Madagascar Travel Forum

Is Madagacar beautiful island? Does it have beautiful and safe sight?

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My husband and I planned to be in Mada from Nov 30-Dec 13 but I am worried about weather! We haven't planned the details of our trip, but I am thinking that we would be based in Tana (spending time there at the beginning and end of our trip), go to Andasibe and stay there for a couple of nights, travel on Canal de Pangales, maybe go to Toamasina, and spend some time on Ile St. Marie. So here's the question. Is this too close to the rainy season? Do we risk having bad weather? Is it worth the change fees we might incur to change our plane tickets to November. We are so excited about this trip and I would hate to have picked the wrong time! THANKS MADA-PHILES!

Hi,to all VT members,
I'm intend travel to Madagascar on October for some 7-8 days please advice itinerary for very highlight places (wildlife, nature)and any company for chauffeur-guide and car.
Thanks,
Michael.

Hi All
i am thinking of travelling to mauritius for a holiday is it possible to travel from there to madagascar on a organised trip for a few days.
thanks
clive

how difficult is it to get to "avenue of the baobabs?"

Hi everyone,

I'm due to fly out to Tana in the first week of October 08 for 2 months, thing is I'm hoping to get a cheaper flight than I've found so far, seems that October is more expensive than Summer. Cheapest fare I have so far is 994 EUR with Air France around 4th October - 6th December.

Anyone know of any specialists that may have cheaper air fares for that period?

Many thanks in advance
Tem

Hi all,

I am thinking about traveling to Madagascar in the next year or two - a 2-3 week trip--and am currently in the process of researching things. However, I've never been to the country and would love any tips or stories anyone here can share.

I adore ringtails and sifakas and would love the opportunity to volunteer with preservation groups while in Mada. The idea of traveling with a group (Something like Earthwatch) would be awesome. Has anyone done this before? Are there any similar groups out there?

Also, airfare seems to be another major stopping point for me...has anyone found anything less than $6K per ticket? Maybe I am just having poor luck...

Anyhow, sorry for all the questions! I look forward to all the feedback you guys have to offer. :)

Cheers,
Anne

Hello
I would like to travel to Madagascar for a period exceeding a three-months-time.
As far as I'm informed, it is possible to go out of the country and get another 90 days on arriving for the second time (maybe I will take a cruise to the neighbouring Mayote Island and return back to Mada). However, when arriving for the first time to Madagascar, one has to apply for the first 90 days and show his air-ticket as well.
In case the departure date of my flight back home printed on my air-ticket exceeds a 90-days-stay ( I fly with Air France and every date change costs me about 100 USD ), is such an air ticket may cause me problems with the officials at the airport ?
It is convenient for me to land in Antananarivo having an air ticket with a departure date after four months since arrival( that's the time I would like to stay in Mada). Is such an air-ticket problematic ? Has anybody had any experience like this ?
Or......Should my departure date in my air-ticket be exactly up to 90 days and then I would change it when in Mada on condition I extend my visa more than 90 days ? What do you say ?
Thanks in advance

Hello all,

I would like to undertake some NGO work in Madagascar, possibly up to 3 mths and want to know of any NGOs that work in this country and accept foreign volunteers/ staff. I tried to contact Caritas Madagascar by email but the address I have doesn't seem to be working. Does anyone know another email address for them? I have caritasm@dts.mg but that just bounces back.

Any info would be helpful.
Cheers!
Tem

My husband and I ( 50 years couple ) are going to stay in Antsirabe from 10.of March to 15.of March. What can you recomand us to take part in or visit theese days? We want to see one more place i Madagascar. Where do you recomand us to go and by what kind of transport? We are leaving Madagascar 22.of March.
Best wishes,
Edorf

My wife and I will be visiting Madagascar in March for 3 weeks - we want to see something of the country and prefer to travel independently using local transport. We booked at this time because it fits in with a wedding in Mauritius later in the month. Reading about Madagascar we are worried about the weather - heavy/constant rain and cyclones!!??

We would welcome comments from other travellers as to how difficult it gets to travel using local transport during this time. After a short time in Tana we plan to travel to Mahajanga - this seems to be OK by road? From there we would like to move along that coast a bit. It seems that the east coast is out for us at this time of year - is that true?

We have obtained details of a couple of tours, but on balance we would like to make our own way around using local people, drivers, coaches etc. Again we would prefer not to fly around and accept that this will limit where we can reach within our limited time.

Finally we are both aged 61 and whilst active are not able to undertake heavy treks or long walks with our baggage. Any advice about getting around in Madagascar in rainy March would be appreciated - also what sort of clothing is best as we gather it will be both wet and steamy?

many thaks for any assistance

Paul

hi everybody,

The 14 th of november me and my boyfriend will be arriving in Madagascar. We think it would be fun to see just a small part of madagascar by 2cv, mehari or such a car. Does anybody know if it is possible to hire a self drive car like this in antananarivo, toliora or ford dauphin? My boyfriend is a carmechanic and specialised in 2cv. We are totally aware it wouldn't be easy and we could have many breakdowns, but that is all part of the adventure.

Does anybody have information on renting (buying seems to be a lot of trouble) such a car?
And if not, does anybody have information on renting an other sort of car?

Thanks a lot for your help

Annebeth

Hello,
My husband and I are planning to take an approx. 1 month tour in Madagascar. However, we would like avoid travelling with a group of strangers. We wonder whether it is possible to employ knowledgeable, reliable, English speaking local guides (with good contacts) at the reserve locations who could also organise necessary local transport / accommodation? If yes, what would be the approximate cost?

Maria

Hello

I'm making a return trip to Madagascar next week - I was there in 1994.
I've checked the internet, and I've got the (2004 edition) Lonely Planet, but still don't know which railways are open.
I've read that there are only two lines:
* (maybe) From Tana to Tamatave.
* From Fianarantsoa to Manakara
Back in '94 I took the Tana - Antsirabe.

Could anyone possibly confirm whether or not the Tana - Tamatave line is open now?
Thank you for reading

Steve

I am a women planning to travel alone in Madasgar for 2 weeks. I come from South AFrica, where crime is a huge problem and would like to know if there are similar problems in Madgascar. But apart from cime, is it generally safe to travel alone? Also, as a lone traveller, does anyone have any tips?

Hi,

We are planning to visit over the Christmas and New year period for 2 weeks. Is it a good time to visit the island?

The Lonely planet says it rains heavily and there is risk of cyclones in the North. Is the south better then? Or is it going to be torrential rain all over the island? Would you recommend a trip over this period?

Thanks in advance,
F

Hey people!

So..time is approaching for our long awaited trip to that peculiar island and most of things have already been planned. (see some pages before). One part of the trip remains to be arranged, namely our stay in Morondava and the surrounding region. we want to see Kirindy, Tsingy de Bemaraha, the baobabs ( that we will anyway see if we go towards Tsingy) etc. We arrive in Morondava the 14th November early in the morning and leave again the 19th to Toliara...so almost 5 days.

Any suggestions for what and how long to see, places to stay and any tour operators that do the Tsingy visit for a reasonable price? We are trying to save some money because we underestimated a bit the costs. Is any of you going to be there the same period so we can share some costs and have fun. As a reminder, for old and new readers, we are 2 Greek friends ( m and f), both around 30 and we' re staying in Mada from the 8th November till the 29th. We speak very good english and german and also french . (..and ofcourse greek :-) )
Besides, the 25th we have a full day in Tana. You think it is possible to do a day trip to Perinet? Any suggestions of whom we should ask?

Thanx a lot in advance. !

PS: If you want, and for any information that is of no interest to other members, you can contact me directly here: ioannis.magouras@yahoo.gr

How dangeroes is a road trip from Tana to Perinet? Which are the most risky areas for assaults and roberys.
We are traveling to Madagascar next November.
Thank you
Joan Antoni

hi.
i would like to visit Madagascar in february,is it too rainy? Is march better or it's the same?
thanks.

Dear friends.

We are 2 greeks going to Madagascar for 3 weeks in November. So far we have only booked our plane tickets to Tana, since organized trips are far too expensive for us. Our primary interest is nature but I think this will be combined with other activities. We have decided to do the following route:

-Fly to Tana and stay one day.
-Next day we fly to Morondava and stay 6 days with visits to Kirindy national park, baobab alley, tombs of Antadroy etc, Lovobe beach for some swim and if possible (since far and eventually not accessible when raining) to Tsingy-Bemaraha.
-Then we fly to Toliara and stay only the day of arrival.
- Next day we take the Madabus with stops to Isalo national park (2 days), continue with Ranomafana national park ( 2 days) and finally an 1 day stop to Antsirabe.
-The 21st of November we will reach again Tana and next day we fly to Maroantsetra till the 27th, to visit Masoala.
- From the 27-29th we stay in Tana and visit also Perinet national park.

My questions to all those that have been or plan to go to those places:

1. Is it realistic?
2. Any suggestions to modify the time we stay in each place?
3. Any suggestions what additional to see in these regions? How to plan local trips, eg to Tsingy-Bemaraha?
4. Any experience with Madabus? Is it easy to find tickets or should we book in advance online? For our stops in Isalo and Ranomafana which are the nearest places reachable with Madabus, where accomodation is possible? For Ranomafana is it Fianarantsoa?
5. Advisable to buy air-Madagaskar tickets in advance?

I know, it is a long posting but I will be thankful for any answer regarding these questions. In case somebody will be there in the same period in any of these regions, we could organize some excursions together. Please mail me if so!

THANX A LOT!

Yiannis

Hello
I have two questions regarding Madagascar:
1. If we book the tickets from Europe, the flight to Madagascar from J-burg with Air Madagascar seems very expensive- $900- are there any ways to get cheaper flights? Will it be cheaper if we order from South Africa? Are there other companies that fly there?

2. If we don’t want to rent a car but rather prefer to take taxis for long-distance rides: is it possible? How much does it cost- is it cheaper that car rental?
Any info will be much appreciated

Thanks

If you have had done this trip around the island please let me have some feedback.

Is it wise for someone like me, not speaking french, go to Madagascar on my own?
I would like to travel in the south and wonder how many difficulties I may meet not being able to speack french.
Thanks
Corra

I have a rather expensive camera with lots of lens. So any bag carrying it all will be large! Is it safe to bring something like that to Madagascar? I will traveling alone.

Hi! I'll be in Madagascar from September 26 through October 17, 2007. If you have any tips, advice or suggestions I'd love to hear them.

If you will be in the country then an would like a touring companion, let me know.

Cheers, all!

Hello,
If we go to Morondava we want to stay in an appartment / hostel / hotel at the beach.
Where and what do you recommand?
Or is it nicer to say in Belo sur Mer or Belo sur Tsiribihina?

Has anyone used a GPS device while travelling around Madagascar?
I'm planning on using it on my 1 month trip in July but I have difficulties finding calibrated maps for Madagascar. Does anyone know where could I obtain them?
A backup solution is to scan maps from travel guides and calibrate them using Google Earth, but I'm not sure if that will work.

Hey everybody

I live in France and went to Madagascar few years ago.

I missed at this time the opportunity to get one of this fantastic wooden truck on the Andravohangy market - antanarivo area-.

Is somebody know a website that could provide me with this kind of articles?

Thanks a lot

Franck Poutch

France

Hi,
I would like to ask details about getting a visa to Madagascar. Is it possible to get it on arrival ? How long is it valid for ? Is there any chance to be refused ?
Thank you

Hi friends,

Am visiting Tana on the 28th may and would be also visitng tamatave. My business trip would keep me there for 10 days. Could i have some info on:

1. Veg restaurants in tana and tamatave?

2. Decent hotel in these 2 cities.

Thanks for your replies. Cheers!!