1000 Views of Madagascar

On arrival in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, you will be welcomed and provided with assistance by one of our friendly staff before transferring to your hotel in the city. Spend the rest of the day at your leisure.

In the morning we will start our journey with a drive to Andasibe through the green and luxuriant vegetation of eastern Madagascar. This brings us to a very humid part of the country with many primary forests and lakes. Along the way we will see Merina villages spread in the rocky mountains. We arrive at Andasibe in the afternoon and check-in to the hotel. In the evening we will set off from the hotel at approximately 19h00 on a night walk to observe night active lemurs and other nocturnal animals. We return to the hotel where we overnight.

We start our morning with a visit to the Special Reserve of Andasibe to see the Indri, the largest lemurs on the island. This 810 ha reserve is unique with its endemic fauna and flora and contains a wide variety of orchids, canopy, and endemic animals like chameleons, tenrecs, and many birds. In the afternoon, we visit the V.O.I.I.M.A community reserve. This reserve provides a sustainable way of saving the remaining rainforests in the area by creating a livelihood for the local communities through reforestation projects. Here you will also come across a variety of wildlife, ranging from brown lemurs, indri, chameleons, geckos and birds. We overnight at the same hotel.

We have an early start and drive back to Tana, then head west across the highlands to Ampefy, a fertile volcanic area. The spectacular eroded hills called ‘lavaka’ remind us of the Far East with its rice fields and green landscape with vegetables and fruit trees.
After a quick lunch stop in a forested area, we arrive in Ampefy in the afternoon and visit the thundering Lilly Waterfall. We continue our journey through small villages and arrive in Antsirabe around 18h00. ‘The place of salt’ is an elegant city and known as the centre of the beer industry – we can smell the Star Brewery as we enter the town! Founded by Norwegians in 1856, it is the only place which really feels and looks like a European city. It has a temperate climate and therefore fruit and vegetables which grow in colder climates, are found in Antsirabe.

After breakfast we drive to Ambositra, the centre of Madagascar’s wood carving industry. Further on we pass the ‘le col de tapia’, a type of tree resistant to bush fires. The landscape is still dominated by rice fields, pine forests, eucalyptus trees and rocky mountains. We turn off from the main road to reach our destination for the day; Ranomafana National Park.

Ranomafana National Park is approximately 40,000 ha, with its rain forest, covered hills and abundant wildlife. It has long been considered one of Madagascar’s highlights, and is one of the country’s most heavily visited national parks. You will go for long walks in the National Park spotting some of the lemurs, chameleons and other animals.

Returning on the road we came on, we leave Ranomafana and visit a local wine farm for wine tasting near Fianarantsoa ‘the city where one learns good things’. We then head southwards to Ambalavao, where we visit the ‘Anteimoro Paper Factory’. We continue and pass through Ihosy, the mountain chain of Andringitra and through the huge ‘Plateaux de Horombe’ to reach our destination Isalo.

Today, we will visit and hike in the Isalo National Park. After a 10 minute drive from Ranohira village, we park our car and walk about 1½ hour to reach the Natural Swimming Pool. Along the way we will see vegetation like Uapaca bojeri, Pachypodium rosulatum or ‘elephant’s foot’ and Aloe isaloensis, a native species of aloe endemic to Isalo.

After breakfast, we continue to Tuléar, the terminal of the National Road N° 7. This part of our journey brings us to new scenery among the dry forests of the west and the spiny desert of the south. On the way, we admire the different ‘Mahafaly tombs’ and the ‘Antandroy tombs’. After a short visit of Tuléar we drive to Ifaty.

Ifaty lies on the beach. It is therefore an ideal place for diving and snorkelling and a popular place for birdwatchers. Here you can also experience the Vezo fishermen’s life. Many excursions are possible on this leisure day.

Early in the morning at around 6h00 we transfer to the airport for the flight back to Tana. After check-in at the hotel, you have the afternoon free to explore and to do some sightseeing.

Today is the end of our tour and you will be transferred to the airport for your onward flight.