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Home > Our products > Step in the daily with Madagascar

day 1 - Arrival in Tana (l,d)

Meet and great at the airport, and transfer to irianja guest house. For your comfort, a refreshing natural fruit juice will be served on arrival and free time allowed to rest in your room. Then, a relaxing massage with malagasy essential oils will be proposed, either in the garden or the massage room inside the house. irianja guest house is run by antsa, a young and dynamic malagasy women, passionate by medicinal plants. She studied them in school in south africa and she is still studying them at the antananarivo university. After sharing a special lunch made of the royal malagasy dishes, she will take you on a informal aromatherapy tour, explaining all the plant benefits on the body, as well as the important symbolism of some plants and minerals for the malagasy people.

Dinner at irianja guest house.

day 2 - Tananarive / Morondava / Mangily (b,l,d)

Transfer to the airport, for your flight to morondava. upon arrival, transfer by car to the small village of mangily, 37km north from the city. the ngo fikambanana belgika madagaskara works here on a sustainable rural development project. The local population and european volunteers are working hand in hand on micro-projects around education for children and adults, health, water adduction...

You'll be accommodated at the tsaravahiny centre, in the village of mangily. a man from the village will presentation you his village organisation, traditions, daily life... that will be the first contact with the local people.

Dinner and night at the village.

day 3 - Mangily (b,l,d)

30 minutes walk to the huge salt marsh where your guide will explain you how the people are using them, where they sale the salt... Then way back to the village to spend time with the women. they are in charge of weaving baskets with natural material such as straw, or raphia... Madagascar is famous for being a matriarchal society. This moment spent with the women will make you understand how important they are, what are their difficulties and problems as well as there real social power.

In the afternoon, departure by zebu kart to the famous "allée des baobabs", stopping by the even famous "in love baobabs"... sunset in this unforgettable place, and way back to the village for dinner.

day 4 - Mangily (b,l,d)

Morning excursion to the mangrove with villagers. the fauna and flora here is surprising by there colours and forms... The mangrove are also famous for the crabs living here. you'll be taught the crab fishing secret of sakalava and vezo people you'll be surprised ... It is easy, clever, and so efficient ! your dinner will be : stuffed crab! you have the responsibility of it !

In the afternoon, your guide will take you first to the backland, where traditional vezo and sakalava tombs are. He will explain you the funeral rituals, and the meaning of the decorations. Then continuation to the sand hills, and sunset in this fabulous place, far from everything.

Dinner at the village.

day 5 - Mangily / Betafo (b,l,d)

Today is going to be a long day driving through the western arid plains, up to the green and cultivated highlands. We will stop at miandrivazo for lunch a small city mainly known for the tobacco plantation, and famous as the hottest place in madagascar. In the late afternoon, we will arrive, what a contrast, to the city known as the coldest of the country : antsirabe and its surroundings. we will spend the night today in betafo, a small village west from antsirabe, at people's house.

day 6 - Betafo /Bambatonikolahy (b,picnic lunch,d)

Early morning drive to antsirabe, departure point of your two days walk through the highland countryside, to discover farmers daily life. We head for the small village of ambatonikolahy, walking through impressive terrace rice fields and small typical villages. on our way, explanations will be given about the rice culture, the biological fertilizers, the traditional women activities...Picnic lunch en-route.

In the late afternoon, we will arrive to the village where we will be accommodated tonight at people's house. Dinner and evening with our host.

day 7 - Ambatonikolahy / mounti Ifasina / Betafo/ Antsirabe (b, picnic lunch,d)

At the first sunlight, we start our ascension to the top of ifasina mount (2025m) where from we've got a unique scenary over antsirabe and the vakinankaratra mountains. Way back to our host house for a solid breakfast before starting our way back down to betafo. Walking by traditional tombs, your guide explains the funeral rituals. waterfalls refreshes us on our way, and are nice places for our picnic. Drive back to antsirabe, where you spend the night at the villa salemako or residence camelia.

day 8 - Antsirabe / Ambositra (b,l,d)

After breakfast, you leave antsirabe and drive south on the national road 7 to reach within about 2h30 ambositra. this small city is well known for wood carving. many shops offer a large range of handicraft products as well as silk scarfs. We will spend the day in a valley a little bit further, where an italian ngo il mundi giusto has been working for 7 years now helping people to re develop the traditional wild silk weaving. wild silk lamba are very important in the malagasy culture, as they are used to envelop dead people's body. A few years after the death, this wild silk lamba is changed, at the special ceremony of "famahidiana". We will both walk and drive from a village to another and finally have an overview of the complete processus, from the silk worms to the natural dyeing, to the final weaving according to ancestral and symbolic models.

Dinner and night at the hotel mania.

day 9 - Ambositra / Ranomafana national park (b,l,d)

Morning drive to ranomafana national park, about 3 hours. installation at your hotel, the hotel centrest or domaine nature. Afternoon visit of the small village, the therms and the botanical garden a few kilometres away.

day 10 - Ranomafana national park (b,l,d)

The rainforest of this park is home for 12 species of lemurs, among which the famous hapalemur, discovered only in 1986, as well as makis, propithecus... 96 species of birds have been recorded here as well as 278 species of trees and arbustes among which 81 are endemic to this particular area. an early morning visit is the best moment to spot most of the wildlife. second night at the hotel centrest or domaine nature.

day 11 - Ranomafana national park /Fianarantsoa / Ambalavao (b,l,d)

We leave the rainforest, and head back to the highlands, stopping at the sahambavy tea plantation. You visit both the fields and the factory.

Then drive to ambalavao going through fianarantsoa, and visit of a winery created under the french colonization, but still in use. then discover of the traditional making of antemoro paper. Night at hotel bougainvillées.

day 12 - Ambalavao / Ambohimahamasina / Itaolana (b,l,d)

Ambohimahamasina is only 45km from ambalavao, and this is a big village with a huge market once a week. People here cultivate rice and vegetables, raise zebus and are very active. We walk through villages where beside the agricultural work, women are tissés cotton lamba.Tonight we are invited at David & Marceline's place.

day 13 -Itaolana / Ambalahazo (b,l,d)

Today is going to be a real cultural adventure : early morning departure after a generous malagasy breakfast. we are going to walk to the top of the sacred itaolana mountain, accompanied by david, an authorized person by the villager community. On our way, he is going to do the "soatra" for us, which means traditional short prayers to inform the ancestor of our venue, and to ask them that everything goes smoothly for us.

Once arrived at the top, we will do a soatra to a former king of the valley buried here. great view from the top of italolana, with the eastern rainforest on a side and the andringitra high and dry mountain on the other side.

Then we start our descent in the direction of ambalahazo, going through rice fields and typical villages. Picnic lunch (prepared by marceline) on the way.

In the middle afternoon, we arrive to mr ratsimba house. It is different from david and marceline's place here : the typical house has been built especially to accommodate visitors, but mr ratsimba and his wife just move in as soon as they have visitors to spend time with them. meals are taken with our host, in the typical dinning room, sat down on the ground covered with huge vegetal carpet.

day 14 - ambalahazo / ambalavao / isalo national park (b,l,d)

after breakfast, departure back to ambohimahamasina where our car is waiting for us. drive back to ambalavao and continuation to the isalo national park. the trip today offers nice view over huge grazing lands, and wild dry areas.

arrival at isalo in the middle afternoon. installation at isalo ranch.

day 15 - Isalo national park (b,l,d)

Full day dedicated to the visit of this eroded mountain range offering spectacular and odd forms.This mineral world hide in its canyons a forest remaining where live lemurs (lemur catta, sifaka...) and birds ( ).

Visit of the "isalo house" at the entrance of the park on our way back. It gives interesting geological informations.

day 16 - Isalo national park / Antsokay (b,l,d)

We leave isalo national park for the antsokay arboretum. This place created by a swiss botanist 27 years ago, is entirely devoted to conservation of the southwestern plants (mainly didieraceae and euphorbiaceae families), and is working in close collaboration with many institutions aiming in environment preservation, such as the royal botanic gardens kew, wwf, cepf, fairchild tropical botanic garden...presently, after many years of passion, protection and care, the arboretum offers to the visitors a real condensed vegetation, on 40 hectares. as well to be seen chameleon, radiated tortoise , the mouse lemur, couas ... dinner and night at the arboretum.

day 17 - Antsokay / Tulear / Antananarivo (b,d)

Transfer to the tuléar airport for your flight back to antananarivo. onward flight to your final destination.

general informations :

• groups from 2 to 6 people

• best period : from mid april to mid december

• simple accommodation chosen for its interest, charm and cleanness

prices starting from :

Air madagascar flight tana / Morondava and Tuléar / Tana from euros / person

included :
Accommodation full board from day 2 to day 16, then half board days 1 and 17 / 4wd renting with gas included / english speaking driver-guide / entrance fees to the national and private parks / mentioned excursions / mentioned transfers

excluded :
Tips, drinks, porters, flights, personal expenses, activities or excursions proposed by the hotels and non mentioned in the itinerary.

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