Madagascar and more 2026
My encounters with wild animals have been some of my absolute favorite travels. So Madagascar became a bucket-list destination, and I finally made it happen in 2026.
I booked a tour with Explore!, the same company I traveled to Colombia with in 2023. I anticipated a non-stop parade of lemurs over two weeks. But to go all that way for just two weeks seemed nuts, so I started looking for other nearby destinations. In the end, I decided on five nights in Mauritius and four nights on Réunion.
The Explore! tour covered a lot, but not the Avenue of the Baobabs, which I was eager to see as long as I was traveling halfway around the world. So I started looking for a tour that I could do at the end of the Explore! tour. And I found Haja on TourHQ. His tour included not only the Avenue of the Baobabs, but also Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park. This was a place I knew nothing about, but I decided to sign up with Haja and see a little more of Madagascar.
This entire experience was almost perfect from start to finish. Mauritius was fascinating. Réunion was one of the most spectacularly beautiful places I’ve ever been. And Madagascar was so much more than lemurs, and all amazing. And Tsingy de Bemaraha turned out to be the highlight at the end of a fabulous four-week adventure.
Photos and Videos
Madagascar
Analamazaotra National Park (65 items)
Andasibe (91 items)
Antsirabe and Lake Tritriva (46 items)
Ambositra (30 items)
Ivato (23 items)
Ranomafana National Park (63 items)
Anja Community Reserve (51 items)
Isalo National Park (138 items)
Zombitse National Park (30 items)
Southwestern coast (76 items)
Antananarivo (60 items)
Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park (257 items)
From Morondava to Tsingy and back (96 items)
Miscellaneous (along the road) (157 items)
Blog Posts
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Up Next: Madagascar and More
Two of my favorite trips have been adventures where animal encounters were the point. I love observing wild animals, whether on land, in the air, on the water, or under the water. So it should be no surprise that Madagascar has been a place I’ve been eager to visit for a long time. Over 90%…
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Stopover in Istanbul
Turkish Airlines offers a free hotel if you have a long layover at IST. I took advantage and I’m now at the Renaissance Polat Hotel enjoying a stopover in Istanbul.
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I made it to Mauritius (with some Mauritius history)
It took from early afternoon Monday to early afternoon Thursday (albeit with a ten-hour time change), but I finally made it to Mauritius. I want to share a little about the journey and how I’ve settled in, and I want to take this opportunity to write just a little about Mauritius history.
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Mauritius: “The North” and “The South”
Mauritius is small enough that you can drive from one side or one end to the other in about an hour. And based on the road signs I’ve seen, it is divided into two zones: “The North” and “The South.” On Friday I had a tour of “The North.” (The hotel where I’m staying is also…
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Mauritius by boat, plus a day of rest and a smidgen of history
My last two days in Mauritius included a day of rest, a speedboat tour of neaerby islands, and a visit to Aapravasi Ghat. I sorely needed the day of rest. Seeing Mauritius by boat was definitely worth doing. Aapravasi Ghat gave me a welcome dose of history.
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Réunion: More beauty per square meter than your average island
I had no idea what to expect on the island of Réunion. I don’t know anyone who’s ever been here, and I didn’t really do a lot of advance research. But what I’ve discovered is that this is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Or at least it’s one of the most…
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Madagascar Part One: Antananarivo to Andasibe
On Saturday I flew from Réunion to Madagascar, arriving in the afternoon at Ivato International Airport. After spending the night there, we got an early start for the drive to Andasibe. We had three separate visits to Analamazaotra National Park to get a look at lemurs and other endemic species, both plant and animal. Here’s…
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Madagascar Part Two: Andasibe to Ranomafana
Not everything on this tour of Madagascar is about lemurs. After we left Andasibe on Tuesday morning, we spent a few days of non-lemur-related activities. Yesterday we arrived in Ranomafana, and we got back to lemurs (as well as other wildlife), but we had two days of other stuff that was enjoyable, impressive, surprising, and…
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Madagascar Part Three: Ring-tailed lemurs
The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is the poster child for Madagascar. If you do an image search for “Madagascar wildlife,” you will find the ring-tailed lemur more than any other animal. The Wikipedia article on “Wildlife of Madagascar” has a photo of a ring-tailed lemur at the top. King Julien from the animated “Madagascar” movies…
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Madagascar Part Four: Isalo National Park
After several lemur-rich experiences, we spent a day at Isalo National Park, where the focus was on the gorgeous landscape. This was the scenic highlight of the trip (so far). The Bara people, one of eighteen official ethnic groups in Madagascar, reside in the area around Isalo. Isalo National Park was created in 1962. It is…
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Madagascar Part Five: To the beach!
After almost two weeks of mostly nature and villages, constantly on the go, we arrived at the beach on Monday evening, and we’ve had two full days of relaxation. Never has that felt so good! This Madagascar beach is so pleasant! The weather has been cool and breezy, perfect for lounging around by the pool…
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Madagascar Part Six: From the beach back to Antananarivo
After driving well over 1,000 kilometers, starting in Antananarivo two weeks ago, we’re back in the capital city once again. We flew from Toliara Airport in the afternoon after enjoying three leisurely days by the beach on Madagascar’s southwestern coast. Today we did some touristy things here in Antananarivo, and this is the end of…
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Madagascar Part Seven: Tsingy de Bemaraha
In my life, I’ve been to two places where I thought I might be on another planet. The first was Wadi Rum in Jordan. As I wrote at the time, the only word I could come up with to describe it was “otherworldly.” And now I have another otherworldly place that is beyond my vocabulary:…
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Madagascar Part Eight: Baobabs and Beach
My last few days in Madagascar involved heading back down the “road” from Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park to Morondava. The long, bumpy drive included some nice encounter with baobabs, including the renownded sunset at the Avenue of the Baobabs. I already had several nice sunset experiences on this trip, including one with baobabs in…
