Lemurs. Baobabs. Beaches.
HIGHLIGHTS OF MADAGASCAR SAFARI
On this 15 day Highlights of Madagascar Safari, you will see the many lemur species found nowhere else, visit varied landscapes and enjoy a range of experiences.
A Madagascar Trip is for the intrepid traveller who loves unique wildlife and spectacular landscapes and understands that this is very much off the beaten track and still a developing nation. Ultra luxe hotels and camps are not the main focus in Madagascar, but what you sacrifice in creature comforts, you more than make up for in unique experiences and adventure. Malagasy is the main language, with French spoken and a little English. Your guide on this trip is English speaking.
Madagascar is a cultural melting pot of beliefs influenced by Europe, Africa, and Asia. This sparsly populated island is the fourth largest in the world, and in the middle of the Indian ocean. Madagascar has much to offer, from beautiful cities and fascinating people to lush rainforests, unique wildlife, and tropical beaches. The island is a biodiversity hotspot, with over 90% of its fauna and flora found nowhere else in the world, particularly over 50 species of lemurs, seven species of baobab trees and 40 chameleon species.
Madagascar also offers a variety of accommodations for visitors: from modern city hotels and luxury beach resorts to the more authentic guesthouses or beach huts. However, all of them allow visitors to absorb the local culture, beautiful scenery, and fantastic wildlife.
Travel with an English-speaking guide, who will show you the delights of the country. He has travelled his country in all directions, knows every corner and he does have “cousins” everywhere. He is a tireless discoverer, a great travel companion!
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Day by Day itinerary
Days 01 to 02 – Antananarivo
The capital of Madagascar is Antananarivo. The island is divided into 6 autonomous provinces: Antananarivo Province; Antsiranana Province; Fianarantsoa Province; Mahajanga Province; Toamasina Province, and Toliara Province.
On Arrival at the airport in Antananarivo, you will be met by a guide and transferred to the Maison Gallieni Hotel or similar, on a bed and breakfast basis for 1 night.
Days 02 to 04 – Morondava
After a leisurely breakfast, you will be transferred back to the Antananarivo Airport for your scheduled flight to the coast at Morondava. Morondava Menabe’s capital will surprise you with the quality of its people welcoming, its beautiful landscape, and its blowing sunsets over the sea or on the aisle of Baobabs. Upon landing you will be met by your guide and transferred to your hotel on the beach for 2 nights.
Spend your day lounging by the pool or treat yourself to a massage in the spa. For the more energetic, activities such as snorkelling, windsurfing and boat trips into the nearby mangrove lagoons can be arranged at the hotel.
A suggested activity is a day at Kivalo village, which is a fishermen’s village located at about 1h30 from Morondava. During this excursion, you will have the opportunity to visit the village, meet with the local people, see the famous “lovers baobab”, replant mangroves if you want, cross the village with a dug-out canoe. This activity can also help the local people in the sustainable and inclusive conservation of their environment.
Spend 2 nights on a DB&B basis at the Palissandre Cote Ouest Resort & Spa or similar
Days 04 to 05 – Kirindy Forest Reserve
Kirindy Forest Reserve is a private reserve about 50 kilometres from Morondova, is a dry, deciduous forest reserve home to a variety of chameleons and lizards, giant jumping rats and lemur – but it’s the infamous fossa that really draws the crowds. Not dissimilar to a small puma but also related to the mongoose family, they are formidable, wily and strong, yet so elusive that scientists know very little about them. Mating season, from October to December, is the best time to spot one, but visit at other times of the year and be equally entertained by lemurs, nocturnal walks and the astonishing variety of flora.
You will stop at the Avenue of Baobabs along the way and take a night drive through the Kirindy Reserve. On the next morning, you will spend the morning in the reserve looking for the animals and birds that are found here.
Spend 1 night on a DB&B basis at the Relais du Kirindy or similar
Days 05 to 06 – Morondava
After your morning visit to the Kirindi Forest Reserve, you will head back to Morodava and stop for sunset along the Avenue of Baobabs. This is a group of ancient Grandidier’s baobabs, lining a dirt road.
Spend 1 nights on a DB&B basis at the Palissandre Cote Ouest Resort & Spa or similar
Days 06 to 07 – Antananarivo
You will land at Tana in the afternoon and be met by a guide and transfer the 45minute drive through the streets of Tana to your hotel for the night, one of the very best in Tana.
Overnight on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis.
Days 07 to 08 – Ifaty
After breakfast, you will transfer to the airport for a flight from Antananarivo to Tulear on the southwestern coast. Upon landing in Tulear, you will meet your guide for the next week and head off on your road trip in Madagascar! Visit the Renalia Forest, a private spiny forest full of baobab trees and some birds. If time, you will also visit the Arboretum d’Antsokay (Arboretum of Antsokay) a unique botanical garden, filled with endemic plant life.
Overnight at the small beach town of Ifaty, 27km north of the city of Tulear, next to the Mangily fishing village, amidst a flora of tropical and other typical indigenous plants from this dry region of southern Madagascar. Spend the night at Les Dunes d’Ifaty, or similar, built directly overlooking the Mozambique Channel and its endless coral reef barrier. It has been constructed using local materials and with ecology in mind, therefore, using water and electricity conservatively, though without taking away from fulfilling guest experience.
Days 08 to 10 – Isalo National Park, Ranohira
You will have a full day on the road, to Ranohira near the Isalo National Park. Stop at Zombitse National Park, it is the transition zone between the dry forests of the south and west and the humid forests of eastern Madagascar. In Zombitse you have a chance to see the Verreaux Sifaka (a medium sized white primate in the lemur family) brown lemurs and ring-tailed lemurs, as well as special bird species.
Spend Day 09 in the Isalo National Park with a picnic lunch. The Isalo National Park is a natural rock massif giving a reminiscent great America West vibe. Stroll through this Jurassic setting, alternating between deserted landscapes and verdant canyons. You will roam in completely arid zones with various colors and shapes. When you enter in the forest, it is not unusual for a lemur or a harmless serpent to welcome you.
You can roam on the rocks along the small streams, watch the Nymphs waterfall (which has carved the rock over time), or you can take a dip in the blue pool (a refreshing break during excursion). The black pool is also worth a visit, but you are recommended not to bathe in it because the water is freezing.
Spend 2 nights at the Isalo Rock Lodge, a beautiful modern retreat located high in the Sandstone Mountains, overlooking Isalo National Park. An alternative is the charming Le Jardin Du Roy.
Days 10 to 12 – Ranomafana National Park
Today you will continue your trip towards Ranomafana. This is a full day trip, covering 230km’s. You will stop along the way for lunch and at Anja Community Reserve nicknamed “Anja Park”, a great place to see ring-tailed lemurs in troops. It is the most visited community-run protected area for the lemurs and the landscape is incredible with the backdrop of granite rocks. You can take a 2 hour walk around the 30-hectare reserve to see the ring-tailed lemur families and varieties of flora.
Continue north to and after checking in to your hotel, you will head out for a night drive in Ranomafana National Park in search of the smallest lemur, the mouse lemur, as well as other animals found at night, like chameleons. You will return to the Ranomafana National Park the next morning for a morning visit and the afternoon at leisure.
You will spend 2 nights at The Thermal Hotel or Setam Lodge or similar on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis
Days 12 to 13 – Antsirabe
After breakfast you will continue north to Antsirabe, arriving mid-afternoon. If time, enjoy a bit of the highlands around the town or visit the Lake Tritriva crater lake.
Antsirabe is the capital city of the Vakinankaratra region, in the central highlands of Madagascar. It’s a popular spa town, known for its thermal springs and many colorful rickshaws.
Overnight at Aerotel Antsirabe, on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis.
Days 13 to 15 – Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
After breakfast drive towards Andasibe. This is a full day journey, towards Tana, before heading East, covering 320km’s in +-8 hours
Probably one of the best lemur experiences in the world, Mantadia-Andasibe National Park is the best place to spot the Indri, the largest living lemur! The park is separated into two distinct areas, Speciale d’Analamazaotra (usually known as Perinet – the old name of a French nearby town and rail station) to the south, and Park National de Mantidia to the north. Created in 1989, it encompasses the same humid lush forest throughout, covered with moss and trees, peppered with over 100 extraordinary orchid species and dotted with lakes.
You will go visit Analamazaotra Special Reserve in search of the Indri, the largest species of living lemurs as well as other numerous endemic species of fauna and flora. Enjoy lunch in the area and then go back to the other side of the forest in search of the species we missed in the morning Enjoy an evening visit to the Mitsinjo Forest. You will also visit the lemur island belonging to the lodge.
Manjarano Lodge is located in the enchanting lush green primary forest of Andasibe, Madagascar. Manjarano is built in the heart of a property of 180 hectares of primary and secondary forest sheltering a unique fauna and flora in the world. The estate is also partially reforested with eucalyptus wood (Robusta & Grandis).
The private reserve allows you to see some of it in a supervised and animal-friendly way: whether it’s reptiles, Nile crocodiles, chameleons or other species endemic to the big island. Not far from there, our private reserve will allow yo to meet several species of lemurs at their private island in the lake.
You will spend 2 nights at Manjarano Lodge on a dinner bed and breakfast basis.
Days 15 to 16 – Antananrivo
You will leave the Andasibe area late morning, after one last exploration in the area. Stop for lunch along the way, arriving tyour hotel in the late afternoon. Spend 1 night at Maison Gallieni or similar. On Day 16, spend at leisure untiy your tranfser to the airport and your flight backhome.
