Category: Madagascar

Madagascar uses the Ariary, a closed currency you cannot obtain before arriving and should spend or exchange before leaving. Cards work at larger hotels in the main cities and almost nowhere else, so cash is what runs a trip here.…

Masoala National Park is the largest protected area in Madagascar, a stretch of coastal rainforest where the trees run down to coral reefs and the only way in is by boat. Visitors come for the red ruffed lemur, the aye-ayes…

Madagascar holds over 400 reptile species with more than nine in ten found nowhere else, and none of the snakes is dangerous to humans. The headline groups are the leaf-tailed geckos, whose camouflage is the best in the natural world,…

The Tsiribihina river descent runs two or three days by pirogue from Miandrivazo down to Belo sur Tsiribihina, camping on sandbanks and passing villages reachable no other way. It is flat water rather than whitewater, and the appeal is the…

Madagascar carries a high malaria risk across the whole country except Antananarivo, so prophylaxis is standard advice for nearly every visitor. Yellow fever vaccination is required only if you arrive from or transit a country where the virus is present.…

Midongy du Sud, also called Befotaka-Midongy, protects the second largest rainforest in Madagascar across roughly 1,920 square kilometres of the southeastern escarpment. It is among the least visited national parks in the country, reached by 200 km of poor road…

Eating out in Madagascar is inexpensive and better than most visitors expect, with Antananarivo holding the widest range thanks to ingredients arriving from every region and a lasting French influence on the upper end. Coastal towns eat well on seafood,…

Five sea turtle species occur in Malagasy waters and two nest regularly: green turtles and hawksbills. Both are present year-round around Nosy Be, so snorkelling with them needs no particular season. Nesting is different, with Nosy Iranja the main site…

Madagascar suits couples who want somewhere genuinely unusual rather than conventionally luxurious. The strongest honeymoon combination pairs a few days of wildlife with a beach stay on Nosy Be or Île Sainte-Marie, and the country's best moments cost very little:…

Mikea National Park protects the richest dry forest in the world for reptiles, holding 65 species alongside nine lemurs, three baobabs and two birds found nowhere else on earth. It is also the territory of the Mikea, among the last…