Madagascar

I was fortunate to spend 1 month in Madagascar for our honeymoon and it has become one of my favorite places I’ve visited so far. The trip started at Antananarivo where we spent the first night before heading on our adventure. We used Tour Malin (based in Antananarivo) and they were great at tailoring the vacation to our taste. My husband and I we love adventure so we chose the first 2 weeks to be very active and the remainder was more chill playing beachbums, fishing and visiting local villages and nature in between. You can check their site out at https://www.tour-malin-madagascar.com/
We had a 4×4 & a driver who took us from the capital all the way to the south where we had the relaxing part of the trip. One of my highlights was going down the river (3 days/2nights). Since it was at the beginning of the season, there were almost no tourists and we were the only boat going down the river. At night, they set up tents on the river bank where we slept before continuing on our journey. They cooked for us right on the boat and we stopped at a few of the villages along the way. We boarded the boat at Miandrivazo and got off at Morondava.
Here is a brief outline of the program we did:
05 march : Paris – Antananarivo
06 march: Antananarivo – Antsirabe – Miandrivazo
07 march : Miandrivazo – going down the river. Visist natural pool, waterfall, camping for the night etc.
08 march: Going down the river. Stop at villages and visit schools, markets, tobacco factory, interact with the villagers, camping
09 march : Sortie Exit the river at Morondava
– Baobab Alley
10 march : Morondava
visit Betania : a fisherman village to witness return from fishing. Visit village
11 march : Morondava – Antsirabe
12 march : Antsirabe – Ambositra – Antoetra
– visit village zafimaniry
13 march : Antoetra – Ranomafana
14 march : Ranomafana – Andringitra
· visit national parc, tropical rainy forest
15 march : Andringitra
· trekking in the forest
16 march : Andringitra – Ranohira
17 march : Ranohira
· visit parc
18 march : Ranohira
19 mars : Ranohira – Ifaty
· visite sapphire mines
19 March-1 April Ifaty
Staying at Nautilus resort (highly recommended). Fishing trip for 3 days at Salary Bay, diving and snorkeling in Ifaty. The Nautilus offers all those services, except for the fishing trip but they can recommend you to a trusted company. We also visited the surrounding villages and forests and learned about natural remedies.
1 -4 April – Antananarivo
Visit the zoo, crocodile farm, local markets and other historical landmarks. We stayed at hotel Palissandre https://www.hotel-restaurant-palissandre.com/ and had our last nice meal at Villa Vanille. Both places I recommend for the quality of services.
I am dreaming of the next time I’ll have the opportunity to go back to Madagascar again.
I didnt fly from the US so our tickets cost $1870 roundtrip for 2. We took a flight from Paris with Corsair with a brief layover in Reunion island. It was about 12 hr. Basically we got off the plane for 1 hour and we boarded the same plane again.
When you arrive, you have to purchase your entrance visa which costs 80,000 Ariary ($22).
Some helpful tips:
Changing money was easy. I recommend doing it at the airport. And yes after you change your money you will feel almost like a millionaire with the exchange rate lol.
Food and accommodations are very cheap and the people are super nice.
Learn the basics such as thank you, how are you, goodbye and good morning. It makes a big difference
Do try to eat Zebu, it’s a weird looking cow but tastes the same.
Bring mosquito repellent and sunscreen
Eat tons of fresh fruits and vegetables.
We did a lot of activities such as hiking, trekking and sightseeing at each of the stops listed in the program. I cant list them all but I enjoyed every activity.
As a black traveler and a Caribbean girl, I felt right at home in Madagascar. I was often mistaken for a local but I had to learn how to say “sorry i dont speak Malagasy”.
I highly recommend Madagascar to every single black traveler. I guarantee you will fall in love with that country as much as I did. Feel free to ask questions if you’re interested in going. There is so much to say but I didnt want to write a novel about the trip. #WAKANDA FOREVER