Madagascar & Mauritius
Discussion
We are getting married this June, and yes I should have got my skates to sort our honeymoon sooner, however we were looking to go to NZ in November but its just looking too costly so I'm looking at alternatives.
Ideally like to go in June, just after wedding and OH has suggested she likes the idea of Madagascar/Mauritius. We both like sunbathing, but I couldnt do it for 2 weeks hence the idea of the Maldives being out. I like having something to do/see, dont play golf but do fancy diving, love watersports and generally any kind of adventure activity.
Anyone able to comment on either Island? I know Madagascar is limited in the tourism it provides so I might be a bit late for booking it.
Ideally like to go in June, just after wedding and OH has suggested she likes the idea of Madagascar/Mauritius. We both like sunbathing, but I couldnt do it for 2 weeks hence the idea of the Maldives being out. I like having something to do/see, dont play golf but do fancy diving, love watersports and generally any kind of adventure activity.
Anyone able to comment on either Island? I know Madagascar is limited in the tourism it provides so I might be a bit late for booking it.
Done Mauritius twice, very nice place. I have a similar outlook in that I couldn't just lounge on a beach for two weeks, but there are plenty other things to do: Hire a car for a couple of days, go on cycling tours, fishing / diving trip with grilled lobster for lunch, parasailing etc, etc...... then back to the beach bar for sunset then dinner. Perfect. Recommended!
OP, Myself and my ex went to Madagascar via Mauritius about 2 years ago and it probably was one of the most memorable holidays I have ever had. It all kind of started as a joke we didn't know where we wanted to go and happened to watch "Madagascar" the disney animation (notice the way I didn't say cartoon!)A couple of pointers if you are thinking of going.
1. You will most likely be travelling through CDG Paris, trust me give yourself enough time for your connection flight, I would advise a minimum of 2 hour stop over.
2. If you are into Diving etc Madagascar does some lovely whale watching / diving experiences but it is very seasonal and I can't remember the seasons sorry.
3. You will fly into the capital Antananarivo, I was strongly advised not to leave the hotel compound, I would advise the same especially at night time. Your connection flight is usually the following morning to one of the islands.
4. The most popular island is Nosey be on the west coast, we went to Sainte-Maire island and it was like an undiscovered paradise with minimum tourists and some great locals (speaking French is definately a bonus.
5. We stayed at the Masoandro Lodge http://www.selftours.co.za/mad2.htm it's about 1 hour by minibus north by taxi. It is unbelievable... It is not anything close to 5 star it is plain and basic but the staff are fantastic the pleace is spotless. You have your own little chalet overlooking the ocean and infinity pool. They would come to us in the morning time with the lunch menu and an hour later we would see a guy diving into the ocean with a snorkel and speargun, obviously we love fish. I won't mention any more in case you don't decide to stay there.
6. You will need to hire a motorbike (scrambler type) to get around as you could be waiting for hours for taxis.
7. Getting there is the expensive part once there, it's cheap as chips.
8. Lastly if you do go please send me some pics of the place when you get back I would love to see if it has changed since I was there last.
9. One last last point, we missed our flight back to the mainland due to a pilot strike and had to go by boat and travel down through the rainforests, stopping along the way to pluck bananas, oranges etc from the trees. I would advise doing this and leaving at least 24 / 36 hours for this.
I will try and dig some more info. If there is anything specifically you want let me know.
1. You will most likely be travelling through CDG Paris, trust me give yourself enough time for your connection flight, I would advise a minimum of 2 hour stop over.
2. If you are into Diving etc Madagascar does some lovely whale watching / diving experiences but it is very seasonal and I can't remember the seasons sorry.
3. You will fly into the capital Antananarivo, I was strongly advised not to leave the hotel compound, I would advise the same especially at night time. Your connection flight is usually the following morning to one of the islands.
4. The most popular island is Nosey be on the west coast, we went to Sainte-Maire island and it was like an undiscovered paradise with minimum tourists and some great locals (speaking French is definately a bonus.
5. We stayed at the Masoandro Lodge http://www.selftours.co.za/mad2.htm it's about 1 hour by minibus north by taxi. It is unbelievable... It is not anything close to 5 star it is plain and basic but the staff are fantastic the pleace is spotless. You have your own little chalet overlooking the ocean and infinity pool. They would come to us in the morning time with the lunch menu and an hour later we would see a guy diving into the ocean with a snorkel and speargun, obviously we love fish. I won't mention any more in case you don't decide to stay there.
6. You will need to hire a motorbike (scrambler type) to get around as you could be waiting for hours for taxis.
7. Getting there is the expensive part once there, it's cheap as chips.
8. Lastly if you do go please send me some pics of the place when you get back I would love to see if it has changed since I was there last.
9. One last last point, we missed our flight back to the mainland due to a pilot strike and had to go by boat and travel down through the rainforests, stopping along the way to pluck bananas, oranges etc from the trees. I would advise doing this and leaving at least 24 / 36 hours for this.
I will try and dig some more info. If there is anything specifically you want let me know.
Rob13 said:
Trackdemon, when did you go? I hear the temps are around 20-25 degrees in June and its fairly dry?
Did you do any natural history/nature stuff?
We went in August, weather was lovely - around 30C most of the time and dry/blue skies almost every day.Did you do any natural history/nature stuff?
Did go to one of the parks (name escapes me now!) and as far as natural history - well depends if you count driving & cycling round the island stopping to look at stuff
trackdemon said:
Rob13 said:
Trackdemon, when did you go? I hear the temps are around 20-25 degrees in June and its fairly dry?
Did you do any natural history/nature stuff?
We went in August, weather was lovely - around 30C most of the time and dry/blue skies almost every day.Did you do any natural history/nature stuff?
Did go to one of the parks (name escapes me now!) and as far as natural history - well depends if you count driving & cycling round the island stopping to look at stuff
) which was a disappointment for me, but there's plenty of hiking, diving and the aforementioned zip-lining if you're into adventure activity. I'd also recommend hiring a car as it's quite a big island and there's plenty of interesting places that the tour buses don't go to.BTW Steve did you go to the photography museum in Port Louis? amazing to see so many rare daguerreotypes.
Daisy Duke said:
trackdemon said:
Rob13 said:
Trackdemon, when did you go? I hear the temps are around 20-25 degrees in June and its fairly dry?
Did you do any natural history/nature stuff?
We went in August, weather was lovely - around 30C most of the time and dry/blue skies almost every day.Did you do any natural history/nature stuff?
Did go to one of the parks (name escapes me now!) and as far as natural history - well depends if you count driving & cycling round the island stopping to look at stuff
) which was a disappointment for me, but there's plenty of hiking, diving and the aforementioned zip-lining if you're into adventure activity. I'd also recommend hiring a car as it's quite a big island and there's plenty of interesting places that the tour buses don't go to.BTW Steve did you go to the photography museum in Port Louis? amazing to see so many rare daguerreotypes.
Didn't venture into the photogrpahy museum - tbh when we drove through St Louis it was pretty busy and, well, its not the prettiest place is it?
So we carried on through and headed north up to the aforementioned gardens.trackdemon said:
Didn't venture into the photogrpahy museum - tbh when we drove through St Louis it was pretty busy and, well, its not the prettiest place is it? So we carried on through and headed north up to the aforementioned gardens.
That's a shame as it was an interesting place run by a knowledgeable old chap, not an easy place to find though. And I know exactly what you mean about Port Louis. So we carried on through and headed north up to the aforementioned gardens.Daisy Duke said:
trackdemon said:
Didn't venture into the photogrpahy museum - tbh when we drove through St Louis it was pretty busy and, well, its not the prettiest place is it? So we carried on through and headed north up to the aforementioned gardens.
That's a shame as it was an interesting place run by a knowledgeable old chap, not an easy place to find though. And I know exactly what you mean about Port Louis. So we carried on through and headed north up to the aforementioned gardens.Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff