Welcome to Madagascar! Firstly, we welcome you at the airport and then private transfer to the Hotel San Cristobal. Once we arrive, you will be greeted by friendly and caring staff. While your bags are unloaded from the minibus, we could sip a typical drink while admiring the view of the city from the terraces of the Hotel!

After that, dinner briefing with the guide that will accompany you throughout the tour. We do this to best organise your days schedule and answer questions about each stop.

PS: Keep in mind that airline flights are not included in the package. So you can decide from which airport you leave, at what time and with the airline you prefer… This is to give you maximum freedom of choice!

We leave in the morning in an easterly direction, toward the Indian Ocean. Just after leaving Antananarivo, forests and rice fields follow one another in a panorama typical of the highlands of Madagascar.

After just a hundred kilometers, the first stop is at ferme Peyrieras. At this time, accompanied by a local guide, you can learn about the very interesting fauna of the humid forests of the east of the island. For example some of them are: very rare chameleons, geckos of different shapes, crocodiles and butterflies. In addition, this is the place where you will be able to see up close and hold in your hand species of animals that are rare and often difficult to see in the wild. The ideal place for your photos to the small animals of Madagascar!

After lunch we continue on our road to the lemur island of Vakona. That is a place of reintroduction of species that were in captivity. We take small canoes to reach the island. Once there, the first curious lemurs will join us in search of bananas. As they are not yet wild, they have no problem coming on our shoulders and being touched. Without a doubt the thrill of discovering their lightness, of touching their palms so similar to ours is a unique experience.

At dusk we will do a walk in the forest to discover the rich nightlife. At this time we can see lemurs of the microcephalus family, the world’s smallest primates, frogs, geckos and lots of chameleons.

To end the day, for dinner and overnight we’ll stay in comfortable bungalows at Mantadia Lodge. That is a nice hotel nestled in the Andasibe forest with a beautiful patio close to the forest so you can also observe the animals while sipping a drink!

Awakened by the screams of Indri, the world’s largest lemurs, who live close to our hotel we begin a day of wet forest discovery.

In the morning we will have a 3 to 4-hour flat circuit with excellent trails in the Analamazoatra Special Reserve to observe Indri and other lemur species from a few meters away.

Instead, in the afternoon we will be exploring another part of Andasibe Park, visiting a reserve cared for directly by the local community; after that we will go directly to help projects for the villagers themselves.

Dinner and overnight stay at the Mantadia Lodge hotel as the previous day.

During this day we will travel to the town of Antsirabe. In order to arrive there, we have a six-hour drive back to the highlands. While in the road we drive among hills and beautiful rice fields. We will also pause often to admire the industriousness of the highland people and the rural life surrounding the route.

Once arrived, in the afternoon, we visit the colonial city of Antsirabe, its historic center, markets, and artisans.

In this case, for the night we stay and we have dinner at the Royal Palace Hotel.

During this day, we move towards the ocean. Indeed 130 km separate us from Manambato and the Pangalanes Canal. That is an important communication route that runs along the east coast of Madagascar for 600 km. Consider that it joins coastal lakes, estuaries and river mouths. Furthermore, the Canal has been cleaned from the aquatic plants that obstructed it. That is to say that it is now fully navigable again.

Then we will do a leap into the middle of nature on board of motor boats. Once there, you can observe the slow pace of life in the villages that line it, admire the luxuriant nature that surrounds it. Moreover, you will let yourself be lulled during the two-hour navigation to reach Ankan ny nofy, literally the nest of dreams.

That is a forest overlooking a lake in Ampitabe just a few steps from the ocean. Not only a protected area that is home to many species of lemurs, but also to unique flora.

To conclude the day, we go to our hotel, the Palmarium. That is located within the protected area on the shores of the lake. Once arrived there, the lemurs will surround your bungalows playing and joking with you.

At this point of the tour, we have a relaxing day discovering the reserve. Firstly, we leave in the morning to explore the reserve, which is home to ten species of lemurs and an interesting flora with endemic species such as the Nephentes. That is the largest carnivorous plants in Madagascar, a wide variety of orchids and many traveller’s palms.

After that, on the way back, we wait until dusk to embark on a trip to the island of the aye aye, a strange species of nocturnal lemurs that are difficult to observe. Once there, armed with torches, we enter a wild forest island to watch these strange animals search for their food with a very long middle finger inside logs or coconuts.

At the end we resume sailing north towards the large port city of Tamatave. During this road, the canal becomes more and more animated as we approach the city. Meanwhile we meet the collective canal taxis, long boats laden with people and merchandise. Moreover, the fishermen who skilfully create fish traps and the transporters of all kinds of fruit that grows on the edges of the canal; bananas, lychees, mangoes…

Once we reach the town of Tamatave, we visit its central market, perhaps the world’s most important spice market. Lastly, we see the works of local artisans and stroll along the lively local waterfront full of small restaurants and music venues.

To conclude, we leave the town of Tamatave to reach the landing stage of the ferry that will take us to Sainte Marie. Consider it will take about 3 hours. But it allows, during the whale season, to observe hundreds of them doing their dances and jumps in the ocean waters. Then the arrival is scheduled for lunchtime at the port of Sainte Marie,  when we transfer to your hotel by the sea.

After that, the trip continues with a seaside stay in Sainte Marie of the duration you decide to plan.

While you are in Sainte Marie, we can organise whale watching excursions, snorkelling at the coral reef, a visit to the beautiful Ile aux Nattes and its coves. In addition also the sand islands on the east coast, the mangroves, the natural pools… Ask us for advice on what to do and where best to stay!

We come to the end of such an intense journey! Surely the moment of saying goodbye will leave everyone with a little bitterness in their mouths. However, we will leave you with lasting memories, in the hope of seeing you again in the future for a new adventure with MyMadagascar!