Madagascar Road trip. River boat to Tsingy.

Madagascar is part of Africa and is the world’s fourth-largest island.
The island is known for its varied landscapes and unique wildlife—most famously the lemur, which is found nowhere else. Even though the country is very poor, you will meet friendly people and experience low crime rates.

Below is a travel account from a group of nine people who spent five weeks touring the island in rented cars. We went on a boat trip down the Tsiribihina River to Tsingy, drove the dry west coast south to Toliara, followed RN7 back to Tana with visits to national parks, and ended with a few days in the rainforests on the wetter east coast.

Other posts:
Post 2 Madagascar Road Trip 2: Tsingy and 4×4 Adventure Along the West Coast.covers the visit to the unique Tsingy rock formations and the drive south along a roadless coastline dotted with small resorts.
Post 3: Madagascar Roadtrip 3. RN7 to Tana – Isalo og Ranomafana. describes the well-known tourist route RN7 from Toliara back to Tana.
In Post 4: Madagaskar Roadtrip 4. The East Coast– Ambila Lemaitso you can read about the coastline east of Tana, the beautiful resorts located here, the Indian Ocean and the quiet backwater region, and the Canal des Pangalanes.

All Madagascar posts can be found here: Madagascar

Antananarivo – Tana

When you land in the capital Antananarivo—popularly called Tana—you quickly realise you’re not in the most developed country in Africa. Traffic is intense in the narrow streets from the airport into the city. Cars, cycle rickshaws, handcarts, and even the occasional ox cart share the road. The landscape is flat, with flooded rice fields here and there, surrounded by clusters of corrugated-iron shacks.

Eventually, concrete buildings take over, packed with people forced out into the street by the roadside stalls lining the roads. Everything is sold here. There are fewer “normal” shops.

The market in Tana is claustrophobic and enormous. You find a small opening in the massive wall of stalls along the main road, then follow narrow paths—barely a meter wide—through the maze. You must duck under clothes hanging outside the stalls and quickly step aside when you meet someone. The largest section is clothing of varying quality, much of it seemingly donated second-hand items. You smell the spice stalls long before you see them, then come the vegetable stalls overflowing with produce, and finally the unmistakable smell of meat and fish vendors. You may well find yourself inspired to choose a vegetarian dish for dinner.

We were a group of nine who had rented three cars to explore the country for five weeks. A few weeks earlier there had been major protests over recurring water and electricity shortages. But after the military removed the president, things calmed down, and we saw no signs of unrest. The water supply was still a major issue, though the electricity was stable. At the hotel, water was available only late in the evening and at night, making showering difficult—not to mention the toilets filling up as the day went on…

After two days we left Tana. The city offers limited attractions, but tourists come primarily for the nature and wildlife anyway: 80% of all species on the island are endemic, meaning they exist only here.

Heading West

Getting out of the city proved even harder than getting in. Traffic crawled through overcrowded streets, again lined with stalls from the centre all the way to the outskirts. The most memorable moment was when our driver stopped at a roundabout where three major roads met. He explained that all traffic stops here for 20 minutes, then opens again for 20 minutes. A perfect chaos unfolded as cars from all three directions tried to force their way into the roundabout at once. It took us over two hours to cover a few kilometers out of the city.

We were heading west toward the coast on RN1 via the small town of Ampefy and the larger Antsirabe. The road is in good condition, but we had rented SUVs with four-wheel drive and high clearance, well aware that roads would worsen as we approached the coast. The cars came with drivers—only slightly more expensive than renting cars alone, and a big advantage if you damage the vehicle or end up in an accident. Madagascar’s roads certainly offer challenges.

Lemur Park

On the way we stopped at a lemur park—a private reserve where you can see many different species. You will likely see wild lemurs too at some point, but here you get up close. Lemurs exist only in Madagascar. They are primates, and there are 50 different species. Unfortunately, deforestation is a major problem in Madagascar, and since lemurs live in and depend on the forest, many species are threatened.

Antsirabe

Antsirabe is, like all towns, somewhat chaotic with dense rows of stalls along the access roads. The contrast is striking when we drive through the gates of our hotel—an oasis in the chaos. Small bungalows in a green garden. Only tourists stay here. The hotel in Ampefy, by contrast, was used by locals for Saturday celebrations with music and pool swimming.

Antsirabe is known for many colonial buildings, such as the old bathhouse hotel.

From Antsirabe we continued on RN34 toward Anosimena, where we were to board a boat to sail down the Mania River to the coast. The first 150 km are decently paved—not too many potholes. Here and there, young boys fill potholes with dirt and gravel, pointing at their work as we pass, hoping for a few ariary. But the last 90 km become increasingly potholed, though still paved.

The landscape becomes drier toward the west. We climb into the mountains. Occasionally the barren landscape is broken by small valleys with flowing water. Rice is cultivated here, and the bright green young rice plants form a beautiful contrast to the otherwise scorched terrain.

Boat Trip on the Tsiribihina River

The boat trip down the Tsiribihina is popular among tourists, and four or five boats normally operate. But the rainy season was approaching and the season nearly over, so only two boats departed—ours with nine passengers, and another with a Dutch couple. The journey to Belo-Tsiribihina takes about two and a half days, with camping overnight.

The river winds through flat, sandy terrain. It is wide and shallow, so the boat zigzags to follow deeper channels where the current is stronger. The water is yellow-brown from sediment, but it is not polluted—at regular intervals we pass children bathing, or adults washing clothes or washing themselves. The children shout and wave as we drift by.

Canoes are poled along the shores or cross the river. Some are filled with people, others with vegetables or building materials. Fishermen cast their nets in the shallows.

The landscape alternates between flat areas and tall, forested hills. Temperatures hover around 30°C, but fortunately we have shade.

The boat has a long, flat-bottomed steel hull and two decks. Below deck is a long dining table where all meals are served, a galley at the back run by two smiling women, and a single-cylinder Chinese diesel engine thumping steadily behind them. The helmsman sits in a chair protruding over the side of the boat. The upper deck is partly covered for shade and has four sunbeds. The rest of the crew consists of two “deckhands” who handle all practical tasks—jumping into the water to tie up the boat, and setting up camp each evening. The well-dressed guide, who is apparently also the captain, mainly commands and guides us during shore excursions.

Villages

We stop and visit two villages en route—partly to buy provisions such as live chickens, and partly to give us tourists a look around. The villages consist of simple huts with dirt floors, built from straw and sticks. At the centre is an open space and a market hall filled with local produce. Chickens run through the streets, an ox cart with waving children races past, and a small boy herds goats through narrow alleys.

The most colourful features are the stalls selling mobile phone services. The villages also have small schools packed with children who wave when we peek inside. The youngest sit tightly on the floor, the older ones at desks. French and maths are on the timetable.

One of the things that strikes us throughout the trip is the sheer number of children. Even in this small village: not many houses, yet the school buildings are full of children from age six to early teens. Elderly people are few and far between. Africa is known for its low average age.

The residents welcome us warmly. There is no begging, unlike in the cities, though children shout “bonbon!” asking for sweets.

From our perspective, the poverty is obvious—Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries. That said, people appear content. Hunger is not immediately visible, though malnutrition is common according to Wikipedia.

Accommodation in tents

Before sunset we dock for the night on a large sandbank. It doesn’t take long before many children appear—some paddle across the river from a village on the opposite bank, others walk across the sand from who knows where. They smile and wave. Their reward: empty plastic bottles and sometimes leftover food from the crew.

There is no toilet on board, so the most important “building,” the latrine, is erected first. It consists of a hole in the ground, a blue wooden toilet seat, four poles, and a tarp around it. It is very popular.

The rest of the camp consists of eight mountain tents with foam mattresses. Three of us sleep on the sunbeds on the boat.

The sun sets around 7:30 pm. A glowing red sunset over the river is quickly replaced by pitch darkness free from any light pollution, and a spectacular starry sky. We are also treated to distant thunderstorms, with lightning illuminating the clouds.

On the last night the crew lights a huge bonfire and brings out a massive loudspeaker. The crew and a couple of random visitors break into energetic dancing around the fire to loud rhythms from the speaker. We tourists are more reserved, but eventually a few of us dare to join the circle dance.

We must admit that there is an inevitable distance between us—wealthy tourists—and them, the poor locals.

Practical tips

Madagascar

Madagascar is the world’s fourth-largest island—larger than France. It has a population of 31 million. The country was a French colony until 1960, and French is still an official language alongside Malagasy. English is spoken in tourist areas.

Getting around

• By plane: There are several small airports around the island for domestic flights.
• Car rental: If you plan to travel outside the cities, you need a 4×4. Rent a car with a driver to avoid unpleasant surprises.
• In the cities: Choose between cycle rickshaw or tuk-tuk. Regular taxis also exist in the larger cities.
• Between cities: Minibuses called Taxi-Brousse. They are extremely crowded and cramped, slow, and known for very unreliable departure times—but they are cheap.

Most visitors can buy a visa on arrival at the airport.

You can fly either to Antananarivo or to the tourist destination Nosy Be—Madagascar’s equivalent of Gran Canaria.

Prices

Travelling in Madagascar is inexpensive. You can find good accommodation for 20–404 Euro for a double room. A dinner or lunch costs 5–8 Euro, a pint beer around 1.5 Wine is relatively expensive, about 16 to 30 Euro for a bottle.

Food

Everywhere you will find zebu on the menu. Zebu is beef—and it can be either the most tender steak or tough, stringy meat, depending on where you eat. Along the coast there is a good selection of fish and seafood. Breakfast is usually white bread and jam; omelets cost extra.

Local eateries are called Hotely. We tried them, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend eating there. Very cheap, the rice was warm and good, but the side dishes (meat and fish) were cold and not particularly tasty. There are many restaurants catering to tourist stomachs, and these are likely a safer choice.

Scary Things

Madagascar has no dangerous animals—not even venomous snakes. Serious crime is rare, though pickpocketing does occur in markets and similar places.

Organising Your Trip

We used the travel agency lonelydream-toursmadagascar to arrange hotels and rental cars, which saved us a lot of work. But you can of course organise everything yourself via, for example, Booking.com.
If you rent a car, it is not much more expensive to rent it with a driver. This can save you many headaches—the bad roads make it easy to damage the car, and traffic rules and legal processes are unclear if an accident happens.

When to travel

The dry season is preferable, from April to November. December to March is rainy season and cyclone season, and many resorts close. We travelled in November. There were a few showers, mostly in the evening and at night. Prices are lower and there are fewer tourists.

Maps

Make sure you have an offline map app with detailed maps. There is no mobile coverage outside cities and larger towns. Google Maps is useless except in cities. We recommend OsmAnd, which has excellent maps. See Navigation apps for car and mobile

Read all about Madagascar here: madagascar