Why Madagascar
The island separated from the continent eighty-eight million years ago, and its wildlife evolved alone: lemurs, chameleons, baobabs, almost all of it endemic. That is the first reason for the trip, and it is unique.
Add to it the tsingy of Bemaraha, forests of limestone needles listed as World Heritage, the Avenue of the Baobabs, the highlands and their terraced rice fields, and an east coast of primary forest.
Getting around
This is the country's central difficulty: the roads are poor and the distances deceptive. Allow a whole day for three hundred kilometres, more in the wet season. The tracks to the tsingy or to the south-west are only passable in a four-wheel drive and close several months a year.
Bush taxis link everything and cost little, but are slow, crammed and prone to breakdown. Domestic flights save whole days, provided you accept the cancellations.
A driver-guide by the week is the most widely used formula: it settles the question of the tracks, the language and the stages.
Money
The country runs on cash. ATMs exist in the cities but have low ceilings, and the notes are of low value: withdrawals come out as wads.
Cards are accepted only in upmarket hotels. Plan on cash for the parks, the compulsory guides and the tips, which are a significant part of local income.
Before you go
Every national park requires a licensed guide, whose fee is added to the entry charge. It is not negotiable and it is what supports the communities around the reserves.
Malaria is present across the whole island, particularly on the coasts: prophylaxis is discussed with a doctor, and protection against bites is the first defence.
Urban insecurity is real in Antananarivo at night, and some areas of the south are advised against: consult official advice before fixing an itinerary.