Madagascar Travel Forum

Hi, I'm going on my own to Madagascar in mid October, and I need some tips :)
- what can I do in 2 weeks? (I've read that its best to stick to 1 area, and I'm not in the mood to run around)
- what are the best ways to move around? (I would love to use the "taxi-bus", but i dont know if I have time)
- basically, i would like to see some fauna/flora, the coast and experience some of the lifestyle, somewhere cool and not too touristy...

Some company would also be nice, even for a day or 2 :)

Regards, João

I can't help you much practically since it is 9 years ago and we were chauffeured around everywhere.

Here's some suggestions:

- VT member Norali lives in Madagascar. Look up her pages or e-mail her!
- I enjoyed the island of Nosy Boraha on the east coast. Glorious tropical island and simple beach life.
- The taxi-brousse is an experience you mustn't miss. Do realise that covering 25 kms or so in a local taxi-brousse may take you several hours (I'm talking 3 or 4 hours, perhaps longer). The vehicles break down a lot, the chauffeurs are magicians at mending though, also the roads are not good.
- If you like snorkling or diving perhaps, Tulear (Toliara) in the far southwest is the place. You'll have to take a plane from Antananarivo.

read my experiences at:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/2bf0c/e9c/

Enjoy! It's a great trip.

We were in Madagascar in November 2008 and June 2010, and had a brilliant time - have a look at my travel pages for our writeups.
As you have already realised, the key constraint is going to be time. Madagascar transport systems - even the internal airline - are slow and not very reliable, so I think that it would be sensible to limit yourself to a couple of locations and explore these in some detail. Unfortunately if you only have a fortnight, I think that you have little choice but to hire a driver, and to consider taking a couple of internal flights.
I would say that Andasibe (Perinet) is a must as the wildlife is amazing - this offers the added advantage that you could combine this with a visit to Madagaskar Exotic and the royal necropolis, which are located just off this road. If your timing is extremely fortunate, you could consider taking the railway to Andasibe (see my Antananarivo transport tip) - e-mail them to find out when and if this will run in October.
We also adored Isalo - to my mind, the absolute highlight of all the things we saw in Madagascar, but it is a long haul (although it does mean that you can visit interesting towns such as Antsirabe en route). If you are considering a visit to Isalo, then the most practical way would be to fly back to Tana from Tulear (Toliara) where there are a couple of really funky things to do (see the coecolcanths at the museum of ichthyology and the stunning arboretum). I would no longer recommend going on to Anakao, as this is quite time consuming, and sadly the coral has taken a beating in recent years, both from bleaching and overfishing.
I would also strongly recommend a couple of days on an island to enjoy the paradise experience. We adored Ile St Marie, but ATLC's experience of Nosy Boraha also seems to be excellent, and probably the most easily accessible of them all is Nosy Be (although this may be too developed for your taste). Given your time constraints, you will probably have to bite the bullet and access these by air.
Finally, don't overlook what Tana has to offer. I think that it is an amazingly vibrant and culturally intriguing place, and it's really worth spending a couple of days there, either on your way in or out. This is perhaps the time to experience that 'taxi brousse'!
Whatever you decide to do, it's very hard for the enthusiastic and mildly intrepid traveller not to have a good time in Madagascar, so enjoy!

I've now limited my options to some places where I dont have to fly (its getting too expensive now), probably get there by bus. Here are my options, with some questions if someone can help:
1- East to Tamatave, and then north. Can anyone know if its possible to use taxi-brousses from Tamatave up north and back? And is the boat a better option (and how to get on one)?
2- North-West to Majunga (is it too hot?)
Next are some other options, but the seem too have more tourism...
3- West to Morondava
4- South to Tulear

Do you think its possible to make these trips in 2 weeks (15/10 to 30/10), without having to worry about time to return to Tana? Have some tips on what to do/see around?

Thanks

You'll have to fly to Tuléar (Toliara). It's 923 kms from Antananarivo and given the fact that you may have bits where 25 kms can take several hours due to cars breaking down (especially taxi brousses) or bad or missing roads...

Have only done the journey south to Tulear, which allows you to take in Isalo and several of the more interesting towns on the high plateau (Antsirabe, Fianaratsoa etc). I would highly recommend this, and it's easy to do by taxi brousse as this is the main road in Madagascar. See my Isalo, Antsirabe and Tulear travel pages for more details.
Taxi brousse to Tamatave (Taomasina) is straighforward, but I don't know how good the connections are going north from there. As with most things in Madagascar, I suspect that it would be possible, but it's a matter of the time it will take you to do it, and whether you can fit that into your itinerary.
If you go to Tamatave, then you could stop off in Andasibe (Perinet) en route, as it's only a short detour off that road. From Tamatave, it is possible to get a ferry to Ile St Marie from there, which is apparently pretty affordable. We didn't do it, but a family we met had just used it and said that it was fine (if rather rough).
The guy who runs the lodge that we stayed at on Ile St Marie (actually Ile aux Nattes, which is a tiny island just off Ile St Marie) also does some tours on the northern part of the mainland, using his own boat to get there. His name is Okie and he's very obliging, so perhaps go to his website and e-mail him to see what's possible (see my travel page for details).
We did look at going to Morondova, but were put off by how long it would take to get there (as we were under time constraints).
Hope this helps.

Have just seen ATLC's very valid comments on the distance to Tulear. If it's any consolation, when we drove this road (end of 2008), it had been substantially upgraded, and most sections were pretty good, with our driver being able to average 60-80kmph outside towns (very fast for Madagascar). However, the same could not be said for the state of repair of the taxi brousses, so I would brace yourself for a very long drive!

hey !

I can not remmomend you to go from Toamasina to the north either by bout ot taxi brousse in 14 days. The boats are dangerous in this area, and the roads are in a pretty mouch bad condition. I did the trip by road, and it took about 14 days in total, included 5 days walks, because of teh bad road condition.

Try to stick to one area. If I had 14 days i would stick to the area in north aound Diego, were you can se some nice natural parcs, beaches, local life etc.

or I would go south from antanativo to Tuliara, the roads are very fine on this strech, and the landscapes and parks are very nice.

have a nice time.

gazellen

Paying by card in Madagascar outside of Tana is not often possible. Carry lots of cash in Euro or Ariarry