Madagascar has an entrancing tableaux of landscapes: leaking emerald rain forests, baobab trees like giant windmills towering over the savannah, and crazy protrusions of limestone pinnacles, like a million wonky Gothic church spires. The human landscapes are equally fascinating. In the highlands, a thousand shades of green dazzle from the terraced rice fields, framed by dykes of red earth; water-filled nursery paddies show a cerulean blue sky and towering granite mountains, daubed by the pastel pictures of rows of multicoloured Hauts Plateaux houses.
Southern Madagascar has some of the island’s most compelling destinations, from the gaunt sandstone plateau of Parc National d’Isalo to the towering mountain fastness of Parc National d’Andringitra. In other places, you’ll find spiny forests and marvelous beaches, browsing and diving in the dry southwest, and the seductive rolling landscapes and scalloped bays wrapping around the port of Fort Dauphin in the far southeast. This is likewise Madagascar’s poorest region, nevertheless, and more vulnerable to lawlessness– normally manifested in cattle rustling and highway banditry– than the remainder of the country.
The highlands of central Madagascar stretch from north of Antananarivo far towards the south of the island, undulating hugely throughout remarkable granite mountain ranges, lava ridges and outcrops. While there’s very little native natural forest left, the human landscape is captivatingly beautiful. Deep valleys are filled by terraced rice fields and typically constructed towns, from the busy provincial farming center of Antsirabe to the historic city of Fianarantsoa. Check out towns by horse-drawn buggy and immerse yourself in cultural customs such as Malagasy crafts and famadihana (reburial) events. Beyond these urban centres lies the Réserve Villageoise Anja, where you can hike through the home territories of delightful ring-tailed lemurs, and rugged Parc National de Ranomafana, whose rainforest conceals the uncommon golden bamboo lemur.
Off the protected west coast lies the legendary island of Nosy Be, with smaller and much more appealing islands dotted around the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel. Madagascar is swathed in mostly deciduous dry forest, sprinkled with pockets of highland and lowland rainforest– a biome called the Sambirano community. The southeast corner of Nosy Be is still shrouded by a cape of main rainforest safeguarding a number of uncommon and endemic species. Most of those who go to Madagascar make a beeline here, lured by the balmy weather and warm seas, plus regular charter flights from France and Italy. Diving and snorkelling are popular pursuits, and kite- and windsurfing are big around Diego.
There’s Madagascar holidays on the planet like Antananarivo (Tananarive to the French, “Tana” informally to everyone). A locket of emerald rice paddies trails around lakes, canals and rugged hills, while a huddle of pastel-coloured homes crowds the still-partly patched streets of a crumpled central lattice. Even the sprawling shanties seem somehow prettier than the typical metropolitan run-down neighborhood: still mainly integrated in the traditional way, using fired-clay bricks, they blush radiantly pink in the afternoon sun, packed together between the glimmering rice fields.
While everyone goes to Nosy Be for the fancier resorts, if you desire something a bit more local, less expensive, and more relaxed, have a look at Île Sainte Marie. Found off the eastern coast, this former pirate capital (the 17th-century pirate Captain Kidd’s ship sank close-by) is a cool, unwinded island loaded with little coves, a pirate graveyard, and delicious seafood. The beaches aren’t as good as Nosy Be but there’s a stunning white-sand beach in the south of the island that few people see. This is also the best part of the country for whale watching. Round-trip flights here cost around 810,000 MGA. (Don’t take the boat, it’s slow and awfully inconvenient).
The very best way to navigate Madagascar is to hire a vehicle with a motorist or sign up with an arranged tour. Car leasings typically include a driver as part of their rates and provide you the most flexibility with your schedule. Tours, however, generally cover the expense of accommodations and some or all meals, but you’ll need to stay with a set schedule and travel with other visitors. Restricted public transportation alternatives are likewise available, however these affordable services are slow and often uneasy and hazardous. For longer journeys between select towns, traveling by airplane can be arranged. Getting to the island will require flying into Ivato International Airport (TNR) in Antananarivo or getting here by cruise ship to various Malagasy locations, including Antsiranana, Nosy Be and Tamatave, through cruise operators like Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises.
