Trip Report from the beginning:
This 21 day trip has been planned for well over a year. During the year of planning for this trip I found out I had cancer. I had surgery, chemo and radiation. Finally right before the trip test results show I am now cancer-free. This trip was turned into a celebration of sorts. Thinking about this travel has got me through many rough days of medical treatment.
We used our Amex MR points to get our business class seats on Air France from SEA to TNR then open jaw JNB to SEA. I called 330 days in advance. It all went well except that AF told me that this routing was only available at double the points. So we cashed in our points from AMEX to Flying Blue as I was quoted by the agent on the phone per ticket. The good news was we got our award for only 120k miles per ticket. The bad news is I cashed in 120 k EXTRA Flying Blue Miles from Amex based upon the Flying Blue agent’s first mileage price quote. So now we have 120 k sitting in Flying Blue and one ticked off husband but I digress.
We also bought separate one way economy tickets from TNR to JNB on SAA. We purchased from Expedia. The flight was a code share SAA and Air Madagascar. We were not sure which airline metal would be flying the route. We will get UA miles for that part of the trip. This was the trip of a lifetime to Africa. We are 50 somethings who had never been to Africa. We have old college friends who have lived in Madagascar for over 25 years. It was time to pay a visit.
Day 1
Arrival in Paris
We flew the non-stop SEA to CDG flight. It was comfortable in seats 2 A and B. The inflight service was friendly and excellent. We spent the night at the CDG Airport Sheraton. It was worth every penny. Wisely we booked a club level room. The food in the lounge was high quality and plentiful enough for all our transit needs. For dinner there was gravlox, salad and other meaty offerings that covered us for dinner. Breakfast in the lounge was hot and plentiful. There was an attendant keeping everything refilled and fresh. We were very pleased with our decision considering the price of food in Euros vs. the Dollar. It was an excellent value. The hotel was clean large and very quiet.
Day 2
Arrival in Madagascar
Air France #908 is a direct non-stop flight from CDG that arrives in Antananarivo at about 10pm at night. It is in my opinion the best option coming from Europe. Air Madagascar’s flight arrives in the wee hours. You can save time by buying your Visa prior to arrival in your home country. If you buy one on arrival at the airport then bring cash in dollars or euros and prepare to wait in a long line. Cost is $80 US dollars.
We can’t really recommend any place to stay in Tana because we had the good fortune to stay with friends. She lives in the Ivandary neighborhood which is safe and pleasant. There are a couple of good choices for hotels people mentioned. One is Sakamanga which means Blue Cat. The other is the new wing of the Hotel Colbert. The Hilton is now the Carlton Hotel. It is not part of the Carlton national chain. Fellow tourist from England thought it was fine. We were so happy to arrive and see friendly familiar faces. The porters at the airport are pushy and ask for way too much tip. Bargin with them for sure or better yet don’t let them grab your cart.
Day 3
Antananarivo “Tana”
Today we took care of business. We changed our US dollars into Ariary. This is easier said than done. The banks in Madagascar are not happy taking $100 US bills. They prefer Euro. I don’t think they would have even accepted them at the bank without our friend’s personal assistant vouching for our money being good. My advice is bring Euros and lots of them. The next hurdle is how much money you get. Today 1 US dollar (USD) = 1,500 Ariary (AR) That means every hundred dollar bill makes you a millionaire. Woohoo. Oh I forgot the largest denomination in the country is 10,000 Ariary about $7.50 USD. Umm but try and put all that cash in your money belt. Not easy. Did I mention they don’t take credit cards most anywhere in the nation? Oh well they don’t. Not even at the travel agency. Not even at the hotels except for one in the extreme south of the Nation.
After lunch with our friend our first purchase is an unlocked cell phone for our use during the trip. We got our money’s worth for $30 plus SIM cards at $7.50 a piece . We could now call home or anywhere in the country for around 2cents a minute depending on the time of day. It was a wonderful way to stay in touch along the way. We will continue to use this phone in all our other travels.
Next we went to Cortez travel agency to purchase our domestic air tickets. They actually have an office in the USA. Then we went to the other travel agency named Boogie Pilgrim. It is a strange name but a great agency. We met with our driver. We used most of our new millions to pay for our rented car a Nissan 4WD Landcruiser "Patrol" with Expedition tires. Our new best friend is Willy, the driver. Willy is friendly sincere and a wonderful driver, mechanic and soon to be a trusted friend. Willy although fully Malagasy born and raised looks by all appearance “Vazah” (foreign or white). No mind he makes a wonderful first impression and we excitedly make plans to meet the next day for the first day of our trip.
Day 4
Andisibe
After pickup in Tana we head out to Andisibe for our first 2 day trip within the trip to see the lemurs! We stopped enroute to see the sisal plant one of Madagascar’s main crops. It is use to make woven goods and raffia. It looks to be the same plant as they make Tequila out of in Mexico.
Further along the road west we see rice fields and farms. We stop for lunch in Moramanga at a little hotely the cafes that exist in every little town in Madagascar. Enroute we stop at place called Madagascar Exotic. It is a kind of “zoo” where they have a wonderful variety of reptiles such as chameleons and frogs.
I intentionally avoided any contact with snakes. Finally we arrive at our destination our lodging at Vakona Lodge.
http://www.hotel-vakona.com/home.htm
There we meet our friends who are doing a little work in the area. We all go for a hike into the jungle looking for lemurs. It is the wrong time of day for them but there are fascinating insects like the giraffes beetle, colourful frogs and exotic birds. This little resort in the rainforest is proud that Koffie Anan and other dignitaries have stayed there. Although very nice it is hardly plush. It is clean, has a swimming pool and the rooms are comfortable. There are mosquito nets over each bed. That night I wake up with claustrophobic start. It is only the mosquito netting. I calmed quickly and fell back to sleep. The sounds of the jungle animals and insects are just outside our window. You can hear the eerie cry of the endangered Indri Lemur. This lemurs voice is said to carry for 2 kms.
Day 5
Hiking into the Analazamatra National Reserve. Today we hire a guide at the visitors center and off we go. It is very cleaver of the ANGAP, National Park Service of Madagascar to require visitors to have a guide in the parks. First it employs the locals. Second it gives the visitor a better understand the ecosystem, learn the plants and animals and most importantly optimises seeing the wildlife. The many of the guides speak multiple different languages. Most are very knowledgeable and hike the steep rainforest hills in flip-flops??? I was very happy we had dry weather so leeches were not an issue. During the rains there are small leeches that come out and can attach themselves. The large leeches are only in lakes and streams. Dinner at the Vakona is simple and was a menu that would be repeated most places we visited. The menu includes meat, rice, potatoes and very cooked veggies. Cold salads were available but my stomach couldn’t handle it. This evening we all enjoyed a large bottle of South African wine.
Day 6
Hiking into the Mantadia National Park and another night at Vakona Lodge. This evening we decide to go on a canoe around the hotels “Lemur Island”.
It is an island on which the hotel has released former pet lemurs of all types as a kind of preserve for tame lemur.
There is an option to walk the island and be jumped upon by the lemur or canoe around the idyllic island.
It was sunset and the lemurs were out in full force as we were paddled around by our guide looking at all varieties of lemur and the sun set. It was blissful and we got great photos
Day 7 Andasibe – Tana (3 hours by road). Today our driver Willy takes us “home” to Tana. We have now had a test run for our longer road trip south. We arrive in the evening and wash our clothes in our friend’s washer and dryer. Such a luxury to do laundry during a long trip in a 3rd world country. We slept well.
to be continued