Updated: 8/31/20 | August 31st, 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!
How to get There
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.
Fra 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 egen buss med en sjåfør så vel som lokal guide. Du vil også få private guider i hver park som vil beskrive hva du ser, hjelpe deg med å få øye på dyr, samt gi litt kontekst på destinasjonen.
De fleste av utfluktene følger den samme ruten, og treffer alle de enorme parkene så vel som destinasjoner i sentrum av landet, med ekstra betalte tillegg til andre deler av landet.
Jeg gikk med utryddende reise på deres erfaring Madagaskar -ekskursjon som en del av partnerskapet mitt med dem. Guiden vår Patrick var en fenomenal ressurs, svarte på alle spørsmålene mine, gi råd, i tillegg til å gi ideer om hva du skal se, samt gjøre i dette landet som mangler mye ressurser til forskning.
Hvis det var opp til meg, ville jeg ha fokusert turens reiseplan mer. Jeg tror Intrepid ofte prøver å gjøre for mye. Mens jeg likte alt vi gjorde, skulle jeg ønske at det hadde vært mye mer tid på å sjekke ut hvert sted i tillegg til mindre tidskjøring (men hvis Madagaskar hadde riktig infrastruktur som ikke ville vært noe problem).
Uavhengig reise
Madagaskar er et utfordrende sted å besøke solo. Det er lite ferierende infrastruktur eller herberger (som er fornuftig gitt hvor billige hoteller så vel som gjestehus er her), så vel som offentlige busser går ikke til mange byer så vel som nasjonalparker. Du må også kjenne fransk, ettersom engelsk knapt snakkes (selv om engelsk er et offisielt språk).
Etter min mening gjør dette det ganske vanskelig å komme seg rundt uten noen form for hjelp.
Men kan du reise rundt på egen hånd? Sikker! Imidlertid tror jeg at du trenger å være en erfaren reisende, virkelig ok å bli presset ut av komfortsonen din, så vel som i absolutt ingen hast, siden det å komme deg rundt på en budsjettplan vil ta tid.
Siden veiene er veldig dårlige, er det en utfordring å komme seg fra punkt A til B. I en offentlig taxi -pannen (liten varebil pakket til gjellene med mennesker), vil du gå sakte. Busser går når de er fulle. Det er ingen fast tidsplan. Ofte dukker de opp; Mye oftere enn ikke, det gjør de ikke.
Når jeg ser tilstanden til bussene, så vel som hvor mange mennesker de stapper der inne, pluss antall ulykker på veien, er jeg ikke sikker på at jeg engang ville komme i en. Jeg ville ikke ønske å bruke 24 timer pakket som en fjørfe i en varebil uten klimaanlegg (og ofte ikke engang vinduer).
Å leie et kjøretøy så vel som sjåfør koster $ 75 USD om dagen (eller litt mer hvis du vil ha 4WD), i tillegg til det mest populære alternativet for folk som søker å gå på egen hånd (og ikke vil vente på bussene). Mens du kanskje kjører på egen hånd, krever mange leieselskaper at en sjåfør går sammen med deg.
Du kan på samme måte fly rundt øya, men det er bare ett flyselskap (Air Madagaskar), i tillegg til mange billetter som kostnader minst $ 250-300 USD, så hvis du har et budsjett, er det ikke mulig å fly. I tillegg avbryter de flyreiser ofte uten varsel.
Så hva må du gjøre?
Hvis du virkelig prøver å finne noen robuste, old-school uavhengige reise, er Madagaskar stedet å gjøre det. Hvis du har mye tid i tillegg til å være oppe for en virkelig utfordring, kan du gå solo – i tillegg til å lære litt fransk! (Jeg kan virkelig ikke angst behovet for å kjenne fransk. Utenfor de enorme byene så vel som noen få ferieområder, snakkes engelsk knapt.)
Du vil dekke litt mye mer bakken i tillegg til at du har mye mer frihet hvis du leier et kjøretøy og sjåfør. Det er mange rimelige gjestehus så vel som restauranter rundt, slik at du ikke trenger å se langt så godt som stort for et sted å bo eller et måltid.
Hvis du ikke prøver å finne den slags robuste opplevelser, så vel som ønsker noe mye mer organisert, er en utflukt den beste – så vel som bare – alternativet. Jeg ønsket en utflukt for å hjelpe meg med å få landets lag, så vel som svar på alle spørsmålene mine om landet. Jeg snakker ikke fransk og hadde heller ikke mye tid. En utflukt var en stor orientering for et land som var et gåte for meg. Det var en fantastisk måte å møte mennesker på en destinasjon med få uavhengige reisende.
(En ting å huske er at klientellet til utfluktene her er eldre, så vel som utfluktene omhandler det i deres reiseruter, aktiviteter, samt overnatting. Utfluktene her er ikke opprettet for aktive ryggsekkturister.)
Hvis jeg gikk tilbake, ville jeg gå av meg selv i tillegg til å utforske med et kjøretøy, men jeg er glad for at jeg gikk med en utflukt på mitt første besøk.
Er Madagaskar trygg?
Da jeg vandret rundt, følte jeg meg aldri utrygt. Jeg var mye mer en nysgjerrighet enn noe annet med tanke på at de ser så få turister, spesielt de som ikke er ensconced i en buss. Det er mange tiggere, spesielt barn, i tillegg til at du bare må fortsette å si nei, så vel som å gå bort. Drosjebilistene her tar nei for svar så vel som ingen virkelig bugs deg.
Når det er sagt, er straffbar handling overalt i hele landet, så vel som ikke en lokal jeg kjente anbefalte å gå ut etter mørkets frembrudd. De gjør det ikke engang. Faktisk mange hoteller ifunding 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.
Ikke glem reiseforsikring
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 (for ekstra hjemsendelsesdekning)
Looking for the best companies to save money With?
Sjekk ut ressurssiden min for de beste selskapene å bruke når du reiser. 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.