Madagascar itinerary questions

Your day 11 doesn't really make sense - you'd certainly be able to find things to do, but Tana is an acquired taste, and if you want to concentrate on the wildlife you should use the day differently. If your return international flight leaves in the late evening, as many do, you could use day 12 to sightsee in Tana.

What you might consider doing is extending your stay in Masoala. Your itinerary there is going to be rushed. It takes about three hours by boat from Maroantsetra to the Arollodge, so on day 5 you would spend the morning in the boat have a forest trip in the afternoon, which is the hottest time of day and not the ideal time of day to see most wildlife, and set off back the following morning, day 6.

Your trip to Nosy Mangabe is likely to be hectic, as people like to do the sea transits back to Maroantsetra as early as possible, because sea conditions have a tendency to get rough in the afternoon - so as planned, you would probably leave Arollodge early - say 7 or 7.30, get to Nosy Mangabe about 10, do a quick circuit and back on the boat to Maroantsetra around 12.30 or one o'clock. That is not a relaxing itinerary with time to find and enjoy the wildlife.

An overnight stay on Nosy Mangabe (that would be camping) is also rewarding in wildlife terms, and better than a day in hot, dusty and polluted Tana, unless you know you can enjoy the city.

Is the itinerary reasonable? Well in terms of the choice of parks to see in a short trip, sure, but not in the detailed planning (see above). Does your $3000 dollars include your international flight? If not, it's very expensive.

$1000 for internal airfares? From your itinerary it looks like you'll be flying to Maroantsetra and back and one way to Toliara. Current return fare Tana-Maroantsetra-Tana is around $337, a one way ticket to Toliara is about $216. That makes $1000 one hell of a mark-up, especially as travel agencies like Cortez will probably have negotiated discounted rates with Air Mad.

Have you looked at the tours offered by "Boogie Pilgrim"?
Jane

I had not. Or maybe I'd looked at their website and had found it a bit confusing. But I'll reach out to them. Thanks.

Hi,

I agree with #1 on the comments on Masoala and Tana. A day extra in Masoala will allow you to enjoy it more. I can't say about Isalo, which I didn't visit, but it is probably also better than staying that day in Tana.

There isn't much to see in Maroantsetra itself. But we found quite interesting to mingle with the locals in the market and the bars.

$3000 looks like quite a bit. In 2006 in 4 weeks we spent quite a bit less than $1000 per person + internal planes. We moved around with taxi-brousse and were on a low budget, but entered parks like everybody and ate quite well.

Enjoy your trip!

Carlos

Hello,
I think that if you will have 1 free day you should spend it at Tana-Tuler part of trip, because you have only 3 days for this road and visit Isalo. I think the best will be visit for 1 day Sarondrano or Ifaty - you can snork/dive there and see some Sakalava tombs etc.
If you decide to spend this extra day in Maroantsetra area I think good idea is to visit private reserve (I do not remember name) on small river island with aye-aye.
Good luck!
Tom