2 weeks in Madagascar - our info
This our account of the things we did with our amazing 2 weeks in Madagascar for our honeymoon.
It's just meant to be some opinions on the places we went and stayed and is not a be all and end all, just info on what we experienced and not so much of the things we did and our wonderful experiences
- Hiring a private car seems only necessary if you need to get to remote places or have time issues. The Taxi-breusse system is good and fairly widespread and cheap but it is time consuming.
- Don't worry about taxi-breusse, they're an amazing way to get around, can be uncomfortable etc but cheap and accessible. Probably don't use after dark and never ever rely on them for definite plans later in the day etc
- You will wait for taxi-breusses to depart. Overall we were fortunate but you will have days of waiting for hours.
- Euros are not really a concern. We paid for the initial hotel on arrival in Euros due to lack of Ariary but after that we were never paid for anything or were even quoted for anything in Euros.
- ATM's dispense 40 bills max so either 200,000 or 400,000 Ariary max (you can repeat use your card if your bank allows)
- Learn your key French questions and learn the numbers, couple of Malagasy words (hello, thanks, goodbye etc) go down very well, people loved it.
- Sometimes people may sneak on an extra 1000Ar to a ticket or an extra 100Ar to a snack. So be it. Go with it, don't worry.
- We tipped guides. 5,000Ar per walk for however many people in the group. We have no idea if this was good or not.
- eat the yoghurt. It looks dodgy but it's delicious. and very cheap.
Day - 1 (Fri 27 Apr)
Arrived in to Tana airport late to an arranged guest house pick up, which was €20 (bit overpriced). Ignore the porters wanting to take bags and the kids hanging about. Straight to bed.
We stayed at La Karthala GH (50,000Ar for the big room at the top), a very friendly place, owner speaks good English and is very welcoming.
Day - 2
Went around Tana for the day, not a particularly captivating city, but not all bad, can see why people just leave straight away but it was ok. Due to civil unrest (resulting in us being tear gassed), the city was pretty much dead after 5pm. Generally advised by locals not to walk about in Tana late anyway (past 8pm or so perhaps). Zebu dinner in hostel (12,000Ar each), lovely.
Stayed at La Karthala again.
Day - 3
Taxi breusse direct to Andasibe NP junction (10,000Ar) from Eastern station Ampasipito (taxi there 8,000Ar), drive was 4 hours. Drops you at junction then you walk until you find a place to stay. Feon'ny Ala is near the road, others are further in, park office is about 2km, village is perhaps 4km from road.
Area before is not widely forested but the drive was great. The parks are quite small (not that you could do them on foot in a week) and this is not rainforest as far as the eye can see but when you're in it, it's very beautiful.
Went to the village, which was fine, had a general look around. Did Mitsinjo Community Park (opposite Andasibe entrance) nightwalk. 15,000Ar pp for entrance and guide, takes about 2 hours or so. Saw lovely night wildlife and even some mouse lemurs.
Stayed at Mikalo bungalow (50,000Ar), very lovely rooms, fancy restaurant too, about 8 to 10,000Ar a main.
Day - 4
Did the four hr walk in Andasibe (Mantadia shut until June due to cyclone damage). 25,000Ar pp per day for park fee, guide (Tina - very good) was 40,000Ar for this walk. We had a group of 4, so 10,000Ar pp. Four types of lemur seen, absolutely fantastic day, really lovely.
Waited for breusse outside hotel, it only goes to Moramanga though (2,000 Ar). Change here for Tana (6,000Ar). Arrived after dark due to road blockage.
Stayed at some friends' house in East Tana, great experience.
Day - 5
Taxi to Southern breusse station (8,000Ar), taxi-breusse to Abositra (23,000Ar, charged for Fianarantsoa ticket, we didnt buy from kiosk - guess it should be about 16,000Ar or so). Took 6 hrs. Ambositra is a nice place. Recommend local dishes in Tanamasoandro.
Stayed at Le Prestige (30,000 Ar), run down old French place, nice building, room was fine, beautiful view. lovely guy running it.
Day - 6
Look around town, monastery etc, very nice.
Start journey to Ranomafana. Bad taxi-breusse to Fianar (cant remember, about 7,000Ar - four hours) but driver kindly rang ahead and we got transferred at the roadside to another about 14km north of Fianar (Fianar to Rana not a lot, maybe 5,000Ar - 2 and half hrs). Drive here is beautiful. Rolling mountains of rainforest are a joy to look at. The village is vibrant and local. Liked it a lot.
Stayed at Manja (50,000Ar). Staff seemed a bit surly but the room was very good and others told us the restaurant was good. It's a new place, built next door to the one in guide books.
Day - 7
Up early. NP entrance is 6km up hill from village. Began walk, hitchhiking, picked up by a breusse (1,000Ar) to the park.
Ranomafana 25,000Ar pp per day, lots of walks available. We got 6 to 8 hr walk inc primary forest for 70,000Ar. Diamundar was our guide, he was very excellent. Will post his email if I can find it. Saw 4 types of lemurs all day long along with loads of other stuff. This place is amazing, the day was such good fun. Walked downhill into village after, not sure how else to get down. hitch?
After relaxing beer etc, stayed at Manja again.
Day - 8
Flagged down breusse outside Manja, back to Fianar (about 6,000Ar). Rammed to the rafters, people hanging on outside, hit 30 people at points.
Fianar breusse stop is a bit chaotic. One company sold us tickets to Ranohira (for Isalo NP) (25,000Ar) and stuck us on another bus where our seats numbers were not recognised. Shoved to the edges but at least were weren't charged again. Had to change again in Ihosy, again, not charged. Took 12 hours from Ranomafana to Ranohira.
Stayed at Chez Momo (35,000Ar). A very nice set up with nice rooms and very good gardens. Arranged tour for 2 day trek in Isalo NP, camping in the park, guides, all meals, fees, camp gear hire, porters, car to start point etc - 180,000Ar pp. While this was expensive it was not massively overpriced compared to if you were to do it through the office (as we wanted to camp) - 2 full days of guides etc is not cheap.
Day - 9
Set off to Isalo. Went to Canyon des Makis and did about 18km walk to campsite, all dayer. It was excellent and the scenery is stunning, grasslands, mountains etc. Saw 2 types of lemur and array of other stuff. Its very hot, take hat etc, loads of water.
Stayed at campsite which was very well kitted out. 3 course meal (only one of holidays!) was delicious.
Day - 10
Disaster. Ill. Completely struck down by vomiting and diarrhoea. Had to crawl out of campsite and then picked up by car. Back to hotel and sleep. Second day walking and trekking not undertaken and no proportion refunded, a shame.
Stayed at Chez Momo again (35,000).
Day - 11
Feeling a bit rough but better, plans to Tulear and Ifaty abandoned and got private care to Fianar (400,000 - gulp) (NB the plan from Ifaty was to get a returning hire car to Tana, about 18 hrs, various people saying it would cost between 180,00 and 300,000)
Fianar is better than the books make it to be, it's not so bad at all. We ate at Tahiana which was a cool little place.
Stayed at Tombontsoa (50,000Ar), which was a bit bland and the room was loud but the place had a swimming pool and ok.
Day - 12
Up and off to train station for the train to Sahambavy. Train departs Tues, Thurs & Sat to Manakara at 7am (actually more like 8 to 830).
You can book seats the night before in 1st class, but if you want the authentic crush of 2nd class you have to turn up at 6am or so at the station and buy on morning of departure. Judging from the queue in the morning, the tickets might be hard to get hold of and it doesnt look worth it.
The train is about 30,000Ar to Manakara but we only went 2 stops to Sahambavy (about 90 mins) and the cost was 24,000Ar. (breusse by comparison is 2,400Ar). The train was excellent and the full journey is meant to be very pretty.
At Sahambavy we went to the Tea Plantation and factory (tour 7,000Ar) and walked around the lake for a few hours. The place is tranquil and rural and very relaxing and we thought quite highly of this area.
This was our honeymoon accommodation and we stayed at the Lac Hotel (only accomodation) at 90,000Ar for the cheapest bungalow (Luxe Bungalows are 160,000). The staff were very considerate, the room was great, the grounds and gardens were very good and the whole place is generally extremely well run and friendly. This place was very good. They even chased us down the street on motorbikes after checking out with new shoelaces after a dog incident.
Day - 13
Taxi Breusse back to Fianar (2,400Ar) on a rough old road - about 2 hrs for 30km - and then breusse up to Antsirabe (15,000Ar). Belgian guy wouldnt stop smoking the whole way, the only incident of someone smoking on a taxi-breusse actually.
Antsirabe had some very persistent pousse pousse drivers at Green Park, which was full anyway.
Stayed at Baobab (35,000Ar), which was a bit plain but fine. Ate at Arche which was nice.
Day 14 (Thu 10 May)
Looked around Antsirabe which was a nice town, bustling and good markets. Some pousse pousse drivers and sellers are very persistent, keep saying no and walking.
Got pousse pousse to taxi brousse station up north (about 3km) for 2,000Ar each but they took us to a hotel garden about 2km away and tried to make us get on a mate's breusse. We refused to move and a stand off occured. We were eventually taken to a the station where they demanded 5,000 each but we refused, paid 2,000 each and walked off. Probably the only incident of being aggressively scammed.
Breusse to Tana (8,000Ar) was fine and went to Sakamanga hotel to deposit bags. The restaurant here is fabulous. It's majority Westerners admittedly but the only restaurant (not hotely, market or cafe or anything) we went to that was busy and lively. Had lovely food and an excellent last meal in Madagascar.
Booked taxi here for 35,000Ar for 3 of us to airport for 930pm. He only charged us 30,000!
What a two weeks, we enjoyed it so so much and would love to go again. Hopefully prices and info here has been helpful. Good luck wherever you go