We have been specialising in travel to Madagascar for 6 years but I had not been myself- & therefore did not sell it to clients. Our motto is that we only sell destinations that we have been to & know.
I have heard colleagues talk about this country & it sounded fascinating so I am really glad that I finally visited this amazing island. As usual, the itinerary was jammed packed – & was probably the most hectic schedule I have had for any inspection trip. In 14 nights we stayed in 12 hotels, inspected about 25, took 5 domestic flights & several boat transfers. Yes, it was hectic & would take a client 5 weeks to do the same @ a leisurely pace, but it was a fantastic trip & we saw a lot of this islands diversity.
When I say we – I took my 16-year-old niece for her 16th birthday treat. She had a great time but now realises that when I go away for work it is not a “holiday”. Having Maisie with me was great & helped me a lot. She lives in France & of course is fluent in French, so could translate for me. French is the 2nd language of Madagascar- after Malagasy. English is their 3 rd language & sometimes 4th after Italian. Guides & hotel staff speak English so it is not essential for clients to be able to speak any French, but it does help to know a few words.
With such a full itinerary doing 1 blog would be far too long… so I am going to split it down & do separate blogs for each area…