I went to Madagascar and spent seven months there. There are hotels in all the cities, most of them under $15 a night, most are actually about $2-3 dollars. I only spent $400 on lodging the whole time. If you fly into Tana, stay in a hotel called Ragouly. It is nice but cheaper than the touristy ones.
If you really want to travel around the country, you will either have to fly or take a taxi brousse – a van packed to the gills with people. I definitely recommend getting out of Tana except for some souvenir shopping. Ranomafana is beautiful with lots of trails and guides who speak English, as well as lots of wildlife. There is also a few other lemur spots in the south, Berenty and Beza Mahafaly that are geared toward tourists.
Monrandava to the west has the Avenue de Baobabs and lots of nice beaches. It also has a nice market. If you go there, you should stay on the beach and rent bikes to see the baobabs. If you go in the right season, you can also visit the Tsingy.
Perinet, near Moramanga, has the indris, the largest lemur species and they have nice resort like hotels and fun night hikes.
It is awesome if you love nature, to experience new things, and to hike. It would help if you could speak some French and if you have an easy going attitude because things seem to run on their own time there. It is not the place for you if you have to have an exact schedule and require lots of comforts of home. People will also stare at you a lot so be prepared. That being said, the people are so friendly and giving. I spent most of my time staying in smaller villages and camping out. You have to buy the great food off the street, blue sweet potatoes called voa manga, tamarinds, mangos.
You can order a few dictionaries off Amazon but the best one (because it’s actually alphabetical) is sold in Madagascar in Tana at a religious bookshop in the main square across from the ice cream parlor. People like to try their English on you but you need to know some Malagasy just to get the annoying ones to leave you alone and to get better deals because you bargain for everything.
I had a blast there and would tell anyone with a love of the outdoors and experiencing new cultures to give it a try.