HOW TO travel around MADAGASCAR
Updated: 8/31/20 | 31. augusta 2020
Madagascar. It’s a lot more than an inaccurate (but fun) DreamWorks movie.
Located off the eastern coastline of Africa, this island, nearly the size of France as well as the third-largest in the world, has a population over 26 million however sees less than 300,000 tourists a year.
I spent two weeks there with Intrepid travel as well as was shocked by how few tourists there were as well as by just how challenging the country was to travel around. The roads are so poor it can take up to eight hours to go 250 km (155 miles)!
But soon it became clear why there were so few tourists: getting to the country is expensive, there’s very little information about it online, few organized activities, as well as only a couple hostels, tourism information centers, helpful signs, or anything that would be considered a “tourist infrastructure” (and sadly, very little infrastructure at all). Madagascar’s tourism caters to older Europeans who visit expensive beach resorts or take organized excursions as well as step around the country in a little bubble. Nary a backpacker did I see on my trip.
Moreover, it’s a country ravaged by poverty, corruption, as well as natural disaster. Travelers unwilling to get off the beaten path (which is a lot of people) normally don’t end up here.
Yet Madagascar is a raw as well as gorgeous destination that blew me away in so lots of ways. It’s inexpensive once you get there, your vacationer dollars can produce a really positive impact, as well as there are few crowds as well as lots of cute lemurs as well as majestic landscapes, which you get essentially to yourself!
Ako sa tam dostať
The first thing you need to know is that getting to Madagascar is not easy. direct flights are only offered from a handful of major destinations (including Paris, Istanbul, as well as Johannesburg) as well as less-visited countries like Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, as well as Ethiopia.
Additionally, a lot of of these destinations only offer a limited amount of flights per week.
I jumped on a flight offer to Johannesburg ($630 USD for new York to Johannesburg as well as then onward to Vienna) however that was a silly thing to do because, given the price of flights from Johannesburg to Madagascar (I paid $800 USD round-trip), it ended costing me a lot more than just booking a direct ticket to Madagascar.
I was pretty silly not looking up flights beforehand. I might have gotten a round trip ticket from the us for less (and from Paris for way less.) Here’s a chart for prices from new York City in January 2021 to help give you a sense of what to expect when booking your ticket:
For a flight from the united states to Madagascar, you’re checking out spending at least $1,000 USD for a round-trip flight. keep in mind these prices are for the rainy season in December/January. during the high season (also the dry season), you’re checking out flights better to $1,600-2,000 USD from new York City as well as $800-1,100 USD from Europe.
From Canada? prices start around $1,200 CAD in the low season.
You’re checking out spending at least $500 USD round-trip on a flight from Johannesburg (more if it’s high season).
However, it’s not all poor news. From Paris, Air France uses direct round-trip flights for around $700 USD. as well as there are a few travel hacking opportunities. With some planning, you can find a reward flight. You only need 30,000 miles each way from Europe, as well as Air France has a respectable availability (but if you miss the 30,000-point option, you’ll be checking out 60-90,000 points each way).
United has very sporadic reward flights on partners starting at 19,500 miles each way. Flights are only bookable on specific days, however, as well as only in the economy. On the plus side, the price in miles is the same in both the high season as well as the low season.
So it takes some work to get there, however if you can string together some flight deals as well as mile opportunities, you can lower the expense to an affordable(ish) level.
Here are some web sites you can use to find inexpensive flight deals:
Scott’s inexpensive Flights
The flight Deal
Holiday Pirates
How to get around Madagascar
Organized excursions are the most typical way to visit the country. One guide told me that about 80% of visitors come on organized excursions as well as the other 20% hire a private chauffeur to get around. (Most tourists are older as well as heavily European.)
I think that lots of younger travelers stay away since getting to the country or booking a excursion is so expensive. Plus, there’s just not much complimentary information offered on Madagascar.
But let’s modification that as well as talk about how to visit the country.
Organized Tours
A 14-day excursion will expense $2,400–4,400 USD. You’ll stay in mid-range hotels (private bathrooms, hot water, breakfast, as well as maybe even a pool) as well as have your vlastný autobus s šoférom a miestnym sprievodcom. Rovnako získate súkromných sprievodcov v každom parku, ktorí opítia to, čo vidíte, pomôžete si všimnúť zvieratá, ako aj dať nejaký pridaný kontext v cieľovom mieste.
Väčšina exkurzií sa riadi rovnakou cestou a zasiahne všetky obrovské parky a destinácie v centre krajiny, s pridanými platenými doplnkami do iných častí krajiny.
V rámci môjho partnerstva s nimi som išiel s neohrozeným cestovaním. Náš sprievodca Patrick bol fenomenálnym zdrojom, ktorý odpovedal na všetky moje otázky, poskytoval rady a poskytoval nápady, čo vidieť, ako aj v tejto krajine, ktorá nemá veľa zdrojov na výskum.
Keby to bolo na mne, viac by som sústredil cestovný plán cesty. Myslím si, že neohrozený často sa snaží robiť príliš veľa. Aj keď sa mi páčilo všetko, čo sme urobili, prial by som si, aby bolo oveľa viac času na každé miesto, ako aj menej času na jazdu (ak by mal Madagaskar správnu infraštruktúru, čo by nebolo problémom).
Nezávislé cestovanie
Madagaskar je náročné miesto na návštevu sóla. Existuje málo dovolenkárových infraštruktúry alebo hostelov (čo má zmysel vzhľadom na to, ako sú tu lacné hotely, ako aj penzionátory), ako aj verejné autobusy nechodia do mnohých miest, ako aj do národných parkov. Budete musieť poznať aj francúzštinu, pretože angličtina sa sotva hovorí (aj keď angličtina je úradným jazykom).
Podľa môjho názoru je preto náročné obísť sa bez akejkoľvek pomoci.
Ale môžete cestovať po sebe? Samozrejme! Myslím si však, že by ste museli byť skúseným cestovateľom, naozaj v poriadku, že by ste boli vytlačení z vašej zóny pohodlia, ako aj v absolútne žiadnom zhone, pretože obchádzanie rozpočtového plánu bude trvať čas.
Pretože cesty sú skutočne zlé, dostať sa z bodu A do B je výzvou. Vo verejnom taxislužbe (malá dodávka zabalená do žiabrov s ľuďmi), budete postupovať pomaly. Autobusy idú, keď sú plné. Neexistuje žiadny nastavený rozvrh. Často sa objavujú; Oveľa častejšie ako nie, nie.
Avšak, keď vidím stav autobusov, ako aj to, ako veľa ľudí tam napchajú, plus počet nehôd na cestách, nie som si istý, či sa do jedného dostanem. Nechcel by som tráviť 24 hodín zabalených ako hydina v dodávke bez klimatizácie (a často ani okien).
Prenajímanie vozidla aj šoféru stojí 75 USD denne (alebo trochu viac, ak chcete 4WD), ako aj najobľúbenejšou možnosťou pre ľudí, ktorí sa snažia ísť sami (a nechcú čakať na autobusy). Aj keď by ste mohli jazdiť sami, veľa nájomných spoločností vyžaduje, aby šoféri šli s vami.
Môžete tiež lietať okolo ostrova, avšak existuje iba jedna letecká spoločnosť (Air Madagascar), ako aj veľa nákladov na lístky najmenej 250-300 USD, takže ak máte rozpočet, lietanie nie je možné. Navyše zrušia lety často bez predchádzajúceho upozornenia.
Čo teda musíte robiť?
Ak sa skutočne snažíte nájsť nejaké drsné, staré školák nezávislé cestovanie, Madagaskar je miestom, kde to urobiť. Ak máte veľa času, rovnako ako na skutočnú výzvu, choďte sólo – a tiež sa naučte francúzsky! (Naozaj nemôžem obávať potrebu poznať francúzštinu. Mimo obrovských miest, ako aj niekoľko oblastí dovolenkárov, sa angličtina sotva hovorí.)
Ak si prenajmete vozidlo aj vodiča, budete mať oveľa viac zeme a budete mať oveľa viac slobody. V okolí je veľa lacných penziónov a reštaurácií, takže sa nemusíte pozerať ďaleko rovnako ako veľké miesto na pobyt alebo jedlo.
Ak sa nesnažíte nájsť tento druh robustného zážitku, ako by ste chceli niečo oveľa viac organizovanejšie, exkurzia je najlepšia – rovnako ako skutočne iba – možnosť. Chcel som exkurziu, ktorá mi pomohla dostať sa na pozemok, ako aj odpovedať na všetky moje otázky týkajúce sa krajiny. Nehovorím francúzsky ani veľa času. Exkurzia bola veľkou orientáciou na krajinu, ktorá bola pre mňa záhadou. Bol to úžasný spôsob, ako sa stretnúť s ľuďmi v cieľovom mieste s niekoľkými nezávislými cestujúcimi.
(Jedna vec, ktorú si treba pamätať, je, že klientela výletov je tu staršia, ako aj výlety, ktoré sa zaoberajú v ich itinerároch, činnostiach, ako aj ubytovaní. Exkurzie tu nie sú vytvorené pre aktívnych batohov.)
Keby som sa vrátil, išiel by som sám a preskúmal som s vozidlom, som však rád, že som pri svojej prvej návšteve išiel s exkurziou.
Je Madagaskar v bezpečí?
Keď som sa blúdil, nikdy som sa necítil nebezpečný. Bol som oveľa viac zvedavosť ako čokoľvek iné, keď som videl, že vidia tak málo turistov, najmä tých, ktorí sa nezúčastnili v autobuse. Existuje veľa žobrákov, najmä deti, rovnako ako aj vy musíte stále hovoriť, rovnako ako odchod. Taxi motoristi tu neberú odpoveď, ako aj nikto vás skutočne nezbaví.
To znamená, že trestný čin je v celej krajine, ako aj jeden miestny, o ktorom som vedel, že odporučil ísť von po zotmení. Nerobia to ani. V skutočnosti veľa hotelov vfunding of Antananarivo hire escorts to take people from the hotel to bars or restaurants.
During the day and, especially in smaller villages, walking around is perfectly fine. At night, I would use a lot a lot more caution, especially in the capital.
What are prices Like?
Though getting to the country is expensive, once you are there everything is exceptionally cheap. Your money goes a long, long way in Madagascar. I went to a local market as well as spent 100 ARY on a spring roll. After realizing that there are 3,000 ARY to the dollar, that indicated I had paid just three cents. As I was still hungry, I gotten 15 more.
Even when you are eating at the hotel restaurants the excursions go to, a lot of meals aren’t a lot more than $4 USD. In regular, local restaurants, they are half that price.
Madagascar food is mostly chicken, zebu (a type of cattle), pork, stews, as well as rice. lots OF RICE. (Get the Zebu in a stew. It’s much better that way.) There’s likewise a lot of surprisingly good pizza in this country. You’ll certainly need to know French if you go into the non-international places (or travel outside of the cities).
Even on the road, there are a lot of restaurants (again, knowing French is going to be crucial here, especially outside the funding Antananarivo). hotels are $20-50 USD per night (on the more affordable range outside the capital). You can quickly find accommodation on booking.com. There’s plenty of accommodation provided on that website.
Here are some normal prices:
Meals at restaurants that deal with tourists – 12,000-30,000 MGA ($3-8 USD)
Meals at regular, local restaurants – 6,500 MGA ($1.75 USD)
Street snacks – 10-200 MGA (up to 5 cents US) (Be sure to try nem (spring rolls). They are incredible!)
Accommodation – 65,000-160,000 MGA per night ($20-50 USD)
Car with a chauffeur – 285,000 MGA a day ($75 USD)
Grocery prices – 11,000-20,000 MGA ($3-5 USD) (This would get you a kilo of rice, some zebu, as well as a variety of vegetables.)
SIM Card – 4,000 MGA ($1 USD) as well as 30,000 MGA ($8 USD) per 2 GB of data.
Park entrance fees – 55,000 MGA ($15 USD) plus 20,000 MGA ($5.50 USD) for a guide
Local tiny buses – 10,000-20,000 MGA ($2.50-5 USD)
***
Madagascar was a beautiful, raw, as well as bewitching country. There’s no place like it on earth.
Far off the vacationer trail, this a destination where your inner Indiana Jones or Anthony Bourdain can be set complimentary to explore. I’m so delighted I went, as well as though the old traveler adage is “I can’t wait to go back,” I suspect that my visit to Madagascar will be the only one in my lifetime. I hope I’m wrong, however given the problem of getting there, it really can be a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
And I do hope you make it in your lifetime!
Book Your trip to Madagascar: Logistical ideas as well as Tricks
Book Your Flight
Use Skyscanner or Momondo to find a inexpensive flight. They are my two favorite search engines since they search web sites as well as airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned. start with Skyscanner first though since they have the greatest reach!
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the greatest inventory as well as best deals. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the least expensive rates for guesthouses as well as inexpensive hotels.
Don’t forget travel Insurance
Travel insurance will secure you against illness, injury, theft, as well as cancellations. It’s extensive protection in situation anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it lots of times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service as well as value are:
Safety Wing (for everyone below 70)
Insure My trip (for those over 70)
Medjet (pre ďalšie pokrytie repatriácie)
Looking for the best companies to save money With?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use to save money when I’m on the road. They will save you money when you travel too.
Want a lot more information on Madagascar?
Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on Madagascar for even a lot more planning tips!
Note: I went to Madagascar with Intrepid travel as part of our ongoing partnership. They paid for the excursion as well as my expenses during the trip. I paid for my flights to as well as from Madagascar.