A Traveler’s Cautionary Tale

In September 2025, I left New York City for a dream trip to Kenya and Madagascar. Before leaving, I alerted the U.S. State Department of where I would be, which meant I would receive emails about issues in either of those countries.

Well, shortly after arriving in Kenya, I began to get emails about political unrest in Madagascar. There were numerous demonstrations, and the State Department urged travelers to be careful.

While I had a wonderful time in Kenya, I continued to get emails from the State Department. Eventually, they issued a Level 3 alert, suggesting that Americans not travel to Madagascar at all unless it was essential. As the protests escalated, the Madagascar government decided that anyone who participated was to be considered an enemy of the state, and they would shoot.

Meanwhile, I received an email from Audley Travel, the company with which I had booked the Madagascar portion of my trip. They brought up the protests and asked what I wanted to do. At first, I decided I would still go, and I was then requested to sign a waiver in addition to the one I signed when I booked the trip, which basically said that if I was killed, Audley wasn’t responsible.

Of course, I understand why I was asked to sign such a waiver, as it would have been my choice to take the risk. But it DID give me pause.

At the same time, the State Department emails became more frequent and intense, saying that protests were starting up spontaneously and that the government was indeed shooting people. In fact, a few people were killed during this time, and ultimately, the situation became serious enough that the president fled the country as a military coup took place.

When I was making my decision, I looked at my itinerary provided by Audley, which said I would have to drive through the capital city in order to reach my first destination. It also said that traffic could be backed up for a considerable time in the capital. So I began to envision myself stuck in traffic when a demonstration began, finding myself and my driver in the crossfire. I had already experienced a 20-minute standstill in Nairobi’s traffic.

I called Audley and spoke to one of their representatives, who told me that she thought under these circumstances, I would receive some of my money back, even though it was normally past the time to request a refund. She thought I would have to pay for the first few days but not beyond that. So I decided to err on the side of caution and cancel the trip.

Upon returning to the U.S., I soon found out from Audley that their representative had given me the wrong information. At first, they said I would receive no refund whatsoever. This trip was at a cost of nearly $9,000 for just over a week, so this news was, of course, devastating. I felt that it was Audley’s fault for not training its personnel properly. If it had, I would have been given the correct information when I connected with them from Kenya.

It also turns out that travel insurance policies do not generally cover “political unrest.” They reimburse for terrorist activity only. So basically, I was screwed.

Audley did eventually manage to get me back just under 16% of my cost, but the loss has been horrific. I must also report that weeks after I booked the itinerary (many months prior to my departure date) – which was created for me as a solo traveler slightly below the maximum budget I had specified – I was told that Anjajavy Le Lodge, a Relais & Chateaux property in Madagascar, had forgotten to charge me the single supplement for the flight to their location (which is only accessible via plane or boat).

Audley wanted me to pay for this and said they were still discounting it. Therefore, I should absorb the cost. But that would have put the itinerary over the budget I had set. At this point, it was already purportedly too late to cancel and get 100% of my money back. So I fought it because I felt that it was again Audley’s fault for not verifying with Anjajavy that the single supplement had been included in the quote for my itinerary.

To Audley’s credit, they did eventually relent and eat that extra cost, which I felt strongly was the right thing for them to do under the circumstances. But I also don’t think I should have had to fight so hard for it. As a result of these issues, I will never book a trip with their company again.

I have since found out that a friend of mine was scheduled to go to Madagascar at the same time, but his tour company cancelled his trip on its own accord to avoid the risk and gave him a full refund. Audley did not do that, and I think they should have.

I have been traveling internationally for decades, have gone to many remote places, and have purchased countless travel insurance policies. Even after visiting more than 50 countries on 6 continents, including some remote places, this is the first time I’ve been faced with political unrest. So even an experienced traveler like myself wasn’t aware of the inability to recover funds when unrest is the issue.

Now you know. Be careful out there!