Madagascar wildlife and beach tour

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION
Wildlife viewing in the rainforest is done on foot: three days of day and night walks around Andasibe-Mantadia, plus a partly canoe-borne approach to Lokobe National Park on Nosy Be, rather than motorised transport. La Maison Gallieni states it uses rainwater recycling, energy-efficient lighting and local sourcing for its kitchen, and The Residence sources organic produce for its restaurant from its own grounds and nearby suppliers. The Antananarivo to Nosy Be flight has no practical rail or road alternative given Madagascar's transport network.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE
Two evenings of the Andasibe stay are spent with local conservation partners rather than generic guides. Association Mitsinjo, a community organisation founded by Andasibe residents in 1999, manages the Analamazoatra forest station next to the national park and has restored close to 500 of a targeted 700 hectares of rainforest using native tree species from its own nurseries; snare-hunting and logging in its managed area have almost stopped, and indri numbers have risen as a result. VOIMMA, a reserve the village of Andasibe has owned and run since 2012 rather than a state-managed park, works to expand lemur habitat around the village and channels income from guided visits and its craft shop into local conservation and infrastructure. Park permits and guides for Andasibe-Mantadia National Park are included in the price, and the excursion to Lokobe National Park on Nosy Be, home to endangered black lemurs and panther chameleons in the last surviving stretch of Sambirano forest on the island, protects one of the region's few remaining wildlife corridors, though its entry fee is payable locally rather than prepaid.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY
VOIMMA is entirely community owned: entrance fees and shop takings from the reserve have funded a water supply and a small hospital for the village of Andasibe, and the guiding itself is done by local residents. Association Mitsinjo operates in a similar way, with more than fifty local members and income from ecotourism used to run a primary school and wildlife monitoring programmes in the village. The Residence on Nosy Be donates 10% of its profits to the Home Madagascar Association, which works on education, environment and development projects in the area, and the Day 10 stop at the Artisans' Market in Antananarivo puts spending directly into local craft stalls rather than a retail chain.
EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY
Guiding throughout the rainforest section is done by an English-speaking Malagasy guide and driver, and both Association Mitsinjo and VOIMMA are staffed and run by residents of Andasibe itself. The trip includes several days of forest walking on uneven terrain, including night walks, and a canoe-based approach to part of Lokobe National Park, so it will not suit every traveller with limited mobility.