Upon arrival at Antananarivo Airport, you clear immigration and make your way into the arrivals hall. Here you will be met by your driver and you transfer to Maison Gallieni in the upper town of Antananarivo.
‘Tana’ as the locals call it, has a 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.
Overnight - Maison Gallieni
Dinner and breakfast
After breakfast you transfer back to Tana Airport.
Private Helicopter charter flight to Moramanga (39 minutes flying time)
On arrival you are met by your driver and transfer by road to Andasibe, a drive of about an hour.
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.
This afternoon, you visit a private reserve operated by local NGO Mitsinjo. The NGO funds reforestation, community education and sensitisation 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.
Overnight - Mantadia Lodge
All meals and activities
After breakfast, you enjoy a visit to the 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.
After the walk, you will drive to Moramanga to take the private charter flight to Ifotaka. Upon arrival you will be met by your guide and vehicle and transfer to the camp. Settle into your tent and enjoy the majestic views over the Mandrare River.
Around 5pm you will 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.
Overnight - Mantadia Lodge
All meals and activities
After an early breakfast, you drive one hour to Andasibe, in time to connect with your private helicopter flight to Tana.
On arrival you connect with your private charter flight to Mandrare River Camp (2 hrs 20 min).
Upon arrival you will be met by your guide and transfer 5 minutes to the camp. Settle into your tent and enjoy the majestic views over the Mandrare River.
Around 5pm you will 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.
Overnight - Mandrare River Camp
All meals, selected beverages and activities
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.
Overnight - Mandrare River Camp
All meals, selected beverages and activities
After tea you 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.
Overnight - Mandrare River Camp
All meals, selected beverages and activities
After an early breakfast, you transfer to the Mandrare airstrip in time for your private helicopter charter flight back to Tana.
Here you will rest, stretch your legs and have a snack before boarding your private charter flight to Anjajavy (1hr 30 min).
Upon arrival at Anjajavy you will be greeted by a hotel staff member and transferred to the lodge (30 min). 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.
Overnight - Anjajavy Lodge
All meals, selected beverages and activities
This morning, you depart the lodge by boat to Moramba Bay.
Let yourself be seduced by Moramba Bay and the beauty of the northwest coast of the island. Discover the centuries-old marine baobabs, the sandy beaches, and the mushroom shaped tsingy islands. With the captain and a guide, search for one of the rarest raptors in the world: the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides). If the water is clear you can also enjoy some snorkelling for 30 minutes before returning to the Lodge for lunch.
Afternoon at leisure.
This evening at 5pm take tea in the Oasis Gardens. Do not miss this fabulous opportunity to relax and watch the lemurs in the landscaped garden of the Oasis, every afternoon from 5.00 to 6.00 pm. This is the favorite place and time of choice for groups of lemurs and a multitude of birds.
Overnight - Anjajavy Lodge
All meals, selected beverages and activities
This morning, you experience an iconic adventure of the Anjajavy Reserve by kayak or vehicle to a village between tsingy, mangrove and forest.
During this excursion, you will learn about the first project aimed at re-introducing the Giant Tortoise back into Madagascar. You will visit a young coconut grove and small caves at the base of magnificent tsingy. One of the caves features an animist culturalite; another of these cavities holds open ancestral Sakalava burial sites.
Return to the hotel for lunch.
This afternoon 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.
Overnight - Anjajavy Lodge
All meals, selected beverages and activities
After breakfast, you transfer to the Anjajavy airstrip (30 min) for your private charter flight to Diego (1hr 15 min).
Upon arrival into Diego, you are welcomed by Miavana staff and assisted in boarding the helicopter for your beautiful flight to Nosy Ankao (20 minutes).
Nosy Ankao is the largest of five islands making up this reef-protected archipelago to the north east of the mainland. To the island’s west, the hills and mountains of the mainland are profiled against the horizon, while in other areas, sky and clouds blend seamlessly with water expanses.
Check in to your sumptuous one bedroom villa overlooking the azure waters of the Indian Ocean. Reaching nearly 5,000 square feet in size, these palatial villas have been perfectly designed by award winning designers Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens of Seychelles’s North Island fame and allow guests to step directly onto the powder-soft sand from their private decks to enjoy spectacular panoramic Indian Ocean sunsets extending to the far contours of mainland Madagascar.
Overnight - Miavana
All meals, accommodation, selected premium wine, champagne, top shelf spirits and bar drinks, laundry and service charge
Included activities at Miavana: guided lemur trekking (and boat transfers to the mainland adjacent), forest walks, scuba diving around Miavana and scuba diving lessons, snorkelling, cultural visit on Miavana, boat cruises, shore-based fishing and half day fishing trips, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, kite surfing, bicycling and the use of one electric buggy per villa
Choose from the variety of activities available including the ‘Blue Safari’ guided water activities that will provide fascinating insights as you explore the aquamarine bays, beaches, lagoons and channels of the archipelago.
Complementary activities include: guided lemur trekking, forest walks, scuba diving around Miavana and scuba diving lessons, snorkelling, cultural visit on Miavana, boat cruises, shore based fishing and half day fishing trips, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, kite surfing, bicycling.
Overnight - Miavana
All meals, accommodation, selected premium wine, champagne, top shelf spirits and bar drinks, laundry and service charge
Included activities at Miavana: guided lemur trekking (and boat transfers to the mainland adjacent), forest walks, scuba diving around Miavana and scuba diving lessons, snorkelling, cultural visit on Miavana, boat cruises, shore-based fishing and half day fishing trips, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, kite surfing, bicycling and the use of one electric buggy per villa
After breakfast, you transfer back to Diego by helicopter and upon arrival you will be met and assisted onto your charter flight to Antananarivo.
On arrival, you check in for your homeward bound flight and depart Africa.
End of arrangements