Madagascar is a truly unique island where nature and man remain the real protagonists. A great country that has received many names: island mainland, Red Island, Big Island and even nature sanctuary, all to make it as close as possible to the comparison with a unique natural paradise.

Fourth largest island in the world, Madagascar is located about 400 km from the African coast, at the height of Mozambique, surrounded by small islands and archipelagos. It presents itself as a mosaic of people born from the mixture of various migrations (near and far). Thus, it is a destination to discover without precipitation by taking all the most beautiful that it has to offer: sacred traditions, rituals and beliefs, music and dances, the place where we find cultural similarities with the African and Asian ancestors, always renewed the impression of the European colonizing cultures.

Of all that resembles to a coloured sheet: the many rivers like thrilling veins flowing downstream, the green hills and thatched cottages and brick on the central plateau, long tracks of red earth, where the carts zebu help men to transport food and goods, the green coast is bathed by ocean waters and the semi-desert agitated environment in the south with thorny bush and savanna. Madagascar is neither Africa nor the East, although the traditions and cultures of both are preserved. After paddling in simple canoes, the people of Indonesia and the African coast came to stop in this piece of land and contributed to the formation of a mosaic of 18 ethnic groups, of which the cult of dead.

The geological separation from Africa long ago has contributed to the development of a unique nature in the world: lemurs, chameleons and numerous endemic plant species attract geologists and biologists every year from around the world, as well as travellers looking for a unique and special thing, in contact with nature and friendly and polite people. Fortunately, tourism is not yet massive and imposing, so everything is not perfectly organized. Come and start your journey with a spirit of adventure and you will be transported to the country's way of "mora mora" (slowly).

The airline company
- International Network
Air Madagascar - Air France - Air Mauritius - Kenya Airways - Africa Airlines – Turkish Airlines

- National Network
Air Madagascar

What documents are required?
Tourists entering Madagascar must be in possession of a valid passport for at least 6 months after the start of the journey. To enter the country, they must also be in possession of a tourist visa because when you arrive at Antananarivo airport, you have to pay around € 52,00 (this amount is subject to change at any time, because it is closely linked to the floating exchange rate of the Ariary).

What are the rules of hygiene to follow?
Recommended malaria prophylaxis does not prevent disease, but kills parasites during their development stage and reduces the risk of getting sick. It should be noted, however, that this risk is conditional on the season. The rainy season from December to March-April is certainly the one in which there are the most mosquitoes. It is suggested to protect yourself with a mosquito repellent as well as intestinal disinfectants for any problem resulting from climate change, and to avoid on the spot raw vegetables and fruits already peeled, raw meat and fish, milk and dairy products.

What type of currency is used?
Since August 2003, the Malagasy franc, the currency used, is gradually replaced by the Ariary. In fact, it is a return to the old numbering system used in this country. The rate varies according to the time between 3,000 and 3,500 Ariary the value of 1,00 €.

When arriving in the capital, it is suggested to make the maximum possible exchange because in the villages there are not always banks where you can withdraw, and not all hotels accept credit cards (the most widely accepted are Visa and Mastercard in any case). The big banks of the country are located in Antananarivo and have branches in the big cities. The hours of operation are different from one bank to the next, but generally all are open from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Monday to Friday, also closed every afternoon before a public holiday.

What is the best time to visit this country?
From a climatic point of view, Madagascar differs according to the geographical location and the period of time: on the central highlands during the austral winter (June-September), it is very cold and windy and the temperatures drop a lot during the night. Along the west coast, the sun shines all year, with a rain of light between January and March. The eastern coast is the wettest with lush vegetation, green with beautiful forests.

It rains less in September and October. In principle, the best season to visit the country is the austral winter and the ideal months are September, October and November. To avoid from January to March which coincide with summer, it is the rainy season.

The language used
The local language is Malagasy, an obvious Polynesian and Indonesian influence. In small towns, the spoken dialect varies by region. However, the long colonization impressed the inhabitants of the French language, which is still taught in schools and spoken by the majority of the population.

Time zone
Madagascar is two hours ahead of France, and when summer time is in effect (April to October), you have to move the clock one hour.

The telephone communication code
From Madagascar to France, go from 0033 to 00261. To make a call to Madagascar, the intercontinental prefix is ​​followed by the area code followed by the number.

How do telecommunications work?
Today, the appeal to Madagascar is much easier than a few years ago, although sometimes the line may still fall. To this day, some private operators have set up mobile phone networks covering the most popular tourist destination and of course the capital, and agreements with major foreign suppliers. If you need the use of e-mail, do not forget that for the moment, it is only in the big cities (Antananarivo, Tuléar, Fort Dauphin, Diégo Suarez, Morondava ...) that you will find the points where you can connect to the network with a certain reliability.

What type of electrical voltage is used?
The voltage is 220 V almost everywhere in the country. The sockets are designed for the use of bipolar and European type plugs. In major cities, energy is provided 24 hours a day, while in more remote areas it is still difficult to have this service: many hotel facilities use generators, solar energy or wind energy.

Is it necessary to tip?
Tipping is always a much appreciated gesture, although in this country it is not so common. However, it is good practice to leave a small fee at restaurants and with local guides during park excursions. There is no point in tipping taxi drivers.

Is it possible to rent a car?
In almost all major cities and tourist centers, there are tour operators and travel agencies who rent cars, and most of the time they are released with the driver (for which room and board should also be provided) for a simple and good reason: the road network in Madagascar is not good, with a few exceptions. Otherwise, this makes the amount of insurance high to the point that it is much more convenient to consider the solution with driver, Madagascar also has some facilities in the field of evacuation and emergencies. The advice is to rent a 4x4 car even if it is a bit more expensive but certainly more comfortable and reliable, especially if you have to cross tracks and roads.

How is the road network?
Madagascar's road network consists mainly of dirt roads and paths: It is necessary to think that about 50,000 kilometers of roads are tarred less than 10%, so the distances that separate the main centers are truly coherent and the time taken to walk depends on road conditions and types of means: during the rainy season, roads are very impractical and in any case on tracks in good condition rarely gets more than 50 kilometers per hour.

The streets are currently paved as the RN7, which connects the capital to Tuléar, the RN2 that connects the capital with the east, and the RN4 to Mahajanga. The railway network is also very weak: there are lines built during the period of French colonization, mainly used for the transport of goods, with the exception of FCE or Fianarantsoa - East Coast, the line connecting the plateau, Fianarantsoa in Manakara: it is a magnificent and picturesque course through the forest of the East coast, in contact with the local people who often use this line to move, but especially for the transport of goods and products.

Is it recommended to travel alone?
Madagascar is not yet (fortunately, to a certain extent) ready for tourism, therefore, on the one hand the road network remains precarious and the other facilities of the hotel are concentrated only in the major centers, does not allow the most of the time, to travel on their own. However, for those who want to go home with memories of unforgettable experiences, trips in close contact with the local population, the most famous and most used in these areas is certainly the Taxi Brousses (bus, minibus), taxi Be (minibus), and the taxi: the most typical and the cheapest, which is used by most Malagasy.

Beware, however, they have always packed men, women, animals and very often they are forced to stop for defects or technical problems. Nothing remains, however, especially in calmer periods (avoiding the months of July and August), to consider a trip in the nature, planning to visit the reserve by car, minibus or jeep 4x4 with driver and , on request, book hotels along the way. This solution allows you to move safely and freely with experienced pilots, according to personal interests and rhythms. The stages can be decided with the traveller, designed to leave the right moment to make interesting excursions in the parks and nature reserves, as well as respect the traditions and customs of the various local tribes.

How is the kitchen?
Malagasy cuisine is particularly fragrant thanks to the use of spices such as ginger, pepper... The nutmeg is varied from one region to another and depending on where you decide to eat. Rice is certainly the main attraction and represents 60% of the daily diet, usually flanked by zebu meat broth (romazava) or bouillon made with wild herbs taste spicy enough. The other dish is ravitoto, a meat sauce seasoned with pounded cassava leaves. Along the coast you can enjoy seafood and shellfish of various types, shrimp, lobster oysters.
The restaurants of the big cities also offer international cuisine: very common French cuisine and typical of Reunion nearby, basic curry and rougail. In the street you can find small restaurants where a snack made from cassava and grilled meat kebabs. Even the fruit is abundant: in addition to coconut, there is a wide variety of tropical fruits, bananas, and dates, from October to December have a lot of pineapples, mangoes and other tropical fruits in the North. In each city, there is bottled mineral water and soft drinks, and everywhere local rum, unrefined, distilled from rice and sugar cane. Beer is ubiquitous whereas for wine, whose production was introduced by Switzerland in the 60s, the best vineyards are in the region of Fianarantsoa and Ambalavao at about 800/1000 meters above sea level.
What types of sports and activities can you practice?
Madagascar is a country as vast and diverse, lends itself to many activities to discover nature and people. The many parks and reserves established by Madagascar National Parks, as well as to limit damage to endemic fauna and flora due to deforestation, lend themselves admirably to nature trails and hikes. In Madagascar you can also make beautiful excursions to the sea especially in the northwest, near the island of Nosy Be, northeast of Sainte Marie Island and along the southwest coast near of Tuléar. The growing number of tourists, interests in parks and the sea have contributed in particular to the emergence of many businesses and establishments that organize hiking, hiking trails in the country, and diving courses and other activities in the seaside resorts.

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, with an area of 587,000 square kilometers and is divided geographically from north to south into three vertical bands, as well as the extreme south arid and semi-desert:

The center and the high plateaux
This region is the coldest part of Madagascar during the austral winter, covering about three-quarters of the country and represents the backbone of cultural and political history. Geographically, it is divided into three mountain ranges: the Maromokotro, the Ankaratra and the Andringitra. Antananarivo, the capital, one of the highest towns of the Merina, overlooking the surrounding landscape with its hills and small traditional villages, where people live in a pleasant setting of a clay and straw house. Coming from the Betsileo region, the meeting point between the central region and the south coast, characterized by extensive rice fields and vineyards.

The West Coast
The west is characterized by vast plains gently sloping down from the highlands: the northern tip or Diego Suarez, the arid region of Mahajanga, then Morondava where the baobab is cultivated, the territory of Sakalava and the landscape is dominated by dirt roads, streams, large rivers such as the beautiful and famous Tsiribihina. The Tsingy, large sandstone pinnacles classified UNESCO World Heritage Site. Downhill, the villages on the coast become those of the Menabe (Big Red); and fishermen Vezo southern nomads.

The East Coast
East of Madagascar is in fact a separate universe, completely different from the rest of the country, far from the warm and semi-arid lands of the south and west, and the coolest of the plateau of the coast of Fort Dauphin. Sambava is the undisputed capital of vanilla, the coast is beaten by rain for most years and would therefore be very green, with tropical forests alternating with rivers and the occasional beach protected by sharks. Always green and young, this coast is also the land of a thousand legends and ancient stories, where the pirates have left their treasures, especially in the beautiful island of Sainte-Marie.

The Great South
The gradual end of the rice fields, the vineyards of the central plateau and the appearance of the first tomb suggest the beginning of a new territory, where herds of zebu occupy quietly in the streets and where the large park of Isalo is in all its splendour. It is the kingdom of the savanna and brush: a unique environment where they fall to less than 500 mm of rain per year and where you develop a vegetation totally adapted to the desert climate.

Madagascar is the ideal destination for lovers of nature reserves and parks rich in fauna and flora. In fact, occur as we have always been, and are distinguished according to geographic location and climate. Typical habitats include the rainforest along the east coast, mountain meadows and savannas in the central mountains that cover most of the western plains.

In these habitats there are species unique to the world and experts claim that over 60% of the flora and fauna are endemic plant and animal, although it was found that nearly 85% of the forests that originally covered this beautiful island have been destroyed by man. The reasons for this deforestation are found in the subsistence agriculture methods of the local populations and used in the exploitation of forests for purely commercial purposes, which has led to the erosion and loss of local wildlife habitat, so many species are in danger of extinction.

Fortunately, today there are national laws that provide protection for certain forms of plant and animal species, so also WWF and other organizations raise awareness through teacher development courses, education for the conservation of public goods, management of Protected Areas and Protected Administration and Reserve Rangers. Most of the parks and reserves are managed by the National Association for the Management of Protected Areas (ANGAP) and can be divided into three types: national parks, nature reserves and special reserves and among the most important to see are mentioned as follow:

Andasibe Reserve
Nicknamed "Périnet" as the old French name. In fact, the park includes the Indri Indri Special Reserve and the Mantadia Park. It is located not far from Antananarivo, in the direction of Tamatave, and is known by nature lovers to the richness of plants and nocturnal lemurs, especially those of the "Indri Indri" family. The reserve covers 810 hectares at 900 meters high and is populated by Indri Indri, Lemur fulvus, Hapalemur, Lemur rubriventer. The flora is very rich and can be seen from several orchids including Eulophiella, Roempleriana Grammangi, Ellisi.

Ranomafana National Park
With an area of 40,000 hectares, the park comes with its dense rainforest hills that cling to the mountain and the valley. Due to the wealth of flora and fauna, the park is considered as one of the wonders of Madagascar and it is one of the most visited parks in the country. It consists mostly of hills between 800 and 1200 meters above sea level, crossed by numerous rivers flowing into the Namorona River.

The most visited by tourists is Talatakely, crossed by two main lanes: a short Ala Mando (duration about 2 hours round trip, in an area where you can observe several lemurs) and the long one which takes about 3 hours to walk, it goes a little further to better observe the lemurs and an infinite variety of plants and birds.

Andringitra Park
Established in October 1999, Andringitra Park is an excellent alternative to the Isalo Park, which has become almost inaccessible. It is one of the most exciting to visit due to the variety of ecosystems: spectacular views of huge granite peaks, more than 50 km of trails, lowland rainforest meadows to the east and to the west of the mountains. The meeting with the life, culture and characteristics of Malagasy indigenous Betsileo and Coffin people, are also assured. The most interesting way from the point of view of nature is the Pic Boby: after about two hours of walking on Andringitra, the view is magnificent! Various camping possibilities.

National Park Isalo
It is an enormous massif of sandstone dating from the Jurassic and covers an area of ​​about 82,000 hectares. It shows landscapes of extraordinary beauty and is well worth a few days to discover on foot: alternating plains and ridges of sandstone marked by wind and water, rocky blocks that hide the tombs of travellers, to exhort the Sakalava follow grassy existing paths to discover the rare beauty. Among the places of interest in the canyon of the monkeys and the Canyon of the Rats, the Natural Pool and Window of the Isalo.

Reserve of Berenty
The Berenty Reserve is located about 100 km west of the town of Fort Dauphin and is accessed by a red dirt track, surrounded by miles of land planted with sisal. Commissioned by the De Haulme family in 1936, the reserve is designed to protect and preserve a very dense and tamarind-dominated type of forest, where indigenous vegetation and wildlife are strictly protected. A walk through dense and lush forest allows you to easily put different species of lemurs like Sifaka, lemur catta, leucopus sportive as well as flying foxes, snakes, parrots, eagles and small squirrels.

Tsingy National Park of Bemaraha
The Karate formations in this park are unique in the world and have been examined by the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It all started 200 million years ago when the Bemaraha plateau was submerged by the waters of the Channel, shells and corals Mozambique are gradually welded together to form a giant limestone plate, which emerged, dried up , and causing the formation of the canyon. The best way to see the park is from Morondava to Belo Tsiribihina and venturing inside these beautiful rock formations, once the kingdom of the Vazimba tribe.

Special reserve of Ankarana
The reserve is the second largest in Madagascar, where you can see the Tsingy (after Bemaraha) and includes the spectacular Ankarana massif, which rises about 100 km south of Diego Suarez, in a desert characterized by rock formations and very rich flora and fauna, numerous lakes and an extensive network of caves. Here peacefully coexist baobab trees, Cassia, figs and trees typical of dry forest and lemurs, crocodiles and many species of birds. The particular interest is the Grotto of the Bat-Souris, the Andrafiabe Caves and the Grotto of the Crocodiles.

Amber Mountain National Park
It is about 40 km south of the town of Diego Suarez and represents a typical example of the rainforest. It reaches 1,470 meters above sea level and has a dense vegetation, similar to the forests of the east coast, covering a volcanic massif. There are 7 species of lemurs and the park is a true botanical garden where 1000 species of plants are present. Walk along the paths to discover its 5 volcanic lakes.

Separated from the African continent some tens of millions of years ago, Madagascar is home to a wide variety of endemic plants and animals. In this regard, many parks, nature reserves and private individuals have been set up to try to protect as much as possible the nature of environmental degradation.

Unfortunately, the devastation of forests caused by cropping systems that are not always correct but used by local tribes has slowly destroyed the immense wealth of the country's primary forests and animals. However, after government intervention, in collaboration with international organizations, many things have changed and people, after a strong awareness and training campaign, are beginning to understand the importance of preserving the environment.

The Endemic Flora
Covering the territory from north to south and from east to west, climate diversity and special earth formation allow you to see an incredible variety of environmental conditions and a high number of endemic species: the subalpine forest of the central plateau, the vegetation of the tropical islands of Nosy Be and Sainte-Marie, from the tropical jungle of the east coast to the typical southern desert vegetation, there are about 12,000 species of plants, 700 different types of orchids, more than 110 varieties of palm trees, not to mention the incredible abundance of spices such as cinnamon, pepper, coffee, cocoa, ylang-ylang from which is extracted the precious essence used for the production of most perfumes all over the world, vanilla and sugar cane.

Abundant fruits: In addition to those that normally grow in Europe, there is a wide variety of tropical fruits such as pineapple, mango, papaya and many varieties of bananas. Also numerous is the quantity of precious wood such as ebony, rosewood, giant bamboo, ferns, euphorbia and agave, present mainly in the south and from which we extract the sisal fiber exported all over the world. Particular interest to scientific research is the many medicinal plants: there are more than 600 species and they are exported all over the world for the treatment of various diseases.

The Endemic Fauna
In Madagascar, there are no large mammals. But there is the growth and development of unique animal species in the world: thousands of butterflies (300 species of which 97% are endemic) and invertebrates, but also about fifty species of diurnal and nocturnal lemurs and chameleons. In lakes and underground rivers also live crocodiles and more than 250 species of reptiles, and many birds including waterfowl and birds of prey.

Even the sea deserves a little attention to the richness of its waters and the diversity of the species that live there: surely the one that bathes the west coast of the country is the richest of the marine world, where the reef is still intact and where live many fish species typical of the reef. But also in the north where there are many schools of pelagic fish, areas of deep-sea fishing.