I was really pleased to visit the Tsingy de Bemaraha, because an article years ago in National Geographic about them was what really got me interested in visiting Madagascar. Climbing on, and walking through the tsingy was really fun.  You're really exploring an odd landscape.  

Getting There

We visited in mid-May, near the beginning of the season there, as the roads aren't reliably dry enough to be open before May. Our trip was similar to what others have mentioned here; the trip getting to the tsingy is really a large part of the experience. We flew to Morondava, then briefly enjoyed the Avenue of the Baobabs en route to a one night stopover in the Kirindy Forest. Here we stayed in pretty rustic cabins (no hot water, limited hours electricity) at the Akiba Lodge, but loved the place -- the lemurs are just steps from your cabin. The next day, it's back in the car for the drive to Bekopaka, the village near the tsingy. About halfway there, we stopped for lunch at what we considered Madagascar's best restaurant, the Mad Zebu in Belo Tsiribihina. 

 

After lunch, it's a long ferry crossing, then the drive gets interesting. As in, probably the worst road in the world that I have experienced. Deep ruts, deep mud, multiple stream crossings. At one point, a car a couple cars in front of us got deeply stuck in the mud.  The road is narrow, so that if a car gets stuck, everybody behind must wait.  It took two hours for the collected drivers and many locals to get them unstuck and build up the mudhole road with branches to make it passable (a later car also got stuck). A little after this, we took the short ferry across the Manambolo river and were soon at our lodge, the Soleil des Tsingy. The hotel is surprisingly luxurious, features nice standalone bungalows and gorgeous sunsets, and was not disappointing in any way.

The Grand Tsingy

The next morning, it's still 1.5 or 2 hours to get to the Grand Tsingy, across similarly bad, muddy, rutted roads (we only got stuck once, briefly, and slid in the mud into the embankment one other time, damaging a fender). Exploring the Grand Tsingy was fun. You are equipped with safety harnesses, which seemed superflous to me, given the risks you take driving there. It is nice that they are putting some attention to safety, but the climbing didn't really feel that dangerous to me. There were maybe around 25 visitors the day I went, including one group of 8-10 Europeans.  Even with the moderate crowd, I did have to wait for a few minutes, especially at the initial ladders up.  After most of our climbing and explorations, we stopped at a shady and scenic cave for lunch, a nice break from the hot sun on the tsingy-tops. I didn't find the hike strenuous at all, although it was pretty hot on top of the gray limestone. We saw a group of several lemurs on the walk back to the car, and saw a little nocturnal one in a tree and a chameleon on the hike to the tsingy.

Stay Three Nights

We stayed for three nights at the Soleil des Tsingy. It seemed like most of the other small groups only stayed two, which seemed rushed given the long drives. It is possible to visit the Grand and Small Tsingy in the same day.  But I much preferred the way we did it. Our second full day, we took a pirogue (dug-out canoe) ride on the Manambolo River, seeing caves and the ancestral tombs. We really enjoyed this, more than we expected to. The bluffs along the river are beautiful.  After the canoe ride, we walked through Bekopaka village to go through the Small Tsingy. The Small Tsingy are very similar to the Grand; they just aren't as extensive, or require as much climbing and ladders. They were also much less crowded.  

Return To Morondava

After our third night, it's back in the car for the long drive back to Morondava, with another stop for lunch at Mad Zebu.  On this return, we arrived at  the famous Avenue of the Baobabs near sunset, when it is much busier.  While the Avenue of Baobabs is one of the iconic images of Madagascar, I was really surprised to see that a few miles beyond the Avenue, the amazing landscape has hundreds of impressive baobabs scattered around. We had a very pleasant one night stay on the beach in Morondava. It would have been nice to relax there for longer as our hotel was very nice.

 

Alternatives to Bemaraha

Earlier in our trip, we had driven past the Ankarana Reserve of tsingy in northern Madagascar, another component of the extended WHS.  I'm glad I went to Bemaraha, becuase I would have always wondered how different it is if we hadn't.  But, if you're just looking to tick this WHS off your list, just hit Ankarana and save yourself the pain of the drive to Bemaraha.  We also visited the Red Tsingy in the north, and while beautiful (and geologically much more transient), the Red is not nearly as spectacular as Bemaraha. There are more adventurous ways to get to Bemaraha like river rafting trips, but after doing it in the comfort of our lodges, those options are for people much more daring than me.

 

Summary

Horrible roads, so bad they made me question that Madagascar is even encouraging tourists to come to Bemaraha. But a very unique landscape in a very unique country make me glad to have visited.   There is no longer any discussion of an armed convoy.  There were probably about 15 4x4 cars going there the same day as us. We weren't necessarily a convoy, but we passed each other in the road, and if one gets stuck, others come along and help. So get an early start -- I wouldn't want to be the last car of the day.