Upon arrival into Ivato Airport you will be greeted by our local English speaking guide who will accompany you to your hotel in the upper town of Antananarivo.
‘Tana’ – as the locals call it has fascinating traditional architecture and a more Indonesian influence than the rest of Madagascar. Maison Gallieni is a restored colonial mansion with an elegant mix of modern and traditional décor. Take a dip in the pool and enjoy the lovely views over the city before dinner.
After an early breakfast, your guide will take you east to Andasibe, a stunning rainforest park, about 4 hours’ drive from the city. The park consists of two protected areas, the Perinet Special Reserve and Mantadia National Park. Perinet is world famous for its population of Indri lemurs, which are the largest living lemur species. The journey to Andasibe offers first time visitors to Madagascar an introduction to rural life with rice fields, redbrick houses and roadside stalls selling seasonal fruits and vegetables lining the route.
Check into the hotel for lunch.
This afternoon, visit a private reserve operated by local NGO Mitsinjo. The NGO funds reforestation, community education and sensitization to conservation issues as well as running Madagascar’s first amphibian captive-breeding facility. Here you will see a stunning array of wildlife and can also plant an indigenous species along the reforestation trail.
After breakfast on Day 3 you will head to Mantadia National Park (1.5 hour drive) with a picnic lunch. Look for some of the lemur species in this stunning park including the Indri indri, diademed sifaka, grey bamboo lemur, redbellied lemur and white ruffed lemur. While the trails are slightly more difficult, the rewards are great as the forest is taller, wilder and less crowded than Perinet. There are an abundance of birds including the scaly ground roller, the pitta-like ground roller and the red-breasted coua. This is a naturalist’s goldmine with many seldom seen species of mammals, reptiles and birds. Enjoy a picnic by the Rianasoa Waterfall before hiking back to the vehicle and return to the lodge.
A night walk will be organised in late evening in the forest surrounding the reserve with a local guide. You will see a variety of nocturnal lemurs: mouse lemurs, white footed sportive lemur, fat-tailed dwarf lemur, as well as the woolly lemur.
After breakfast, enjoy a visit to the 810 ha Perinet Reserve with a local guide in search of the Indri Indri. With a barely visible tail, black and white markings and a surprised teddy–bear face, this lemur is one of the few animals in the world that cannot survive in captivity. There are another 11 species of lemur to spot as you walk through the rainforest. You may find a troop of grey bamboo lemurs, common brown lemur, diademed sifaka and the black and white ruffed lemur. Birdwatchers should look out for the velvet asity, the blue coua and the Nuthatch vanga and many more endemic species. Perinet is home to many reptiles, invertebrates, and some of Madagascar’s over a thousand orchid species.
Return to the lodge for lunch.
In the early afternoon, drive 4hrs back to Tana. Enjoy the heated swimming pool and newly built spa with sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, gym and spa therapies using traditional Malagasy remedies.
After breakfast, transfer to Ivato Airport for a morning flight to Fort Dauphin with Tsaradia (3 hours).
In Fort Dauphin you will be met by a guide and vehicle from Mandrare River Camp who will escort you to a local restaurant in Fort Dauphin. After an early lunch, drive to Mandrare River Camp (4 hours).
Upon arrival at the camp settle into your tent and enjoy the majestic views over the Mandrare River.
Around 5pm depart for a night walk in the Forest of Zenavo. This is a fantastic way to see diurnal lemurs bedding down, and the nocturnal lemurs begin to wake in the eerie and prehistoric Spiny Forest. You will spot sifakas and sleeping white-foot sportive lemurs, then once the sun has set, two mouse lemur species, sleeping birds, chameleons, owls and now active sportive lemurs.
After breakfast you will head out to the stunning sacred gallery forest to the south of the camp. Depending on the river depth, you will walk or take a boat across the Mandrare River to reach this largely deciduous forest. Inquisitive groups of ring tailed lemurs and the always entertaining Verreaux sifaka are the highlight of this excursion.
Return to camp for lunch and a relaxed afternoon by the pool. In late afternoon, head for a walk through the sacred spiny forest filled with the ancestral tombs of the local Antandroy tribe, as well as an extraordinary array of flora and fauna, unique to the spiny forest.
Your English speaking guide and a tracker from the local community will give you an introduction to Antandroy culture and customs. Your visit is followed by sundowners on the Mandrare River banks.
After a cup of tea or coffee head to the spiny forest for an early morning walk. Witness the sunlight break through the octopus trees while looking out for the many endemic birds such as crested coua, a variety of vangas and the running coua. Head back to camp for a sumptuous breakfast followed by a visit to the local market or the local village to meet the fascinating Antandroy tribe.
Lunch will be served at the camp followed by a relaxed afternoon watching life along the river from your tent terrace.
At 5pm, depart for a sundowner amidst the baobabs. Watching the sun set and moon rise with a view across the baobabs to the mountains beyond is a magical experience. In the evening the local village may come to perform beautiful traditional dances, accompanied by singing and music. Song and dance is at the heart of Antandroy culture and is used to accompany the major rituals and events of everyday life
After breakfast, drive to Fort Dauphin (4hours) in time for your Tsaradia flight back to Tana.
On arrival in Tana meet with your English speaking guide from MCC and transfer to your hotel.
After an early breakfast, transfer to Ivato Airport in time for your scheduled charter to Anjajavy. Upon arrival you will be greeted by a hotel staff member and transferred to the lodge.
Anjajavy Lodge is located within a 450 hectare nature reserve on Madagascar’s north-west coast. The lodge’s 25 duplex, rosewood villas all have private decks overlooking the ocean. Meals can be served in an enclosed oasis in the hotel grounds or on the beach.
The surrounding forest is alive with lemurs, chameleons, malachite kingfishers and hummingbirds. At 5:30 pm you will depart for a night walk in the reserve to spot a variety of nocturnal lemurs. While the reserve’s show-stoppers are undoubtedly the charismatic coquerel’s sifakas, the hours of darkness also have their star performers. Weighing a mere 63 grams, danfoss mouse lemurs scamper about in the shrubbery around the reserve just after nightfall, springing from branch to branch, quick as a flash, in search of food. If you hear a strange squeal coming from the tree tops, then you have probably found a Grewcock’s sportive lemur. Other mammals to spot are the endemic tsingy tuft-tailed rat, Commerson’s leaf-nosed bat, or Madagascar’s largest predator - the rare and elusive fossa.
This morning, depart for a walk along the ‘Chemin des Crabes’ to see the fabulous birdlife, beautiful baobabs and of course, the famous hairy crab. Even if bird watching isn’t your thing, you can’t help but be enchanted by the kaleidoscope of colours and shapes of the reserve’s common birds, from the vibrant red fody and Souimanga sunbird to the exotic paradise flycatcher and sickle-billed vanga. It is one of the best places to spot the regal Madagascar fish eagle, shy crested Ibis, or rare Madagascar sacred Ibis.
At the end of the walk, you will visit a small cave where you will find a fossilized lemur skull, stalactites and sharks’ teeth. Return to the lodge for lunch and a leisurely afternoon.
This morning you will enjoy a long walk along the Giant’s Causeway and King’s Alley. You will discover extremely ancient baobab trees, tsingy rock formations found only in Madagascar, along with a variety of lemurs including the Coquerel’s sifakas. These remarkable animals live in family groups of up to 10 individuals, and though they are perfectly adapted to life in the trees they often descend to the ground too. Unlike the famous Verreaux’s sifaka from southern Madagascar with its characteristic sideways dance, the Coquerel’s sifaka bounces across the ground like a mini kangaroo! The sifakas, along with troops of common brown lemurs, roam freely in the gardens and surrounding reserve.
Return to the lodge for lunch and a leisurely afternoon.
At 9:30 am, transfer to the airstrip for your morning flight to Tana by scheduled charter.
Upon arrival at Tana airport, you will be met by our local representative who will assist you in checking in for your outbound flight..
