Madagascar Travel Information
Official language is Malagasy and French. You have very little chance to make yourself understand with English, especially in rural areas. Time has different value there, so do not haste to arrange anything in half an hour. No way. Do not shout and do not make angry face, just relax, smile and insist. That is the best and successful policy.
Official currency is Malagasy Franc, T-shirt, ball-pen, food etc. How much of what you pay depends on your skills and needs of a seller. For example my brand new socks raised zero attraction, as nobody wears such an unnecessary item on the whole island. You will meet cash in various forms: coins starting from 1 MGF, ending with banknote with astonishing nominal value 25 000 MGF. One franc seems useless to a newcomer, but when you see a man selling rusty nails and pieces of metal tubes on village market, you will find that, on Madagascar, transactions involve entire monetary scale.
Incoming tourist should be conscious of a fact, that people on Madagascar are very poor, and he or she should behave accordingly, while tipping, giving to beggars and so on. Average income of factory worker is 200 USD per annum. Beggars are ubiquitous in Tana, and all look very desperate. On the other hand every franc you give them threatens to doom dozens of others. Very small sum for us might be immense for others.
Capital Tana is apt to cause a great deal of depression to a sensitive soul. If you take enough courage to dive into it’s narrow streets, you will find interesting places and nice people, and who knows, maybe you start to love it, though with kind of strange feelings. If you are not scared to dig bars during the night, well, it is a great experience. You will find cool music, nice chicks, but also dark street full of small kids sleeping on streets ans begging till late. Be careful, do not wear fancy tourist dress, do not carry a lot of cash and do take precautions (available in every grocer’s shop). Anyhow, it is good idea to leave Tana as soon as possible after arrival, and explore it in a few days before you leave for home, as you would get more tolerant opinion after seing more of Madagascar.
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