Madagascar Holidays

Name: Madagascar
Brand: Exodus
Rating: 4.5 (58 reviews)

There’s nowhere else like it – bizarre wildlife and strange rock formations make this island unique

Activities in Madagascar

Walking in Madagascar Wildlife in Madagascar Cycling in Madagascar

Madagascar Holidays

Taking you on an exciting journey of discovery of national parks and mountain scenery, Madagascar holidays provide a natural paradise for wildlife lovers. Although the lemur is arguably the most iconic animal species that’s closely associated with the country, there is so much more to discover. About 80% of the flora and fauna of Madagascar is endemic to the island – located off the coast of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean – which is a staggering statistic. To walk in the forests of Perinet and Ranomafana searching for the howling Indri or the endearing ring-tailed lemur is a wildlife adventure like no other.

Whether you choose to explore on foot or by bike on Madagascar holidays, you’ll meet an array of fascinating creatures along the way. From colourful chameleons and frogs to beautiful orchids and butterflies, plus all manner of weird and wonderful insects like praying mantis and stick insects, you’ll be enthralled by what the country has to offer. And then there’s the stunning coastline of course, where you can enjoy dreamy views and sample the French-style Creole cuisine at one of the beachside restaurants.

As you explore incredible national parks and nature reserves such as Adasibe, Isalo, Ranamofana and Tsimanampetsotsa, you’ll venture through dense forests, along plunging canyons and beneath cascading waterfalls.

Our Top Destinations in Madagascar

Isalo National Park Perinet National Park

Madagascar Tours

16 Days from £ 3599

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Diverse scenery and unique flora and fauna of Madagascar

Culture

14 Days from £ 2599

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Discover Madagascar's unique wildlife and stunning beaches

Wildlife

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Top 5 Highlights of Madagascar Holidays

Isalo National Park: Made up of huge canyons and gorges, imposing rock towers and Jurassic highlands. Isalo National Park is one of the most fascinating and beautiful places to visit on holidays to Madagascar. Among the untamed scenery, you’ll see incredible wildlife such as ring-tailed lemurs, the Malagasy rainbow frog and the native, white-lipped bright-eyed frog.

Ranomafana National Park: Home to natural hot springs, waterfalls and tropical rainforest, Ranomafana is a magnificent park which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It spans for 161 square miles and plays host to a wealth of endemic animal and plant species, with 12 species of lemur alone, including the famous golden bamboo lemur. Also, keep your eyes peeled for bats, tenrecs and mongoose.

Ambositra: Known as the city of arts and crafts, Ambositra offers a wonderful introduction to the traditions and culture of Madagascar. Learn about the wood carving industry, wander around the beautiful houses with their ornately carved shutters and balconies and visit a woodcarving workshop to gain a deeper insight into this local craft. You’ll also find an array of handicrafts like baskets, pottery and even locally made honey.

Ifaty Beach: Fringing the Malagasy coastline, Ifaty Beach is one of the most idyllic and wildlife rich in Madagascar. Its soft, white sands sprawl along one of the largest barrier reefs in the world, making it a fabulous area for scuba diving and snorkelling. During the summer months, you can also enjoy a whale watching trip and see humpback whales giving birth. Alternatively, simply relax on the beach and immerse yourself in the ocean views.

Tsimanampetsotsa National Park: One of the most fascinating and biodiverse nature reserves in Madagascar, Tsimanampetsotsa has a unique landscape made up of a large salt lake, limestone plateau, sinkholes and caves. The lake is a wildlife-rich oasis where you can spot some of the 72 bird species such as flamingos, the Madagascar plover and the endangered Grandidier’s mongoose. Around other parts of the park you’ll find lemurs, turtles, reptiles and maki catta.

Expert opinion: Dramatic and diverse Madagascar

What you might not be expecting is just how dramatic this country is. On Madagascar holidays with Exodus you’ll explore the rainforests of Ranomafana National Park; witness the island’s intense, captivating beauty; and see rare orchids, steamy mangrove swamps, lush forests and volcanic peaks.

“The diversity of scenery was quite incredible, changing dramatically from day to day,” says Exodus Head of Product Andy Ross. “Visit in summer and you’ll have the option to go whale watching as the migration of humpback whales passes close to the coast. Or maybe snorkelling past angelfish in a vast turquoise lagoon is more the scale you’re after…”

Whatever your pleasure, Exodus offers a wide range of Madagascar tours, from adventure and activity to walking and wildlife.

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!

Bethany McNally Highlights of Madagascar

Hotels
The hotels were clean and the staff were friendly. Some of the hotels were run on solar power or generators which were turned off around 22:00/23:00. Turned back on about 5:00, remember to take a torch with you. All the rooms were a good size. Some hotels did not have hot water, although a bucket of hot water could be provided. The hotels provided bars of soap, some of which had been used by the previous occupants. Net curtains were provided in some of the hotels. I would recommend always wearing mozzie spray at all times, and taking sufficient toiletries for the duration of your trip.

The roads are awful, making all journeys long and uncomfortable. Arriving at the hotel after an early start, given our room keys and told we needed to order dinner. I understand the need for ordering as they needed to freshly cook the food. There was no time to wind down before eating.

Food
Breakfasts were simple, bread, jam, fruit, and eggs. There was enough food provided to start your day.

Lunch was non-existent on many days. Several days we had chips and cereal bars
On the occasions we did stop for lunch then it was a tourist type restaurant where the food was more like a main meal. There were no light lunches and we ended up with a plate of chips (French fries). For the majority of our journey there are no places to buy snacks. At least 4 of our journeys resulted in a picnic lunch of the bus. One hotel offered us a packed lunch of omelette or sardine sandwiches which are not to everyone’s taste.

Dinner. All bar one was taken in the hotel as there are very few restaurants around, and none outside the main towns. There was a limited choice of food in the hotels and most people on our group had upset stomachs. The food was overcooked and the meat/fish was tough.

Roads
Are terrible, potholes that you could fit a car in. The journeys on the 4×4 and the bus were very uncomfortable and the proposed journey time in the trips notes were under estimated. We had three journeys of 12 hours. The state of the roads means that after your early start to the day that you are unable to have a ‘nap’.

Transport
The bus and 4×4 were in a good condition, albeit that our bus needed to change a tyre and to fix a slow puncture. The tread on the tyres would not pass a MOT.

As we were a small group (8) then we could spread ourselves around. It did however make slow progress due to the road conditions

We had sufficient room in the 4x’s however we were thrown around due the road surface, which was mainly mud. The drivers were very mechanically minded and could fix problems on the cars and quickly change tyres.

The very long days did detract from the overall experience of the trip

Wildlife
There is abundant wildlife which our guides managed to find for us. We were able to take many, many photographs. The wildlife and in particular seeing lemurs in the wild was the main reason to go to Madagascar. There were a lot of them and we saw many different types. The mouse lemur is the cutest.

Walking
There is a lot of walking on uneven ground as the animals are living in their natural habitat. Be prepared to scramble through the undergrowth to get ‘that’ picture.

Begging
Madagascar is a poor country and not set up for mass tourism. Be prepared to see a lot of children begging for sweets and money as you travel through the countryside.

Linda Arnold Madagascan Discoverer

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When is the best time to visit Madagascar?

Depending on what you want to see during your trip, the best times to visit Madagascar will vary. Between January and March is the rainy season, meaning the ensuing spring is lush and lemurs and reptiles are easier to spot. From April to June, you can expect some heavy rain, however, there does tend to be plenty of sunshine in between. If you prefer to avoid the rain, July and August remain relatively dry and cool and are pleasant months for trekking or cycling trips. From late July to early September, you can enjoy whale watching off the coast, and many other wildlife species such as lemurs, reptiles and tenrecs are more active.

Is Madagascar good for cycling?

Its diverse landscapes made up of dramatic highland plains, unspoilt coastline and mountain backdrops make the island an exceptional destination for a cycling holiday. You’ll find a mixture of scenic back roads, quiet main roads and mountain trails. The quality of the roads can vary but where they are uneven and unsuitable for cycling, you can take the bus and enjoy more of the scenery. Exploring Madagascar by bike is extremely rewarding as you can travel further distances than on foot and you’ll also get close up to the flora and fauna.

FAQs on Madagascar Tours

How many national parks are in Madagascar?

There are a staggering 19 national parks, six nature reserves and two marine reserves as well as smaller special reserves. But what’s even more impressive is that most of the flora and fauna found in the parks is endemic to Madagascar. While many of the parks share the same natural beauty, each has its own distinctive charms, from hidden waterfalls and rare mountain orchids to epic baobab trees and tropical rainforest.

What kind of food do they eat in Madagascar?

Most traditional dishes eaten in Madagascar consist of rice which is accompanied by either meat or fish. Vegetable soup, known as lasopy, and meat stews made with green vegetables are favourites among the locals. A delicacy that we recommend trying is fish in coconut sauce which is often served in the coastal regions owing to the abundance of fresh seafood. The fish is gently grilled and served alongside vegetables, pasta and a spicy sauce. Akoha is another popular dish made with chicken, rice, onions, chilli and other spices.

Where are the best places to see lemurs?

Endemic to Madagascar, lemurs can be found across all the country, particularly in the nature reserves and national parks. Out of the 100 species found on the island, Ranomafana is home to approximately 20 different species, with red-fronted brown lemurs and black-and-white ruffed lemurs being among the most common. Andasibe National Park is another great place to see these adorable creatures and is home to the largest species, the indri, as well as the sleeping woolly lemur and the common brown lemur.

Do I need vaccinations to travel to Madagascar?

While there are no essential vaccinations required, it’s always a good option to speak with your local GP about any recommendations they might have such as tuberculosis, polio, Hepatitis A, Tetanus or typhoid. We highly advise making sure you’re protected from any risk of malaria or dengue fever, which can be spread from mosquito bites.

Which is the best beach in Madagascar?

The island is famous for its soft, white sands and emerald waters so wherever you go you’ll find idyllic beaches. Ifaty Beach is quieter than many others and is home to baobob trees, wandering tribesmen and wildlife-rich coral reefs, making it ideal for snorkelling, diving and whale watching.