Pointers when planning your Madagascar Safari

Madagascar is not for everyone… if you really like good quality accommodation, expect a holiday to unfold exactly as the brochure says and have difficulty coping with change, then perhaps Madagascar is not for you. However if you have a spirit of adventure, welcome the unexpected, and are willing to accept some irritations and rustic conditions, then Madagascar, with its pristine flora and extra-ordinary wildlife, could be the perfect destination for you. We recommend that you visit at least two, and preferably three or four, of its distinct climatic and floral zones.

Type of accommodation
Unlike many countries in Southern Africa, there really isn’t that much choice in terms of accommodation in Madagascar except in the beach resorts of Nosy Be and Ile Sainte Marie. The accommodation is reasonable, but usually not of a very high standard, and so if you are someone who only enjoys only the finer hotels and lodges then you need to appreciate that this is not on offer in Madagascar. We try to tell it as it is in our quotes so that there should be no surprises when you are on holiday, so please read our comments thoroughly.

Having said that, Nosy Be and Ile Sainte Marie do offer a higher standard of hotel and so this is where you can upgrade your accommodation to offset the more modest lodges elsewhere.

Cost
Some clients are under the impression that because the hotel standard is not high, the cost of a Madagascar holiday will be moderate. Unfortunately this is not really the case. Though it is not one of the most expensive safari destinations in Africa, it is not cheap. There are a variety of reasons for this:

The international flight to Madagascar is expensive (due to lack of competition). However this should be changing as SA Airlink introduces a new direct flight from Johannesburg to Nosy Be. This will stimulate South African interest in Madagascar and lead to lower air prices.

Madagascar is a huge country and therefore the domestic flights between Tana and Fort Dauphin (for Berenty) and 'Tana and Morondava are also expensive. Given that most people want to experience the diversity of Madagascar’s flora and fauna, you usually will visit  3 or 4 different regions.

The hotels and lodges are priced in Euros and charge European-style prices.

English-speaking guide or not?
One factor which has a big influence on the cost of your safari is whether you take a private English-speaking guide. We usually give you the price with and without this guide.

If you choose the basic tour, your hotel transfers (from the airports to your hotels and from Tana to Perinet) are with a local driver who will not speak much  English. This is fine if you speak French (which is a common language in Madagascar) or if you are really looking for the cheapest possible cost, but could be frustrating if you want to ask your driver about something you’ve seen en route, or ask a general information question. However when you get to the National Park just as Perinet or Berenty, you join the scheduled tours and excursions with the English-speaking park rangers.

The alternative is to take a English-speaking private guide. We include this as standard if you are a party of four people as the cost is not so much more however we offer it as a supplement if you are just 2 or 3 people. It is quite a bit more than the basic tour as you have to pay the guide’s daily fees and also his accommodation and meals but in exchange you have much more flexibility and will gain so much more knowledge about the wildlife and sights of Madagascar so we strongly recommend it.

Note that if you fly from one area to another, you will have different English-speaking guides in each region. The guide does not accompany you on the flight. So you’ll have one guide for your visit to Perinet and another one who meets you at Fort Dauphin for your visit to Berenty.

When to visit Madagascar?
The west and northwest are year-round destinations but mid January to March is cyclone season on the east coast. The eastern rainforests have a high rainfall so the best times to visit are the drier months of May onwards or September to December.

Place Names
Madagascar is quite confusing in terms of place names as the guide books swop from the English name, for example, Perinet, to the Madagascan name eg Andasibe (Perinet) fairly indiscriminately. Sometimes the Latin name is also used.

In our proposals we tend to use the English names with the Madgascan names in brackets so that if you are reading a guide book or surfing the net, you can link up which area is which

Fitness Levels
Another thing to bear in mind is that ideally you should be reasonably fit. You experience Madagascar’s flora and fauna mainly by walking the forest trails, sometimes for some hours, sometimes in hilly terrain.

Can you go to the beach in Madagascar?
Some clients are wishing to combine Mauritius with Madagascar. Though this is perfectly possible – staying at a smart resort hotel on Mauritius and then visiting Madagascar for its wildlife, you should also consider ending your Madagascar safari with some time on the beach.

Many visitors tack on some days of relaxation at the end, at Nosy Be or Ile Sainte Marie with their gorgeous tropical beaches.

Nosy Be
Nosy Be is the largest of several beautiful islands off the northwest coast. This ‘Perfumed Isle’ is alive with the smells of vanilla, ylang-ylang and coffee. The more active can enjoy diving and snorkelling off the coral reefs or perhaps an excursion to Nosy Komba and Nosy Tanikely. Alternatively the Isle of Tsara Bajina matches the Seychelles for stunning island beauty – a palm-fringed desert island with lapping azure blue waters. 

Ile Sainte Marie
Ile Sainte Marie is 50km long and 7km at its widest point. The only real town is Ambodifotatra - other small villages comprise bamboo and palm huts. The island is almost universally known as Sainte Marie and is almost a cliché of a tropical island with endless deserted beaches overhung by coconut palms, bays protected from sharks by coral reefs, hills covered with luxuriant vegetation and a relative absence of unsightly tourist development. Sainte Marie has a far less settled weather pattern that its island rival, Nosy Be. Cyclones strike regularly and you can expect several days of rain and wind all year round, but interspersed with calm sunny weather. The best months for a visit are from June to November.

And finally a couple of smaller points to remember:

How to get to Madagascar?
You can fly to the capital city of Tana from Johannesburg or Paris and also from the island of Mauritius.

Health
Unlike its northern neighbour, Mauritius, Madagascar is in a high risk malaria-area and so anti-malaria precautions should be taken