FROM SOUTH TO NORTH – 15 DAYS

From 2 to 12 persons

sep

For the most complete possible discovery of the Great Island, its landscapes, its culture and its population.

Our goal with this trip is to make you appreciate the variety and diversity of Madagascar. To the south, by the famous National 7 and the national parks of Ranomafana in the forest and Isalo for a short hike. To the north, in the Diego-Suarez region, we visit the Amber Mountain National Park and the Tsingy of Ankarana. End in apotheosis on the beaches of Nosy Be for a relaxing stay.

Highlights

  • Crossing the Highlands and hiking in Isalo
  • The turquoise lagoon of Ifaty on the Mozambique Channel
  • Lemurs in Ranomafana, Anja and the Montagne d’Ambre
  • The exciting hike in the Tsingy of Ankarana 
  • The relaxing stay on the beaches of Nosy Be

Travel identity card

  • Duration: 15 days
  • Participant: From 2 persons
  • Guiding: English-speaking Malagasy guide
  • Accommodation: Standard or superior hotel
  • Transport: 4×4 vehicle or bus or minibus
  • Period: All year round
  • Effort = 2

    “Easy to moderate”
    Physical activity and / or punctual hiking occasional, 3 to 5 hours per day on good trails.
    Little or no gradients. You only carry your bag for the day.
    Madagascar is vast, the stages in the vehicle can sometimes be a little long.

  • Confort =4

    “Standard”All nights are in hotels. The accommodations and/or the hotel are good categories and equivalent to 2 or 3 stars international standards.
    Dinner in restaurant, lunch at the restaurant and / or picnic.
    Travel take place in comfortable vehicle on roads and/or on relatively good tracks.

Day 1: Antananarivo > Antsirabe

Meeting with your guide.

We are heading south. As soon as you leave Antananarivo, the rice fields and villages characteristic of the Highlands shape the landscape. At Ambatolampy we take a break and discover the work, rather surprising, of the manufacturers of aluminum dishes, those found throughout Madagascar.

Arrival in the afternoon in Antsirabe. We take the time for a short visit of the city and if you feel like it, a rickshaw ride, The mode of transport of the Antsirabiens

  • Duration: +/- 3h
  • Distance: 170 km

Day 2: Antsirabe > Ambositra > Ranomafana

Still on the National 7 we continue our progress towards the south.

In the village of Ambositra we go antiquing in the shops of the Zafimaniry craftsmen, in search of the piece of carved wood or the square of marquetry so finely worked. Walk in the village.

Continuing for Ranomafana, we enter Betsileo country. Here the road is more and more sinuous, we are towards the highest points of the High Plateaux of Madagascar.

We turn east and into the rainforest. Arrival at the end of the afternoon.

  • Duration: +/- 5h
  • Distance: 230 km


.

Day 3: Ranomafana park > Fianarantsoa

Visit of Ranomafana National Park. This site is one of the most beautiful that the primary and rain forest of Madagascar can offer.

Accompanied by our guide, we leave for a walking tour. Many species of lemurs are present such as the golden bamboo lemur, the red-fronted lemur or the red-bellied lemur. We also find rare and endangered species such as the Greater Bamboo Lemur. On the botanical level, the park is the genetic reservoir of certain rare and endemic plant species but also of many medicinal plants.

It is necessary to provide a rain cape for the visit.

We return to the RN7 to reach the city of Fianarantsoa.

  • Duration: +/- 3h of walking and +/- 2h of road
  • Distance: 70 km

Day 4: Fianarantsoa > Anja > Ranohira

We are soon leaving the Highlands. In Ambalavao, we visit the artisanal Antemoro paper factory. This centuries-old process for making this paper from the bark of the Avoha mulberry tree was introduced to Madagascar in the 15th century by the first Arab migrants to transcribe the Koran. It is still made in Ambalavao using the same processes.

Meeting with lemurs in the small reserve of Anja at the foot of large granite domes.

We cross the largest plateau in Madagascar made up of a beautiful herbaceous steppe punctuated by giant termite mounds, the Horombe. Ranohira is located at the foot of the ruiniform massif of Isalo and at the entrance to the National Park.

  • Duration: +/- 5h
  • Distance: 290 km
  • We organize your picnic lunch.

Day 5: Visit of the Isalo national park

We leave for a short transfer by vehicle at the foot of the cliff of Isalo.

With a small bag on the shoulder, we walk quietly through astonishing landscapes made of canyons, pools and rocks with magical erosions. The ruiniform massif of Isalo is a continental sandstone plateau dating from the Jurassic. Here, the rock has a very variable aspect, shape and composition. Nature has adapted to the dry climate. The park is a separate ecosystem; it has an endemic rupicolous vegetation made of Aloes, Euphorbias, Pachypodiums and Kalanchoe… We take our picnic in the Tapia forest. Around the site, excursions are possible and a walk to the peaks allows you to enjoy a magnificent view.

NB: the pace and duration of the walk depend on the participants (minimum 2 hours). Your guide will advise you.

  • Duration: from 2 to 4h walking, according to your desires!
  • We organize your picnic lunch.

Day 6: Ranohira > Tulear > Ifaty

We continue our progression towards the south-west, towards the coast.

The Ranohira -Tulear road, 245 km long, crosses several botanical landscapes. The Mozambique Channel is visible long before reaching Tuléar. On the way, short stops at the Mahafaly tombs, so beautifully decorated, and so surprisingly erected with wooden sculptures. We arrive in town at the end of the morning. Walk around the always lively market, before lunch. Along the beach and the mangrove, we reach Ifaty.

  • Duration: +/- 6h
  • Distance: 280 km

Day 7: Day at leisure in Ifaty 

This day and the banks of the Mozambique Channel will allow you to sample the various activities offered by your hotel. For those who would like to enjoy the sea and the lagoon: diving, canoe trip with the Vezo fishermen, swimming or just lazing around. Hiking enthusiasts will be able to discover, inland, a specific and singular vegetation made up of euphorbias, baobabs, didieraceae, aloes. In the south, thorns are kings.

Day 8: Ifaty > Tulear > Antananarivo

Transfer to the airport for the return flight to Antananarivo. Depending on the flight schedule, we will take a walk in the shell market and on the seafront in Tulear and have lunch on site, either at the restaurant in Antananarivo, and we make a short stop at the craft market for some shopping. Transfer to the hotel in Tana.

NB: Depending on the domestic flight schedule, the program for this day may be modified.

  • Duration: 1h15 flight

Day 9: Tana > Diego Suarez and the Three Bays

Transfer to Ivato airport in Antananarivo.

We assist you to take the domestic flight to the north of Madagascar.

Your guide welcomes you at Diego Suarez airport and we drive along the mountain of the French to reach the Three Bays. A beautiful pedestrian route allows us to connect the bays of Dunes, Pigeons and Sakalava. The pass that separates the immense Bay of Diego and the Indian Ocean is very close, we are now at Cap Miné.

This place is steeped in history, the vestiges of the French presence are still visible.

We then stroll on the beautiful beaches of Orangéa and Ramena.

NB: Depending on the domestic flight schedule, the program for this day may be modified.

  • Duration: 1h15 flight + 1h drive + 2 to 4h walking.
  • We organize your picnic lunch.

Day 10: Visit of the Montagne d’Ambre

Accompanied by a park guide, we hike through the lush forest. This park is home to exceptional vegetation with tree ferns, palm trees, orchids, many exotic species, while beautiful alleys of conifers line the track leading to the forest station. Waterfalls, crater lakes adorn our walk. And of course, the Malagasy fauna with the friendly lemur. We meet the crowned lemur, that of Sanford. 7 species share the area. We also get to know chameleons, geckos and other uroplatus. The birds in the park are as numerous as they are colorful. 

NB: the pace and duration of the walk depend on the participants (minimum 2 hours). Your guide will advise you.

  • Duration: 2 to 4h walking
  • We organize your picnic lunch.

Day 11: Diego > Red Tsingy > Tsingy Ankarana

We leave the village of Joffreville for the Ankarana National Park. Then we branch off along the way to take a look at the Tsingy Rouges. The geological history of this formation is the same as that of the Tsingy of Ankarana, but with a few thousand years of difference. The others are calcareous, those are friable earth. We return to the main road to reach the village of Mahamasina at the entrance to the Ankarana National Park.

  • Duration: +/- 6h
  • Distance: 150 km of road
  • We organize your picnic lunch.

Day 12: The Tsingy of Ankarana

An old coral reef, water, wind and quite a bit of time, here is the result, a limestone massif like a stone forest! Accompanied by a guide from the Ankarana National Park, we set off to explore the site. We hike, in the morning, by a sometimes difficult walk, through the Tsingy with sharp edges and in the caves including that of the Bats. Picnic lunch on the side of the place called the loss of water, this huge excavation in the bed of the river where the water disappears in the rainy season. In the afternoon we walk to the Tsingy Rary and the footbridge above the canyon. Return to the village of Mahamasina at the end of the day.

NB: the pace and duration of the walk depend on the participants (minimum 2 hours). Your guide will advise you.

  • Duration: 3 to 5h walking
  • We organize your picnic lunch.

Day 13: Ankarana – Nosy Be

Early departure. Crossing of the big village of Ambilobe. Further south, the region is famous for its cocoa and coffee. We take the time to stop and discover these plantations and this way of cultivation. 

In Ankify, we board a speedboat for Hellville, the capital of Nosy Be. We pass between the islands of Komba and Tanikely. 

By taxi we reach our hotel on the seafront.

  • Duration: 4h drive + 45 min speedboat    
  • Distance  : 150 km

Day 14: Day at leisure in Nosy Be

Many possible activities from the hotel: water sports, fishing, walks in the islands and sea trips, scuba diving or snorkeling, motorbike and bicycle rental. The islands of Nosy Komba and its fishing village and Nosy Tanikely, one of Madagascar’s underwater parks, are very close. A day of visit is a real pleasure! The reception of your hotel will be able to advise you and direct you for all these activities. At the end of the day, we recommend a walk to Mont Passot which offers a superb panorama over the whole island at sunset or simply lazing by the sea.

Day 15: Nosy Be > Antananarivo

Transfer to the airport organized by the hotelier. 

Flight to the Malagasy capital.

  • Duration: 1h15 flight

Include:

  • The driver/guide throughout the trip, except in Ifaty and Nosy Be,
  • A vehicle throughout the trip, except in Ifaty and Nosy Be,
  • The accommodation of your choice (Standard or Superior), 
  • Parks fees and sites indicated,
  • Local guides in the parks,
  • All transfers.

Not include:

  • International and domestic flights,
  • Activities in Ifaty and Nosy Be,
  • Tips and drinks,
  • Your personal insurance,
  • The visa: +/- 35 €

RESERVATION – CONFIRMATION

Reservation: Please use the form below to book your trip or change this itinerary. We will respond within 24 hours.

Confirmation: It will be effective upon receipt of the completed registration form that we will send you, as well as a deposit of 30% of the total amount of the price of the travel.

Confirm a trip with SENSE OF OCEANS MADAGASCAR involves having read and accepted the Terms and Conditions.

The general sales terms and conditions can be found here : Terms & conditions

Request Quote

To prepare for your trip, we invite you to read our NEED TO KNOW section

Price for this trip: from 1 259 €

Price per person | For a group of 4 people

Quote More Travel Ideas
sep
Copyright ©2024 Sense Of Oceans | Crédits : Christophe ALIAGA