chateaux property, its guests have access to more than 17,000 acres on a private reserve containing 1,800 floral species and a multitude of rare wildlife. At Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, our stay on a private estate near the park includes a visit to its small lemur preserve, where we get very close to Madagascar’s famous icons.

7. Explore a Biodiversity Hotspot Before the Rest of the World Gets There
   Nat Hab is one of few tour operators offering naturalist-guided trips to this distinctive destination. And our itinerary is as diverse and uncommon as Madagascar itself. We explore dense highland rain forest, moss- and lichen-laden cloud forest, and arid sandstone canyons. On the Indian Ocean coast, search for rare frogs and geckos on night walks, spot several varieties of endangered lemurs in forests, and scan coastlines for pods of dolphins and migrating whales. With Nat Hab and WWF working together to create this unique itinerary, you won’t find a more comprehensive nature adventure.

8. Be Part of a Conservation Success Story
   It's not an exaggeration to say that without our presence, and that of other eco-conscious travelers, most of Madagascar's remaining wild habitat would be gone. By demonstrating the economic value of nature tourism, bringing visitors to observe the intriguing species found in Madagascar's remarkably biodiverse forests, we show local communities the value of protecting their wild surroundings. Conservation travel is imperative to the future of nature in Madagascar. And when you travel with us, you're central to that mission.

9. Our Quality-Value Guarantee Ensures Your Outstanding Nature Adventure
   With Natural Habitat Adventures, you receive our exclusive guarantee that clearly states that we will meet the high expectations we set forth in our promotional materials. To our knowledge, this is the most ambitious guarantee made by any adventure travel company. Read our important promise.

10. Feel Good About Your Carbon-Neutral Journey
    We care deeply about our planet, as we know you do. When you travel with us, the carbon emissions from your trip are 100% offset—including your round-trip flights from home. Natural Habitat Adventures has been the world’s first carbon-neutral travel company since 2007.

11. Natural Habitat Adventures Is World Wildlife Fund’s Travel Partner

    Because of our commitment to environmentally friendly travel, as well as the exceptional quality of our small-group nature adventures, World Wildlife Fund, the world’s leading environmental conservation organization, has named Natural Habitat Adventures its worldwide travel partner—a designation that makes us exceedingly proud!