Welcome at Ivato international airport and transfer to the hotel.
ANTANANARIVO – ANDASIBE (140 Km about 3 .5hour –drive)
Drive to Andasibe through a landscape composed of rice paddies, waterfalls, and scarce forest stations. On the way visit of the Marozevo exotic park to see chameleons, butterflies etc. Continue to Andasibe. Before dinner, off for a night walk along the road to see some nocturnal species of animals, with some luck you’ll see woolly and mouse lemurs, chameleons etc.
ANDASIBE – MANAMBATO - AKANIN' NY NOFY (132 Km about 4-5 hour –drive, boat trip 1,5 hours)
After breakfast, an early morning visit to Analamazaotra, 930 to 1000m altitude, the realm of the mysterious Indri lemurs with their distinctive calls heard for miles around, and 13 other species of lemurs. You can also find various species of birds, chameleons etc. This hike on the Trail "Indri II" takes about threehours and leads on paths first in an upward gradient, and is then mostly flat. Afterwards you drive on the national road 2 about 113 km into the sugar cane and fruit growing area around Brickaville. After a few kilometres, the road turns right onto a 7 kmlong dirt road to the formerly busy holiday resort of Manambato. There we board a covered motorboat and transfer on the Pangalanes Canal (about 20 km) to the hotel in the middle of beautiful nature in Akanin'ny Nofy at Lake Ampitabe. Overnight stay there.By the way, the Pangalanes Canal is considered to be the second longest canal in the world. It is a continuous waterway of about 645 km in length, which leads from Tamatave, the northernmost end point, to the village of Farafangana in the south, running parallel to the Indian Ocean. The distance to the sea is sometimes only a few meters, at some points it also touches the sea, and therefore the water is slightly salty. During the colonial period, eight years of construction work created artificial connections between the naturally formed lakes and river courses, which are fed with water from wooded elevations. Artificially constructed branch canals were used to create connections to the nearest standing or flowing water sources.
AKANIN' NY NOFY
A whole day to discover the surroundings of the hotel on the shores of Lake Ampitabe. Among other things, you can visit the private Palmarium Park with a great variety of lemurs during a hike lasting several hours, or you can explore the area by canoe or on foot. A nocturnal excursion is planned, partly by boat, in search of the rare and endangered Aye Aye lemurs (Daubentonia madagascariensis) with their unusual appearance. These strange lemurs have been settled on the island and are guarded around the clock. In the evening during the Aye Aye stalking, coconuts are clamped between two tree trunks, and one can watch how they are opened by this creatures with the beaver-like teeth and spooned out with the long middle finger
AKANIN’NY NOFY – TAMATAVE – MAHAMBO (03 hours/60 km by boat on the canal. 87 km about 05 hours road trip)
Transfer early morning by motor boat along the Pangalanes canal until Tamatave. And then road trip to Mahambo on the road by the sea.
MAHAMBO – SAINTE MARIE (boat trip about 3 hours)
Today you will have a boat transfer to Sainte Marie. Pick up at the port and transfer to the hotel.
Days at leisure, possibilities: Swimming, snorkelling, diving, excursions by boat, bicycle, motorbike or on foot (fishing villages, pirates' cemetery, Ile aux Nattes in the south of the island or up north etc). With a bit of luck you can see mighty humpback whales, some with calves, during a boat trip or even from the beach from July to September. In contrast to the long east coast of the main island, the beaches of Sainte Marie (Nosy Boraha) are surrounded by protective coral reefs. There are numerous walks to be made, over hills, through meadows, along clear streams, past miles of sandy beaches, on the dunes of the Indian Ocean and in the rainforest. Many Malagasy traditions of the mainlandcan be found on Sainte Marie, and both traditions of the Merina of the highlands and typical festivals of the Sakalava from the west coast have been preserved in their original forms. The island now has a good 50 km long road with a bitumen layer from theairport to the north. The island can be explored on foot, by bicycle, motorbike or tuk-tuk. Around 27,000 people live on the island, whose highest point reaches just 114 metres. A pirates' cemetery south of the clearly laid out capital Ambodifotatra reminds us of the time before colonisation, when pirates hid here.
Free day today. Relax and enjoy....
Transfer to the airport for the flight to Antananarivo. Pick up at the airport and transfer to the hotel.
In the morning, excursion to Ambohimanga – a King‘s palace, 21km north of the city (UNESCO World heritage site).
Transfer to the airport.
