jgold

Has anyone used them recently? I've done some searches on this board, and it looks like thit_cho used them at some point, and that ijkh used them (at least once in the country). For anyone who did use them, did you deal with anyone in particular there? (I presume I would be working with people from their US office.)

By way of background, we're planning 2 or 3 weeks in Madagascar before our 2-3 month Africa extravaganza. I had originally planned on doing 2 weeks of an Earthwatch project in Madagascar, followed by about five days on our own, but my wife has now read the description of the Earthwatch project, and is less than enthused (although that could always change). Plan B! Which appears to be maybe two weeks of exploring Madagascar on our own (albeit presumably with a guide, at least where necessary). I've look at the Cortez Travel website, which is helpful, but a bit overwhelming, given all the possibilities. I could also have AAC help plan this portion of our trip (they're handling the rest of the Africa arrangements), but I'm not sure how much they really specialize in Madagascar (I suspect not much). Thanks for the advice.

ijkh

We used Cortez only for our air arrangements. We were delighted with Boogie Pilgrim http://www.boogiepilgrim-madagascar.com/accueil.php who arranged our driver and car. The woman here in the US at Cortez is Monique. The woman at Boogie Pilgrim we worked with was Bridgit. Give Madagascar 3 weeks. It is not a country to try and rush through for a variety of reasons. Enjoy

P.S. I am a tourist not a travel agent

jgold

Thanks very much. How far in advance did you arrange everything? Also, was there a reason you didn't use only one agency (whether Boogie or Cortez). Thanks again. (We probably have between 12 - 20 days to play with for Madagascar (although the time has to come from somewhere else on our trip), so I appreciate the advice about timing.) Also, did you have all your accomodations locked down before you began the trip?

ijkh

We used the different agencies as recomended by my friend who lives in Antananarivo. She made all our bookings. I highly recomend having all your bookings in advance as much as possible. I highly recomend you go as high end as your budget allows. Low end in Madagascar is plenty low. Did you see our recent trip report for suggestions and itinerary?

jgold

I did see the trip report, thank you. (I actually began following it on FlyerTalk, and appreciated all the pictures.) I'm still very much at the beginning of planning, so I need to find a travel agent to help walk me through some of the options and what a 12, 15, or 20 day trip would/could look like, so I can figure out how much time I want to spend (this is part of a much longer trip, so time spent in Madagascar has to come from somewhere else in the itinerary). But I'll check out both Cortez and Boogie (though Cortez looks like it may be a bit more user friendly). Thanks again.