Madagascar

[QUOTE=Dee Donatello;1147532]What about going NY to London via cheapest airline and then using Kenya airways to go from London-nairobi-Antananarivo[/QUOTE][url]Http://www.kayak.co.uk/[/url] Has Kenya Airways London-Tana at £636. 14 hours out / 20 hours back. For dates in May-June 2011. Certainly the cheapest from Europe but, like all carriers to Mada, it's a poor airline.

Or, Air France out & Kenya back at £802; shorter homeward flight.

Air France both ways London-Tana. 13h20 out / 14h50 back : £1083

[QUOTE=Dee Donatello; 1147542]1) How easy is it to communicate if one does not speak french or malagasy language. Don't know if a pocket dictionary will help. My second holiday option is Costa rica but I don't speak spanish either.

2) What are the costs of renting good apartments near the nightlife in Tana.

3) Has anyone had any experience of hiring drivers / cars and what are the costs involved plus any other tips.

4) Internal flights. Is it best to have these included on your ticket or is it better to just buy when in the country. [/QUOTE]1) Linguistically Costa Rica would be a walk in the park; much more English spoken, although the girls are pricey.

[url]http://eurotalk.com/us/resources/learn/malagasy[/url]

2) I would stay at the Solé or Sakamanga hotels in the commercial Tsaralalana / streetwalker district for around $35 walk-in.

[url]http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1899336[/url]

Answers points 3) & 4). Domestic flight prices are essentially fixed, and date changes are allowed, but with an international Air Mada sector you can claim about 20% off. Note that this option is now limited to regional flights as Air Mada's two 767s have been banned from EU airspace on safety grounds.

I've looked through the reports and haven't found alot on Toamasina and Ile Sainte Marie. Anyone have any specifics?

Suggested hotels? Clubs? Toamasina (Tamatave) is a city of 200, 000 people so I imagine there is plenty to do. I know Ile Sainte Marie is small but that's OK. Sounds like a good place to chill for a few days and maybe do some motorbike riding and see Libertalia.

Q's:

How far is Toamasina from Tana by car? I'm thinking it might be a nice ride if I can purchase 2 seats in a taxi brousse (?) or take a bus.

Is there transport from there to Soanierana? Is that where one can catch the ferry over to ISM? I HATE ferries but may venture to take it anyway. I'd probably fly back to Tana from ISM.

Anybody had success with AfroIntroductions? I was looking through there and there are some real beauties. I'm not big on those site, I'd rather meet whoever crosses my path but just asking.

BTW, my French is pretty good but I'd like to start learning some basic Malagasy. Does Pimsleur make Malagasy learning CDs? Any other suggestions?

[QUOTE=La Isla; 1148076]Suggested hotels? Clubs? Toamasina (Tamatave) is a city of 200, 000 people so I imagine there is plenty to do. I know Ile Sainte Marie is small but that's OK. Sounds like a good place to chill for a few days and maybe do some motorbike riding and see Libertalia.

How far is Toamasina from Tana by car? I'm thinking it might be a nice ride if I can purchase 2 seats in a taxi brousse (?) or take a bus.

Is there transport from there to Soanierana? Is that where one can catch the ferry over to ISM? I HATE ferries but may venture to take it anyway. I'd probably fly back to Tana from ISM. [/QUOTE]Here's how an East European guy with his Madonna-lookalike wife did it in 2009.

[url]http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2043056[/url]

General [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_d4Jk-U7I[/url] Surprising how much wildlife they saw.

Beaches [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fo95NIBURk[/url]

Language [url]http://www.languageresourceonline.com/languages/learn_malagasy.html[/url]

Local driver / guide $50 a day + fuel [url]http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=18354577#18354577[/url]

Hi All,

Just got back form an awesome trip, spent sometime in both Tana and Diego which really surpassed all my expectations.

Tana, quite busy and overpopulated. Women everywhere at night, most seem very attractive because of their fair skin and exotic looks, but there are a lot of lower quality SWs. However there are some more upmarket places with great quality woman. One such place is a club called "Le Caveaux" near Tana hotel (2 blocks from Hotel Colbert) the quality there is definitely better than at "Le Glacier".

There are also lots of massage places all over town; was dissapointed with the quality of woman at Happy Zone. Unfortunately didn't have time to try Asmara Massage. But I would say there's a lot of day time fun to be had.

The best kept secret though for me was Diego! It just come alive at night with a multitude of beautiful woman (see pics below) who are also down to earth and just looking for a good time. When I was there the ratio must have been 2:1. It's definitely somewhere I would like to go back to for more time soon.

BTW, does anybody know if there isn't a way to get to Diego from Pemba or Biera by boat (they seem quite close on the map)?

[QUOTE=La Isla;1148076]How far is Toamasina from Tana by car? I'm thinking it might be a nice ride if I can purchase 2 seats in a taxi brousse (?) or take a bus.[/QUOTE]On my first (but hopefully not last) visit to Mada I used Madasmiles between Tana and Tamatave. Very convenient to be picked up at one's hotel and taken to the taxi brousse station. I guess they cost more than a normal taxi brousse but there is enough room so you won't need 2 seats.

[url]http://www.madasmile.com[/url]

[QUOTE=Paulos21;1148152]Does anybody know if there isn't a way to get to Diego from Pemba or Beira by boat; they seem quite close on the map?[/QUOTE]Sadly this is not America, Europe or even Asia. It's very much a 'Couldn't-run-a-[url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord140][CodeWord140][/url]-up-in-a-brewery' zone, hence there are no scheduled services between Africa & Madagascar. The only chance is to contact a port office and ask for ships or yachtsmen but this would require time and extreme patience. Reported fares run $100-150 and officially you're supposed to have a ticket out too!

From South Africa you would have a better chance crewing a pleasure vessel. There are daily ferries between Mauritius and Réunion, and onward sailings to Toamasina every 2 weeks but the cost far exceeds air travel. There is little prospect of air fares coming down as Air Madagascar scrabbles to charter planes to cover the EU ban on its 767s. Kenya airways remains the cheapest from London at $1000, followed by Air Austral / Air France / Corsair from Paris at around $1500 (++ in summer).

Thanks for your report and photos. There was one distant image of a Merina / Chinese in Diego -- are they on-the-game too? Are there many girls-without-babies, and how is their attitude towards STD protection? Where did you stay? Diego certainly has an interesting ethnic mix but I'm surprised how vibrant the scene is considering the poor and expensive communications (in either vehicle-time or flight costs).

Here are the main hotels and nightclubs in Tana; the image is 700 metres north-to-south.

Trevor, that is a very useful map. Is there any way to post it larger?

Thanks

[QUOTE=La Isla; 1148587]Trevor, that is a very useful map. Is there any way to post it larger? Thanks[/QUOTE]
Not here; the limit is 640 x 480 pixels. If you PM me with your email I can send you the original at 1024 x 698. You can also set up Google Earth yourself with the placemarks. It took some time to research the locations. Some are taken on trust from world users who set web placemarks (as opposed to my personal ones), so there may be inaccuracies. It's a great way to pushpin key locations, then print off and carry with you.

Ile Ste Marie looks really beautiful but BYO Sheila as the Aussies say. 195 miles NE of Tana.
Image below from video: PrtSc button, paste into 'Paint', crop, save as Jpeg, resize to 640x480 and upload here.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fo95NIBURk[/url]

[QUOTE=Trevor2522; 1148467]Thanks for your report and photos. There was one distant image of a Merina / Chinese in Diego. Are they on-the-game too? Are there many girls-without-babies, and how is their attitude towards STD protection? Where did you stay? Diego certainly has an interesting ethnic mix but I'm surprised how vibrant the scene is considering the poor and expensive communications (in either vehicle-time or flight costs).

Here are the main hotels and nightclubs in Tana; the image is 700 metres north-to-south. [/QUOTE]I am not too sure about the Chinese in Diego, but definitely in Tana, yes. Strangely yes, there are quite a few girls without babies around there. The girls that met were very clean and insisted on protection, although BBBJ seems to be the acceptable norm.

Diego is interesting as it's the closest big town to the popular Nosy Be tourist island, as well as being near the northern most point of Madagascar, they often have ships stopping over for a couple of days with some horny seamen.

Perhaps I was also lucky enough to be there during school holidays, as most locals go there on vacation. Will definitely do it again soon.

2011 extrapolated population 23,500,000 (was only 5m at independence in 1960)

Land area 15% larger than Thailand (65m people); midway between CA & TX in size; 974 miles long & 350 miles wide. World's fourth-largest island after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo.

One monger reported that 57% of pros in Nairobi had children versus 44% in Tana + Diego. Fertility is lower than sub-Saharan Africa but still 5 children per female! Longevity: males 58, females 61.

Warning on toxic sardines in Toliara (20+ food-poisoning deaths in SW Madagascar)
[url]http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/04/08/toxic-sardines-kill-20-in-madagascar/[/url]

My monger-interest has settled on 3 destinations: Diego, Morondava & Toliara; all take 2 days' overland travel. Only the road to Toliara is fully-sealed; it also has the best Internet connection where the 'EASSy' cable makes landfall. On the downside, the roads to Morondava & Toliara carry a higher risk of banditry. Flights cost at least $200 each way whatever the sector and there's only about 20% net discount with an international Air Madagascar ticket. No wonder the ladies are pleased to see you!

Madagascar may have the most Beautiful, sexier or taller ladies in africa,

But the experience I had in Morandava exceed most of the other 13 african countries I have travelled. The reason is as follows:

1. The attention I have got from many ladies which hangs around the town.

2. The number of girls I had sex with. (quality was fine too)

3. Charming town with absolutely total isolation experience. Its like you dive underwater isolated from the external world.

4. Zero hassle.

5. Good and cheap accommodation. Girls friendly.

6. Some really Young ladies wants become your girlfriend instantly. (just make sure to say no to the minors)

Sure flights are expensive, but this one of the reasons that keeps mada to become over-commercial such as kenya and Thailand. So if you want to combine your sex trip with stunning isolated fishing towns then mada is a place that.

Cannot be missed.

May not have the most.

[QUOTE=John Palmer;1149529]May not have the most.[/QUOTE]We only get one hour to make edits. Thanks anyway and glad you enjoyed Morondava.

I think any white male with a wallet, heartbeat and incipient erection would be a desirable commodity in most remote coastal ('cotier') towns over there, not just Morondava in the ethnic Sakalava heartland. Apparently the single Betsimisaraka lasses in the east wear a comb in their hair to express availability! Morondava lies between the Tsingy de Bemaraha and Kirindy national parks, and of course has the famous 'Baobab Alley' just outside town. Some adventurous types raft down the Tsiribihina river en route there from Antananarivo.

[QUOTE=Trevor2522;1149171]My monger-interest has settled on 3 destinations: Diego, Morondava & Toliara; all take 2 days' overland travel. Only the road to Toliara is fully-sealed; it also has the best Internet connection where the 'EASSy' cable makes landfall. On the downside, the roads to Morondava & Toliara carry a higher risk of banditry. Flights cost at least $200 each way whatever the sector and there's only about 20% net discount with an international Air Madagascar ticket. No wonder the ladies are pleased to see you![/QUOTE]You can get to Diego in one VERY LONG day from Tana if you have your own driver. Taxi-brousse is a different issue. But the road is quite good for most of the way, even through the Sambirano region.