Wow where do I start?! I have dreamed of visiting Madagascar for many years now and it didn’t disappoint. There were a few unfortunate moments along the way, but I’m so chuffed I got to experience this truly unique destination. I wanted to visit Madagascar due to how biodiverse the country is, animals found nowhere else and bizarre trees and plants, but not only did these astonish me but the people too are also very unique. 18 different ethnic groups listening to different music, living in different houses and dressing really brightly and uniquely. Just watching them as we travelled was captivating. The children were so sweet, not having much but making the most out of playing with stones and making little boats out of wood and plastic, laughing with their friends was heartwarming to see. I’m not going to lie though the poverty was really hard to witness, I have never seen poverty like it, just wishing there was something I could do to help. Witnessing the devastation of slash and burn, loss of wonderful rainforests and with that many of the unique wildlife disappearing too, is utterly devastating. Only 30 years ago was Madagascar called the green Island, its now named the red island due to such a huge area of forest disappearing. No wildlife outside of the national parks, once it would have been abundant with many wonderful species.
The trip itself was amazing, however I do think you have to be a hardened traveller. There are some really long days in the van (which I did know about) but it can be quite difficult, due to the fact our van was inadequate, it wasn’t made for those roads and had NO air-con which was unbearable on some of the hotter days! I would suggest reading the trip notes and day to day itinerary THOUROUGLY to make sure you can handle it, not just for yourself but also your fellow travellers. Some of the days i.e the day in Ranomafana was tough, looking for lemurs in thick bushes and on steep ledges, if you’re not fit it would be quite dangerous. Early starts and long days travelling can affect anyone no matter how fit you are. Make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Not only were the long drives tough, all of us on our trip got bad sickness bugs, I think your bound to get one, prepare for it with the correct medication etc. Thankfully I was bedbound on one of the beach days, as not sure what I would have done if it was a ten-hour drive, stopping every ten minutes ha-ha! Please also bare in mind you don’t get told what time your internal flight is until the day before, we got told at dinner time we had to get up and ready for our speed boat transfer at 4am. Not ideal and it put a dampener on our final meal together! I mean funny looking back, on a speed boat with no lights, whilst feeling sick! I can laugh now as I’m all comfy and well! ha-ha :).
Also, I would like to add on day 8 where is says: Full-day trek in Isalo National Park visiting Monkey Canyon and natural swimming pools. Was very misleading, our guide Claudia got me and my partner aside as she knew we had originally booked the trekking trip (which got cancelled) and said she thinks it would be better if we got a private guide which could take us on a longer hike and visit the swimming pools etc, we went ahead with this chuffed at the time. Had a fabulous day, in fact the best on the trip! But we technically paid for what should have been included anyway, so we were a little annoyed. Upon speaking to the rest of the group, we find out all they did was walked in the park for a few hours and didn’t visit the swimming pools then went back to the hotel before 12pm. We felt like they have been robbed of a fabulous day, I know one of the couples could have managed this hike and they were definitely disappointed. I don’t understand why this happened and I feel like Exodus should provide two guides, one guide for the longer hike and one guide for the people who can’t manage it.
All in all, this was a truly amazing adventure of a lifetime. I will never forget it! It was a dream come true. I mean how lucky am I to see sifaka in the wild and spend time with some truly amazing people. Thanks to my group who also made this trip amazing! Great couples and laugher made this trip even better 😊.
If you’re up for an adventure of a lifetime with some mad moments thrown in there, Madagascar is waiting for you to explore it!
16 Days
from
USD 5400
Guided Group (Incl. Taxes)
Diverse scenery and unique flora and fauna of Madagascar
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4.5
(
39 reviews )
14 Days
from
USD 3900
Guided Group (Incl. Taxes)
Discover Madagascar's unique wildlife and stunning beaches
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4.5
(
19 reviews )