Arrivals

This episode covers arrivals after your visa, going through customs, dealing with a baggage search and getting a taxi to your hotel.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello, hello again. This is Brett from Debaca with the Betty Gascan Trouble Show. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I apologize, I've been so quiet, I've been sick, I have some herniated discs in my back, which blew up while I was in Antonana Riva about a month ago. And I'm really only now getting myself sort of back on form. So sorry about that, it's been very quiet here, but I'm back at my desk, I'm ready to go, so let's get into it. Some more travel information about traveling Madagascar. So today we're going to open with a little chat about what happens after you arrive. So you have arrived in Madagascar, you've got your visa, and you're heading out. All bags are likely, not sure to be, but likely to be searched. It's pretty normal that your incoming suitcase will go through a scanner, and it may happen that they also do a physical search if they see something that they question. So the main reason for this scanning of incoming bags, it's mainly because Malagasy people and some foreign residents of Madagascar know that good quality electronics are expensive and hard to get here, so they will go to Paris or Reunion or wherever, usually Paris, buy their uh electronics and bring them back into Madagascar. Now that's fine, but one must pay import tax on those items. So that's mainly what they're looking for is they're looking for things that they can charge import tax on. Now that does not apply to tourists. So if you're bringing your laptop and your camera for your holiday and you plan to take them out with you, that's absolutely fine. So be prepared that you you may be searched on the way in, and it's very likely that your bags will be x-rayed and anything suspicious will be investigated. So a lot of people ask me about can we bring a drone to Madagascar? The answer is yes, you may own a drone, you may bring a drone into Madagascar, but in theory, to fly it once you're in Madagascar, you need a permit. So the what we know a lot of people do is just check locally before they're going to launch their drone, just say to everyone, is this okay? Does anyone object? You might find that someone asks you for a little bit of money. Um what in fact you're doing is against the law if you don't have a permit, so be prepared for that. If you do want to fly a drone, you can apply to the Civil Aviation Authority for a permit. And if you'd like to know more about that, I suggest you pose the question in the TripAdvisor Travel Forum for Madagascar, where I will answer your question so that the whole world hears the reply. The other thing that you need to know, even if you try to be surreptitious about flying your drone, I highly recommend you don't try that inside Madagascar National Parks because they are strict, strict, strict. If you want to fly a drone inside a national park, you need both a permit from the uh Civil Aviation Authority and another permit from Madagascar National Parks, and potentially another permit from the Ministry of the Environment. They are very nervous about people flying drones in their parks. I'm not entirely sure the reason. I was told once by someone in charge that they were scared of people releasing biological agents in the parks which could uh destroy Madagascar wildlife. So, my my advice to you is don't even try it in the national parks unless you have a permit. There are some fairly spectacular fines and it could cause quite a lot of drama. Now, if you would like to request further information, you can write to Madagascar National Parks at contact at Mnparks.mg. So that's contact at Mnparks1Word.mg. They should be able to answer your inquiry about what you need to do to use your drone in a national park. Note that the fees are fairly hefty. They they will issue a permit. Um the fees are quite a lot of money. Um we just recently got a license to do some sound recording for three days and it was about a thousand euros. And that's not video, that's sound. Video is more expensive. So while we're on this subject of landing and permits and being searched, I would also like to mention that all bags are searched on the way out. Okay, it's very important for everyone to understand Madagascar has a very, very high frequency of smuggling of endangered wildlife, seeds, plants, reptiles, amphibians, small tortoises, uh, gold, commercial quantities of um vanilla. So your bags will be scanned with sensitive scanners on your way out of this country, and they are incredibly strict. So what I'm trying to say is please enjoy your holiday in Madagascar, take home memories, take home photographs, but please don't try and take home anything dodgy because you could really end up in a lot of trouble and your bags will be scanned on the way out. And they have sensitive scanners provided by international agencies which are intended to help them catch people smuggling soft-bodied animals like chameleons. So these scanners are very sensitive. So be ready for that on your way home, folks. So you've got your visa, you've landed, you've picked up your baggage, you've been through the passport control, you've been through the scanner, you've landed in the arrivals lounge. Oh my god, what happens now? What do I do next? It's kind of intimidating if you haven't traveled much landing in a new country. Um, so in fact, it's all really easy. Uh, you should, if you can, buy a SIM card for your phone. If you're gonna buy a SIM card, it's much easier to get one at the airport. Now, look, even if there's a queue, I highly recommend that you be patient and wait in the queue and get your SIM card because it's likely that you're gonna have an ongoing arrangement. So you're probably going to a hotel and then heading out the next day, going to a park or going off on a domestic flight or heading somewhere. Very few people spend much time in Antananarivo. So to find a tel a telecom office uh on the morning of your planned departure for, say, uh Dasi Bay National Park could mean you're driving around aimlessly looking for an office and trying to and then queuing at the office anyway. So if you can be patient to just queue and get your SIM card there at the airport, it would be useful for you unless you have plenty of spare time in Tana. I recommend that if you do have spare time in Tanner, the Telmar office in La City. So that's La City, it's a big shopping center and it has uh a Telmar office which is fairly quiet. There's probably less queuing there than anywhere else. Um, so you can queue up for your SIM card. There are ATMs there where you can withdraw cash, and then it will all be about transport. How the heck are you going to get out of here? So it will depend. If you have a hotel or a travel agent tour operator who is booked a tour of you, your car should be waiting at the exit doors of the arrival's terminal. They should be holding a sign with your name on it. If you do not have any transport planned, then you will need to get a taxi agree. It's one of the cream white taxis that are queuing up in an orderly manner there at the airport. They're the agreed taxis and they have fixed prices. And at the moment, as I speak, around I think 70,000 ARI. Let me get out my calculator and do a quick calculator of that. I'll use the XE app to check that out. 70,000 Ariari today is 14 euros 70. So for about 15 euros, you will get into the center of the city. Now, the trip into the center of the city uh can take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the traffic. If you've arrived at peak hour traffic, the traffic in Antanarivo is abysmal. Okay, it's terrible. Um, so about an hour to your destination, to your hotel for your first night. If you have stayed near the Ivatu area, near the airport, because you're flying out the next morning, or you have just decided to stay near Ivatu, then the transfer to your hotel will only be around 15 minutes. The traffic on the way as you get closer into the center of town is what's really abysmal and what really slows down the journey. Now, there is no public transport. I also get asked this question a lot. How do we get from the airport? We're independent travelers. I'm sorry, I don't know. There is no public transport from Uvatu International Airport into the city. Right? You have to get either a hotel transfer, pay for a taxi, or you have to go out of the airport grounds and get a local bus. Now, getting local buses is a magic that I cannot explain to you. So I highly recommend that if you're a real budget traveler and you can't stump up 15 euros for the taxi into the airport to smooth over your arrival with all of your possessions on with you, then I recommend that you go to the TripAdvisor Travel Forum for Madagascar and pose the question and someone will answer you. In fact, the question has been posed before, so you might like to just do a search of the forum and the answer will be hidden in there. I'm sorry, I don't know about local buses. I'm never going to cover local buses in this podcast because they are a complete mystery to me. They are not buses, they're Mercedes sprinters. They open from the back and they stop anywhere and they squeeze you in and they're overpacked and you never know where they're going, and I don't know where they're going. I've been here 25 years and I speak the language, and I don't know where to go on those buses. So put it in the forum. Hopefully, a Malagasy person will be able to answer you. A lot of people ask us: should we get our hotel to arrange a transfer or should we go by taxi? Look, either is as easy as the other. Just the hotel transfers tend to be more expensive, really. Um you know, the the hotels only have maybe one car available, so they would be hiring cars and putting a um a profit on top. I just think the taxis are a pretty easy solution. They're sitting there outside the airport, the price is fixed. Like, for example, the hotel transfers can be up to 150,000 or 200,000 RERI in comparison to 70,000 RERI for an airport taxi. So, frankly, I think the airport taxis are the GO. I would do that. Now, if you are landing on a nighttime flight, it's hard to say, but last year I would say about 25% of the Air France flights that came in at night that should have landed at about 10.30 in the evening actually landed at about two in the morning. So, you know, if you have one of those night flights, it may not be a bad idea to book a stay somewhere near Ivartu airport and start your holiday tomorrow morning. You know, I mean the morning after your arrival. Um I mean it's fairly quick into the centre of city, especially at the early in the early hours of the morning. Um, but it seems pointless. You'll see nothing, there's no scenery, you'll see some streetlights on the way into the city. Um to me, it's most logical if you're arriving on a night flight to stay in Ivatu. I mean, if you have an extended stay and you're going to spend a couple of nights in the centre of town, then by all means go to your hotel, whichever one you choose. Um the hotel that we go to as our standard at uh near the airport is the Ralais de Le Plateau, Ralais de Plateau, or San Cristobal or Au Bois Ver. Now these are all slightly on the more higher end, but again, if you have a question about budget travel, I really recommend that you put your question in the TripAdvisor Travel Forum for Madagascar where you will get people answering your questions.