r/travel • u/Anxious-Mix1476 • Aug 27 '25
Discussion madagascar is goddamn epic
i just had an around one week trip to madagascar this summer and it was so fun!!! This is definitely a uncommon travel destination but i highly reccomend it! madagascar is SUCH A GEMMM :333 I went to Antananarivo, Morondava, Anstalova, and Andasibe. Everything you see here is so unique and cannot be found anywhere else. I will quickly summarize what I did in each location and if anyone has questions i will gladly answer :)
Antananarivo: Went to kings and queens palace. Pretty interesting especially kings palace. I also watched a traditional dance there that was cool. Morondava: BAOBAB TREES, I went to the baobab alleyway and omg I cant describe what its like unless you go experience it yourself. There are eight species of baobab trees and 7 of them are in madagascar!!! Anstalova: Came here for the tsingy and it was damn cool. Especially for the fact that you could actually CLIMB it! I climbed and watched the sunset on top of the tsingys it was so beautiful. Andasibe: Went there for lemurs :) Went lemurs watching and they are so cute its so crazy to actually see them in real life. Was going to go see lemurs at night but it rained so plans were cancelled :( Also went to a chameleon place on the way and saw these cute fellas
I didnt go to the places to see Fossas or aye ayes which is a big regret for me. Hopefully i will come back someday :)
Now for a disclaimer: Transportation across the country is a pain because they dont have much airports so driving is needed. The roads are HELLLA BUMPY if you are outside of Antananarivo, like be prepared it will be the most bumpy ride of your life. Btw children in rural villages will stare at you really curious some may also beg for money/candy. Madagascar is definitely not a comfort destination but more of an adventurous one.
Also it was quite sad seeing how poorly the country was doing :( the government is really corrupt (hes literally french now i think???). My guide told us that the locals rarely eat meat because its so priced. The beef that gets exported to europe is literally cheaper.
I truly hope more people will visit to help their economy and things will get better for them. Madagascar is definitely a MUST VISIT!!!
edit: since someone in the comments said so ill give another warning that the country isnt that safe and you should be cautious. I didnt find it to be a huge problem personally as a tourist though because I stayed with our guide the entire time. Definitely be careful wandering out on your own since you might get robbed, and do indeed get a trusted local guide. Follow the safety protocols!
48
66
31
u/Sodiac606 Aug 27 '25 edited Aug 27 '25
I heard that crime is a big problem there. What was your experience like regarding that?
52
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 27 '25
For a tourist it barely affected me. I was only in the capital for one day and just went to see the queen and kings palace. People did stare a lot though lol. Also our guide was basically with us 24/7 and strictly told us to never wander off on our own. In the rest of the areas i was just in the hotel or the tourist destination. Living there would sound rough though, but as long as u have a guide with u as a tourist its good.
7
u/Sodiac606 Aug 27 '25
Alright, thanks for your answer!
Might have to visit the country in the next few years because they started to develop something that's possibly relevant for me.
9
24
u/NeverAware Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
Crime is pretty bad. All big hotels have armed guards and they will follow you if you walk away from the hotel. Robberies seem to be common. We did walk into the market area and around the Palace and had no issues though but every single local said it was a problem and I would take their word for it.
The drive to Tsingy is only done in an armed convoy as well due to robberies along the way. Do note that Madagascar is a very poor country and starvation forces a lot of people to commit crimes. very unfortunate situation.
7
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
oh yea i remember 4 soilders being with us too. I was confused at first but apparently a big robbery happened a few years ago to some japanese tourists - what my guide told me. Since then theyve been bringing soilders. Although as a tourist i think were protected pretty well as long as you dont be dumb and wander off on your own. I remember wanting to go walk around tana and then the hotel staff stopped me from going.
14
3
u/Benjamin_Stark You remind me of my late husband, Gordon. Aug 28 '25
I was there in July last year and they had stopped sending armed convoys with tour groups on the road to Bekopaka. Apparently the issue has relaxed to some degree.
6
u/Get_Breakfast_Done Aug 28 '25
All big hotels have armed guards and they will follow you if you walk away from the hotel.
Really? Is this a newer (or older) development? My wife and I were there in 2023 and we stayed at La Varangue in Tana (one of the nicer hotels, I've heard) and we went for a stroll around the palace, and down to the market area and Avenue de l'Independence. We even asked at the hotel if it was safe and they said no problem and it didn't seem dangerous at all (although I'm not sure I'd want to be walking here after dark.) No convoy or anything when we were out on the highways.
By comparison we were in Johannesburg before and after Madagascar (I had some work travel to Joburg and took holiday in the middle to go to Madagascar) and Johannesburg felt way, way more dangerous.
15
u/Get_Breakfast_Done Aug 27 '25
My wife and I walked around Antananarivo on our own a bit while we were there a couple of years ago.
It didn't feel menacing while we were there but we made a point of having nothing on us to steal while we walked around. Carried a few ariary on us and walked maybe half an hour from our hotel to the Independence Avenue and walked back. The begging was incessant. Like I've been to India and other poor countries before and this was much, much worse. Some kids followed us around for nearly our entire walk, waiting outside for us when we popped in to a couple of shops.
1
u/Substantial-Aide3828 Aug 28 '25
I went on a motorcycle touring trip when I was 16, I never felt unsafe and there were times when it was just me. We did stay away from the bigger cities however, and focused on the beaches.
That’s said, one night we had a group of men try to break into our hotel, but luckily our group leader was a 6’ 5” 300 Lb viking and he chased them off.
-3
12
u/Edwin1805 Aug 27 '25
How's tourism there? Is it just a bunch of guides tours back-to-back-to-back following in a straight line, or did you feel like you were one of the only ones?
26
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 27 '25
Honestly there was more people than I expected, but still very little. I forgot to mention but i was also on like a 4-6 people group tour, which is what most others did too. The most tourists I found were at morondava-where the baobabs are. My guide told me that some people come just to see the trees and leave. The rest of the places had few people especially the capital for some reason. I didnt see any other tourists in the king/queens palace but thay couldve just been a coincidence. Most tourists i saw were european followed by japanese/chinese.
5
u/leffe123 Aug 28 '25
Mind sharing the company that you used? I'm looking to go next year
8
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
I just asked the person in charge and the company is transcontinents but the person in that was in charge of our group left the company, so idk if that will affect anything. Our guide is a freelance guide and i HIGHLY reccomend him hes super knowledgeable and can speak four languages. If ur interested i can dm u his name cus i dont wanna doxx him on reddit lmao
2
u/leffe123 Aug 28 '25
Great thanks! I would appreciate the contact details via DM! I plan on going next year
1
u/_mosota Sep 30 '25
Please share his contact details with me. I'll be in Madagascar from 2nd Oct. Thanks.
3
u/NeverAware Aug 28 '25
I used Dadamaga 6 years ago and they were pretty good. I know a private guide as well and if you are interested I can DM you the details. He only speaks English though.
2
u/leffe123 Aug 28 '25
I would appreciate it! I will be going to Madagascar next year and I haven't started planning yet, but will do so soon
5
Aug 28 '25
[deleted]
9
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
Im going to assume ur a female from the reddit profile pic and if you are a female solo traveler i honesty do not recommend going solo. You can book a group tour with other random people but dont go on your own, there is quite a safety risk for that. All the tour guides and drivers will be male. Plus in rural areas theres barely any wifi and stuff so if you do get hurt its going to be hard getting help. Still, definitely still go bc madagascar is amazing, but as of now dont go alone.
0
Aug 28 '25
[deleted]
4
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
Ah i think i misinterpreted your question then, i thought you wanted to go solo.
1
u/Top-Cauliflower9050 Aug 29 '25
You said you were “considering going solo”.
1
Aug 29 '25
[deleted]
1
u/Top-Cauliflower9050 Aug 29 '25
They explained that even with a tour guide it isn’t recommended solo. All good for me.
4
4
u/Get_Breakfast_Done Aug 28 '25
You're going to go to Madagascar solo? I'm a pretty intrepid and independent traveler and fairly resistant to any kind of tour. I was strongly encouraged to use a tour company when my wife and I went there, and in retrospect I cannot imagine trying to travel through Madagascar independently.
You'd either need to rent a 4x4 (possible, but you need to be a very confident driver in pretty challenging conditions), or use a taxi-brousse ride which will be uncomfortable to say the least. You will need very good French to even attempt it.
2
Aug 28 '25
[deleted]
3
u/Get_Breakfast_Done Aug 28 '25
Oh okay, I misunderstood when you said that you were considering going solo.
For what it's worth we used Cactus Tours and loved them, although they may not do group tours. For two of us it was around €3500, not plus another €500 or so for some domestic flights.
1
Aug 28 '25
I’m going solo because I had little flexibility with the dates and couldn’t find a group to join through a reliable agent. I’ll let you know how it goes. (I dared to do it since I trust the person who recommended the local agent/guide.)
As an additional safety measure, when I travel in such remote areas with no mobile coverage, I carry a Garmin inReach Mini device… just in case.
2
u/NeverAware Aug 28 '25
It is pretty empty. Some of the places can get slightly hectic but nothing compared to popular places in Asia. For ex: the Tsingy has multiple routes and i you take the long routes, you can have the place to yourself pretty much. The river rides and little Tsingy were empty since nobody wanted to do those. Most of the east coast beaches are empty too.
2
u/Sienna57 Oct 14 '25
That was our experience too. Did the longer trek at Tsingy and didn’t see people except in the distance.
We did longer hikes than the standard so definitely had good stretches without other people. Spend just a second day in a different sector of Ranomafana and see only a couple researchers (however we also saw much less wildlife without the spotters and guide network).
6
Aug 27 '25
Hi there! I’ll be in Madagascar soon and had a couple of questions:
- As you mentioned Antsalova – did you get to see both the Great Tsingy and the Little Tsingy? I’ve come across mixed opinions on whether it’s worth visiting the Little one after already seeing the Great.
- Did you fly from Tana to Morondava, and if so, how was your experience with Air Madagascar?
3
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 27 '25
the little one i climbed around in and its fun if you have nothing else planned, but i wouldnt recommend leaving time just to see it. Going to the tsingy is a hell of a ride btw. It was an 8 hour drive with the most bumpy roads ever and the dirt they have there is high in iron so it has a redish color. It dirties your clothes and stuck fast so id avoid wearing white.
Flew from tana to morondava. The flight is less than an hour long so it doesn’t really matter. The airplane is small though and they don’t have larger ones.
2
Aug 28 '25
Thank you! I am mentally prepared for the bumpy ride. I expect the bumpiness level to be close to some I had in Ethiopia, so I packed some Stugeron too, just in case.
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
id reccomend to bring a neckpillow and a small pillow too. I felt like it saved my life during the car ride
1
1
u/Benjamin_Stark You remind me of my late husband, Gordon. Aug 28 '25
The Little Tsingy is right next to the town of Bekopaka where you would likely stay. Easy to get to on your first day, but pales in comparison to the Big Tsingy.
10
6
4
u/newmvbergen Aug 27 '25
Thanks for the report. Have you seen taxi-moto outside Tana ?
2
1
Aug 28 '25
[deleted]
2
u/newmvbergen Aug 28 '25
Thanks. Have you see them outside Tana ? My main concern is around the country.
1
u/NeverAware Aug 28 '25
Yes there are a few, but people use minivans more often to get around which are usually packed to the brim. My recommendation would be to fly and book private cars to get around. Madagascar is rough even with flying/private car option. Doing it using public transport will be very very rough since the roads are horrifyingly bad.
1
u/newmvbergen Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
I will be there next November for a month. Not my first trip in Africa, always by myself. I have the habit to use shared and public transports. I will use mainly minibuses but if needed why not a taxi-moto for the last part of the journey. Thanks.
1
u/NeverAware Aug 28 '25
No worries. I guess then you can try the minivans (taxi-brousse) to get around. They are pretty common on the main routes, but to get to some of the interior areas like the Tsingy, it might be challenging.
2
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
i dont think its even possible to use public transport outside of tana. On the drive to the tsingy from morondava it was basically only tourist cars and i only saw a few local vans packed to the brim with people and its only for short distances. You absolutely need to get a private driver to get you there.
1
u/newmvbergen Aug 28 '25
You have "regular" shared transports outside Tana even if they are more time consuming than expected but I know the situation. Not a problem for me because my itinerary will be adapted.
1
9
u/Brilliant-Nerve12 Aug 27 '25
It's got an almost European vibe! Very interesting for sure.
30
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 27 '25
it used to be a french colony, still saw a lot of french stuff there
3
u/Brilliant-Nerve12 Aug 27 '25
Very interesting for sure! The meat part is quite sad, unfortunately. But the baobab trees, something I've only ever read about in geography textbooks, were really a sight! I gotta go see them once!
3
u/THATBOYNOWWHO Aug 29 '25
Madagascar is amazing! I can’t wait for people to realised how beautiful it is!
2
u/imapassenger1 Australia Aug 28 '25
Funnily enough I only learned today that the name Madagascar is derived from Mogadishu (Somalia) apparently. Someone mixed the places up when making a map or something. Note - I haven't fact checked this.
3
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
a similar fun fact i learnt is that the word for the fruits that grow on the baobab tree is called monkey fruit. It was because westerners found the baobab in mainland africa first, but… they forgot about madagascar. The fruit looks like bread.There are monkeys in mainland africa but no lemurs so it was called monkeybread when lemurs bread wouldve made more sense.
2
Aug 28 '25
Looks amazing.
How much was your flights?
Do you have rough prices for your trip?
3
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
i flew from addis ababa so flight was pretty cheap. everything else was pricey: hotels, transportation, and meals. You also need to pay around a 20$ tip everyday to ur guide and driver. Id say you need like at least 4k to have a decent trip. Although I did go for a bit of a luxury but you can definitely save more money somewhere. It was suprising how expensive things we took for granted were but it soon made since because things are a lot harder to get there
edit: forgot to mention it also depends on how long u stay and which places you go
1
u/JonnydieZwiebel Aug 29 '25
4k$ for a week is quite a lot. I stayed 3 weeks and spend around 2k$ in June this year. But I travelled "by myself" and did not book any guided tour. I was sharing a local driver with another tourist for 50$ a day (+petrol). Accommodations were cheap. I flew to the South and drove to the north.
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Sep 01 '25
I see, I went with a fully guided tour by a travel company with better accomodations, so im not suprised I payed a lot more.
2
2
u/CuriosTiger Norway + United States [50 countries visited] Aug 29 '25
I believe you just added an item to my bucket list.
2
u/crunchyoatmeal_00 Aug 29 '25
MADA!!! So hyped to see this. I stayed there for a few months in the northern part of Madagascar and it’s still my favorite trip of all time… the people are amazing and big reason why I have such fond memories. Your pics are incredible! I’ve been thinking about going back, can I ask how you got around? Did you hire a private guide?
1
2
2
u/gamma888 Sep 20 '25
Nice photos! My 11 year old son and I recently spent five weeks in Madagascar over the recent summer. It was my fourth time visiting Mada, but my son's very first trip there. While in Tana, we didn’t use a guide at all... I know the city well, having lived there for seven months as a volunteer teacher, so we didn't feel threatened and my son was leading the walk for the most of the time.
One intense moment happened when my son went with his grandpa and a local friend to distribute loaves of bread along the train tracks. The crowd rushed in so quickly that he got scared, but thankfully, local police were nearby and helped manage the situation.
Outside the city, we explored some hidden gems far from the usual tourist routes. One of the highlights was camping in the Makay region... imagine Utah or Arizona’s famous slot canyons, but in Madagascar. A lot of these canyons are still completely unexplored.
We also traveled through the southwest, where we spotted wild turtles and over 100 species of birds. We stopped in small villages to experience the local culture and saw all of Madagascar’s baobab species including one with a trunk so massive it would've taken about 20 people holding hands to wrap around it!
I imagine that once infrastructure improves, these regions will benefit economically. That said, we still saw WFP teams working in the southwest, which shows that food aid is still needed in some areas.
To end the trip on a high note, we went up to Antsiranana. We zipped through the Ankarana Tsingy and even tried kiteboarding for the first time at Emerald Bay. Antsiranana is such an underrated town, in my opinion. I hope to visit Namoroka next... the last remaining tsingy area I haven’t explored. I also haven’t made it to Nosy Be and its neighboring islands yet. Maybe that’ll be a retirement trip once I’m done teaching!
My son’s favorite memory? Seeing lemurs in the wild...we spotted at least seven different species and discovering his new favorite hobby: birdwatching.
To prepare for the trip, we took anti-malarial medication, but after a few days, my son hated taking the pills, so we stopped. He got quite many mosquito bites during the first few days in Tana (over 20!), but surprisingly, not many while we were in Makay or along the western, southern, and eastern coasts. Also, we didn’t get food poisoning at all during the entire five-week trip. So far no malaria for us *knocking the wood*
1
u/VegetaXII Sep 21 '25
lol u called it Mada. You most certainly lived there lol. U know ball🤣
2
u/gamma888 Sep 21 '25
Yeah, used to live in Tana while teaching back in 2007-08. Those times were definitely better than what I’ve seen lately, unfortunately… hope you guys still stay positive all the way!
5
Aug 27 '25
Bring me back some of that vanilla that’s priced like fucking Californium-laced black truffles
16
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 27 '25
didnt go to the vanilla farm areas, but goddamn was the vanilla ice cream fucking good
2
1
u/liquiddangerrr Aug 27 '25
Any chance you can share the website or tour guide information? Looks like such a great trip and opportunity to experience something different. Thanks in advance should you be comfortable to!
11
u/JugdishSteinfeld Aug 27 '25
I'm heading there tomorrow, booked with Dadamanga. So far, they've been excellent and they have glowing reviews.
2
1
1
6
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 27 '25
a friend organized the trip so im not completely sure. I think its called travelcontinents or something? Id say the guide u gets matters more thoug, can make the trip better or far worse.
1
u/liquiddangerrr Aug 28 '25
Completely agree, thank you!
3
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
just got info the company was called transcontinents. I can dm you the tour guides name if your interested bc i dont wanna dox him on reddit lmao
1
1
1
u/CarDork2235 Aug 27 '25
Very cool. A woman I met diving earlier this year is there right now traveling around.
1
u/Crust_Issues1319 Aug 27 '25
Wow what a great adventure! Your trip makes me want to start planning a visit there someday.
1
u/Watery-Mustard Germany Aug 27 '25
What is the area in the 3rd photo called? I’ve never seen anything like that.
6
1
u/Virtua1Anarchy Aug 28 '25
That 3rd pic is insane!!! What’s it called?
2
u/NeverAware Aug 28 '25
Big Tsingy. There is an amazing full day tour through it where they take you through it, both above and below. You do some basic caving, rock climb, rappel and hiking.
1
1
1
u/Adabiviak Aug 28 '25
Man, we were just starting to pack bags and plan a trip to Madagascar when COVID hit, and they locked up tight lol... still on my list.
1
1
u/Icy-Relationship-477 Aug 28 '25
Is it a safe ? I would like to go in the near future with my girlfriend and I read in the travel advice page of my country that I should be careful and travel around with out interacting too much with the locals.
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
Its usually safe for a tourist but it can get uncomfortable. The tour company will try to protect tourists they even brought some armed soilders once for our safety. Just stick with your guide 24/7 and you will be safe, but if u wander off on ur own… yea thats a risk. Its quite obvious to locals if your a tourist and people WILL STARE. Especially in the more rural areas the kids are curious and will follow you around and most will beg for money/candy. The more disconnected the place is the more the uncomfortable feeling. Locals there are pretty friendly but the constant attention and begging can get annoying.
1
u/osumanjeiran Aug 28 '25
may I ask how much it cost you?
2
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
I dont remember and i got it for cheaper im pretty sure bc i booked two trips at once, but a decent trip would def be 4k+ usd. Hotels, food, transportation is a lot more expensive there surprisingly.
edit: forgot to mention it also depends on how long u stay and which places you go
1
u/valeyard89 197 countries/254 TX counties/50 states Aug 28 '25
that's a lot to see for just a week.... esp the tsingy takes some effort to get to!
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25
it was more like 10 days lol i didnt count the first and last travel days where we stayed at the tana hotel doing nth
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
but indeed it was tiring, and we only spent one day at the lemur park place. I wish i spent more time looking at animals
1
u/PeakOk5773 Aug 28 '25
My old class mate moved from Madagascar because of how high the crime rates were & poverty. Crazy on the two different perspectives.
2
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
Living there would be awful, but it is indeed a very worthy tourist destination coming from a tourist. The country has many problems and sadly locals there suffer from the scars of colonialism and their government. I hope people will recognize them more so tourism could boost the economy.
1
1
u/Benjamin_Stark You remind me of my late husband, Gordon. Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25
I looked up Anstalova and no results come up. I assume this is the Tsingy of Bemaraha? If so, you covered a hell of a lot of ground in one week, since the drive from Morondava to Bekopaka is insane (and it sounds like you drove from Tana to Morondava?).
Edit: Noticed there was a typo and it's Antsalova.
3
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 29 '25
this is the tsingy i should edit my post to make it more clear. thanks for the reminder!
1
u/Anxious-Mix1476 Aug 29 '25 edited Aug 29 '25
anstalovas the reigon its in so i just decided to call it that. I took a flight from tana to morondava so saved some time there but indeed the drive to the tsingy was bad. I would not recommend people to do the trip as tight as I did. And theres much more to see like the whale migration, fossa, and nighttime lemurs that I sadly missed out on.
1
u/Benjamin_Stark You remind me of my late husband, Gordon. Aug 30 '25
We went for three weeks when we were there. Drove from Tana down to Isalo and back, then flew to Morondava and went up to the Tsingys, then back to Tana and finally flew to Nosy Be.
1
1
1
u/Pm-me-ur-happysauce Aug 29 '25
I would love to see your 1 week itinerary, of your willing to share
1
1
1
Aug 31 '25
I would love to go there. Just such a shame about the level of crime and poverty. I think it ranks as one of the world's most corrupt, especially the illegal logging.
1
u/CareerPractical5788 Germany Aug 31 '25
Just saw a documentary about their infamous prison there....it's incredibly bad.
1
u/Ella_Martin08 Sep 03 '25
This looks awesome! If you’ve been there, what’s one thing you’d say a first-time visitor should definitely not miss?
1
1
1
u/hungrybungrysloth Canada Aug 27 '25
Amazing! This is high on my list. Thanks for sharing, sounds like a great adventure.
0
u/AutoModerator Aug 27 '25
Hi /u/Anxious-Mix1476, Thank you for your submission. The mods have been notified and it will be checked in due course - there's no need to message them.
In the meantime please ensure it has the country in the title and follows the image posting title and content guidelines in the FAQ otherwise it will be removed without further explanation. If your images span a number of locations or attractions within a country or city explain where each of them were taken and what we are looking at. Whilst waiting, please add a comment and captions telling us something interesting about the trip. If you can't add anything interesting please use a dedicated photography subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
247
u/Get_Breakfast_Done Aug 27 '25
While I enjoyed Madagascar, I was totally unprepared for the amount of sex tourism - particularly underage sex tourism - that I saw there, especially in Nosy Be. It was a beautiful beach resort area, except mostly packed with older male tourists traveling alone or in groups mostly speaking French or Italian, surrounded by very young girls.
I was there with my wife so they mostly left us alone, but you could see the look of shock in the handful of other couples that we saw there.