hi everybody,
i want to reach madagascar via tanzania and the comores. anybody who travelled by boat this way? i would appreciate all kinds of information.
is the tanzania-comores connection i heard of going from zansibar or dar?
will i face problems getting a visa on arrival (harbour)?
will they ask for a return ticket?
is it maybe easier to go to madagascar from mozambique?
whatever info you have please let me know!
thanks a lot!
f.
Hi,
There are no direct passenger connections of any kind between Mozambique and Madagascar. There are also no ferries between the Comoros and Madagascar.
The alternative used to be to get a passage on a cargo boat, but at present, the Madagascar government has prohibited the carriage of passengers on cargo boats as a result of a number of recent fatal incidents. If you arrive as an illegal passenger, I wouldn't like to predict how the immigration authorities would receive you, but the chances are they wouldn't be terribly friendly.
If you want to enter Madagascar by sea, there's a ferry from La Réunion and Mauritius into Toamasina/Tamatave. Check out [http://www.mauritiusshipping.intnet.mu/schedule%20page.html] for times. To get an entry visa at any embassy or port of entry you would need to present a return ticket or onward air ticket / proof of e-ticket booking.
Maybe someone on the Comoros thread can give you info on ferries from Tanzania.
In any case, both the Comnoros and Madagascar require onward tickets to let you enter their countries.
Since you can only really get air tickets in advance, and these are generally only refundable where you bought them, this pretty much rules out arriving by sea at least for the Comoros!
The rourte from Mauritius or Reunion could work if you take the ships BOTH WAYS.
That is necessary as youy will also need an onward air ticket to enter Maurtitius/Reunion, and the boat tivckets can only be purchased once within those countries.
The fact that you can get air tickets in advance means it's perfectly possible to arrive by sea either in the Comoros or in Madagascar - if you can find a legitimately operating ferry. Just book your onward flight first, either online or through an airline office if you pass through a city where there is one.
It's also possible to reserve a passage in advance on the ferry from La Réunion or Mauritius - phone, fax, e-mail are all available, as is also the link "Info Request" on the schedules page of their website. Evidence of a confirmed reservation will get you into the country in the same way as a computer print-out of your e-ticket reservation will.
If you're a citizen of the European Union, you need neither a visa nor an onward ticket to enter La Réunion, as it's a French overseas territory and counts as part of the EU. (The same basically applies to Mayotte, which in a normal world would be one of the Comoros, though in this case there are limits on the length of stay).
If you want to come into Madagascar by ferry from Mauritius or La Réunion, then it certainly isn't necessary to do the trip both ways! It's easy enough to get an onward ticket out of Madagascar in advance to the destination of your choice. Air Madagascar, Air Austral, Air France, Air Mauritius, South African Airways, Corsair - take your pick.
It is also not the case that an air ticket is only refundable where you bought it - if it's refundable at all, you can get your refund at any office of the airline that issued it. For example, you can get a refund on Air Mad tickets at the office in Tana or through the Paris office (where you wouldn't need to call in person).
If you book a reduced rate flight and are intending to get a refund, check the conditions before you book. Many reduced rate flights (e.g. Air Mad's "promotional" long-haul tickets) are 100% non-refundable.
Sure, one could buy an air ticket for the onward journey, then not use it, but short of going back to where it was bought for a refund, this would be an expensive excersise.
Despite what #2 says, I found that both Air Mauritius and Air Madagascar said their (full price OW) tickets could only be refunded at the issuing office. This is personal experience from a few months ago.
In any case, ASFAIK, there are no "legally operating ferries" between the Comoros and either mainland Africa or Madagascar. Only cargo boats.
I did try buying the boat ticket out of Mauritius in advance, and failed.
So did others I talked to.
The shipping company just can't be bothered to reply emails - not surprising once you see how busy their office is, full of customers ready to buy tickets on the spot with cash in hand.
Also, I found that Mauritius immigration is a real pain - not only do they want you to hold an onward ticket (NOT just a reservation!), they in fact want to see a ticket back to your country of origin!
There have been posts about this on the Mauritius branch.
Since you can in practice only get an onward AIR ticket in advance, that means that unless you manage to refund it in Mauritius, or are ready to throw it away, you will have to go from Mau to MAD by sea RT.
There are loads of Comorien people living in Zanzibar, and definitely there are ferries between Comoros and Zanzibar, most probably cargo boats which take passengers. The ferries leave Dar, then go to Zanzibar and from there leave for Comoros. So Zanzibar is the best place to take them.
The entry formalities in Comoros are in town (in Moroni), at least they used to be there. So you can enter the country without any ticket, days later arrange the ticket and get your visa at the immigration. Besides, i do not recall them even asking the tickets.
Actually earlier posts on TT mentioned people arriving without onward tickets being given a hard time (and only a short stay permit) by Comorian immigration, but if one could indeed go and buy a ticket in Moroni (which should then be refundable there, too) before seeing immigration, then this would be less of an issue here.
I have no experience with the Comoros, but in all other 3 Indian Ocean island nations mentioned above, immigration did demand to see onward tickets, and in both Mauritius and Reunion they wait for arriving ships in the port.
The port in Mahajunga looked chaotic enough to make me think the same solution as in the Comoros might also work there, eg. one could probably buy an Air Madagascar ticket out of the country in their local office before going to see immigration.
It seems that #4 is misinformed. It’s perfectly possible to obtain a refund of Air Madagascar tickets at offices other than where you bought them. I’ve done this a number of times myself and when I bought additional tickets from the Paris call centre on 22 December, I was again assured quite explicitly that I would be able to change and/or cancel the domestic tickets at any Air Mad office in Madagascar (the long-haul flight, as a promotional fare, is non-refundable anywhere).
In thirty years of international travel I’ve never once been told by any IATA airline that I’d have to go back to the point of sale to get a refund on a ticket I bought from the airline or its handling agent. The last point is important, because if you buy the ticket from a travel agent, then of course you’re not going to get a refund from the airline. Your contract is with the travel agent, to whom the airline pays a commission for your booking. They aren’t going to give you the money back and be left paying the commission, so they’ll tell you to go see the company you bought it from. For that reason I never buy air tickets from travel agents, and with modern communications and credit cards, it’s hardly, if ever, necessary.
In the case of people coming into Madagascar by sea, and I’ve spoken to a number of people who’ve done it, there is absolutely no need to throw away any air ticket you’ve booked in advance. You’re going to have to leave Madagascar anyway, so why not just book a flight on the route you’re going to take out – the question of a refund doesn’t arise then. You can still be flexible, because if you book a full fare ticket you can change your dates of travel at will, and if you have a reduced fare ticket, the fee for changing the date is almost always a fraction of the cost of a cancellation (which may not be allowed).
That there are no legitimate ferries into Madagascar apart from the Réunion/Mauritius route is something I mentioned at #1, and at present you shouldn’t be looking at cargo boats as an alternative. But assuming you were to get a passage into Mahajunga: even if the port there were as chaotic as implied at #6, you’d be very ill advised to do what is suggested. Whether the rest of port is chaotic or not, the gate guards are very efficient at turning people away, so you’d end up being in the country without an immigration stamp – definitely not a good idea!
And as far as booking a passage on the Réunion/Mauritius ferry is concerned, if they don’t answer e-mails promptly (which seems to be something of a problem in the entire region), then phone them. They were completely helpful and courteous, and would have given me a firm reservation if I hadn’t been put off by the price.
Marogisa, if I was misinformed about the possiblity of refunding tickets bought abroad, then I was misinformed by the very airline staff (of both Air Mau and Air Mad) who could have refunded them.
At that point I guess there was little left to do - if they say they won't give a refund there, I can't squeeze it out of them.
And, marogisa, you are again (it seems to be your habit!) going into the wrong assumptions. I did not buy those tickets from travel agents, but from the very offices of Air Mau and Air Mad (the latter being their "representative") in Singapore and Mauritius respectively.
As for the passenger ship from Mauritius and Reunion, I again speak (unlike you) from personal experience, even having been on their ships a few months ago.
Ditto about the highly unwelcoming Mauritian immigration authorities, who weren't in fact even satisfied seeing an onward air ticket to Madagascar, let alone a simple reservation for a ship (should one get it eventually).
In any case, someone wishing to travel from mainland Africa to Madagascar by ship is unlikely to wish to fly to Mauritius first.
I only did try and go from there because I was coming from Asia.
My gut feeling is that OP's best chances of getting into Madagascar by sea from Tanzania are by following the route originally intended, via the Comoros. Of course, it involves a certain risk, as already pointed out, and is dependent on immigration not catching him upon arrival without an onward ticket. This is sg. I haven't tried so can't speak for.