Madagascar Holiday

All the arrangements went very well. We were very impressed with the service of your ground agents. We had an excellent guide/driver, Kempschen, who was very well informed about everywhere we went. We were warned that not many people speak English and it helped that we were able to communicate with him in French - his French was fluent, his English seemed more limited, but he went out of his way to be helpful. In practice we used French most of the time.

We spent our first night in Antananarivo, and drove the following day to Andasibe, stopping en route at Pereyras Nature Farm - our first chance to get up close and personal with lemurs (brown and Coquerel's sifaka) and with the amazing variety of reptiles and chameleons in Madagascar. The lemurs are wild, but well used to humans.

We spent two nights at Vakona Lodge. This was not sufficient to allow us to go into Mantadia National Park, which was a shame. In retrospect we might have done better to spend three nights there, with a day into Mantadia and two (rather than three) nights in the higher rainforest in Ramanofana, at least until more varied walks at the top of the hill are opened at Ramanofana. The accommodation and food at Vakona were excellent.

We spent a morning in the scenic mid altitude rainforest in Andasibe looking for, finding and hearing Indri, as well as brown and red bellied lemurs and a variety of birds. We also did an evening walk. The park is closed at night, so the walk is along the road, but we were fortunate to have a good view of an Aye-Aye in the trees, as well as what we were told was a fat tailed dwarf lemur. In all on the trip we saw fifteen varieties of lemur. Vakona has its own small private reserve, where ex pet and rescued lemurs live on an island (they don't like water, apparently) which is a another chance meet and photograph them at close quarters.

It is a full two days drive from Vakona to Ramanofana, which we enjoyed as it is a good chance to see the countryside and the villages. We asked for the Hotel de Thermes in Antsirabe for the night in between. We loved it - it has a character of its own, with slightly decaying turn of the century architecture coupled with seventies decor. We had an enormous suite with a view over the thermal baths. Clean and the food was OK. However, we have a bit of a taste for odd places - we had the feeling that the Arotel provides more 'normal' accommodation!

The Setam Lodge at Ramanofana was fine, if lacking in character, and any social area for people to meet. As with many forest areas, the best bird viewing at Ramanofana was at the forest edge, from the road, or from a platform overlooking the canopy. We also had some good sightings of civet and mouse lemurs in the evening. The trails in the park are well maintained, but steep and muddy in places, and the heat and humidity make walking hard work.

Its an interesting and scenic drive from Ramanofana to the canyons and savannah of Isalo (even if we couldn't visit the vineyard because it was on strike...). We spent a day in Isalo walking to the Cascade des Nymphes and then to the Piscine Naturelle. We saw a party of ring tailed lemurs on the way. Again, we didn't feel we had exhausted Isalo (although we had exhausted ourselves), and could have made a three night stop there, and taken the opportunity to visit some of the other canyons and the Interpretation Centre. We stayed at Relais de la Reine, which is excellent.

The next morning we left early for Tulear, via Zombitse (no Appert's Greenbul, unfortunately, but good views of some of the other local birds) and flew back to Tana. We did regret not stopping in Ifaty for a night or so before leaving the west coast.

Many itineraries include a trip to Berenty. We decided not to go there - one reason was that we'd formed the impression from travellers' reviews of the place that it is somewhat degraded and crowded. As we didn't got there we'll never know if we were right.

Our final three nights were on Ile Ste Marie at the Princesse Bora Lodge. Food and service was excellent. If we felt it was a bit TOO well behaved that probably says more about us than about it! We walked round the Ile des Nattes on one day and fond some places which might be a bit more relaxed. Ile Ste Marie feels more Caribbean than African. There are blue seas, palm fringed beaches and white sand in abundance.

It was the most strenuous trip we have done for a long time, with a lot of early starts and long, steep and hot walks. For that reason it isn't a trip for everyone. They are clearly working on improving the local guides, although they have a long way to go before they reach the quality of some on mainland Africa when it comes to identifying the birds in particular. It would be a good idea for places like Vakona and Setam to have their own well trained guides so they can offer a more structured programme and be available to answer questions etc.

It's good advice to get your visa before you go, even if it costs a little more, to save queuing twice on arrival. We found no books or maps available in English in Madagascar - its best to make sure you've got what you need before you go. We flew to and fro on Air France (all four flights were late) and internally on Air Madagascar (all three flights bang on time)

Mr and Mrs Beech - November 2006