Backpacking In Madagascar🇲🇬: My Stay At The Quirky Hotel Sakamanga in Antananarivo

“Oh baby baby it’s a wild world ” – Cat Stevens.

Madagascar 🇲🇬is a huge island but I’ve lived on a few. Australia for one. Tasmania another. Great Britain another island I lived on. Ireland another. I even lived on Ma Wan (Park Island) in Hong Kong and have worked on ferries to Guernsey, Jersey and The Isle of Wight. All that said, I always feel more of a seaside boy than an island boy yet I needed to finally visit Madagascar.

This is the world’s fifth biggest island, after Australia, Greenland, Borneo and New Guinea. I got my Madagascar visa on arrival at the airport which cost me $10 US Dollars and now I was ready to explore.

In reality, I wasn’t really that enthusiastic about Madagascar. It was just one of those islands I’d neglected down the years and also there was no point in going all the way to Madagascar and back home. Therefore I made it part of my three country MMM tour, incorporating Malawi and Mozambique.

Travel has changed a lot for me since relocating to Poland in 2016. I don’t need the hassle of long term backpacking anymore. I have longed to settle down with a wife and start a family and in Poland I was sure that would happen in 2016. It didn’t work out like that so I now focus on shorter mini backpacking trips, sadly many of them are solo. I found myself alone here and rather uninspired as I checked into the Hotel Sakamanga in Antananarivo the capital city of Madagascar on a poky steep street.

This was actually a super little hotel, almost a Hemingway Inn reminder from Costa Rica, or even similar to my Writer’s Lair stay At Panajachel in Guatemala.

Here are a few things I liked about the quirky Hotel Sakamanga.

1.Crooked Artefact Alleyways

After walking through the main reception of Hotel Sakamanga you already begin to notice the artistic decor. Tintin at the entrance. The Mystery of Sakamanga.

The walls are adorned with artefacts of Madagascar’s yesteryear.

On route to the main bar and swimming pool area I’m enchanted by the winding corridors with cabinets in the walls containing all sorts of random things.

2.Working WiFi

I’m not joking here. The WiFi actually worked in my room and in the beer garden. I wasn’t here to blog or be online of course but it was a surprise the WiFi worked!

3.Swimming Pool

Sometimes I make a mistake and despite being here for well over 24 hours I forgot to have a swim in the classic swimming pool in the rear garden.

I did sit beside it and sip a few cold beers and cocktails but a dip passed me by. As it did everyone else; I didn’t see any other swimmers there either. But the option is there.

4.Choice of Bars

There is more than one bar here and naturally I decided to bag a few. My first ever Madagascar beer was consumed in the lower bar by the swimming pool.

I had a THB. Three Horses Beer.

Four different restaurants are available : the Saka, the Pool area, the buffet in the Garden, the Saka Express. I had a look at them all, and even had a tequila sunrise in the upper Saka Bar.

5.My Cosy Room

I was in room 6. I had a television in there, an ensuite and air conditioning.

The Hotel is also situated in a nice area of Antananarivo and they can organise tours of the city, and further afield such as my epic tour to the Lemurs’ Park at Katsaoka.

Here are the details for booking a room or dorm at the Hotel Sakamanga in Antananarivo, Madagascar:
Address: Lot IBK7bis, Lalana Adrianary Ratianarivo,, Ampasamadinika, Madagascar, 101, Madagascar
Phone: +261 20 22 358 09
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sakamangatana/
Website: https://sakamanga.com/en/home/

Here are some videos from my stay At The Hotel Sakamanga in Antananarivo, Madagascar: