Madagascar has an entrancing tableaux of landscapes: leaking emerald rain forests, baobab trees like giant windmills overlooking the savannah, and insane outcroppings of limestone pinnacles, like a million wonky Gothic church spires. The human landscapes are equally captivating. 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 homes.
There’s no other capital on the planet like Antananarivo (Tananarive to the French, “Tana” informally to everyone). A necklace of emerald rice paddies routes around lakes, canals and rugged hills, while a huddle of pastel-coloured homes crowds the still-partly patched streets of a crumpled main lattice. Even the stretching shanties seem in some way prettier than the average metropolitan shanty town: still largely integrated in the traditional manner, utilizing fired-clay bricks, they blush radiantly pink in the afternoon sun, compacted between the glimmering rice fields.
While everyone goes to Nosy Be for the fancier resorts, if you desire something a little bit more local, more affordable, and more relaxed, have a look at Île Sainte Marie. Located off the eastern coast, this former pirate capital (the 17th-century pirate Captain Kidd’s ship sank nearby) is a cool, unwinded island loaded with little coves, a pirate graveyard, and tasty seafood. The beaches aren’t as good as Nosy Be but there’s a beautiful white-sand beach in the south of the island that few people check out. This is also the very best part of the nation for whale watching. Round-trip flights here cost around 810,000 MGA. (Don’t take the boat, it’s slow and awfully bothersome).
Southern Madagascar has a few of the island’s most engaging attractions, from the gaunt sandstone plateau of Parc National d’Isalo to the towering mountain fastness of Parc National d’Andringitra. Elsewhere, you’ll find spiny forests and wonderful 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, however, and more vulnerable to lawlessness– generally manifested in livestock rustling and highway banditry– than the remainder of the country.
Off the protected west coast lies the fabled island of Nosy Be, with smaller sized and much more alluring islands dotted around the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel. Madagascar travel is swathed in largely deciduous dry forest, sprinkled with pockets of highland and lowland rainforest– a biome called the Sambirano environment. The southeast corner of Nosy Be is still shrouded by a cloak of main rainforest sheltering a variety of unusual and endemic species. Most of those who check out Madagascar make a beeline here, tempted by the balmy weather condition and warm seas, plus routine charter flights from France and Italy. Diving and snorkelling are popular pursuits, and kite- and windsurfing are big around Diego.
The highlands of central Madagascar stretch from north of Antananarivo far towards the south of the island, swelling extremely throughout dramatic granite mountain ranges, lava ridges and outcrops. While there’s really little indigenous natural forest left, the human landscape is captivatingly lovely. Deep valleys are filled by terraced rice fields and traditionally constructed towns, from the hectic provincial agricultural center of Antsirabe to the historical city of Fianarantsoa. Explore towns by horse-drawn buggy and immerse yourself in cultural traditions such as Malagasy crafts and famadihana (reburial) events. Beyond these metropolitan centres lies the Réserve Villageoise Anja, where you can trek through the house areas of wonderful ring-tailed lemurs, and rugged Parc National de Ranomafana, whose rainforest hides the uncommon golden bamboo lemur.
The best way to navigate Madagascar is to employ a vehicle with a motorist or join an arranged trip. Vehicle leasings typically include a chauffeur as part of their rates and give you the most flexibility with your schedule. Trips, however, normally cover the cost of lodgings and some or all meals, however you’ll need to stick to a set schedule and travel with other visitors. Minimal public transportation options are likewise available, but these affordable services are sluggish and frequently uncomfortable and risky. For longer trips between select towns, traveling by airplane can be set up. Getting to the island will require flying into Ivato International Airport (TNR) in Antananarivo or arriving by cruise ship to various Malagasy places, consisting of Antsiranana, Nosy Be and Tamatave, by means of cruise operators like Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises.
