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18 Day itinerary in Madagascar, Africa

Classic Madagascar

Extensive itinerary...

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Frank

By Frank

Overview

Physical Difficulty

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Recommended Age

Everyone

Operated in

English

GUIDANCE

Driver as a Guide

starting point

Madagascar

trip type

Private

trip attributes

Nature & Wildlife

Start

Night

End

Highlights

1

Spotting bamboo lemurs

2

Boat ride in the Akanin'ny Nofy

3

Bike ride through the authentic hinterland

4

Visit the Isalo National Park

Itinerary

Mid-Range Accommodation expand_more

Day 1

place Arrival Antananarivo

Up on arrival in the capital we pick you up at the airport and bring you to a comfortable hotel in the city center. Enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. Overnight at your accommodation.

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Le Chalet des Roses
Day 2

place To Andasibe

After a good night’s rest and a sturdy breakfast, you leave in our 4-wheel drive on a 3 to 4 hours trip to Andasibe in the east of the country. The Andasibe – Mantadia NP (better known as Périnet) is home to the biggest of all lemurs, the Indri indri. That evening a walk is planned to give you the opportunity to see nocturnal animals, such as mouse lemurs, chameleons, geckos and tree frogs, in action. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Vakona Forest Lodge
Day 3

place Andasibe

A professional guide leads you through the park all morning. You will surely see the Indri indri and there’s also a good chance of spotting bamboo lemurs, brown lemurs and the biggest of all chameleons: The Parson’s chameleon. After lunch you can visit a shelter for lemurs located on an island on the hotel grounds, where you get a good chance to photograph some of the animals spotted earlier in the wild. You’ll see the brown lemur and the black and white ruffed lemur as well as the dancing sifaka. At the other side of the estate there’s a former crocodile farm. In the lake there are still dozens of these prehistoric monsters around. Overnight at your accommodation

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Vakona Forest Lodge
Day 4

place To Pangalanes Canal

After breakfast, a three-hour drive to Manambato, the gateway to the Canal de Pangalanes. The Pangalanes are formed by hundreds of kilometres long succession of lakes, creeks and lagoons, which are connected by canals. In colonial times the water was used for transport, but now it has become so overgrown that only the small pirogues of local fishermen can still easily find their way there. A unique nature reserve, and your accommodation (Palmarium) is right in the middle of it! A boat will take you there over Lake Akanin'ny Nofy and the different arms of the Canal. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Palmarium Hotel Ankanin'Nofy
Day 5

place Pangalanes Canal

There is a beautiful nature reserve on the peninsula, which is the domain of Palmarium. Here you can take walks (with a guide or on your own) and encounter dancing sifakas, Indri Indri and other lemurs. The lush jungle is also home to a fine selection of carnivorous plants. You can also continue on the Canal by boat. Birdwatching along the shores or visiting a fishing village situated on the narrow isthmus between the Canal and the Indian Ocean. At night, a nocturnal visit is planned to spot the mysterious Aye aye. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Palmarium Hotel Ankanin'Nofy
Day 6

place To Andasibe

After breakfast, the Palmarium boat will take you back through the creeks to where your driver is waiting for you. Then you drive for a few hours to Andasibe where you spend the night in now familiar chalets of Vakona Forest Lodge. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Vakona Forest Lodge
Day 7

place To Antsirabe (South)

A six-hour drive (with stops of course) along the Route National 7 will take you to Antsirabe. It is the capital of the pousse, a type of brightly colored rickshaw operating solely on manpower. This charming town has some beautiful historical colonial buildings, which make it the perfect place for a stopover on your way to the south. You’ll stay at the beautifully located Résidence Madalief, a very comfortable guesthouse that is part of a Dutch NGO that helps orphans in Madagascar Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Le Chalet des Roses
Day 8

place Antsirabe

After breakfast you will drive to a crater lake 20 kilometres away. After you have explored this, you can jump on our mountain bikes to make a beautiful guided bike ride through the authentic hinterland. This tour will stay with you for a long time because of the casual encounters with the rural residents who are happy to pose in front of your camera. There is still plenty of time to visit the charming town of Antsirabe in the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Le Chalet des Roses
Day 9

place To Ambalavao

A six-hour drive takes you to Ambalavao. It’s highly enjoyable to ramble around in the streets of this picturesque fairy tale town. You can also visit a local project where women make paper the traditional way. One night in the beautifully located Betsileo Country Lodge. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: BETSILEO COUNTRY LODGE
Day 10

place To Tsaranoro Valley (Andringitra)

On the way to the Andringitra Mountains you stop to visit the small park d'Anja. A short trip will quickly bring you to a colony of ring-tailed lemurs, perhaps the most famous of all lemurs. Madagascar is divided in two by a high mountain ridge. The centre of this is the Andringitra mountain range. The east side of it is very green and wet under the influence of the Indian Ocean, the west side dry and warm due to the winds coming from Africa. You spend two nights in an unimaginably beautifully situated camp. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Tsarasoa
Day 11

place Tsaranoro Valley (Andringitra)

Accompanied by a local guide, you set out to explore this mountain range. Easy, moderate and tough walks can be taken. Especially the beautiful views will stay with you for a long time. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Tsarasoa
Day 12

place To Isalo

Once back on the main road, turn south towards Ranohira, the town at the gate of the National Park You will sleep twice in Ranohira staying in a very comfortable ranch. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: ISALO RANCH
Day 13

place Isalo

Experts agree, Isalo is the most impressive park in the south of this beautiful island. Today you will spend all day exploring this park with its waterfalls, natural swimming pools and adventurous canyons. In the midst of this wilderness you’ll enjoy a beautiful BBQ lunch surrounded by playing ring-tailed and red fronted brown lemurs. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: ISALO RANCH
Day 14

place To Ifaty

The Route National takes you to Tulear where you’ll take a coastal road to a little beach town named Ifaty. You will stay here for two nights in a luxurious hotel with an activity centre that organises everything from kite surfing to scuba diving. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Hotel de la Plage Ifaty Tuléar
Day 15

place Ifaty

Depending on the season, today is a day for snorkeling in a nearby reef or to go whale watching on the ocean. Needless to say, Ifaty is also an ideal place to relax after your southern adventure. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Hotel de la Plage Ifaty Tuléar
Day 16

place Flight to Antananarivo

A one-hour morning flight takes you back to the capital where you’ll spend the night in the same hotel you did the first night. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Le Chalet des Roses
Day 17

place Antananarivo

You can keep your room today until the transfer comes to pick you up for your transfer to the airport. The city can be explored in the afternoon. Lots of activity on Independence Avenue and the markets around it. With a taxi you can easily get to the highest point of the city where the palaces of the last queen and that of her prime minister are worth a visit. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

  • Mid-Range Accommodation: Le Chalet des Roses
Day 18

place Return flight

You will be pick-up form your hotel and transfer to the airport to cat your return flight.

Meals: Breakfast

What’s Included

Accommodation expand_less

  • Vakona Forest Lodge
  • Palmarium Hotel Ankanin'Nofy
  • BETSILEO COUNTRY LODGE
  • Tsarasoa
  • ISALO RANCH
  • Hotel de la Plage Ifaty Tuléar
  • Le Chalet des Roses

Meals expand_less

  • Breakfast (17)
  • Dinner (2)
  • Lunch (1)

Transport expand_less

  • 15 days 4WD car with English speaking driver including fuel and insurance
  • All airport transfers
  • All boat transfers on the Pangalanes Canal
  • One Domestic flight Tulear – Antananarivo per person

Activities expand_less

  • Guided nocturnal visit in Andasibe NP
  • Guided diurnal visit in Andasibe NP
  • Guided diurnal visit in Palmarium Reserve (Pangalanes Canal)
  • Guided nocturnal visit in the Pangalanes Canal
  • Guided MTB excursion around Antsirabe
  • Guided visit of Anja Park
  • Guided hike of choice in the Tsaranoro valley
  • Guided visit of Isalo NP

Not Included expand_less

  • International flights
  • Tips and gratituites
  • Personal Expenses
  • Meals and drink not mentioned

About Frank

TEAM LEAD

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While working as a guide in Africa, some of Frank’s journeys brought him to Madagascar. He started to explore its off-beat corners, and it didn't take long before he settled there. Since 2011 Frank lives, works and travels on this beautiful island.

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