12-Day Madagascar Wildlife and Coast Tour through Andasibe to Ifaty

Arrival: On arrival in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, you will be welcomed and assisted by one of our friendly staff before transferring to your hotel in the city.

Leisure: Spend the rest of the day at your leisure.

Accommodation: Palissandre Hotel & Spa, Raddison Water Front Hotel, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Drive: In the morning, we begin our journey with a drive to Andasibe through the green and luxuriant vegetation of eastern Madagascar.

Scenery: This brings us to a very humid part of the country with many primary forests and lakes.

Along the way: Along the way, we will see Merina villages spread across the rocky mountains.

Arrival: We arrive in Andasibe around lunchtime.

Visit: In the afternoon, visit the V.O.I.I.M.A community reserve.

Wildlife: Here, you will also come across a variety of wildlife, ranging from brown lemurs and indri to chameleons, geckos, and birds.

Reserve: This reserve provides a sustainable way of saving the remaining rainforests in the area by creating a livelihood for local communities through reforestation projects.

Night walk: In the evening, we set off from the hotel at approximately 18h00 (depending on the season) on a night walk to observe nocturnal lemurs and other night-active animals.

Overnight: We return to the hotel for our overnight stay.

Distance: 150 km

Departure: 10h00

Accommodation: Mantadia Lodge, Andasibe Cyperus Hotel, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms & veranda)

Visit: We start our morning with a visit to the Special Reserve of Andasibe to see the Indri, the largest lemurs on the island.

Reserve: This 810 ha reserve is unique for its endemic fauna and flora and contains a wide variety of orchids, canopy, and endemic animals such as chameleons, tenrecs, and many birds.

Transfer: In the afternoon, we transfer back to Antananarivo.

Distance: 150 km

Departure: 07h00

Accommodation: Palissandre Hotel & Spa, Raddison Water Front Hotel, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Drive: Today we head south to Antsirabe, crossing the highland landscape with its beautiful rice fields on display.

Scenery: The spectacular eroded hills called 'lavaka' remind us of the Far East, with its rice fields and green landscape filled with vegetables and fruit trees.

Stop: We stop in Ambatolampy for a quick visit to this huge agricultural city, also recognised as the "capital of aluminium recycling".

Arrival: Arrival in Antsirabe is in the late afternoon.

City: 'The place of salt' is an elegant city and is known as the centre of the beer industry - we can smell the Star Brewery as we enter the town!

History: Founded by Norwegians in 1856, it is the only place that really feels and looks like a European city.

Climate: It has a temperate climate, and therefore fruit and vegetables that grow in colder climates are found in Antsirabe.

Distance: 170 km

Accommodation: Plumeria Hotel, Arotel, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Drive: After breakfast, we drive to Ambositra, the centre of Madagascar's wood carving industry.

Architecture: The highlands are characterised by their architecture: the houses are made with ornately carved wooden balconies and shutters in bright colours.

Scenery: Further on, we pass the 'le col de tapia', a type of tree resistant to bush fires.

Landscape: The landscape is still dominated by rice fields, pine forests, eucalyptus trees, and rocky mountains.

Destination: We turn off from the main road to reach our destination for the day: Ranomafana National Park.

Distance: 250 km

Accommodation: Setam Lodge, Hotel Thermal, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Park: The approximately 40,000 ha of Parc National de Ranomafana, with its rainforest-covered hills and abundant wildlife, has long been considered one of Madagascar's highlights and is one of the country's most heavily visited national parks.

Entrance: Its entrance lies about 7 km from Ranomafana village, and altitudes in the park range from 800 m to 1200 m.

Terrain: In addition to its densely forested hills, Ranomafana's terrain is characterised by numerous small streams that plummet down to the beautiful Namorona River.

Forest: Although much of the region has been logged, the easternmost part of the park retains relatively large areas of primary forest.

Walks: You will go for long walks in the national park, spotting some of the lemurs, chameleons, and other animals.

Accommodation: Setam Lodge, Hotel Thermal, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Drive: 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'.

Note: Please note that visits to the wine farms may not be possible on weekends.

City: The city is the gateway to the South, the capital of the Betsileo tribes, and the centre of the Catholic religion.

Schools: Most of the best schools in the country are also found here.

Visit: We then head southwards to Ambalavao and visit the 'Anteimoro Paper Factory', which is a vestige of the Arabian civilisation on the island.

Project: Afterwards, we take part in a community-based silk weaving project run by the women's association 'Soalandy'.

Scenery: We pass through the mountain chain of Andringitra, which serves as a transition between the dry south and the green highlands, with its famous '3 hillocks' and its huge 'archbishop's cape'.

Along the way: Along the way, we will see from afar a spectacular huge granite dome with twin rock towers called 'the gate of the south', which in fact marks the end of the highlands and the beginning of the south.

Formation: The 'Bishop's hat' is another noticeable and imposing formation, as well as a sacred location for the local people - a place where their ancestors chose collective suicide rather than give in to the Merina tribes.

Drive: We then continue to Ihosy, the capital of the Bara tribes, who are shepherds of Zebu, and further on through the huge 'Plateaux de Horombe' with its very deep red soil, which reminds us of 'no man's land', before arriving in Isalo.

Distance: 355 km

Accommodation: Isalo Rock Lodge, Jardin du Roy, or similar (room with en-suite bathroom & air-conditioning)

Visit & hike: Today, we will visit and hike in Isalo National Park.

Park: The park covers an area of 81,540 ha, comprising the entire stretch of the Isalo massif.

Scenery: This huge mountain is very spectacular with its eroded sandstone elevations.

Vegetation: Along the way, we will see vegetation such as Uapaca bojeri, Pachypodium rosulatum or 'elephant's foot', and Aloe isaloensis, a native species of aloe endemic to Isalo.

History: The eroded mountains also served as a place where the Bara kept their dead before they could bury them in their actual tombs.

Walk: We start our climb and reach the massif after walking for about 20 minutes, where we will have a spectacular view of the huge sandstone mountains with their beautiful colours and strange, battered formations creating many different images such as 'the tortoise', 'the masks', and 'the crocodiles'.

Streams & rivers: We see small streams of water and rivers marked by lines of brilliant green, generally made up of numerous Pandanus pulcher and the delicate, slim-stemmed, feathery-leaved palm Chrysalidocarpus isaloensis.

Accommodation: Isalo Rock Lodge, Jardin du Roy, or similar (room with en-suite bathroom & air-conditioning)

Drive: After breakfast, we continue to Tuléar, the terminal of National Road N° 7.

Scenery: This part of our journey brings us to new scenery among the dry forests of the west and the spiny desert of the south.

Along the way: On the way, we admire the different 'Mahafaly tombs' and the 'Antandroy tombs'.

Visit: After a short visit to Tuléar, we drive to Ifaty, which lies about 27 km from Tuléar.

Drive time: Thanks to the newly tarred road, it will take us about 1 hour to reach Ifaty, the driest part of the country.

Landscape: Situated in the Deep South, the landscape is dominated by the cactus-like spiny forest of different euphorbiaceae and didieraceae.

Local life: We will cross the dry and sandy soil where the local people battle to find drinking water.

Coast: Mangrove trees line the coast, alternating with Vezo communities that earn their living from fishing.

Fishing: We will see many small pirogues with men who go out fishing twice a day, while children and women wait on the coast to collect the fish before taking them to Tuléar for sale.

Distance: 265 km

Accommodation: Hotel Vovotelo, Les Dunes D'Ifaty, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Leisure day: Ifaty lies on the beach.

Activities: It is therefore an ideal place for diving and snorkelling and a popular destination for birdwatchers.

Local life: Here, you can also experience the Vezo fishermen's way of life.

Excursions: Many excursions are possible on this leisure day.

Visit: Visit the Reniala Forest, where you can see two kinds of baobabs, spiny bush, reptiles such as 'boa madagascariensis', geckos, and the 'chameleon parsoni', which is one of the largest chameleons in the world.

Optional: You can also take a boat trip to see whales.

Season: From July to mid-September, whales come to the cool seas of Madagascar to give birth to their young.

Lagoon: Situated in the largest lagoon in the country, Ifaty is also protected by a large coral reef, which makes it an ideal place for diving and snorkelling.

Walk: In the afternoon, we can walk to the village of Mangily to visit a local school and experience the Vezo fishermen's way of life, especially as they return from fishing.

Accommodation: Hotel Vovotelo, Les Dunes D'Ifaty, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

Transfer: Early in the morning at around 6h00, we transfer to the airport for the flight back to Tana.

Free time: After check-in at the hotel, you have the afternoon free to explore and do some sightseeing.

City: The capital of Madagascar is also called the 'City of Thousands', and it is where the first king started to unify the different kingdoms of the island.

History: Tana was built in three stages: the high city, the first area occupied during the regal period where the old queen's palace is situated; the mid-city, where all the chic boutiques of the capital are found; and then the low city, which is the commercial area of the town.

Walk: Walk from the high city to see the Rova, the queen's palace, and the house of the first minister from those days, which is now a museum.

Buildings: All of these were built by Frenchman Jean Laborde during the royal period.

Mid-city: The mid-city, or the administration area, ends at the Rainiharo tombs, and the lower town is situated on the main avenue called 'L'avenue de l'independence', dominated by the railway station.

Distance: 20 km

Accommodation: Palissandre Hotel & Spa, Raddison Water Front Hotel, or similar (rooms with en-suite bathrooms)

End of tour: Today marks the end of our tour, and you will be transferred to the airport for your onward flight.