15 DAYS THE BEST OF MADAGASCAR
‘THE MADAGASCAR DISCOVERER’

Our 15 day Madagascar experience offers unique plants and animals, breathtaking rainforests, un spoilt beaches, excellent scuba diving and snorkelling and a fascinating island culture.

Discover Madagascar, the world's fourth largest Island, sanctuary of the lemur.
This island, with its vastly contrasting environments, is rich in flora and
fauna. Many say the richest of any country on earth. Indeed, Madagascar and
nearby Comores are home to one quarter of the flowering plants in Africa and
a huge number of indigenous species.

.Almost all known species of lemurs are found in Madagascar, not to mention half the world's chameleons, 300 species of butterfly, 256 species of birds and some very beautiful beaches Unfortunately agricultural techniques are slowly eating away at the indigenous rain forest. The chance to see the lemurs of Madagascar in their natural state is once in a lifetime. They are the most endangered primates in the world.

DAY 1
Arrive and transfer to your hotel. "Tana" as its known locally is a colourful, bustling city boasting cobbled streets, marvelous French cuisine and lively markets packed with local crafts.

DAY 2
After breakfast we start with our first day on the road traveling east, through beautiful landscapes of hills with dense tropical rainforest. During the morning we will visit a reptile park, which is owned by one of Madagascar’s most respected naturalists, Andre Peyrieras. This center provides an opportunity to photograph some of Madagascar’s most extraordinary reptiles and invertebrates. Our accommodation is in wooden bungalows on the edge of the forest where, in the early morning, you will hear the songs and calls of the Indri lemur.

DAY 3
The National Park of Andasibe-Mantadia (Perinet Reserve) is situated here and covers an area of 810 hectares. It is the best place to see the ‘Indri indri’ Lemur, an endangered species and also the largest of the lemurs. This mountainous massif has many tree ferns and orchids not to mention the numerous bird, chameleon and invertebrate species. The rest of the afternoon is free at your leisure to have lunch and visit the village, a chance to gain an insight into the culture of Madagascar.
In the evening you will have a rare opportunity to observe the lemurs at night.

DAY 4
Today we depart Andasibe traveling via the vibrant capital of Tana and head south to Antsirabe. Be prepared for a long traveling day, but the stunning scenery will make up for it. We should arrive in Antisrabe in the late afternoon where we will check into our hotel.

DAY 5
We have a free morning in Antisrabe to explore. This elegant French City is famous for its gem stones such as tourmaline, beryl, amethysts, rose, and quartz. You can watch skilled craftsmen cutting and polishing these beautiful stones in the local ‘bijouterie’ shops. Here is the place to hire the famous local transport – the “pousse- ousse”(rickshaw) Alternatively you could take an optional excursion to one of the volcanic lakes of the region, the spectacular 262 ft deep crater lake of Tritriva. After lunch we will depart for Ambositra, Madagascar’s capital for crafts and woodcarving.

DAY 6
Up early for a guided walk to some of the woodcarvers, where you are free to view or buy the collection of carvings, mainly from the Zafimaniry region. After this we travel south to Ranomafana and its National Park with impressive waterfalls, thermal baths and a wide variety of lemur and bird species.

DAY 7
The Ranomafana National Park covers an area of 41 000 hectares and has dense rainforest of medium altitude with waterfalls and rapids. It is home to 12 species of Lemur including the golden bamboo hap lemur and is also an exceptional area for spotting the 118 species of bird. Of these 68 are endemic to Madagascar. Well-built trails allow you to see a variety of vegetation and scenery, but it’s the sheer majesty of the forest itself that makes the Park so beautiful. Ranomafana means ‘hot water’ and as it’s name suggests there are also hot thermal baths supposedly reported to have healing qualities.

DAY 8
Today we head south for Fianarantsoa (meaning ‘place of good learning’) and the capital of the Betsileo people. This is the second largest town in Madagascar and an education centre. The town is situated in the middle of the islands richest tea and wine producing area and the town is a maze of cobbled lanes, steep alleys and medieval architecture.

DAYS 9, 10 and 11
The village of Ranohira is situated on the edge of the Isalo National Park. This park covers 81,540 hectares of the wildly eroded Jurassic sandstone massif.. It’s a magical place where sandstone ridges have been sculpted by wind and water into weird and fantastic forms. As you may expect, there are a host of superstitions (locally known as ‘faddy’) and one tradition requires the placing of stones on existing mounds to worship the ancestors who guard the paths.

Today we will start our 2-day and 1-night camping excursion into the fantastic Isalo National Park

We will return to our hotel on day 11.

DAYS 12 and 13
We will depart after breakfast through awesome scenery for the southwest coast town of Tulear, one of Madagascar’s main seaports. In the afternoon we’ll depart for the coastal paradise of Ifaty. Very popular for its stunning beaches and scuba and snorkel dive sites.
Travel and explore the reefs by local pirok. There are also great restaurants that all specialize in fresh seafood.

DAY 14
We will have a chance for a last swim in the ocean before we head back to Tulear and await our outbound domestic flight back to “Tana”

The rest of the day and evening is free to experience at your leisure in “Tana”.

DAY 15
Today’s schedule also depends on your flight departure times from Antananarivo. A fond farewell from the beautiful island of Madagascar!

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE

• 13 nights hotel, lodge or chalet accommodation and one nights camping
• 3 National Parks
• Antananarivo, Andasibe, Perinet National Park, Ambositra, Ranomafana National Park, 2 day excursion with all equipment into Isalo National Park, Ifaty coast and beaches, flight from Tulear back to Antananarivo.
• Everything listed in bold below is included in the price

INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE:
Itinerary as specified. All highlighted text is included, tour guide, all accommodation, all camp meals, and National Park entrance fees, meet and greet, all airport transfers with internal flights. Accommodation is on a bed and breakfast basis. Lunches and dinners are included on day 10 and 11 only. (All other meals will be to the clients account.
B: Breakfast. L: Lunch. D: Dinner)

NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE:
International Airfares, travel and medical insurance, personal spending money, visas, passports, vaccinations, personal taxes (including departure and border taxes) all optional activities, unscheduled or optional national / game parks and other activities, gratuities, sleeping bag, restaurant meals, all drinks and all other items of a personal nature.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Antsirabe: hire of “pousse pousse” Rickshaw. Ambositra: guided walk to woodcarvers. Ranomafana: visit thermal baths, masseuse Ambalavao: visit private park. Ifaty: scuba diving, snorkeling, visit to the spiny forest.