Location
  • Madagascar
Length
4 - 26 weeks
Need-based funding, General grants/scholarships, 529 Plan eligibility, BIPOC funding
Health & Safety

Program Details

Activities
Animal Viewing Remote Exploring Trekking
Timeframe
Fall Spring
Housing
Guesthouse Host Family
Primary Language
Malagasy
Age Min.
17
Age Max
22

Pricing

Starting Price
14740
Price Details
The land cost for Madagascar Semester: Cultural and Ecological Diversity is $14,740 for three months. Flight costs for this program are estimated at $1,835. Need-based scholarships are available.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Meals Transportation
What's Not Included
Airfare
Mar 02, 2020
Feb 25, 2018
4 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Rugged travel across a canvas of deserts, forests, mountains, and seas paint the vivid ecosystems and traditions that make up this island-nation. Stunningly diverse and colossal in size, more than 80% of the plant and animal species in Madagascar are not found anywhere else in the world. The Malagasy people are similarly unique. Historical and geographic isolation have made Madagascar a place where almost all of what you see, hear, and do are possible nowhere else on earth. Early in the program, we set out to explore some of the country’s unique ecosystems. We trek in two of the country’s most famous national parks and conduct animal surveys alongside wildlife researchers. We learn about the many species of lemurs, an endangered primate well-known for their catlike faces and playful sounds and behaviors.

This program is currently not being promoted on Go Overseas by its provider. Check with Where There Be Dragons for the most up-to-date information regarding the status of this program.

Video and Photos

Diversity & Inclusion

BIPOC Support

Unfortunately, discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, and skin tone exists in different forms all over the world. In some destinations, especially rural or ethnically homogenous areas, people may not have had much exposure to racial diversity. As such, people with certain physical characteristics may experience unwanted attention. Most commonly, this might include staring, insensitive comments, people taking your photo (with or without asking), or attempts to touch your skin or hair. Black students traveling in parts of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa have often reported higher levels of unwanted attention than their peers. White students traveling in parts of Asia and Africa have also reported receiving unwanted attention. Students are encouraged to communicate with staff if they feel their personal boundaries are being violated or if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable in any situation. We encourage you to believe your peers if/when they share experiences like this with you.

LGBTQIA+ Support

Social, cultural, religious, political, and legal attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community vary around the world. According to the Global Acceptance Index, average levels of acceptance for LGBTQ+ people around the world have been increasing since 1981. However, many countries where Dragons operates programs may have social discrimination or even laws against being LGBTQ+. We have safely supported LGBTQ+ students in all of our program areas, and provide specific cultural and geographic advice to help students stay safe on course.

In some cases, students may be advised not to speak about their sexual orientations and/or gender identities with local contacts (such as homestay families, ISP mentors, language teachers, and guest speakers) due to safety concerns. Likewise, transgender and non-binary students may have to choose to present outwardly as male or female in certain contexts during the program. In other cases, “coming out” to some or all host community members may be a safe choice.

Neurodivergent Support

For students with neuro-differences (such as dyslexia, ADHD, ASD, TS, and dyspraxia), it is important to be aware that neurodiversity is likely viewed differently abroad than at home. People might not be familiar with labels or terms that are very common where you come from. If you struggle with lots of external stimuli, you should be prepared that you will be in some environments that are louder and busier than what you are used to.

Accessibility Support

If you are a student with a physical disability, you might encounter challenges around accessibility than you have at home. Many of the places we travel at Dragons don’t have building codes or other regulations in place to support people with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments. You may need accommodations or support that you don’t usually require in your life at home.

Impact

Sustainability

Dragons defines responsible travel as travel that is culturally conscious, environmentally responsible, and focused on developing meaningful connections and mutual respect in the communities to which we travel. Over the course of Dragons 25+ year history, we have cultivated long-standing relationships with respected community leaders, academics, social entrepreneurs and professionals involved in environmental and cultural preservation. In the more than 20 countries in which Dragons has operated, we have steadfastly adhered to minimum impact travel, an accurate and informed understanding of place, and the realization of maximum benefit for the communities we visit.

Ethical Impact

Dragons believes that we need to shift the way we think of volunteer travel. Instead of focusing on “service work”—on the idea that short-term volunteers can contribute to communities abroad—we advocate a paradigm shift: we choose, instead, to focus on “learning service.”

Learning Service is a holistic experience that combines an intimate and authentic engagement with the local community, the study of effective development, and the contribution to an established community-driven project. It is the process of living, working alongside, and humbly absorbing the culture of those being served while coordinating closely with project managers to understand the trajectory of the project, from inception to completion and beyond. It is an acknowledgment that often it is the volunteer who stands to gain as much or more from the work. And it is a commitment to making contributions that create positive impacts in the communities coupled with the humility to always listen and learn first.

Program Highlights

  • Delve into issues such as the provocative legacies of African slave trade and local conservation issues – particularly the complex tension between economic development and environmental preservation in Madagascar.
  • Investigate how the micro-economics and political events impact the environment in Madagascar.
  • Immerse yourself in Malagasy culture in two unique homestays in a semi-urban and rural environment.
  • Experience Madagascar’s rich biodiversity with multi-day hikes and day-hikes in Isalo National Park, Andasibe National Park and Ranomafana’s lush mid-altitude rainforest.
  • Travel throughout Madagascar on local transportation, which often winds slowly down sing-landed roads cluttered by cars, ox cards, bicycles and foot-traffic.

Scholarships

Where There Be Dragons Financial Aid & 529 Funds

Where There Be Dragons offers need-based financial aid to students that demonstrate reasonable financial need and are excited to engage with communities around the world.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 1 review
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  • Housing 5
  • Support 5
  • Fun 5
  • Value 5
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 1 of 1 reviews
Jennie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Madagascar Senegal 2017 review

I got home from my gap semester and since than have thought, spoken, or written about my experience with Dragons every day since. I traveled to Madagascar and Senegal with limited knowledge of both places but now want nothing but to return to spend time with my host families and continue exploring both countries. One of my favorite memories was after our first trek in Ranomofana, Madagascar we got to a village and were hoping to camp in one of their rice patties. They were not expecting us but the agreed to let us stay and later on all the villagers came down to where we were camping and brought instruments and they gave us a performance of singing and a dance and it was just unlike anything I had ever experienced. After the performance and dinner they came back and at first it was just a big game of keep away with a beach ball and than music started and we continued dancing into the night even while it was beginning to rain, and that was when I fell in love with Madagascar. I learned about community while I was with dragons; I saw how community was such a big part in the lives of the people we were meeting and before I had this idea in my mind that being independent and self sufficient was the ideal way and that that was good, even if it felt lonely at times, and now I see that having people who support you and love you and work with you is so much more important than being able to do everything on your own. For future students I tell them to just say yes, say yes when your host sister asks you to go to the market, and say yes when she wants to braid your hair, say yes when your host mom wants to dress you traditionally, and say yes when your fellow student who wants to bring you a mango when you injur yourself. Just saying yes to opportunities even if they sound strange and not everyone is doing them are where some of my best experiences came from.

What would you improve about this program?
My program switched countries unexpectedly because of the plague in Madagascar but that resulted in 7-10 days of sitting in hotels in both Senegal and Madagascar of just doing nothing while things were being worked out. I think if that could have been improved or something to fill that time with something beneficial would have been better cause I’m those times everyone was upset and stressed but it felt like a waste of time and that isn’t what people wanted on their gap semester. Other than that I wouldn’t change anything.
29 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers