After 3 days relaxing at the Westin in Mauritius, we flew Air Mauritius (MK) to Antananarivo (Madagascar) for our 13 days trip.
Air Mauritius lounge was very average for food. Had to hunt around for a charging point. Why is it so difficult to find these in airport lounges?
Business class seats on MK were very spacious, heaps of leg room for 2 hour flight. Flight left on time. Inflight service was polite and speedy. Food was good – maybe we were still hungry from not eating in the lounge.
Arrived at TNR we did not know we had to fill in a health form, so it took 15 mins to do this and queued for visa fee and visa stamp. Tour company rep met us to help to exchange money (instant millionaires with wads of cash) and sold us a physical sim card.
The 2 private plane flights were fantastic – with an excellent pilot. We really enjoyed them and forgot how much we had to pay for them
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@Flashback: You were right about the nice MTA lounge at TNR! We had to go through normal security at TNR for the flight, and there were 4 men eagerly ‘helping’ us with our 2 cabin bags (!). We tipped them and I gave them my packed breakfast from the hotel.
The aircraft was a small 4 seater Cessnock 206. The first flight was from Antananarivo to Morondava – 2 ½ hours – including great views over the Tsingy rock formations and the Baobab trees. When we were there Tsingy park was closed due to flooding after the cyclone season. We did not want to trek / climb through it anyway, we left that for the younger kpc and kpc+1 when they visit Madagascar in early June.
We thought the pilot would return to Antananarivo and come back for our 2nd flight in 2 days time. However, he said he would stay in Morondava 2 nights waiting to take us to Fianarantsoa. This flight was 1 ½ hours over some beautiful lush green scenery.
We were glad that we took these 2 private plane flights as they saved us around 4 days driving. Well, I had read about how bad the roads in Madagascar were, but experiencing them was worse than I imagined. On the second day, our tour car broke down in a deep mud filled pothole – I freaked out as muddy water got into the car. The tour guide piggy backed each of us out of the car to the side of the road. The driver walked to the nearest village to get help from a large truck and the whole village came in the truck to watch the spectacle
While waiting for a replacement car – 3 hours away in Morondava – the village truck managed to pull the broken down car out of the muddy pothole. While waiting on the side of the road for more than 3 hours in the heat and humidity I texted families and friends (including cove and Mrs cove) about the drama. I did not text kpc (they were in Europe at the time) until the next day after the drama was over, as I did not want to spoil their trip after ours. So, that was the ‘highlight’ of our road trip in Madagascar.
There was another tale when we travelled from Antananarivo to Andasibe. Half way a truck had tipped on its side, so an extra 3 hours was added to the trip – everything stopped and long queues of trucks!
We visited these parks and reserves: Kirindy Reserve, Ranomafana NP (did not enjoy this due to slippery path and I ended up with a twisted ankle), Anja Reserve, Isalo NP (really liked this canyon and mountain range), Zombitse NP, Reniala Reserve (interesting baobab trees), Analamazaotra NP, Lemur Island, and of course the famed Avenue de Baobabs between Kirindy and Morondava (kpc said kpc+1 could not wait to photograph these).
We took a commercial flight with Air Madagascar from Toliara to Antananarivo – about 2 hours. It was actually OK.
Most accommodation in remote villages, parks and reserves was adequate (we asked for the ‘best’ in the areas) – except for one. Most were in spectacular settings and locations (e.g. right on the beach). Thankfully we were not eaten by too many mozzies – some had mosquito nets over beds. We bought an insect repellent cream called Good Riddance and it actually worked well when we walked through the parks, reserves and rainforests.
While the roads were a real challenge for the body, we had a great trip around Madagascar. We came to see the lemurs and the baobabs and were delighted to see them all.
We were so glad to stay 2 nights at the Radisson Blu in Antananarivo where we got upgraded to a junior suite at the end of our Madagascar trip to recover from the road trips. The Air Mauritius flights back to Mauritius and later to Perth were good.
We took the train home from the airport, neighbour kpc picked us up at a local train station, saving us walking home and lugging our bags in the dark. Thank you, kpc
(unless the French can mostly eradicate the outbreak by mid June!)
