Tour leader - Michael V. · Tripsider.com
Home Experts
Mikhail

Last seen yesterday at 01:56
Hello, my name is Mikhail
On Tripsider.com since May 2019
On Tripsider.com since May 2019
Russia, Saint Petersburg
I speak Russian, English
70 countries visited
2h.
The average response time to messages in the chat
Verified
4 reviews

Professional photographer, traveler

Mikhail confirmed
Personal E-mail
Documents
Phone
Facebook
Best Price Guaranteed
Secure payment
Without intermediaries
Ask a travel expert
2h.
The average response time to messages in the chat
Verified travel expert
4 reviews
Mikhail confirmed
Personal E-mail
Documents
Phone
Facebook
Expert Tours
The wild world of Borneo Island (Kalimantan)
Tour Guaranteed
Sightseeing
Malaysia
12 days (Aug 26 – Sep 06)
Michael
5.0 (4)
$2,700
$225
New Year holidays in the Western Desert
Tour Guaranteed
Expedition
Egypt
9 days (January 02 – 10, 2027)
Michael
5.0 (4)
$2,000
$222
View all tours
Rating 5.00 (4 reviews)
Northern Ethiopia: Dalol Volcanoes and Lalibela Temples
5
About the tour: Наша группа, состоящая из ранее незнакомых друг с другом путешественников, собралась в тур на Сокотру. В аэропорту Абу-Даби мы узнали, что рейс отменен и путешествие не состоится по независящим от организатора тура причинам(((
Объединившись в компанию авантюристок мы попросили нашего турлидера Ирину подобрать альтернативное путешествие.
Всего за 5 часов Ирина организовала нам тур в Эфиопию: были найдены гиды, забронены отели, выкуплены авиабилеты. И мы, девчачьей компанией, с чемоданами абсолютно неподходящей пляжной одежды, отправились на другой континент в страну, не имеющую выхода к морю, но полные решимости покорить вулканы и горы в коралловых тапках🤪
Мы облетели север и восток страны, посмотрев ее с высоты птичьего полета, из окна джипа, с вершины вулкана и даже находясь на озерах, расположенных ниже уровня моря; побывали в Лалибеле в Рождество и увидели то, что по ТВ никогда не покажут; прогулялись по старому городу в Хараре и кормили гиен.
Программа насыщенная, тайминг жесткий, организация четкая, при этом у нас была полная свобода действий, путешествие было лёгким и непринужденным. Все выезды были без опозданий, а рассказы гидов очень интересные. Мы пробовали местную кухню. Везде, где это только было возможно, и даже в аэропортах, пили традиционный кофе. Также в рацион входила и привычная нам еда. Лишних расходов у нас не было, за исключением трат на сувениры, кофе и снеки по потребностям. Организация тура была на высоте, все планы были реализованы, а программа выполнена более, чем на 100%.
Спасибо огромное всей команде за такой классный и насыщенный тур, внимание, заботу🫂и отдельная благодарность нашему повару🫠, который жарил для нас вкуснейшую картошечку🥹 Read more
Travel expert's answer: Благодарим за подробный отзыв😌 До новых встреч!
Northern Ethiopia: Dalol Volcanoes and Lalibela Temples
5
About the tour: Полная авантюра (в нашей ситуации тур был организован за 20 минут, так как отменилось другое путешествие, о чем мы узнали в транзитной точке), превратившаяся в знакомство с собой, научившая принимать обстоятельства, наслаждаясь тем, что взамен полного отсутствия комфорта дарит этот момент, и ценить то, что у нас есть.
Идеальная работа нашего тур лидера - прекрасной и уже родной Иры - не дала споткнуться ни на одном шаге в пути (а это 8 перелетов, постоянная смена гостиниц и сопровождающих местных гидов, при условии, что все организовывалось буквально в режиме реального времени). Я уж не знаю каких трудов и нервов это стоило, но ни единым жестом Ира не выдала реальную цену нашего гладкого путешествия.
Количество увиденного, узнанного и пережитого в туре сложилось в огромный заряд позитива и сформировало стойкое желание пуститься в новые приключения с этой невероятной командой и организаторами.
Спасибо Ирине и Михаилу за удивительное начало года и до встречи в дороге!;) Read more
Travel expert's answer: Большое спасибо за теплые слова! До встречи на новых маршрутах!
Madagascar — a trip to the land of lemurs
5
About the tour: I liked the trip to Madagascar very much, we were in July 2025

IMPRESSIONS
You land on red ground and realize that things are different here

The first delight is lemurs! We were all happy like children regardless of our age! Everyone wanted to feed a lemur. We were in several parks — somewhere you could feed animals with bananas, and somewhere they were in the wild Both are very interesting
And how much emotion when a lemur jumps onto your shoulders! However, later I had to wash my clothes from dirty feet

The second delight is, of course, the Baobabs!
As soon as they appear on the horizon, your heart starts beating faster, you want to take a photo and cuddle with everyone, absolutely everyone, a baobab:) And what a beautiful sunset on baobabs! There's also a cafe next to Baobab Alley, I recommend taking 3-ball ice cream: coconut, baobab and cocoa like, it's delicious. At dawn, it's great to meditate on a baobab alley

The third delight is Scurvy!
This is where I really wanted to get to. Mega's cool place! Did you like climbing trees and climbing higher? Have you ever dreamed of a panda park, but now you think you're too old for that? All dreams of climbing rocks and caves will come true here, and you can also see wild lemurs. We went to Big Tsingi in the morning and small ones in the evening with a break for lunch and rest at the hotel In Big Tsingi, we wore safety equipment, so everyone went all the way safe and sound

Chameleons, gecons, frogs, the rainforest itself, birds, bugs and butterflies are all in a piggy bank of impressions!

Local flavor is another topic - everything is unusual, you drive and look into all eyes: clay country houses with thatched roofs, women with baskets on their heads, or colorful low-rise town buildings interspersed with zebu cows, rice fields, brown-pink earth, women washing in the river and children swimming nearby, they shout “Hey, vase!” (Foreigner) and wave and we wave back

LODGING
We stayed in hotels and lodges Some were quite comfortable, some simpler, moving to a new hotel almost every day Lodges are certainly simpler and closer to nature
The hotels did their best for a European guest. Although in general, the service is certainly average and slow, these are cultural features
According to Madagascar's tradition, there may not be hot water and electricity, but most hotels definitely had some of that. You should be calm about the fact that you won't be able to wash in hot water today, maybe tomorrow...

FOOD
There is no gourmet cuisine here, either the meat of a local zebu cow, or shrimps/seafood but without much choice, or pumpkin+ salad, french fries, rice The menu everywhere is about the same You won't stay hungry, but you can't say that everything is delicious The local population doesn't see this on their table, we will be grateful
The food here is mostly not spicy (but it's better to specify), often the drinks are sweet for us, you can ask for “sugar-free” You should definitely try baobab juice
We were in July (dry season) and the fruits included delicious pineapples, avocados, papaya

TRANSFERS AND GUIDES
The crossings were significant, sometimes almost all day, with stops, of course.
We had several jeeps with drivers and a local guide who speaks Russian. The drivers are nice, tidy, diligent, also speak English and can even tell you something about life on the island
The roads are very dusty in some places, not paved, but the cars are comfortable, you can take things to the cabin to change clothes, have a snack, have water, sit, lie down — everything is possible)

WISHES:
- Organize a group meeting, I prefer the format where a small group acquaintance is organized to unite and have a more comfortable atmosphere in the group
- I would like a smaller group, although there were up to 10 people. The more people, the more we interfere with each other, and even if the Chinese come...
- The list of things you need for the trip can be described in more detail for inexperienced people like me (I added it below, don't thank you)
- We had 1 day of rest, and I would even spend 2 days in Morondava, as it was one of the few hot and comfortable places to relax, it even looks like a resort
- Adding night sky photography would be great if possible, but you just need to plan/organize a place to be there and warn who wants to take tripods

THANKS:
Thanks to Misha for always being in touch and answering questions as quickly as possible
And for giving me such a neighbor. I don't know how Misha assigned people to rooms and cars, but I'm super happy, because without my friends this trip wouldn't be so great
Our driver Duran was also very good for us on Vibe. It seemed that he understood Russian and what we were talking about because he supported our topics
Thanks to Misha for giving me the opportunity to move at my own pace (as much as possible)
I thank our Malagasy guide Parani, who speaks Russian well and was really needed when it came to negotiating with the locals or understanding what they wanted, since they hardly speak English, and I don't know French, let alone Malagasy.

Household RECOMMENDATIONS for future travelers:

1 Warm clothes were not enough It seemed that it should be hot in Africa, but it's not like that. It should be noted that temperatures vary in different parts of the island In and around Antananarivo it was about 15 C Elsewhere during the day it could be hot/warm (28 C), but in the morning it's cold at night (12-15 C) The best option is to dress warmer in the morning, take a change of light clothes in the car and change clothes on the way
Warm clothes require pants (not summer ones, but autumn ones), a sweatshirt, a jacket. Early departures and very cool in the morning, too, and when you travel by motorboat to a lemur island, it is advisable to dress warmer - otherwise you can freeze At night it can be also cold, especially considering the peculiarity of Madagascar - turning off hot water (you can't warm up in the shower) and electricity (it's not a fact with a hair dryer and heater what you can use)

And please don't look at Mikhail - he is ALWAYS wearing shorts and a T-shirt In any temperature and weather:) If you are not a walrus or Mikhail — pants, a sweatshirt, a jacket will make the trip much more comfortable

2 Speaking of a hair dryer, hotels have almost no hair, and when washing with barely warm water, there is a very strong desire to dry yourself with a hot hair dryer. This is especially true for people with long hair. Not to mention the fact that it's very cold to sleep with a wet head. Take a hair dryer to warm up, dry your hair and clothes if you decide to wash
3 You can borrow a kettle, we had a snack and you can make tea in the room in the evening, although you can also buy it at the hotel restaurant, BUT it takes much longer
4 Yes, it takes a long time to wait for food in restaurants Even tea Don't delay or have a snack with you if you can't stay hungry
5 Car trips are long and not on the best roads If you get sick, take everything for motion sickness - pills, patches, bracelets
6 Souvenirs - the airport has a very large souvenir market (souvenirs there are approximately the same, the only baobab powder, jam and other semi-baobab souvenirs are best bought in baobab alley locations) This market has all the standard souvenirs: magnets, stones and jewelry, embroidery products, musical instruments, shoes, etc. So it makes sense to ask you to stop there at the end of the trip (or at the beginning), depending on voyage
7 Money (2025) - one dish in a cafe/restaurant costs approx 35,000 - 45,000 ariary, dessert ca. 25,000 ariary You can use this calculation to change money+ for souvenirs+SIM card (if you need it)
8 I recommend taking a SIM card with the Internet, as Wi-Fi may not work in hotels
9 Gifts for locals - In such countries, it is common practice to bring gifts to poor local children I must say that you will not solve the global problems of poverty and ignorance (although you really want to) But if you just want to make children happy, you can bring gifts. We took notebooks, pens, markers, pencils and sweets, someone took jewelry for girls, in some regions children asked for water bottles In my opinion, it's important for guides to “instruct” how to give gifts Don't repeat our mistakes (or repeat it - learn from experience):
don't give to obvious beggars who make sad eyes and knock on the car window, don't encourage begging
don't let your children surround you and come too close to you (they have no idea of personal boundaries)
it is advisable to distribute together (one gives out — the other keeps those in need)
prepare gifts in advance (for example, take them out of the package. We started attaching a pen to the notebook in the car in advance, then we went out and handed them out) The kids are VERY uncontrollable and fight with each other for every marker
it is advisable to choose a small group of children (3-5 people) and give it to everyone. In our case, there were a lot of children and we simply forgot who hadn't been given a gift and who came for an “extra” We only got used to it at the end
10 Keep in mind that on the way back, Antananarivo Airport does NOT accept ariaries, and nowhere after customs can you exchange money BEFORE customs for euros or dollars, but keep in mind that the point may not contain petty money (euros or dollars), so it is advisable to spend your ariaries to the maximum if you have no intention of taking them home
11 Swimming in the Gulf of Mozambique requires attention The water there is treacherous, I do not recommend going far, even if it seems that the water is ankle-deep everywhere, the tide comes unexpectedly and there may be internal currents from which it will be difficult to swim back
12 I highly recommend buying a mosquito repellent (you can buy a spray on site) + bring a fumigator (for example with plates or a spiral), as there are mosquitoes and they can ruin sleep at night
13 I highly recommend taking a flashlight, preferably a headlamp. It will come in handy not only when walking at night, but also in a hotel room if the lights are turned off or some hotels just had poor lighting

And the main thing is to take a good mood with you! Read more
More...
Socotra — the island of dragon trees
5
About the tour: Everything about the expedition to Socotra turned out to be incredible: the island itself, its nature and inhabitants, the host and organizer. It will not be possible to get away from emotions soon, as well as to go through hundreds of pictures taken and hours of recorded videos. Mikhail is an excellent tour leader and experienced photographer who is eager to share his experience with newcomers. You should definitely take everything you can shoot and record on a trip - it will definitely come in handy. Read more
Best Price Guaranteed
When you buy an adventure tour on Tripsider.com, you don’t overpay.
Secure payment
Paying through Tripsider.com, you get a contract.
Without intermediaries
You can ask questions directly to the travel expert via chat.
/
We Use Cookies To Provide The Best Site Experience.

Are you sure you want to cancel your booking?
Are you sure you want to delete your account?


+7
+372


PLATFORM RULES

Even if you contact the travel expert directly, do not book outside Tripsider.com.

- We do not charge any additional fees;
- A receipt and an agreement are sent to you when you pay through the platform;
- In unforeseen circumstances, we help resolve any dispute through arbitration;
- You receive bonuses for your next trip when you pay on the website

Point
Point
Point
Point