Directory A–Z - Madagascar - page 462

Tourist Information
Madagascar's tourist offices ( www.madagascar-tourisme.com ) range from useless to in-
credibly helpful. They will generally be able to provide listings of hotels and restaurants in
the area, and in the best cases help you organise excursions or find a guide.

Travellers with Disabilities
Madagascar has no facilities for travellers with disabilities. This, combined with a weak
infrastructure in many areas of the country, may make travel here difficult.
Wheelchair users will struggle with the lack of surfaced paths; visually-impaired travel-
lers should be especially careful of open drains and irregular pavements.
Public transport is very crowded and unable to accommodate a wheelchair unless it is
folded up; private vehicle rental with a driver is commonplace, however, and would offer a
good alternative. Make sure you talk through any special requirements with the agency at
the time of booking.
In Antananarivo and most of the provincial capitals there are hotels with either elevators
or accommodation on the ground floor. While most bungalow accommodation - a common
type of lodging in Madagascar - is generally on the ground floor, there are often steps up
to the entrance, and inner doorways can be too narrow for a wheelchair.
Few bathrooms are large enough to manoeuvre a wheelchair in, and almost none have
any sort of handles or holds.
Organisations that provide information on world travel for the mobility impaired include
the following:

Mobility International USA ( [phone]; www.miusa.org ; USA)

National Information Communication Awareness Network (Nican; +612 6241

1220; www.nican.com.au ; Australia)

Royal Association for Disability & Rehabilitation ( [phone];

www.radar.org.uk ; UK)

Society for the Advancement of Travel for the Handicapped (SATH; +1 212 447

7284; www.sath.org ; USA)

Visas
All visitors must have a visa to enter Madagascar. Travellers will need to provide a return
plane ticket, have a passport valid for at least six months after the intended date of return,
and one free page in their passport for the visa stamps.
Visas of up to 90 days can be purchased at the airport upon arrival.