MADAGASCAR – the name itself inspires fascination, a mystical island cut off from the rest of the world since the early 1960s when the French gave the colony back to the Malagasy people.  A socialist government took the reins of governing the country for many years and international tourism never really took off.  In the early part of the new millennium a democratic government came to power and the country opened its doors to more international trade & tourism.

Hence, Madagascar has been called the ‘New Tourist Frontier’.  Tourists now flock to the Mystical island of Madagascar to explore its wildlife, birds, plants, beaches and many virgin coral reefs.  There have been various estimates but approximately 50% of all wildlife and plant life in the country is endemic to Madagascar and found nowhere else in the world.  Being the fourth largest island in the world measuring over 1500 km long and over 550 km wide it lends itself to many different tribes, cultures and dialects.

Having been largely cut off from the world for so long Madagascar is still very natural (as the world was maybe 60 years ago) and has had the good fortune of not being overly westernised / modernised.  It is not to say they do not have modern conveniences such as the Internet, they do, but traditions and cultures are still very prominent.  This all makes for an intriguing and exciting holiday with a difference.

The two most popular destinations are the tropical island of Nosy Be off the northewest coast and the idyllic island of Sainte Marie off the northeast coast of Madagascar.  Both these island offer various activities and accommodation from economical beach chalets to 4* Hotel accommodation. 

St Marie beach

For a more adventurous holiday and for those who really want to see and explore a lot more of Madagascar:-

 1. The Pangalanes Canal adventure is a must.  Starting from Antananarivo and ending on Sainte Marie Island  covering over 650km byroad, canal and finally a sea crossing to Sainte Marie Island with stopovers in the forests of Andasibe National Park (Perinet) and the Palmarium Reserve where you will find a huge variety of plants, trees, birds and lemurs including the largest of the lemurs, the Indri.  In the Palmarium Reserve you can interact with  the absurdly tame lemurs, including the biggest Indri Lemur and the famous Sifaka or dancing lemur. 

2. Another adventure tour takes you through the Tsingy rock formations.  From Antananarivo you fly to Diego Suarez in the very northand work your way by road down through the forests and Tsingy rock formations to Nosy Be Island.  Diego Suarez saw action in both WW1 & WW2.  Battles were fought and today the guns still stand as sentinels overlooking the entrance to one of the world’s largest bays and natural harbours.   This tour can be done with a 4×4 vehicle or as a guided quad bike tour.  The latter, however, does require a minimum number of participants.

3. A third adventure to consider is a River Canoe Tour.  Starting in Antananarivo and heading west by road down to the Tsiribihina River where your guide paddles you approx 160 km down the river camping overnight along the way.  There are no rapids and the experience is quiet and tranquil with much to see along the riverbanks.  The river safari ends at Antsiraraka, where you transfer by road to Kirindy forest and then on to the beaches of Morondava to enjoy some beach relaxation on the west coast of Madagascar. An excursion to the well know Baobab Alley is a must.

Maybe it is time to say, “Stop the world, I’m getting off” for a few days, away from the humdrum of your busy life.  Escape to Madagascar.

Tags: baobab alley, island, Lemurs, Madagascar, Morondava, Nosy Be, Pangalanes canal, Perinet, quad bike, river canoe, St Marie, tour, trip, tsingy rock formation// Category Madagascar // Add Comment »

South African Car Hire / Car Rental

One of the best ways to explore South Africa is with the freedom of your own self drive rental car.  With a vast network of well maintained roads, internationally sign posted, and with large petrol port centres conveniently located on all major roads, South Africa lends itself towards the self drive holiday.  Travel with the freedom of your own car hire at your own pace, stopping where you wish to stop and seeing things that are of interest to you.   With few traffic jams on the open country roads and a speed limit of 120kph makes driving a real pleasure.

Some important driving points to bear in mind :-

All drivers must have a valid driving license, which displays his/her photograph upon it, or carry your passport with you as positive identification to verify you as the legal holder of the driver’s license.  Your driver’s license must be printed in English so a local traffic officer can establish which class of vehicle you are qualified to drive. If not, an International license should be purchased before arrival.  The onus is on the driver to prove that he or she is qualified to drive such a vehicle.  You MUST carry your driving license on your person at all times while driving in South Africa.  For returning South Africans the old green ID drivers license document is no longer valid & therefore not acceptable. Please obtain an International drivers license before arrival.

For Car Hire the driver must have a valid credit card – a passenger’s credit card is not acceptable.

Selftours Car Rental is associated with multi-national car rental companies, such as Budget Rental Cars, Europcar Hire, Tempest Car Hire, and proud that we can therefore offer a backup service country-wide from depots in all major towns and airports.  A choice of insurance plans is available from Comprehensive Supercover with no excess for international drivers to Standard Cover with an excess

Selftours Car Hire also offers various optional extras, including :-

- Satellite GPS navigation systems, only at main depots.
- Additional driver
- Baby seat or booster seats
- Drivers under 23 years considered
- Vehicle delivery and collection
- One-way drop-offs.
- Cross border authorization.

Selftours car hire offers a full range of vehicles, from small economical runabouts to larger people carriers and 4x4s.  For groups we also offer guided coaches from 10 seaters up to 40 seaters 
Feel free to contact Selftours for all your car hire requirements enq@selftours.co.za

Tags: airports, Budget Rental Cars, car hire, car rental, coach, coaches, drivers licence, Europcar hire, international, self drive holiday, soth Africa, south African, speed limit 120kph, Tempest Car Hire, vehicle// Category Car Hire / Car Rental // Add Comment »

Kruger Park Safari by SELFTOURS

Perhaps one of Africa’s greatest attractions is its vast variety of wildlife.  The word “Safari” is synonymous with wildlife and is derived from the Swahili word for “journey” and originally used extensively by colonials in East Africa when embarking on a journey into darkest Africa.

In the early parts of the 1900s Africa was a White Hunter’s paradise, having challenges as to who could bag the animal with the biggest horns or tusks etc.  Now conservationists have fortunately turned it all around and encourage safari fans to shoot only with a camera, but still leaving the challenge of photographing a prize animal, taking their trophy home on film and leaving the animals unharmed to continue with their freedom of roaming the open savannahs of Africa.

There are several famous National Wildlife Parks in Africa, with one of the more famous being the Kruger National Park in South Africa.  Towards the end of the 1800s President Paul Kruger declared the Kruger Park a sanctuary for wildlife.  The Kruger National Park is approximately 360 km long and, in some places up to 100 km wide.  On the western side of the park many of the fences have been intentionally removed to allow the animals to roam freely into the bordering private reserves and graze around the many private game lodges.  The Kruger Park is situated in the northeastern corner of South Africa bordering Mozambique in the east and Zimbabwe in the north.

A Kruger Park Safari is often the highlight of a holiday to South Africa.  All the main roads are tarred with secondary roads being made of gravel.  The South African Parks Board, to avoid travelers getting stuck or marooned, will immediately close any road that has been damaged by floods etc.  It is therefore NOT necessary to hire a 4×4 vehicle to enjoy an exciting Kruger Park Safari.   Off road driving through the bush is forbidden.  Speed limits are controlled at 50kph on tarred roads and 40kph on gravel roads.

Getting there – either by coach, self-drive or fly in from Johannesburg.  The advantage of a self-drive safari allows you the freedom to travel in the park at your leisure, stopping for as long as you wish to study, view and photograph whichever animals you wish to watch and capture on camera.  All camps in and around the Kruger National Park offer guided game drives in specially outfitted open vehicles to allow everyone a great view.  Even if you choose to do a coach or self drive safari it is always recommended to join a few guided safaris as the driver / guides’ commentary is very informative making for a great South African Safari Holiday.

Selftours offer all forms of South African Safaris the choice is yours.
Group guided coach safaris
Self-drive safaris
Fly-in private safaris including Sun City
Visit SELFTOURS index page for more optional ideas

Tags: animal, animals, coach, guided, holiday, Kruger, National, Park, Paul Kruger, photograph, photographing, self drive, South African Parks Board, South African Safaris, wild, wild life, wildlife// Category South African Holidays, South African Safari Tours // Add Comment »