Madagascar wildlife and beaches tour

country:

Madagascar

departures:

2010: 20 May, 17 Jun, 15 Jul, 19 Aug

price:

From €2,550 (12 days) excluding flights. Price depends on group size, based on double occupancy

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vouchers:

Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday

Small group wildlife holidays here

Madagascar holidays here

the amazing things you'll be doing

The fourth largest and one of the most diverse islands of the world Madagascar is solely unique - nicknamed the "8th continent" because of its diversity of species! Brimming with endemic fauna and flora and with a culture, geography and climate so diverse one will never be disappointed when travelling through this amazing country. One moment you can be driving through pristine rainforest filled with lemurs and chameleons and the next you can be out on the savannah plains or white sandy beaches!

This tour program is designed to offer travellers of all ages a unique experience. We concentrate on nature and not just lemurs or plants or birds – we make time for it all. A medium level of fitness is required, as we do quite a bit of walking.

day-by-day itinerary

Day 1:	Touching down at Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo, also known as Tana, the capital of Madagascar, your guide will meet you in the arrivals hall.
Day 2:	This morning we start our 140 km drive eastward through the highlands to Andasibe. On the way we will stop off at a Reptile Park. Here you can see some of the endemic chameleons, snakes, insects and reptiles of Madagascar. Andasibe, a former logging village, is the base for exploring the Andasibe-Mantadia NP, also known by its pre-colonial French name, Perinet Special Reserve. Tonight we take a night walk to look for night active lemurs and other night active animals. .
Day 3:	The eastern rainforest Reserve of Andasibe-Mantadia is one of the last strongholds of the mythical indri-indri lemur, the largest of all lemurs. The animals and birds are most active in the early morning and there should be good opportunities to see and hear the lemurs. The black and white coated indri-indri is an extraordinary Lemur, known for its wailing call. Indri's are active on and off throughout the day but are best seen in the morning. Your afternoon and evening is then at leisure to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. After lunch we visit also Mantadia National Park that is as well in the region to see the diadema sifaka – a rare lemur of the island. Mantadia also contains a wide variety of fauna and flora in the moist mountain forest, including beautiful and varied insects, spiders, butterflies, reptiles and many orchids. After searching for the lemurs and other fauna we walk into the orchid park to admire Madagascar's beautiful flora.
Day 4:	After breakfast we visit a different section of Perinet Reserve. Lemurs, insects and birds feature high on the list this morning and our guide will do his utmost to find all the specials. At mid-day, after lunch, we board the vehicles and start our drive back to Tana. En Route we stop at the Pereyras Nature farm. This park/centre provides the opportunity to see and photograph some of the island’s most extraordinary reptiles and invertebrates. We arrive in Tana late afternoon.
Day 5:	Transfer to the airport of Antananarivo and we board our one-hour flight that will take us across to Toliara. From Toliara we take a drive north along the coast to beach of Ifaty. Here we have a break. The coral reef represents an exceptional spot. In the western area you can find the local fauna and flora like baobabs, birds… We visit also a natural park near the lagoon of Ranobe, the ‘village of the tortoises’. Ifaty the offers us the opportunity to explore the coral reef for snorkelling. We also discover spiky bush in which will come across didieracees, euphorbias, cactacea and enormous baobabs. Ifaty’s reef is called ‘the coral garden’ as it mixes together with channels that link the open sea to an exceptionally attractive lagoon.
Day 6:	Travel to Ifaty. Here we have a break. Free to relax. The coral reef represents an exceptional spot. In the western area you can find the local fauna and flora like baobabs, birds… We visit also a breeding station for tortoises.
Day 7:	After breakfast, we drive back to Toliara. Toliara is built on the Tropic of Capricorn. The town is painted in light colours. That is the reason why the people from the highlands call it the white city. The approach to the city is exceptional: you can see large sand dunes, which run, along the coast. Before transfer, we visit the artisan market ; transfer to the airport of Toliara (Tuléar) and we board our one-hour flight that will take us across to Antananarivo.
Day 8:	This morning, we board our one hour Air Madagascar flight to Fort Dauphin (Tolagnaro), which is beautifully situated along a curved sandy bay on the south-eastern tip of Madagascar. Then we travel on a bumpy journey for 80 kilometres on a badly-eroded road to Berenty Reserve, where we spend a night in bungalows on the edge of the forest. The journey to Berenty takes us through various vegetation zones, including high mountains, thick thorn scrubs and the eerie spiny forests of didiera and alluaudia, known locally as the 'octopus tree', where strange spiny spikes reaching vertically out of the semi-desert ground and tower up to 20 metres in the air. Berenty Reserve is a private 260 hectare reserve that offers the chance to experience the magic of the forest.
Day 9:	This morning we take another walk into a secondary section of forest. We will also spend time at the excellent Antandroy Museum which showcases the life of the Antandroy people using clever displays and explanations. The highlight of this morning's walk will be the sifakas, or 'dancing lemurs', as they cross the paths in their highly comical dance. In the afternoon, we leave Berenty and we travel back to Fort Dauphin.
Day 10:	This morning we take a day excursion to Lokaro Bay. The isolated Bay of Lokaro is a beautiful and unspoilt area of green hills, inland waterways, natural swimming holes and barrier beaches. It is an incredible place to walk, swim and snorkel and a fitting finale to our Madagascan adventure.
Day 11:	The morning is at leisure before we take the two-hour return flight from Fort Dauphin to Antananarivo. Last shopping.
Day 12:	Depending on your time of departure, you are transferred to the airport, in time for your departure flight.

small group cultural tours

Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends it's good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as experiencing new cultures.

how this holiday makes a difference

Environment
This wildlife and beach holiday offers a unique opportunity to combine inspirational wildlife watching with chilling out on pristine beaches – a perfect combination! Madagascar has a very high level of endemic plants and animals, occurring nowhere else in the world. This is the place where evolution has run wild. Truly a place like nowhere else on earth. This tour is designed to offer travellers of all ages a unique experience. We concentrate on nature not only lemurs, plants or birds – we make time for it all. Of course we include relaxing at the beaches, optional adventure activities like snorkelling or diving. By supporting responsible tourism in this sensitive area we are actively contributing to the massive conservation task.

The tour managers have a set of environmental guidelines that they work with and will share this information with you during your trip. We support understanding, appreciation and conservation of the cultures and environments we visit. We run our tours in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

We limit the group size on this tour to 12 to assist in reducing both the potential negative cultural and environmental impact of our tour.

Community
We work with Malagasy owned family-run accommodation and restaurants and buy our supplies in the market or small shops and employ the services of local guides within the parks as well as private areas we visit. We work mostly with Malagasy. Our Malagasy tour managers have mostly a 3-years formation in tourism business, are all trained by us in the importance of responsible tourism as well as first aid and other matters. Malagasy team of women and men is passionate about our country's history, heritage, natural beauty. We will advise you on the best way to observe wildlife inside and outside the parks and make you see our country through the eyes of a Malagasy. This makes the difference.

We support active and NGO in Madagascar and contribute a sum per visitor we pass with.

Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people.

We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel.

'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left).

We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays.

We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism.

This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards.