Madagascar in three weeks: highlights, costs and a dream itinerary

Madagascar is high on my trip wishlist, and the stuff of travel daydreams – an island of rainforests, deserts, beaches and fantastical wildlife (yay, lemurs!). A three-week itinerary is ideal, but you could still see the highlights in two weeks. Writer Mia Livingston gives us her insights (top tip: don’t let the food poisoning put you off).

We had 20 days and wanted to see everything in Madagascar. It was a crazy plan, but it was our honeymoon and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we weren’t going to pass up.

The trouble is that Madagascar consists of 226,000 square miles of everything from dense jungle to arid desert, has very basic infrastructure, and the things we wanted to see were in the far north, south, east and west.

No problem, I thought. I’ll engage the professionals. I called a highly regarded National Geographic-endorsed tour company, but when they heard about my crazy plan, they fired us after 3 days. The local flights were too unreliable, they said, and if we missed just one connection the whole itinerary would go off-kilter because we had too many things packed into too small a time frame. They couldn’t take responsibility for that. 

My fiancé and I wouldn’t be deterred. We’d met in Jakarta aged 15, and grew up travelling to far-flung places. We were happy to accept that everything probably wasn’t going to go to plan, but we wanted to try and see what happened. 

Baobabs, lemurs and the best-value hotel ever

Once we decided to do it, nothing could stop us. We spent a month of evenings and weekends planning the trip, networking to find the right people who could guide us in each area, researching driving times and blocked roads, and pulling up local flight schedules.

Many flights only went once or twice a week, which made it near impossible to fit all the itinerary pieces together. Eventually after about 20 itinerary drafts, 100 emails – and tears of exasperation from me – it all came together. 

We spent one night in Morondava, to see the incredible Avenue of the Baobabs.

Next we flew to Isalo National Park and stayed at the Isalo Rock Lodge, which at €100 per night was one of the best value hotels we’ve ever stayed at. It was like living in the middle of the Grand Canyon in 5-star luxury. Isalo National Park offered trails to swimming holes, caves and cliff tops, and the lodge’s food and amenities were great – our beautifully appointed suite’s floor-to-ceiling windows opened up to the massive desert vista, which we could see from our in-room jacuzzi.

After Isalo, we flew via another night in Antananarivo up to Sambava. From there we hired a car and driver to get to Marojejy National Park, where we stayed in basic camps and trekked for three nights with a guide in the mountains in the hope of spotting the rare white Silky Sifaka lemur.

Which, incredibly, we did.

It was rough and not traditionally romantic, so we aimed for some of that traditional romance by staying for a few nights in Constance Tsarabanjina beach resort – an all-inclusive resort on Tsarabanjina island, off the north coast of Madagascar.

This was the most international-type place we stayed at in Madagascar. The beaches had perfect soft white sand and the resort takes up almost a whole island of its own, so it doesn’t get overcrowded, although there were a lot more people there than at Isalo. The suite was beautiful. The food was OK, usually in buffet style, and there wasn’t room service. We walked, played ball games, and the snorkelling was really special.

Luxury in Anjajavy

I admit I occasionally suffer from FOMO – fear of missing out – so next we spent a week at Anjajavy Le Lodge, a Relais & Chateaux property set in its own 2,400-acre nature reserve, Anjajavy. At €760 per night including food it was slightly more affordable than Tsarabanjina (but do check current prices for everything; they can be much cheaper depending on season), and if you care about animals, then this is definitely your place. Bill and Melinda Gates stayed here just a few weeks before we did.

Genuinely passionate about both culture and environmental conservation, the Madagascar-born French manager called us at 8am one morning so we wouldn’t miss a rare sighting of the aye-aye lemur, or perhaps it was the fossa, I forget since I’m not a morning person (you can always ask for privacy though!). The food was fairly good, served on the beach and in the dining room, and with traditional tea served in a clearing along with daily lemur sightings. Again there wasn’t room service.

There were plenty of interesting walking trails, and a beach that you can reserve for private use. We were there on New Year’s Eve, and the hotel threw a fabulous New Year’s Eve party where we danced with local villagers.

The sea wasn’t quite as clear as it was in Tsarabanjina, and the sand and coastline were a bit coarser. While Tsarabanjina’s lodging was brighter, in high-end condo style bungalows that let the sun in, Anjajavy’s luxury huts were shadier and didn’t scream “beach vacay” quite as much. To get to the dining area you walk along long boardwalks, where you’re very likely to spot playful lemurs along the way. 

Was it worth it?

Needless to say, it was all an unforgettable experience. I wouldn’t change any of it, and I can’t believe our luck that all the local flights went on time so we didn’t miss anything.

Much of it was a tad crazy, like tracking rare white monkeys in mountainous rainforest, or spending a big chunk of savings on a €2,000 private flight so that we could fit everything in; I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend that approach to anyone else.

Unsurprisingly for an outback African trip we caught E. coli twice, who knows from where, but luckily by then there were good doctors and medication to hand since we had tagged the luxury resorts to the end of the trip. My husband caught heatstroke twice from hiking in the rainforest and desert. Then a small boat failed in the middle of a choppy sea, and he got to help me vomit for the first time, but we’re still together so it’s nice to know that he’ll stand by me. I do think we got all the rough-and-tumble adventure out of our systems, and every trip we’ve done since has been a lot more easy and relaxed.

Having said that, we need to return to Madagascar because Malagasy people are super nice, and we didn’t catch the whale watching off the north coast which runs from June to September. 

Madagascar: weather, visas and other essential info

When to go

Our trip was at the end of December and start of January. It was low season, so there were fewer tourists and generally lower prices. Supposedly it’s around the rainy season in some areas, but that only really meant that it sometimes rained for a couple hours a day, which wasn’t an issue for us. Thunder in the canyon was super exciting, and it was nice to go somewhere like Isalo when there weren’t too many others there.

The temperature is steady all year, around 22–33°C, depending on where in the country you are. Here’s more detailed info about weather. 

If you’re interested in the whale watching, though, aim for June–September.

Language

The main languages are Malagasy and French, but whenever I forgot my French we got by with a few English words and a lot of sign language.

Visas

All visitors to Madagascar need a visa, but you can get it at the airport when you arrive. It costs €31 for 30 days, €39 for 60 days or €54 for 90 days (a longer visa would need to be arranged before you travel). You’ll need to show a return plane ticket, a passport valid for at least six months and a free page in your passport.

Vaccinations

The NHS recommends getting boosters for diphtheria, hepatitis A and tetanus, and if you want to be extra safe, suggests vaccinations against hepatitis B, rabies and typhoid. You might be asked for a yellow fever vaccination certificate if you’re arriving from a country with a yellow fever risk.

Malaria is a problem, so malaria pills are recommended, and take all the usual precautions like wearing trousers and long sleeves, using mosquito nets and repellent.

Costs – and could it be done on a budget?

We went for 20 days, and spent €8,000 per person including a private flight, six local flights, transfers, and 11 days in full-board luxury resorts. Not including international flights.

There are far cheaper and simpler ways of experiencing Madagascar though. Even if you ‘only’ go to Antananarivo (here’s a recommended walking tour if you have time in Antananarivo) and Isalo Rock Lodge, for example, or if you rough it all the way, it could be an amazing trip at a tiny fraction of the price.

White beaches, good food and lemurs aren’t limited to luxury resorts, and besides, neither Tsarabanjina nor Anjajavy are top-of-the-range on an international scale – they’re more like 4-star but with 5-star prices, because of the expensive logistics inherent in running international-style luxury properties in the middle of nowhere.  

Flights and bookings

International flights were with Air France, booked through ebookers. We booked all local flights, transfers and accommodation through the long-suffering Hoby at Pure Tours (they get their commission through accommodation bookings, so even though we wanted to do that ourselves we left it to Hoby); except for local Marojejy transfers, accommodation, meals and guide, which we booked through Eric Mathieu and his contacts – he’s a localised Marojejy enthusiast.

Must-have contacts

Eric Mathieu for Marojejy National Park – he’s best contacted through this Facebook group – and the ever-patient and detail-oriented Hoby at Pure Tours for the rest of Madagascar – here’s Hoby’s email. (No commission gained from these recommendations; they were just really good!)

Mia Livingston grew up in Sweden, the Philippines, Zimbabwe and Indonesia, and continues to travel like a lemur on speed. Her work has been featured in TEDx, the Guardian, BBC Radio and Time Out.