I visited Madagascar in December 2010 for 2 weeks with a friend. A few details are provided below.
All Costs are in Ariary.
At the time the exchange rate was roughly 3300MGA (Malagasy Ariary) = £1 (UK pound)
Transport
From the Airport on arrival we hired a taxi to take us to Andasibe. These are not cheap, but are convenient after many hours travelling.
For the remainder of our time travelling we sourced a better deal, as cheaply as possible (via local requests) a driver, Eugine Rakotobe, with vehicle - a Nissan 4x4.
We hired Eugine for 10 days and he charged us 100,000MGA (Malagasy Ariary) per day (with petrol being additional). We found his services more than adequate for our needs, and the trip we undertook (Andasibe - Ifaty via various stop offs) went without incident. Eugine could recommend suitable accommodation which we usually only arrived at in the evenings, with no pre-booking.
The vehicle was basic, with a few niggles such as no rear seat belts, but it remained reliable; and Eugine’s driving was perfectly acceptable during our time with him. He mentioned that he had 4 vehicles in total and with his brother he ran a driver/guiding service. He would be able to put together a trip to anywhere in the country and had contacts at most of the places we visited. The vehicle we used could take four people and baggage in the car, or upto 7 people, but the baggage would then have to be strapped to the roof.
Eugine spoke acceptable English, but not brilliant (we left him our English-French phrase book to brush up). We never struggled getting our message across, but contact over the internet or on telephone it may be more difficult if using English. His French was obviously perfect, and I think he spoke some Spanish and Italian too (as he often guides these nationalities).
I said I would provide details as he was keen on increasing his English speaking trade.
His details are:
[email protected] tel 00261 330984410, 00261 341750039
Whilst at Andasibe we didn’t keep our car or driver but managed to still make it to Mantadia when necessary by hiring via Patrice (the guide) an old Peugeot from his brother Maurice (80,000MGA a day fuel included) with Patrice driving. This vehicle got us there and back, but would not be advisable during extended wet periods as it wouldn’t cope with a wet access road (we were lucky the rains were late). It had to be bump started once.
A single internal flight was made at a cost of 360,000MGA
Accommodation
Costs given per room not per person. All rooms were basic, but perfectly acceptable to our standards.
Andasibe (Perinet/Mantadia) – Hotel Feon ‘ny’ Ala basic twin room no ensuite 32,000MGA (the most enjoyable hotel we stayed at by a long way). Speaking with the bird guide Patrice he is currently building guest accommodation on the edge of the village of Andasibe, adjacent to his house, presumably to be ready by the main bird watching season in Autumn 2011. When in the village one evening at the internet café he took us around to see his work in progress – and show us his resident garden Madagascar Flufftail . His contact is number is 0(0261) 330241390.
Ranomafana – Hotel Ihary to the eastern edge of the village twin cabin with ensuite 50,000MGA
Anja – Anja Community Reserve Accommodation. 50,000MGA New build with restaurant adjacent.
Isalo/Zombitse – We decided to stay outside of Isalo as it is less expensive and nearest to Zombitse is the village of Sakaraha. Here the Hotel Le Palace on the western edge of town had a basic twin room with toilet/shower in room (separated by curtain) for 30,000MGA. This town and more especially the town between Isalo and Zombitse are the centre for Sapphire mining district, advice is to be careful in these parts, but the hotel we stayed at seemed ok during our stay.
Ifaty/Mangily – Hotel Vovotello – beach front twin room hut with ensuite. 60,000MGA. The hotel backs onto the beach.
Antanarivo – Hotel Le Cheval Blanc – 46,100MGA for a twin room with ensuite. Food here the worst for the trip, room ok. 1mile from Airport, 40mins to centre of the city (because of the horrific traffic congestion – get dropped off on the outskirts of the centre and walk in).
Information on Birding Sites:
Various trip reports.
The single most useful and detailed report was the trip report from Brian Gee (1998), available from the African Bird Club for £9+ postage. http://www.africanbirdclub.org/sales/sales2.html Although over 10 years old, the detail in the areas we visited, including location of target birds appeared to be still valid. Unfortunately some of the numbers such as eg Sandgrouse are now well down than just 12 years ago.
Where guides were used, they are mandatory in the national parks, they were asked for (from trip report recommendations) on arrival to an area. Overall the guides we used, whether previously recommended in trip reports, or just whoever we came across, were all very good – however I recommend, to be safe, writing down an agreed price beforehand to avoid complication at the end. I would only mention caution with experiences using a couple of the guides regarding some of their ethics on showing wildlife. As an example, in Ranomafana we were asked if we wanted to see the Comet Moths Argema mittrei which get attracted to the Hydro power station lights. We jumped at the chance but we were instead taken around to a house by our guide who came out with two pinned Comet Moths still just alive, retrieved from the lights the previous evening probably. The guide tried to pass them off as fine, but we said this is not how we wish to see the wildlife (taking their final breaths) and refused to look at them in detail or photo them. I don’t blame the guides for trying to please their clients, particularly as they may not fully understand the same rules we like to play by, but please be aware of the potential for such ‘shortcuts’ to showing you the things you wish to see and the consequences.
Guiding costs were between 80-120,000MGA for pre-dawn to post dusk day if required. Generally a 2-3hr guide would be around 15-20,000MGA. Costs are per group not individual.
All Costs are in Ariary.
At the time the exchange rate was roughly 3300MGA (Malagasy Ariary) = £1 (UK pound)
Transport
From the Airport on arrival we hired a taxi to take us to Andasibe. These are not cheap, but are convenient after many hours travelling.
For the remainder of our time travelling we sourced a better deal, as cheaply as possible (via local requests) a driver, Eugine Rakotobe, with vehicle - a Nissan 4x4.
We hired Eugine for 10 days and he charged us 100,000MGA (Malagasy Ariary) per day (with petrol being additional). We found his services more than adequate for our needs, and the trip we undertook (Andasibe - Ifaty via various stop offs) went without incident. Eugine could recommend suitable accommodation which we usually only arrived at in the evenings, with no pre-booking.
The vehicle was basic, with a few niggles such as no rear seat belts, but it remained reliable; and Eugine’s driving was perfectly acceptable during our time with him. He mentioned that he had 4 vehicles in total and with his brother he ran a driver/guiding service. He would be able to put together a trip to anywhere in the country and had contacts at most of the places we visited. The vehicle we used could take four people and baggage in the car, or upto 7 people, but the baggage would then have to be strapped to the roof.
Eugine spoke acceptable English, but not brilliant (we left him our English-French phrase book to brush up). We never struggled getting our message across, but contact over the internet or on telephone it may be more difficult if using English. His French was obviously perfect, and I think he spoke some Spanish and Italian too (as he often guides these nationalities).
I said I would provide details as he was keen on increasing his English speaking trade.
His details are:
[email protected] tel 00261 330984410, 00261 341750039
Whilst at Andasibe we didn’t keep our car or driver but managed to still make it to Mantadia when necessary by hiring via Patrice (the guide) an old Peugeot from his brother Maurice (80,000MGA a day fuel included) with Patrice driving. This vehicle got us there and back, but would not be advisable during extended wet periods as it wouldn’t cope with a wet access road (we were lucky the rains were late). It had to be bump started once.
A single internal flight was made at a cost of 360,000MGA
Accommodation
Costs given per room not per person. All rooms were basic, but perfectly acceptable to our standards.
Andasibe (Perinet/Mantadia) – Hotel Feon ‘ny’ Ala basic twin room no ensuite 32,000MGA (the most enjoyable hotel we stayed at by a long way). Speaking with the bird guide Patrice he is currently building guest accommodation on the edge of the village of Andasibe, adjacent to his house, presumably to be ready by the main bird watching season in Autumn 2011. When in the village one evening at the internet café he took us around to see his work in progress – and show us his resident garden Madagascar Flufftail . His contact is number is 0(0261) 330241390.
Ranomafana – Hotel Ihary to the eastern edge of the village twin cabin with ensuite 50,000MGA
Anja – Anja Community Reserve Accommodation. 50,000MGA New build with restaurant adjacent.
Isalo/Zombitse – We decided to stay outside of Isalo as it is less expensive and nearest to Zombitse is the village of Sakaraha. Here the Hotel Le Palace on the western edge of town had a basic twin room with toilet/shower in room (separated by curtain) for 30,000MGA. This town and more especially the town between Isalo and Zombitse are the centre for Sapphire mining district, advice is to be careful in these parts, but the hotel we stayed at seemed ok during our stay.
Ifaty/Mangily – Hotel Vovotello – beach front twin room hut with ensuite. 60,000MGA. The hotel backs onto the beach.
Antanarivo – Hotel Le Cheval Blanc – 46,100MGA for a twin room with ensuite. Food here the worst for the trip, room ok. 1mile from Airport, 40mins to centre of the city (because of the horrific traffic congestion – get dropped off on the outskirts of the centre and walk in).
Information on Birding Sites:
Various trip reports.
The single most useful and detailed report was the trip report from Brian Gee (1998), available from the African Bird Club for £9+ postage. http://www.africanbirdclub.org/sales/sales2.html Although over 10 years old, the detail in the areas we visited, including location of target birds appeared to be still valid. Unfortunately some of the numbers such as eg Sandgrouse are now well down than just 12 years ago.
Where guides were used, they are mandatory in the national parks, they were asked for (from trip report recommendations) on arrival to an area. Overall the guides we used, whether previously recommended in trip reports, or just whoever we came across, were all very good – however I recommend, to be safe, writing down an agreed price beforehand to avoid complication at the end. I would only mention caution with experiences using a couple of the guides regarding some of their ethics on showing wildlife. As an example, in Ranomafana we were asked if we wanted to see the Comet Moths Argema mittrei which get attracted to the Hydro power station lights. We jumped at the chance but we were instead taken around to a house by our guide who came out with two pinned Comet Moths still just alive, retrieved from the lights the previous evening probably. The guide tried to pass them off as fine, but we said this is not how we wish to see the wildlife (taking their final breaths) and refused to look at them in detail or photo them. I don’t blame the guides for trying to please their clients, particularly as they may not fully understand the same rules we like to play by, but please be aware of the potential for such ‘shortcuts’ to showing you the things you wish to see and the consequences.
Guiding costs were between 80-120,000MGA for pre-dawn to post dusk day if required. Generally a 2-3hr guide would be around 15-20,000MGA. Costs are per group not individual.
