3/ MADAGASCAR, LAND OF AYE AYE : 10 nights – 11 days

The eastern part of Madagascar is known for its luxuriant vegetation and its many huge tropical rainforests. This module is designed for people who adore nature and wildlife: the region of Maroantsetra with its rainforest shelters the unique and threatening lemur’s species of Aye Aye, then the sailing along the “canal des Pangalanes” with its green landscape, and finally the expedition in “Andasibe Special Reserve” which is known for “Indri Indri”, the largest lemurs in the country.

DAY 1:  INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT TO ANTANANARIVO

International flight to Antananarivo, meet and greet upon arrival. Transfer and overnight on B&B to your hotel.

DAY 2:TANA or TAMATAVE – MAROANTSETRA (flight twice per week)

After breakfast, Transfer to the airport, assistance for flight to Maroantsetra via Tamatave. Situated in the Northwest of Madagascar, on the foot of a primitive tropical Rain Forest, nestled at the Bay of Antongil, Maroantsetra is a sort of Mecca for nature lovers. Transfer and overnight in hotel

DAY 3 : MAROANTSETRA – MASOALA: 

Early in the morning, 2 hours boat transfer southwards to Masoala National Park along the bay of Antongil to reach Tampolo village which is the gate of the National park of Masoala. Check in at your Lodge. Situated on the foot of a huge tropical rainforest and boarded with an emerald sea on the other side, Tampolo is ideal for people wanting to combine wildlife and stunning beach. After your check-in, with a local guide, you start your hike inside the primary forest in search of lemurs, reptiles and birds. Among them is “the red-ruffed lemurs”, the wealth of birds for which the peninsula is famous, there are good numbers of giant trees, often with buttressed trunks, and the canopy may reach to 35 m.  The rest of the day, one can just enjoy the sunset on the beach. Overnight in hotel

DAY 5:MASOALA – NOSY MANGABE NATIONAL PARK – MAROANTSETRA

After breakfast, 90 minutes boat transfer to Nosy Mangabe, a nature reserve set up especially to protect the aye – aye ( Daubentonia Madagascariensis ), a rare species of lemur .The small, cone – shaped island is cloaked with rainforest containing an incredible variety of orchids and creepers, lemurs, birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles like Uroplatus fimbriatus, this incredibly cryptic lizard is always well scattered and difficult to find on the mainland, but easily spotted on tree trunks throughout the island  are readily to be seen ; the trees are typical eastern species such as Canarium, Ocotea, Ravensara and Tambourissa. After the visit, 45minutes boat transfer to Maroantsetra.

DAY 6: MAROANTSETRA – TAMATAVE – ANKANIN’NY NOFY

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the flight to Tamatave. Upon arrival in Tamatave, 30 minutes car transfer to the harbour where a boat is waiting for 2 to 3 hours navigation along the Pangalanes channel to Ankanin’ny Nofy. During this journey, enjoy the life of the people living along the channel, where the only means of communication is by the canal. Bamboo pirogue transporting charcoals, boat – brousse transporting goods and passengers, women washing dishes and laundry, kids swimming and many fishing net are the scenery that you will find along the navigation. Arrival in Ankanin’ny Nofy,in the afternoon,  check-in and  overnight in hotel

Day 7: AKANIN’ NY NOFY 

For the bird-watchers, early morning expedition to spot endemic birds around the area is available. Then after breakfast, you’ll have another hike to explore « PALMARIUM” private park which is home to 7species of lemurs, with “ Indri Indri” as a highlight, many species of reptiles and birds. Flora is also very rich with its garden of palm trees, orchids and the famous vanilla. Since the bungalows are situated inside the park, guests will be permanently in contact with lemurs. Surrounded by a huge lake, this is one of the few places ideal for rest in the middle of nature. By 05.30 pm, you take a 30 minutes boat across the Ampitabe lake and visit the “aye aye” island, a newly created park to protect the endangered lemurs “aye aye”. This 1-hour visit enables us to see very closely this unique and seldom seen lemurs in its natural habitat.  Overnight in your hotel

Day 8:AKANIN’ NY NOFY – ANDASIBE: 130 km: 2 to 3 hours’ drive

After breakfast, 1 hour boat transfer to Manambato; We cross the Ampitabe lake then the Pangalanes channel built during the colonisation period for commercial use. We can admire many birds along the luxuriant vegetation of the east. We’ll pass through Rasoamasay and Rasoabe Lake before arriving in Manambato where our car is waiting for us to continue to Andasibe. Stop and visit the town of Brickaville, an old colonial city known for its sugar cane plantation. Arrival in Andasibe, check-in and overnight in hotel;

Day 9:ANDASIBE: MANTADIA NATIONAL PARK

Morning hike inside Mantadia National Park, situated 17km from Andasibe. Created in 1989, it has the same climate and altitude but much larger than Andasibe. Due to its difficult access, it is less visited than Andasibe thus wilder and denser. Both parts belonged to the same humid forest. The primary forests of Andasibe-Mantadia contain a dense humid forest covered with lians, moss, fern tress. 120 orchids species are blooming between September and January. 1200 plants almost unique to the island have been recorded. Another common plants growing here are pandanus, ravinala palm-tree, tambourissa, bamboos and some precious wood, like Palissandre and rosewood.

A large number of animal diversity has been recorded: 17 mammal species, 117 birds species, (many of them endemic, like the Madagascar yellow brow, Madagascar baza, Madagascar wagtail or the Madagascar serpent-eagle), 51 species of reptiles, among them the biggest chameleon of the island, the boa a and many leaf-tailed geckos, 84 species of amphibians. Apart from the Indri, another lemur species inhabits these forests, such as woody lemur, grey bamboo lemur, diademed sifaka, brown lemur, red mouse-lemur, red-bellied lemur, black and white ruffed lemur and even aye-aye.

On the way back to our hotel, we stop and visit the private par of Vakona in the “islands of lemurs” which is the best spot to take pictures of lemurs. Overnight in hotel on B&B.

Day 10: ANDASIBE – TANA: 145 km : 3 to 4 hours

After breakfast, 3 to 4 hours morning hike in Andasibe National Park, another tropical rainy forest, smaller and easy access.  9 species of lemurs can be spotted there. The highlight is the “Indri Indri” which is the largest lemur of the island. This 810 ha reserve is also home to numerous unique species. It contains a wide variety of orchids, canopy, endemic animals like chameleons, tenrecs, and many birds. After the visit, 4 hours’ drive to Tana, through the green landscape of the east. This step brings us to the humid part of the country with many primary forest and lakes. On the way, we stop in Pyereras Reptiles park to see farmed chameleons and other species of reptiles. On a walk inside the forest, we can spot 2 species of lemurs: the sifaka “coquereli” and the brown lemurs “fulvus”. Arrival in Tana late in the afternoon. Overnight in Hotel

Day 11: DIEGO:

Transfer to the airport for your international flight.