Madagascar- Trekking the remote trails. April 2026

 

INTRO:

Madagascar.  

Large underdeveloped island lying off the east coast of Africa awash with lemurs, baobab trees, jagged granite mountains, rice plantations, chameleon lizards and a scant tourism industry.  Horrid roads.

With these enticing features and that animated film from years past nudging me in the back of my brain, I jumped on a plane from Johannesburg to the capital Antananarivo and joined 4 other travellers for an 11 day organised hiking trip put together by Much Better Adventures called 'Trek the Remote Trails of Madagascar'. Link here.

ITINERARY DONE IN BRIEF:

The trip kicked off with an airport pickup, attempting to track down missing luggage (mine of course, fuck it) and dinner in Antananarivo meeting our lead guide Barnabas. 

Next day it was back to the airport and we flew to Toliara in the south.  Dusk walk spotting mouse lemurs and chameleons and a swanky pad for the night.

Luggage scooped up (thank fuck).  Away to Isalo National Park.  Camping, scorpions, rocky hills and sweet trails.

Same same lush hiking, swimming holes and another great camp site.

Hike, drive, Camp Cutta; climbing and trekking destination.  Lemurs and tall cliffs abound.

Light strolling on the trails and the afternoon off chugging brews and telling lies at Camp Cutta.

Andringitra National Park.  Camp at nearly 2000 metres, stunning natural environment.  One of those days where you go 'hell yes, this is my life'.

Hike up Pic Boby, 2nd highest peak in Madagascar. 2658 metres. Very classy views.  Back to same campsite.  Again, how good is my life?!  

Wander out off the mountains, pass through villages with stunner views and medieval vibes and camp by a river heavily utilised by locals.

More lemurs, walking, driving, insane amounts of food served up, swanky hotel accommodation.

Driving.  In all honesty, driving in Madagascar is a grind but we stopped often when something looked interesting. Which was often.   Another swanky hotel.

Mountain biking around Antsirabe, gritty (long ass) drive up to Antananarivo. Donski.  What a journey!

Map sourced from Google maps.

Baobab tree.

Camp Cutta.

WILDLIFE:

Prolific and unique but not a huge variety.

Mouse lemurs

Ringtail lemurs

Fody (small red bird)

Madagascar harrier-hawk 

Malagasy kestrel

Giant chameleon

Pygmy chameleon

Other chameleons I cannot remember

Many lizards and small snakes

ACCOMMODATIONS:

This was a major plus for me.  I was surprised at how nice our hotel and bungalow rooms were, then again the trip itself is quite pricey.  I paid a bit extra for the single supplement option and had peace and quiet every evening, particularly during the camping portions of the journey.

The tents provided are fairly tight on space, I couldn't imagine sharing that piece of tiny canvas real estate with another stranger.  In fact I made a request early on that my tent was positioned far, far, far away from the others.  I don't camp in the outdoors to listen to people talking and snoring and farting...

THE HIKING ROUTES:

The first 'multiday' walk is through a portion of Isalo National Park.  

As per the official itinerary there is a 10 km walk and a 17 km walk over 2 days with tented camping.

Rugged sandstone cliffs, rocky paths and palm trees in cool gorges were experienced.

The second trek was a wander through Andringitra National Park over 3 days, tented camping.  

21 km to base camp, 18 km up and down Pic Boby, 20 km out to river side camping.

The hike up to Pic Boby at 2650 metres was fantastic, one of the highlights of the trip.  By this stage though, we had lost one team member who had gone AWOL and another who decided to sit the summit hike out at basecamp.  The sun is fiery, the distances give a good workout but easily manageable by anyone with a basic fitness level.

There were plenty of other short walks throughout the trip where we were guided by a local from the area and shown endemic wildlife and flora.

Ascending Pic Boby.

MEETING THE LOCALS:

Madagascar receives roughly 300,000 visitors a year.  Not many venture out of the resorts of Nosy Be and few hire a vehicle and explore without a guide or a pre booked organised trip. 

So we were a novelty but not a rarity.  The journey took us up the main highway (think single carriage, potholed, dirt road) through dusty townships and rural population areas.  Upon exiting the van to stretch our legs, acquire cash from an ATM or just poke our noses into the fray, we were always followed by an excited group of Malagasy's fixated on our every move.  Never dangerous, mostly very friendly but often crowded in and chaotic.  

Our guide Barnabas was excellent in picking the locations and time of day to roam around and sneak a peek into the lives of the Malagasy. 

One of our group members decided to hand out coloured pens to the local kiddies, absolute chaos ensured...

GETTING AROUND THE ISLAND:

Our trip was facilitated by an oldish Hyundai Imax.  We spent the majority of travelling hours in this van, swapping it out for a couple of old 4WD's at one point when the roads became gnarly goat tracks.  

Everyone had their favoured seats and I eventually got used to being slowly grilled toasty hot by the flaming ball of hydrogen in the sky glaring in through the left hand side windows.  Our driver rarely relented and utilised the air conditioning though.  

I won't sugar coat it; a stint as a passenger on Madagascar's roads will make you tougher and appreciate where you come from.  Pants browning, type 2 fun.

For a rear wheel drive van with stock standard suspension this vehicle took an immense amount of punishment from the worst roads I have ever had the privilege of experiencing.  Grim, harsh, gritty.  

At times I felt like I was wallowing on a boat about to go down on the high seas.  I kept my seat belt buckled and tight at all times.  

Excellent driving from our chauffeur though.  Legend in fact.  

Pic Boby was one of the highlights of the journey.

CLIMATE & WEATHER:

It's Southern Africa, it gets hot!  During April it was a bit sticky around the southern coastal section, cold up in the mountains at night though.  I took a 3 season quilt and merino night wear and I was toasty during the evenings.  

Our porters and cooks and logistics crew slept by fires in stone huts, the cold must have been a tad bleak.

I reapplied sunscreen multiple times a day.  A few mosquitoes buzzed around but no major issues.  I was taking a course of anti malarials during my time in Africa on this trip.

FOOD & DRINK:

I ate very well.  There is a colonial French gastronomic heritage lurking in the cookery etiquette of Madagascar and coupled with it's Malay and East African cultural roots that means stuffing one's face and chugging local cold brews is almost always a fantastic experience.

Zebu is the common bovine breed ubiquitous to most dishes, fish can be sampled anywhere along the coast and vegetables feature heavily in most dishes.  Rice is the staple accompanying most meals.  

Coffee was mostly instant powdered.  Local beer and rum above average and quite quaffable.  

We were provided with clean, filtered water throughout the trip but we also supplemented it with purchases of cold water, soft drinks and beer from petrol stations along the way.  

The petrol stations were always very clean, well stocked with provisions and devoid of local inhabitants (possibly due to prices of goods) making them relaxing and easy road side stops.

Much of Madagascar is covered in picturesque rain terraces.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT:

This took me by surprise.  I had read and researched that much of Madagascar is deforested and gone to hell in a hand basket.  Not so.  Well, yes the trees are sparse in parts but it's not a concrete hellscape.  Yet.

Still plenty of beautiful, empty (people wise) wild areas brimming with trees and critters and authentic adventures to be had.

I only travelled through a narrow corridor of mountainous terrain along the middle of the bottom half of the island and I didn't visit the coastal wetlands or rainforest areas or islands in the north but I think it is safe to deduce there are many worthy destinations awaiting the curious hiker.

I walked through rice terraces, along craggy ridge top trails, on open grassland pathways, beside rivers and waterfalls and winding mountain tracks.  Bliss.  Had a blast.  

THOUGHTS:

One of my trip members asked a few curly questions during a beer downing session.

He asked me if I would come back to Madgascar?

Honestly?  No.  I'm stoked I made the effort and had the time and moolah and compulsion to visit but I can't see myself running the gauntlet of the airport in Antananarivo or subjecting myself to the warzone-like roads and traffic anytime soon.  Some destinations are a one off, one shot deal.

Aforesaid bloke also asked if I would recommend Madagascar as a destination to others?

Yes and no.  Yeah, nah.

You see I find the whole being 'driven around, having my bags carted about, tent put up, food being cooked for me' charade quite hard to deal with.  And that is what this organised trip involved and I signed up fully aware and complicit.  

Saying that, I couldn't be bothered with the alternative of not having a guide and fixers and a driver and fellow travellers for company and a great itinerary planned out and taking on the stress of organising everything myself.  

Fuck that.  

Madagascar just isn't set up for independent travel.  Doable, yes.  But so is growing your own wheat and hardly anyone bothers with that.  

Walking through many of the National Parks requires a guide.  The attention white skin gets in towns could be terrifying for some folks.

My lost luggage was incredibly tricky to locate and have sent to me during the journey, I would have absolutely struggled to figure out the motions involved and grease the right palms to get it back to me without my guide and his ability to speak Malagasy.  

And I would have been in a bit of a pickle without my gear in the mountains, there are no outdoor gear shops selling quality quilts and hiking poles and rain jackets in Madagascar.  

I had a great time.  It was a real holiday letting other people take care of logistics. I saw some incredible landscapes.  I visited a little known region of Africa.  

I scratched the itch.  

Lemurs are wonderful!