Madagascar. Unique animals, beaches and ancient cities

Days

Tour description

Known as the eighth continent - Madagascar is unlike any island in the world!

Feed wild lemurs from your hand, watch the funny dance of sifaka and meet the unique aye-aye lemur
Explore caves and swim in natural pools with clear water in Isalo canyon
Walk the suspension bridge over the Tsingy stone forest
Enjoy the beaches of the Indian Ocean and watch the migration of humpback whales
Celebrate dawn and sunset on the Avenue of the baobabs
Meet locals in fishing villages and in the largest zebu bull market on the island.

Tour departures

The price of the tour includes

Accommodation throughout the trip
All transpotation, including specially rented vehicles
Three meals a day during our stay in national parks (excluding drinks)
Entrance fees to national parks
Payment for services of local guides in national parks
Professional guiding services.

What is NOT included

Flight to Antananarivo and back home. (Let us know if you need help finding the best deals)
Two domestic flights (Antananarivo-Morondava and Morondava-Toliara, from $330 for two flights)
Visa to Madagascar ($37)
Insurance (mandatory)
Snorkeling and diving
Food (about $35 per day, except drinks).

Tour map

Tour itinerary

Day 1-2

The capital Antananarivo, Colonial architecture, Rova palace

We arrive in Antananarivo, check into a hotel and begin our group trip to Madagascar with dinner. Madagascar is known for its diverse cuisine, because all the inhabitants of the country, from the first people from Southeast Asia, to guests from continental Africa and France, brought their culinary traditions to the island. Therefore, do not be surprised when you see French baguettes and Chinese noodles on the menu. Let`s start with ravitoto - a side dish of spinach, cassava leaves and coconut milk, served with pork, and romazava - vegetable stew with soft boiled beef meat.

The next morning we will begin with a walk in the historic Otville district known for the colonial architecture and churches that the French colonialists built. On the top of the hill stands the Rova palace built since the 17th century for Madagascar rulers. The palace offers a wonderful views of the Madagascar capital and its surroundings: small one-story houses, lakes, and rice fields up to the horizon.

Day 3-4

Andasibe Mantadia National Park, Peyrieras reptile reserve, Vakona

In the morning we will drive to the Andasibe Mantadia National Park (4 hours), and on the way we will stop at the Peyrieras reptile reserve. Founded by a famous French biologist who devoted his whole life to studying the nature of Madagascar, the place is now home to chameleons, iguanas, geckos, frogs and butterflies. We will see all these animals very close! In the evening we reach the Andasibe-Mantadia Park, settle in the houses, arm ourselves with flashlights and take a walk through the night forest meeting many nocturnal animals, including mouse lemurs - the smallest primates on the planet.

In the morning we wake up to the loud singing of indri lemurs. These animals are known for communicating with each other in their own singing language. In Madagascar, indri are considered sacred animals, but, despite this, they are on the verge of extinction. And we can watch them in their natural habitat!

After lunch we drive to Vakona park to see brown lemurs, ruffed lemurs and cat lemurs, made famous by the King Julian from the popular "Madagascar" cartoon. Surprisingly, here these animals are not afraid of people! They jump on your shoulders, eat from your hand and like to be touched! We will also see the famous sifaka dance - this graceful primate jumps ten meters from tree to tree, and moves along the ground in funny jumps, balancing with his upper paws.

Day 5-7

Lake Ampitabe, Andranocoditra fishing village, Madagascar aye-aye lemur

In the morning we drive to Rasoabe lake (4 hours on the way) and continue our group trip to Madagascar. There we take a boat and travel on the Pangalan canal for about an hour. This is a huge system of artificial canals that connects natural lakes and rivers and stretches along the entire east coast for 650 kilometers! We settle in houses in the rainforest on the shore of lake Ampitabe.

The next morning we will swim in the clear water of the lake, and visit the fishing village of Andranocoditra. People here live in thatched huts, cook food on fire, and go to sea to fish in small wooden boats. Their life is very simple, but they are surrounded by amazing beauty! The village sits on a narrow strip of land between the lake and the majestic Indian Ocean. The sand here is white, and the water is completely clear...

We will take two walks in the forest: during the daytime and at night. During the latter, we will see the Madagascar aye-aye lemur, a unique animal described by the famous British naturalist Gerald Durrell. It is known as the world's largest nocturnal primate. The next morning, we will head back to Antananarivo and spend the night in the capital.

Tour leaders

Pavlo Morkovkin

tour leader

Is this trip for you?

This trip is of average physical grade, it is suitable for beginners in normal physical shape. The trip consists of long walks in nature and in cities, two trekking in national parks lasting 4-6 hours. We will be taking day trips by rented vehicles (up to 7 hours), as well as move around by a motor boat (up to 1.5 hours).

Accommodation in double/twin rooms of tourist class hotels, most of which will have hot water and Internet. In the Kirindi forest, there is no Internet and electricity is only available for a few hours in the evening.