Madagascar Warnings Or Dangers

 
by daleduscher
 
  •   Warnings Or Dangers
    by daleduscher
  • EVIL AND AGRESSIVE YOUNG BEGGAR
      EVIL AND AGRESSIVE YOUNG BEGGAR
    by DAO
  •   Warnings Or Dangers
    by DAO
  •   Warnings Or Dangers
    by DAO
  •   Warnings Or Dangers
    by DAO
 
Great Prices, Great Rooms
hotels.com We Know Hotels Inside And Out. Click or call now: 1-800-914-6835
Save up to 50% off Hotels Everyday
Expedia.com Photos, Reviews and the Guaranteed Lowest Prices

Sponsored Links

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Beware of multiple place names!

by CatherineReichardt

This is really more in the way of a caution than a warning, but the multiple names in use for a single place can make planning your Madagascar trip a real headache!As far as I can work out, there has been a push to 'indigenise' place names so that they more accurately reflect Malagasy culture rather than the colonial influence. This is nothing unusual in a post-colonial environment: such renaming has been extensively undertaken in places like India, and is currently underway throughout South Africa.What ever the ideological reasons for the change, it can be really confusing for the tourist, especially people who are only starting their planning and are trying to get their heads around a completely unfamiliar country.Some changes are fairly minor - Antananarivo for Tananarive for instance (although everyone calls it Tana anyway). Toliara for Tulear is also reasonably easy to follow. The...

Surviving the scrum for visas at Tana airport

by CatherineReichardt

Since we last visited Madagascar in November 2008, the tourist visa requirement has been waived. This is good news, as it was a fairly pricey addition to the holiday budget, and on the face of it, this would seem to simplify the immigration process.Sadly, not so! The unhelpful and apparently unconcerned air hostesses on the Air Mad flight that we arrived on told us that they didn't have any immigration forms, and so an entire planeload of passengers from a full flight descended on the arrivals hall to hunt down the few - woefully insufficient - remaining arrivals forms. Passengers were then given conflicting advice from immigration officials about whether families with children needed to complete one form per person regardless of age (which is correct) or whether only the adults needed to fill in forms. Only once we reached the front of the queue at immigration were we then informed that...

Night-service drugstores

by Norali

Please find below a website that lists names & locations of night-service drugstores (Pharmacies de garde). Seems it's weekly updated with the weekly rotation.Further down, ambulances to call in case of emergency.For hospitals, I'd stick to Clinique Saint-Paul.You could also find those in local newspapers.

That infuriating Air Mad Experience

by CatherineReichardt

The finances of the inauspiciously (but aptly) named Air Mad have never been particularly robust, and are sicker than ever given the downturn in business since the coup in January 2009. So, if you're heading for Madagascar, be warned of the unwelcome additional randomness that this potentially brings to your travel itinerary.With cash being tight, Air Mad has trouble maintaining the size of its fleet and retaining the services of pilots. As a result, the airline often seeks to economise by 'consolidating' flights that are not full. This usually happens at little or no notice, and the first that the hapless traveller knows of the change is when they appear at the airport to check in for a flight that no longer exists.This happened to us recently on a flight between Antananarivo (Tana) and Ile St Marie. We had been repeatedly warned at the necessity of checking in 2 hours in advance - even...

Tip Photo
Scorpions, Reserve speciale de l´ankarana.

by gazellen

The natural park "Ankarana" is home to many scorpions. For some reason they like the smell of boots ect. Leave your boots outside the tend, and tjek for scorpions before going to sleap. I had a big fellow, in my tend when I woke up one morning.

Berenty - Mosquitos

by janiebaxter

There are many mosquitos in Berenty Reserve. The chalets, although they have mosquito nets, let in a lot of insects. We were constantly finding them inside our nets during the night and consequently got bitten a lot. This was November and I'm not sure if this is typical for other months in the year.Applying mosquito repellant was essential here and taking along some of the mosquito coils that burn during the night would be a good idea as they were not provided when we were there.

Tip Photo
Berenty - Watch out for Lemur Raids

by janiebaxter

Although very cute, the Ring Tailed Lemurs of Berenty Reserve have learned that tourists take a siesta in the afternoons and that 3.30pm is the perfect time for room raiding. They wait until they think you are either asleep or out and, if you leave your window open the whole group will invade your room. They are looking for food but most of the things that tourists bring also interest them. They will lift the lid off your suitcase if it's not locked, check your cosmetics and make sure they approve of your holiday wardrobe too!You can actually see them staking out your room - and you can set your watch by their timing. Unfortunately it can get very hot in the afternoons but if you leave your windows open you are asking for trouble from the Ring Tails.

Tip Photo
Hospitals & care units

by Norali

For sure, to get sick and stay into hospital are not the aims of your travel over here. Still, this is something to be known: Madagascar is not (yet) a country where to fall ill. I've heard so many bad (even lethal) experiences in my family & friends circle about care units & hospitals (esp. public hospitals) over here. For most of them, the danger rather comes from the careless behaviour of care professionals (doctors, surgeons, nurses...) than from a supposedly aging machinery. Aging machinery has nothing to do with, for instance, the death of a newly-born who got spasms at birth for having stayed too long in the womb although the mother had already called for help for a long time while the midwife & the nurse kept on chatting in the corridor. Aging machinery has nothing to do with, for instance, the death of a newly-born due to some complications during a week-end whilst the doctor,...

Tip Photo
Don't drink from tap, rather have Ranovola...

by Norali

Though locals drink water from tap (I do.. I am still a local over there...lol), just don't do it. Otherwise, you won't enjoy your travel in Madagascar as you will have to be stuck in the toilets most of times :-)) Also, in urban areas, to clean up running water, they use chloride & it smells & tastes... chloride.Be sure that if you are having a soda drink - mineral water (Olympiko, Eau Vive), the bottle cap is sealed. Avoid "natural juices" in restaurants and snacks since most of time, they water down beverages, with water from tap. One thing is possible, buy juice in tetrapak packaging. Tiko brand is Malagasy & has a fine passion fruit juice although their orange juice tastes too chemical, in my books.You could try Ranovola, a typical beverage in Tana area (and surroundings). Ranovola is an amber-coloured hot beverage that you will drink while having lunch. It is obtained by boiling...

Tip Photo
Beware of Anila Transport in Diego and Nosy Be

by mikeocalla

O.K., let's say that one fine day you are looking through your Lonely Planet or Bradt guide and see that there is a company that provides a direct service between Diego Suarez and Nosy Be called ANILA TRANSPORT and you thinkthat sounds much more civilized than getting crammed into a taxi-brousse and sweating it out with the locals.... My advice is to rip that page out of your guide book (like I did after I learned the hard way) and forget Anila Transport, and never let the words or anyone associated with ANILA have anything to do with your journey anywhere in Madagascar. This is a scam and a great way to get scalped 40,000-50,000 AR.This is what happened to me.....I was in Nosy Be and read about Anila Transport in the guide books. By some stroke of misfortune I was led to the Anila office (really just a private residence in an alley off the main drag) in Hell-ville. I was issued a ticket...

Safety Tips in Madagascar

Top 3 Hotels in Madagascar

Hotel Tamboho  Antananarivo

 32 Opinions

 Hotels in Antananarivo

La Varangue  Antananarivo

 1 Review and 29 Opinions  I spent three nights in this very pleasant hotel in Tana. The location is excellent,. right around... 

 Hotels in Antananarivo

Hotel Royal Palissandre  Antananarivo

 1 Review and 47 Opinions  Le Royal Pallisandre is a very good quality hotel in the heart of the city. The rooms and public... 

 Hotels in Antananarivo

18 Hotels in Madagascar
 
Explore the World
Travel Destinations
Travel Highlights

The Place

Reviews and photos of Madagascar attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Madagascar sightseeing.

Experience Madagascar
Warnings Or Dangers: Cities in Madagascar
  1. Antananarivo Warnings Or Dangers
  2. Antsirabe Warnings Or Dangers
  3. Ampefy Warnings Or Dangers
  4. Toamasina Warnings Or Dangers
  5. Ambohimanga Warnings Or Dangers
  6. Mahajanga Warnings Or Dangers
  7. Nosy Sainte Marie Warnings Or Dangers
  8. Anjajavy Warnings Or Dangers
  9. Malaza Warnings Or Dangers
  10. Antsiranana Warnings Or Dangers
  11. Berenty Warnings Or Dangers
  12. Ranomafana Warnings Or Dangers
  13. Mahavelona Warnings Or Dangers
  14. Ranomafana Warnings Or Dangers

More Cities in Madagascar

 

Popular Regions in Madagascar

Faritanin' Antananarivo Warnings Or Dangers  Faritanin' i Toamasina Warnings Or Dangers  Faritanin' i Toliara Warnings Or Dangers  Faritanin' Antsiranana Warnings Or Dangers  Faritanin' i Fianarantsoa Warnings Or Dangers  Faritanin' i Mahajanga Warnings Or Dangers 

More Regions in Madagascar

Questions and Answers

josemuniz12000 profile photo

Q:  Has anyone used Desire Travel Tours and had problems just before arriving? I'm 12 days from departure to Madagascar from Kenya... 

Odinnthor profile photo

A: I think you may be jumping to bad conclusions too quickly. I have been a tour director for several decades, and have a pretty good handle on most operators. It is... 

Read 6 Replies

postQuestion_button

Click here for best deals for Madagascar

Great Prices, Great Rooms
hotels.com We Know Hotels Inside And Out. Click or call now: 1-800-914-6835
Vacation Package Specialists
Expedia Vacations Save on flight + hotel packages. Click or call now: 1 - 800-713-8214
Save on Air + Hotel ? Book a Getaway Today!
hotels.com Vacations The One Stop Shop for Your Next Trip. Click or call now: 1-800-764-6835
Great Rooms, Great Prices
Hotels.com Low Rates Guaranteed!  Click or Call an Expert at 1-800-45-HOTEL

Sponsored Links