Traveling In Madagascar With Kids

Be ready to get bombarded and harassed at every taxi brousse station. Always look around at several options, inspect the bus, and go with the one that is almost at capacity as they do not leave until they are full. Zebu is the national dish and is incorporated in all cuisines.

Then re-live the day’s adventures at dinner—a three-course meal with your choice of beer or wine—before tucking into our comfy accommodations. Overall a fabulous trip with some amazing experiences. Ranomafana National Park is about two hours away from Fianarantsoa. You can access the park from the village of Ambodiamontana where they also offer guided tours. This park has become a favorite among tourist for its tropical rainforest and abundant wildlife. Madagascar is the world’s fourth largest island, having broken away from Africa well over 150 million years ago.

Meet Chameleons At The Reserve Of Peyreiras

While you could drive on your ownmany companies require that a driver go with you. Courteous, knowledgeable, organized, polite, professional and went above and beyond taking care of our needs and requests offen anticipating what that might be. He made sure we all had the best possible time and offered suggestions to meet the needs of everyone on the tour.

Leaving the city behind, we pass rice paddies and small villages to reach Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. Within this protected rain forest, we have our first opportunity to hike in search of lemurs, primitive primates found only in Madagascar. The country is home to approximately 100 species and subspecies of lemur, and the world’s largest, the indri, is found in this park. As exciting to hear as it is to see, this pied creature has a distinctive call, its loud, eerie wailing ringing out through the trees. We may also spy gray bamboo, Eastern woolly and black-and-white ruffed lemurs, as well as diademed sifakas that spring through the canopy like athletic dancers.

Actual Detailed Itinerary:

There are a few different platforms to look out over these incredible rock formations. You’ll cross a very cool bridge, one person at a time and see more platforms. Then it’s time to climb down using ladders and lots of clipping on/off for safety. There is a part where you pop down inside a chasm or slim rocks and caves. We enter a small cave and start clipping on /off to ensure our safety.

Lemurs are very cute and they’re very soft, moving through the forest like trapeze artists. They appear out of nowhere too and will suddenly dangle upside down from the trees right above you or jump on your shoulder. If you want to stay here, you can stay at the nearby Vakona Forest Lodge.

Places Visited

With such a unique ecosystem and environment, going on holiday to Madagascar at different times of the year offers a variety of challenges and benefits. September to November is considered one of the best times to visit, as these months sit right in between the cool, dry winter and the hot, rainy season. This time is also considered the best time to view birdlife. July to August offers cooler temperatures and the best chances for whale watching on the coast.

Here are our top travel experiences and recommendations from traveling through Madagascar to go deeper into the country’s unique nature, cultures, food, landscapes, and more. The biggest variable when visiting Madagascar is the travel time between destinations. The taxi brousse is pretty reliable; however, the drive will incur long hours. For those with a limited holiday, it is best to hire a personal car and driver. In a short time this trip takes you to a number of amazing sights and experiences.

When Is The Best Time To Go To Madagascar?

I didn’t go to the north coast but my driver always raved about how the beaches in Diego Suarez were his favorite. I got my driver beforehand by emailing some tour operators. Yes It is rainy season right now and roads don’t usually clear up until May or June.

This isolation makes it a living laboratory of evolution, with plants and animals found nowhere else on earth – lemurs, chameleons, geckos, frogs, tortoises, and myriad birds. The haunting calls of Indris high in the forest canopy… A glimpse of a Sifaka as it skips across the trail ahead… The flora too is astounding, from the surreal Boabab trees, to the spiny forests of the west and south, or rainforests of the east.

Ampijoroa Forest Station In Ankarafantsika National Park

Solohery has been doing bird surveys and monitoring programs around Madagascar since 2003 and has published four scientific articles on birdcalls. After earning a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology, Solohery began guiding natural history trips across the island. Being one of the most experienced and respected resident Malagasy guides, he knows the local biodiversity well and greatly enjoys guiding wildlife group. He is enthusiastic, extremely well-versed on Malagasy history and culture, speaks fluent English and French, and has a great sense of humor. Great trip, one of the most interesting places I’ve ever traveled to. I loved the days in Ranomofana and getting to see the operation that Patricia Wright started there.

Madagascar may be the definition of exotic destinations. Nestled in the south Indian Ocean, this island is home to thousands of endemic animal and plant species found no where else in the world. Its landscapes are as different as they are otherworldly, as well as its people, a curious mix of Southeast Asian and African. Of all my travels around the world,Madagascar is still the answer I give to people when they ask me my favorite country. I spent a month in Madagascar which I think was still a bit too short.

Why Travel With Audley?

It’s the kind of destination that’s popular with middle aged travelers who have a bit more cash to spend and are happy staying in resorts and taking organized tours. The island is definitely not geared towards stay in hostels. While lemurs and Madagascar’s unique wildlife and nature are what usually draw people to visit the country, that’s just the very beginning.

Many of Madagascar’s 18 ethnic groups practice some sort of exhumation ceremony to celebrate their ancestors and create a connection between the generations. Get to the baobab forest by local transport, a zebu-drawn cart. If you’re really lucky, your zebu cart may also be adorned with Bollywood-style art and imagery.

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Anything booked online or ahead will be at least double the price. Upon completion of the tour, there are a few activities in the area. A 3-4 day tour of Belo Sur Mer can be organized for 400k Ar with a 4×4 or 200k with a pirogue . A taxi brousse back to Antsirabe costs 30k Ar, and is an hour ride. Hey will quote a price of 450 Euro for an 8-day tour from Antananarivo or 350 Euro for a 7-day tour from Antsirabe.

If you’re not going to tsingy, then it is just in and out of morondava to see the baobabs. You could either fly to morondava from tana, stay the night while visiting the baobabs, or take 3 days by driving . From tana, fly to ile sainte marie and relax for 4 nights. The next day, we drove south along the RN7, Madagascar’s main highway, to Ranomafana National Park. This park is known for their numerous species of lemurs, including the elusive golden bamboo lemur. The contrast in scenery is extraordinary as Ranomafana looks like a tropical rainforest, where the previous segment of our trip was some combination of desert and ocean.

Madagascar Travel Guide: Planning A Trip To Madagascar

There are a few markets and restaurants where you can get local or Western food. We saw ladies setting up street food on the side of the roads, so we decided to try some. We ate small plates of simple noodles with vegetables, mashed potato and mayonnaise (for Ar 500 or 0.15 cents a plate), and some fresh zebu brochettes .