Madagascar Honeymoon Adventure

Trip Itinerary

Day 1: Antananarivo

Day 1 - Welcome to Antananarivo

You’ll fly into Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo, where you’ll be greeted by an English-speaking guide who will accompany you to Maison Gallieni, your hotel near the airport.

You’ll stay at Maison Gallieni on a half-board basis, and this afternoon you can enjoy the pool. Maison Gallieni is a restored colonial mansion with an elegant mix of modern and traditional décor. Built in 1879 on the site of a granite quarry, Maison Gallieni used to house the first bank created in Madagascar. Located on a hill, in the historic heart of the Malagasy capital, it offers a spectacular view overlooking the town.

You may also like to head out and explore Antananarivo, or ‘Tana’, as the locals call it. The city has fascinating traditional architecture and a distinct Indonesian influence.

Days 2 - 6: Anjajavy

Day 2 - Fly to Anjajavy

Enjoy an early breakfast before your transfer to Ivato International Airport, where you’ll board a scheduled charter flight to Anjajavy. On arrival at the airport, you’ll be greeted by a hotel representative and transferred to Anjajavy Lodge, where you’ll stay on a full-board basis for the next three nights.

Anjajavy Lodge is located within a 450-hectare nature reserve on Madagascar’s north-west coast. The lodge’s 25 duplex rosewood villas all have private decks overlooking the ocean, while meals are served in the enclosed Oasis in the hotel grounds or on the beach. The surrounding forest is alive with lemurs, chameleons, malachite kingfishers and hummingbirds, and this evening you'll depart for a night walk in the reserve to spot a variety of nocturnal lemurs.

While the reserve’s show-stoppers are undoubtedly the charismatic coquerel’s sifakas, the hours of darkness also have their star performers. Weighing a mere 63 grams, danfoss mouse lemurs scamper through the shrubbery just after nightfall, springing from branch to branch in search of food. If you hear a strange squeal coming from the tree tops, then you have probably found a Grewcock’s sportive lemur. You can also spot the endemic tsingy tuft-tailed rat, Commerson’s leaf-nosed bat, or Madagascar’s largest predator - the rare and elusive fossa.

Day 3 - Exploring Anjajavy

Enjoy breakfast this morning before heading out on a walk along the ‘Chemin des Crabes’ (Path of the Crabs) to see the vibrant birdlife, beautiful baobabs and the famous hairy crab. You’ll be enchanted by the kaleidoscope of colours and shapes of the reserve’s common birds, from the vibrant red fody and Souimanga sunbird, to the exotic paradise flycatcher and sickle-billed vanga.

It’s also one of the best places to spot the regal Madagascar fish eagle, shy crested ibis, or rare Madagascar sacred ibis. At the end of the walk, you’ll visit a small cave where you will find a fossilized lemur skull, stalactites and sharks’ teeth.

You’ll return to the lodge for lunch and a leisurely afternoon. Take a dip in the infinity pool filled with seawater, or discover the private coves surrounding the lodge and marine reserve.

Day 4 - Exploring Anjajavy

After breakfast this morning, enjoy a long walk along the Giant’s Causeway and King’s Alley. You’ll discover extremely ancient baobab trees, tsingy rock formations found only in Madagascar, and a variety of lemurs including the Coquerel’s sifakas.

These remarkable animals live in family groups of up to 10 individuals, and although they are perfectly adapted to life in the trees, they often descend to the ground. Unlike the famous Verreaux’s sifaka from southern Madagascar with its characteristic sideways dance, the Coquerel’s sifaka bounces across the ground like a miniature kangaroo. The sifakas, along with troops of common brown lemurs, roam freely in the gardens and surrounding reserve.

You’ll return to the lodge where you can enjoy a romantic lunch served in the Oasis, a wet biotope filled with carefully selected plants to represent the incredible floral diversity of Madagascar. You’ll spot birds such as the Souimanga sunbirds and the Malagasy kingfishers, see frogs and chameleons in the pond, and groups of lemurs running through the tree canopy.

Day 5 - Exploring Anjajavy

Spend the day exploring this magical region with a wide selection of activities. Anjajavy Lodge can arrange customised excursions to neighbouring islands and nature reserves, where you can tour the island, and go scuba diving, snorkelling, fishing or quad biking. Visit the cave of the Sakalava, where you’ll discover an underworld of stalagmites and stalactites and meet the Madagascar bats, or enjoy a romantic picnic on one of the deserted beaches along the Anjajavy peninsula.

Venture to Antafiamoara, where you’ll meet the Giant tortoises who were reintroduced to the Anjajavy Reserve in 2018, after 750 years of extinction, or visit the villages of Anjajavy and Ambodro Ampasy, where you can explore markets filled with crafts made by the villagers.

Day 6 – Depart from Madagascar

Enjoy an early breakfast before transferring to the airstrip for your scheduled charter flight back to Antananarivo. On arrival at Ivato International Airport, you’ll be met by a staff member who will assist you to check in for your outbound international flight.

Although your incredible Madagascar Honeymoon has come to an end, you’ll be leaving with more than a handful of photos and stories, and many special memories to look back on together.