Family trip experiences

Madagascar Family vacation
The optimal time for this amazing tour is from May to November, it is designed for Mum and Dad with all children, who love nature. The tour is open for all age who prefers to explore the wild in a comfortable ways. The mega biodiversity in our unique country with NO dangerous animals makes this tour unforgettable family vacation.
Activities, hotels and drive on this tour are tailored to meet family needs, the goal is to have more chance for these threatened wildlife and to enjoy and learn them. We invest more in our time to focus on nature that allow the children to experience, understand and love them. Not only that, but the different culture and daily life of the local people are also among of the highlights we will not be missed, nice landscape and spectacular rock formations and canyon fill the ingredients to be a great family vacation.

Highlights

Exotic Reptile Park , Indri Reserve – Andasibe-Mantadia NP , lemurs island of vakona private park, Palmarium reserve, The Pangalane canal, Tritriva lake, Antsirabe region, Ranomafana NP , Sahambavy region, Anja Villagers Park , Fenêtre de l’Isalo – Isalo NP, Baobabs, Ifaty forest and beach.

We like to handle our group in a manageable way, so typically you will be sharing your experiences with between six to 12 like-minded bikers. You’ll have a cycling tour manager with you and a mechanic from six participants. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people. While itinerary is scheduled there is some flexibility and you’ll have plenty of privacy.

If you prefer an individual tour please ask for an offer.

Day 1

Touching down in Antananarivo, ‘town of thousands’

Today is an arrival day. You are free to arrive at any time. Upon arrival in Antananarivo you will be greeted by your tour manager and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure. In the evening, you will have the first tour briefing and you will hear more about how to handle and enjoy the tour.

Day 2

Antananarivo – Andasibe, on way to the evergreen east

This morning we start our 140 km drive eastward through the highlands to Andasibe. On the way we will stop off at an Exotic 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. After lunch, we drive past villages belonging to the Betsimisaraka ethnic group. This group, unified from rival groups into a single entity by the son of an English pirate and a Malagasy princess, was once the most powerful group on the east coast of Madagascar with a name meaning ‘the many inseparable ethnic groups’. Tonight we take a night walk to look for night active lemurs and other night active animals.

Day 3

Andasibe NP and Vakona private reserve

Full day to explore the flora and fauna in the park, 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. In the afternoon we may visit Vakona private park well known for its island of lemurs, we crass small river with a canoe and will be able to see more lemur species up closer.

Day 4

Andasibe – Manambato – Palmarium

We leave Andasibe after breakfast and continuous our direction east, we will have short stop in Antsapanana, well know place for different kinds of fruit and spices of the east. We will be in Manambato around noon, enjoy our lunch next to Rasoabe Lake, and then right after lunch we take the boat to Ankanin’ny nofy (The nest of dreams). Very cine scenic cruise along the Pangalane Canal, we pass through great lakes with beautiful green landscapes, sandy beaches and remote villages. The Pangalana is a chain of natural and man-made lakes connected by canals that runs parallel to the east coast.

Day 5

Palmarium reserve

We have full day to enjoy the dream of nest, we start with the visit of the private reserve, a good chance again to add our lemurs’ list and learn about many kinds of spices like vanilla, cacao, … Here will be the place also that you can get very close photos of the indri-indri and many other species. In the afternoon, we will have short boat transfer to the fisher village nearby to have more ideas about the daily life of the people live in between the channel and the ocean.

Day 6

Palmarium – Manambato – Antananarivo

After all of these beautiful fauna and flora we have seen in Palmarium reserve, we are really interested to get our next step. We back again in our discovering boat trip back to Manambato and meet again our driver. We drive back direction Antananrivo and have stop in Andasibe for lunch. After the visit we have few hours’ drive to Tana.

Day 7

Antananrivo – Antsirabe

Drive to our next destination Antsirabe. Antsirabe known as the city where we can find many minerals, across the highland landscape with its beautiful rice fields and its spectacular eroded hills called lavaka. The drive takes in lush green landscape where vegetables and fruits are farmed. We stop in Ambatolampy for a short visit, a huge agricultural city and very well known as capital bay-foot production.

Day 8

Antsirabe sightseeing

The lakes should not be missed when you pass to Antsirabe, the two most known crater lakes make this area extraordinary mysterious, that are Andraikiba and Tritriva. On the ways we have the chance to enjoy the typical landscape of the Merina ethnic group. We back in the city for lunch and in the afternoon we plan city tour by car or rickshaw or easy walk, this walk we will visit and discover more the historical back ground of the city and its active people in their daily life. We will learn about precious and half precious stone, make some colorful picture of vegetable and fruit in Antsenakely market and see demonstration of zebu horn and miniature handy craft.

Day 9

Antsirabe – Ranomafana

Our next destination is Ranomafana National Park, where we will spend two nights. After breakfast we take a two hours’ drive to the town of Ambositra, where we will see some artwork of the Zafimaniry woodcarvers. Their carvings got recently UNESCO cultural heritage. From Ambositra we continue south. The landscape is dominated by rice fields, forests of pine and eucalyptus and Rocky Mountains. Ranomafana, literally meaning hot water, is a very pretty village surrounded by hills and the Namorona River. If the weather allows us in the evening, we may have night walk along the National road to spot mouse Lemur, chameleons, frogs and so on. Ranomafana is a rain forest; we never know when it rains so better to have light rain coat just in case.

Day 10

Ranomafana NP

This national park is one of Madagascar’s best-known rainforest wildlife hot spots. We will enjoy a day walk in the park embarking on a trek in the Ranomafana rainforest. Probably we will find lots of birds, frogs, lemurs and other species. We hope to see the Golden bamboo Lemur and some other species which are more difficult to find. The park is also rich in flora with orchids, tree ferns, palms mosses, trumpet flowers and stands of giant bamboo. Afternoon free to relax or enjoy the hot natural spring of pool

Day 11

Ranomafana – Sahambavy

We will still have a time to enjoy the hot spring this morning before we leave the rainforest. Then drive to Sahambavy, here we plan to have lunch. After breakfast we leaving our hotel. Possibly we visit the Sahambavy Tea Estate, the only tea plantation in Madagascar. The tea estate created in 1970, set in a pretty valley beside Lake Sahambavy, produces large quantities of tea for both export to Mombasa in Kenya and for local consumption

Day 12

Sahambavy – Fianarantsoa – Ambalavao – Anja Park – Ranohira

We southward to reach Isalo National park.We pass through Fianarantsoa, the capital of Betsileo ethnic group. The landscape is again superb with great views of vineyards, terraced rice paddies and rocky outcrops. In Ambalavao we visit the well know Antaimoro Paper factory. Here paper is made from scratch using the bark of the avoha bush. After a series of steps, fresh flowers are pressed into the paper to make attractive cards, envelopes and picture frames.
Bizarre landscapes of towering cliffs await us in the small nature reserve of Anja with superb scenery, plants, Betsileo history, caves and tombs and ring-tailed lemurs. We take a two-hour walk into the park before continuing along the road to Isalo.

Day 13

Isalo NP

This park is fiercely beautiful with golden plains punctuated by craggy pinnacles of terracotta rock, valleys, canyons and waterfalls. The Isalo National Park comprises the entire stretch of the Isalo massif. This huge mountain is spectacular with its eroded sandstone mountain. Our adventure begins with a trek in the Park. In this surreal park we trek through landscapes formed by centuries of erosion and fascinating sandstone formations. This massive uniform of the Jurassic era is the cradle of a particular wild nature and an exceptional landscape. We walk to the canyons, we look for ring-tailed and other lemurs. We can refresh ourselves on the way at a waterfall or a natural pool.

Day 14

Ranohira – Toliara (Tuléar) – Ifaty

Drive to Toliara (Tuléar), the terminal of the National road N° 7. On the way we experience new scenery that is comprised of the dry forest of the west, the spiny desert of the south and the spectacular baobabs. The region here is the driest part of the country. The landscape is dominated by spiny forest-like cactus and different Euphorbia plants. We stop at the Mahafaly and Antandroy tombs. These tombs are works of art, constructed by the community, to honour the deceased. From Toliara we drive north along the coast to Ifaty where our accommodation for the next two nights is.

Day 15-16

Ifaty beaches

Ifaty. Here we have a break. The coral reef represents an exceptional spot. In the western area we can find the local fauna and flora like baobabs, birds… The crystal clear water of the ocean attracts a range of wonderful coloured fish.

End of services

Complementary Information:

Duration of the tour: 16 days 15 nights

Included

–English speaking tour manager
–Overnight in the mentioned or similar hotels in double room
–Meals Day 2 to 15 Full-board, Day 16 breakfast and 1 ½ l of mineral water per person per day
–Going by car or Minibus, all transfers
–All entrance fees
–Local guides in all visited parks

Not included

–International and domestic flights
–Drinks except mentioned
–Beach activities
–Private expenses
–Tips

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