Explore Madagascar
Holiday Itinerary
Day 1: Rendezvous at the group hotel in Antananarivo. A group transfer from the airport is provided. KE Land Only services begin with the evening meal. Overnight at the group hotel.
Day 2: An early transfer takes us back to the airport for the internal flight to Tulear. After breakfast we have a briefing from our guide on the week ahead. We visit the Arboretum d'Antsokay, a botanic garden devoted to the conservation of the plants from the south west of Madagascar. Later we enjoy the town of Tulear and the market near the waterfront. Overnight hotel Tulear.
Day 3: Drive inland to the Ranohira National Park, stopping for a picnic en route. This afternoon we continue across the Col de Tapias and enter the Isalo National Park. 6 hour drive. Camp.
Day 4: We begin the first of our two day treks through the Isalo National Park, a spectacular and varied Jurrasic landscape of eroded sandstone towers, deep canyons, forest and grassland. With luck we will encounter a family of sifaka lemurs. Camp at the Maki Canyon.
Day 5: Today we trek to the far end of the park crossing a unique wonderland of extraordinary plants and jagged rocks. This is an area habited by brown and ring-tailed lemurs. Towards the end of the trek there is a beautiful natural pool to swim in before we end up at the at a lovely hotel where we stay in small bungalow style rooms.
Day 6: Drive onto the Horombe Plateau and visit a highland village market. After lunch at Ambalavao we change to 4x4 vehicles and continue on a rough track to the start of Andringitra National Park. We possibly walk the short final section to our accommodation in a mountain gite at Ambolamandary surrounded by spectacular granite peaks.
Day 7: We have a superb 5 to 6 hour trek to our base camp from which we will climb of Peak Boby the following day ( 795m. / 2600ft.of ascent).. En route we have stunning views over the Tsaranoro Valley. Camp.
Day 8: Ascent of Peak Boby (2658m. / 8720ft.), the second highest peak in Madagascar. The ascent will take approximately 2 - 3 hours and we aim to arrive on the summit for sunrise. Return to camp (2150m).
Day 9: We make the return trek by a different route through the cloud forest on the east flank of the mountain back to our gite at Ambalamanandray. The evening will be a farewell party with our porters.
Day 10: Return drive to Ambalavao where we visit a craft paper making site, then on to Fianarantsoa for lunch. In the afternoon we continue to Ranomafana National Park and our hotel.
Day 11: A full day hike through the marvelous Ranomafana rainforest park, home to several species of lemur, 100+ species of birds, plus various reptiles and endemic insects. Overnight in our hotel in Ranomafana.
Day 12: Driving north to Ambositra, we visit the workshops of sculptors famous for their marquetry. We take lunch and continue towards the elegant town of Antsirabe. Overnight in quiet hotel set within its own gardens.
Day 13: We continue our journey to Perinet National Park, stopping off to visit the Bufferly and Chameleon Centre in Mandraka. On arrival in Perinet we check into our bungalows with views over the forest.
Day 14: An early morning visit into the park takes us to see the Indri-Indri, the biggest of all lemurs and an experience we will not forget. After visiting the park we drive to Antananarivo (approx 3 hrs). Time permitting we have a walking tour of the city including the craft market of La Digue. We check in to the hotel and have a celebratory evening meal. Overnight hotel Tana.
Day 15: KE Land Only services end after breakfast. A complimentary group transfer to the airport is provided.
