Best of Madagascar

Upon arrival into Ivato Airport we will be greeted by our English speaking guide who will accompany us to our 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. Overnight at Palissandre Hôtel & Spa

After an early breakfast, we will head east towards 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 a gentle introduction to rural life with rice fields, redbrick houses and roadside stalls selling seasonal fruits and vegetables lining the route. After checking in at Mantadia Lodge and enjoy a delicious lunch, we will venture onwards to Lemur Island which is Vakona Lodge’s private reserve that protects a number of habituated lemurs. There are four species to see, the Bamboo Lemur, the Black & White Ruffed lemur, Brown lemur and one family of Diademed Sifaka.

After breakfast we will head to Mantadia National Park which is about a 1.5 hour drive from the lodge. At Mantadia we will look for some of the lemur species in this stunning park including the Indri Indri, Diademed Sifaka, Grey Bamboo Lemur,

Red-Bellied 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, Pitta-like Ground Roller and Red Breasted Coua. To do justice to Mantadia you need to spend a whole day in the park. This is a naturalist’s goldmine with many seldom seen species of mammals, reptiles and birds. For lunch we will enjoy a picnic by the Rianasoa Waterfall. Hike back to the vehicle and return to the lodge. A night forest walk will be organized in late evening in the neighboring reserve with a local guide. You could see a variety of nocturnal lemurs as well as a number of chameleons which makes for amazing and very unique photography.

After breakfast, we will depart Andasibe and drive for three hours to Manambato. Here we will link up with the boat transfer that will take us to Palmarium. The Palmarium hotel is situated on the edge of the reserve on Lake Ampitabe, Palmarium Reserve. It has nine species of lemurs that can be seen there or nearby, of which three are nocturnal, including the rare and elusive Aye Aye.

In the morning we will visit the private Palmarium Park. The reserve is also known as Ankanin’ny Nofy which translates from Malagasy as ‘nest of dreams’. It is spread across 50 hectares of peninsula land in the Lake Ampitabe area on the East coast of Madagascar, nestled on the banks of the Pangalanes channel and the Indian Ocean. Separated from the latter by thin coastal sand dunes, the landscape otherwise comprises of littoral forest with relatively flat terrain and some well-kept trails for exploration. You will be able to discover the endemic flora and fauna of Madagascar, such as rare palm trees and plants like orchids and mahoganies, as well as reptiles and ten different species of lemurs. In the evening we will head over to a small island in search of the Aye Aye which are protected on this island. Afternoon transfer back to Tana.

Today we will transfer to the airport for our private charter flight to Morondava. Upon arrival we will meet our local guide and transfer to our hotel. Morondava is situated in the west of the country, on the delta of the river of the same name at the edge of the Mozambique Channel. Morondava was the centre of the Sakalava Kingdom and is known for its elaborately sculpted wooden royal tombs. These tombs are frequently decorated with well-executed, often erotic, funerary carvings representing life and fertility. The afternoon is at our leisure, we can focus on post processing or we can choose to have a tour around Morondava. In the evening drive about 20km to the Avenue of the Baobabs for a beautiful sunset and fantastic photo opportunities. This is the most iconic view of Madagascar. Overnight at Palissandre Côte Ouest.

After an early breakfast drive again through the “Allée des Baobabs” to enjoy the gorgeous sunrise then continue 50km to the north-east of Morondava to the Kirindy Reserve. This is a privately managed forest that is known as the best place in Madagascar to see the elusive Fossa. It is also home to the very cute Madagascar Giant Jumping Rat, endemic to this forest, and eight lemur species including Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur which is endemic to Kirindy. Birdwatchers can enjoy the 70 bird species including the rare White-Breasted Mesite. The landscape is dry deciduous forest interspersed with towering baobab trees. Three out of the island’s seven baobab species are found here. After a leisurely picnic lunch, we will drive back to Morondava through the “Allée des Baobabs” and enjoy the gorgeous sunset and have some photo opportunities. Overnight at Palissandre Côte Ouest.

Return sunrise visit to the baobabs, followed by an afternoon at leisure.

Full day at leisure. Guests can utilise their time working on image processing with their Wild Eye guide, or simply spent relaxing or exploring around.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport in time for your private charter flight back to Tana. Upon arrival, our driver guide will meet and accompany us to Relais des Plateaux, our hotel near the airport. At the hotel we will enjoy our last dinner together, work through any questions you might have from the trip and prepare for our flight back home the next day.

After breakfast, we transfer to the airport for outbound international flights.