Highlights of Madagascar Tour

Trip Itinerary

Day 1: Antananarivo

Day 1 - Welcome to Antananarivo

Welcome to Madagascar's capital city, Antananarivo, known locally as 'Tana'. On arrival in Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo, you’ll be greeted by an English-speaking guide who will accompany you to Maison Gallieni, your luxury Madagascar hotel in the upper town of Antananarivo.

Maison Gallieni is a restored colonial mansion with an elegant mix of modern and traditional décor. Take a dip in the pool and enjoy the lovely views over the city, or head out to explore the traditional architecture and distinct Indonesian influence of Antananarivo.

Days 2 - 3: Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

Day 2 - Transfer to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

After breakfast, you’ll meet your guide and begin the four-hour drive east to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. It is a beautiful rainforest park with two protected areas including the Perinet Special Reserve and Mantadia National Park. The Perinet Reserve is famous for its population of indri lemurs, the largest living lemurs in Madagascar.

The drive to Andasibe offers a great introduction to rural life in Madagascar, with rice fields, redbrick houses and roadside stalls selling seasonal fruits and vegetables along the route. You’ll arrive at Mantadia Lodge in time for lunch for a two-night stay.

This afternoon, visit a private reserve operated by local NGO Mitsinjo. Here you will embark on a stunning Madagascar safari and can also plant an indigenous species along the reforestation trail.

Day 3 - Exploring Mantadia National Park

After breakfast, you’ll meet your guide and make the 1.5 hour drive to Mantadia National Park. This stunning Madagascar national park is filled with lemur species including the indri lemur, grey bamboo lemur, red-bellied lemur, white ruffed lemur and diademed sifaka.

While the trails are slightly more challenging, they’re well worth it. It’s a naturalist's paradise with many rare species of mammals, reptiles and a variety of birds including the breasted coua, the scaly ground roller, the pitta-like ground roller.

Enjoy your picnic lunch by the Rianasoa Waterfall before hiking back to the vehicle and returning to your luxury Madagascar lodge. Head out on a nocturnal safari with a local guide this evening.

You’ll see a variety of nocturnal lemurs including the woolly lemur, mouse lemur, white footed sportive lemur and fat-tailed dwarf lemur.

Day 4: Antananarivo

Day 4 - Exploring Perinet Reserve and transfer to Antananarivo

After an early breakfast, you’ll meet your guide and head out to the Perinet Reserve, a 180-hectare expanse of wilderness, famous for its population of indri lemurs, known for their distinct black and white markings, a barely visible tail, and a surprised teddy bear face. Along with the indri, there are 11 other species of lemur to spot as you walk through the rainforest.

Perinet Reserve is one of the best places to visit in Madagascar to see rare flora and fauna, including many reptiles, invertebrates, and some of Madagascar’s orchid species. There is also an abundance of birds including the blue coua, velvet asity, Nuthatch vanga and many other endemic species.

After lunch in Andasibe, you’ll be driven back to Tana, where you’ll check in to Maison Gallieni for the night.

Days 5 - 6: Isalo National Park

Day 5 - Fly to Isalo National Park

After breakfast, your guide will drive you to Ivato Airport where you’ll board a domestic flight to Toliara. On arrival in Toliara airport, you’ll be greeted by your driver and English speaking guide, and begin your four-hour drive to Isalo National Park.

You’ll check in to Jardin Du Roy, a favorite hotel in Madagascar, for the next two nights. Settle into your room or take a dip in the pool, where you can soak up the breathtaking views of Isalo National Park. Jardin Du Roy is set on the edge of the national park, known for its deep canyons used as sacred burial sites by the Bara tribe for hundreds of years.

The combination of sandstone rocks cut by deep canyons and eroded into spectacular shapes and rare endemic plants, makes Isalo one of the best national parks in Madagascar.

Day 6 – Exploring Isalo National Park

After breakfast, you’ll head out on a full-day hiking tour, exploring the vast plains and spectacular rock formations. Isalo National Park is one of the most diverse places to visit in Madagascar.

One of the best trails is the ‘Canyon des Singes’, which curves through the thick forest and brightly colored rock formations to reach a magical rock pool called the ‘Piscine Naturelle’.

Very different to the lush tropical vegetation in the east, Isalo's attraction is its vast rolling plains interspersed with stunning rock formations. Wildlife is not as dense as in other parks but Isalo is known for its rare endemic plants including the local Aloe, while lemur lovers should keep watch for the brown lemur, ring-tailed lemur, sifakas, and 14 nocturnal lemur species.

Day 7: Toliara

Day 7 – Exploring Zombitse National Park and transfer to Toliara

After breakfast, you’ll meet your guide and make the one-hour drive to Zombitse National Park, a richly biodiverse transition forest, spanning 36,300 hectares between the western and southern habitat types. It’s an excellent spot for birdwatchers, with the chance to spot the Appert’s greenbul, one of Madagascar’s rarest endemic species, found only in this forest.

You’ll check in to Bakuba Lodge for one night and spend the afternoon relaxing in your bungalow or strolling along the beach of the Mozambique Channel. Snorkeling and scuba diving activities are also available at this beautiful Madagascar beach lodge.

Day 8: Antananarivo

Day 8 – Return to Tana

Today, fly back to Antananarivo, in order to continue your journey to the South of Madagascar.

Upon arrival, a Wayfairer representative will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your nearby Madagascar hotel, called Relais des Plateaux Hotel & Spa.

Day 9 - 11: Mandrare

Day 9 – Fly to Mandrare River Camp

After breakfast you will be transferred for your morning flight to Fort Dauphin. You’ll be met on arrival by a guide from Mandrare River Camp, who’ll drive you to a local restaurant for lunch in Fort Dauphin. After lunch, you’ll make the four-hour drive to Mandrare River Camp, where you can settle into your all-inclusive, luxury three-night stay.

In the evening, around 5pm, you’ll head out on a thrilling nocturnal safari in the Forest of Zenavo. You’ll get to see diurnal lemurs bedding down and nocturnal lemurs waking up as you walk through the ancient Sacred Spiny Forest. Keep your eyes peeled for sifakas, mouse lemurs and white-footed sportive lemurs.

Day 10 – Exploring Mandrare River Camp

Enjoy breakfast before venturing out to the beautiful Sacred Gallery Forest. Depending on the river’s water levels, you’ll walk or take a boat across the Mandrare River to reach this spectacular forest, known for its inquisitive groups of ring-tailed lemurs and the entertaining Verreaux sifaka.

In the evening, you’ll head out for a walk through the Sacred Spiny Forest, where you'll find the ancestral tombs of the local Antandroy tribe. Your English speaking guide and tracker from the local community will teach you about Antandroy culture and customs, and you’ll finish the excursion with refreshing sundowners on the Mandrare River banks.

Day 11 – Sacred Spiny Forest & Cultural Dancing

Enjoy an early morning cup of tea or coffee before heading out for a sunrise walk through the Sacred Spiny Forest. It’s a magical experience to witness the sunlight cracking through the octopus trees, as the wildlife begins to wake up and become active.

Keep your eyes peeled for the many endemic birds including the running coua, crested coua and a variety of vangas. After your walk you’ll return to camp for a well-earned breakfast, followed by a visit to the local village to meet the Antandroy tribe and browse craft markets.

In the evening, you’ll head out for sundowners among the baobabs, watching the sunset and moonrise over these ancient trees. In the evening, you may be treated to an incredible show of traditional dancing, singing and music, performed by the local village.

Day 12: Antananarivo

Day 12 – Return to Tana

After your last breakfast at Mandrare River Camp, you will be driven to Fort Dauphin, approximately four hours, in time for your Tsaradia flight back to Tana. Upon arrival you'll be greeted by a Wayfairer representative and transferred to Relais des Plateaux Hotel & Spa for one luxurious night in one of the best hotels in Madagascar.

Days 13 - 15: Nosy Komba

Day 13 – Fly to Nosy Komba Island in Northern Madagascar

This morning you will be driven back to Ivato Airport in time for your 1.5 hour flight north to Nosy Be.

You will be transferred to your gorgeous lodge on Nosy Komba, a neighboring island, just south of Nosy Be. The transfer is by road and boat, taking approximately one hour.

You'll stay at Tsara Komba Lodge for three nights on a full board basis. It combines a stylish and exclusive atmosphere, an excellent slow food cuisine and tailored-made excursions, in an atmosphere dominated by a commitment to comfortable luxury and ecology.

Experience the gentle caress of the wind, the bird songs and the sound of the waves lapping around this former volcano today, bordered by a sapphire blue sea with some of the most scenic Madagascar beaches. The community-minded activities being pursued here to encourage harmonious sustainable development for the benefit of the local population is  just one amazing aspect of this  eco-paradise.

Days 14 & 15 – Explore Nosy Komba Island

Fill your days with your own selection of activities. The top-level Madagascar hotel can arrange excursions to neighboring islands, nature reserves, for fishing, quad biking, tours around the island, scuba-diving or snorkeling. All these activities are just few minutes away from the hotel for you to admire and explore the sheer beauty of the ocean depths.

Days 16 - 17: Antananarivo

Day 16 - Fly back to Tana

This morning you will say goodbye to island living and be transferred by boat back to Nosy Be, in time for your 1.5 hour flight back to Tana.

Upon arrival into Tana your guide will meet you and transfer you to Relais des Plataeux Hotel & Spa for your last night in Madagascar. The afternoon or evening can be spent at your leisure, perhaps doing some final souvenir shopping.

Day 17 - Fly home

Enjoy a final breakfast at Relais des Plateux before transferring to the Ivato International Airport for your international return flight home.

Although your incredible Highlights of Madagascar vacation has come to an end, we’re sure you’ll leave with many special memories to look back on, and plenty of photos and stories to share back home.

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