12-Day Classic Madagascar Tour

• You'll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Arrival in Antananarivo

Upon arrival into Ivato Airport you will be greeted by your private, English speaking guide who will accompany you to your hotel in the upper town of Antananarivo. ‘Tana’ – as the locals call it has fascinating traditional architecture and a more Indonesian influence than the rest of Madagascar.

Main Destination:

Antananarivo (City)

Accommodation:

Maison Gallieni

• Luxury guest house located in Antananarivo (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• Lunch & dinner (Breakfast not included)
• Drinks not included

Transfer to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

After breakfast, your guide will transfer you east to Andasibe, a stunning rainforest park, about 4 hours’ drive from the city. The park consists of two protected areas, the Perinet Special Reserve and Mantadia National Park. Perinet is world famous for its population of Indri lemurs, which are the largest living lemur species.

The journey to Andasibe offers first time visitors to Madagascar an introduction to rural life with rice fields, redbrick houses and roadside stalls selling seasonal fruits and vegetables lining the route. In the afternoon, visit of Lemur Island, Vakona Lodge’s Private Reserve that protects a number of habituated lemurs. There are four species to see, the bamboo lemur, the black & white ruffed lemur, brown lemur and one diademed sifaka.

Main Destination:

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

Best Time To Visit April, May, October and November (Best weather, less rain)

High Season July, August and December holidays (The park is busy)

Best Weather April, May, October and November

Wildlife in Andasibe-Mantadia NP

Indri Common

Common
brown lemur Common

Other
chameleons Common

Leaf-tailed geckos Common

Diademed sifaka Occasional

Show more

Red-bellied
lemur Occasional

Grey
bamboo lemur Occasional

Mouse lemurs Occasional

Sportive lemurs Occasional

Parson's
chameleon Occasional

Painted mantella Occasional

Black-and-white
ruffed lemur Rare

Madagascar tree boa Rare

Fossa Very Rare

Accommodation:

Mantadia Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located outside Andasibe-Mantadia NP

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

After breakfast you will head to Mantadia National Park (1.5 hour drive) with a picnic lunch. Look for some of the lemur species in this stunning park including the indri, diademed sifaka, grey bamboo lemur, red-bellied lemur and white ruffed lemur. While the trails are slightly more difficult, the rewards are great as the forest is taller, wilder and less crowded than Perinet. There are an abundance of birds including the scaly ground roller, the pitta-like ground roller and the breasted coua. To do justice to Mantadia you need to spend a whole day in the park. This is a naturalist’s goldmine with many seldom seen species of mammals, reptiles and birds. Enjoy a picnic by the Rianasoa Waterfall before hiking back to the vehicle and return to the lodge. In the evening, you may choose to go on another night walk with your local guide.

Main Destination:

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

Accommodation:

Mantadia Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located outside Andasibe-Mantadia NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Andasibe (Perinet Reserve) to Antananarivo

After an early breakfast, enjoy a visit to the 810 hectare Perinet Reserve with a local guide in search of the Indri. With a barely visible tail, black and white markings and a surprised teddy–bear face, this lemur is one of the few animals in the world that cannot survive in captivity. There are other 11 species of lemur to spot as you walk through the rainforest. You may find a troop of grey bamboo lemurs, common brown lemurs, diademed sifaka and the black and white ruffed lemurs. Birdwatchers should look out for the velvet asity, the blue coua and the Nuthatch vanga and many more endemic species. Perinet is home to many reptiles, invertebrates, and some of Madagascar’s over a thousand orchid species. After lunch, drive back to Tana and continue to your hotel in town.

Main Destination:

Antananarivo (City)

Accommodation:

Novotel Convention & Spa Antananarivo

• Luxury hotel located in Antananarivo (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast & dinner (Lunch not included)
• Drinks not included

Air Transfer to Fort Dauphin

Today we'll transfer to Ivato Airport for a short flight to Fort Dauphin. In Fort Dauphin, you will be met by a guide and vehicle from Mandrare River Camp who will escort you to one of the best restaurants in Fort Dauphin. After an early lunch, drive to Mandrare River Camp (4 hours). Upon arrival at the camp, settle into your tent and enjoy the majestic views over the Mandrare River. At around 5:00 pm, depart for a night walk in the Forest of Zenavo. This is a fantastic way to see diurnal lemurs bedding down and the nocturnal lemurs begin to wake in the eerie and prehistoric Spiny Forest. You will spot sifakas and sleeping white-foot sportive lemurs, then once the sun has set, two mouse lemur species, sleeping birds, chameleons, owls and now active sportive lemurs.

Main Destination:

Fort Dauphin (Town)

Accommodation:

Mandrare River Camp

• Luxury tented camp located just outside Ifotaka Forest

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Mandrare River Camp

After breakfast, you will head out to the stunning sacred gallery forest to the south of the camp. Depending on the river depth, you will walk or take a boat across the Mandrare River to reach this largely deciduous forest. Inquisitive groups of ring tailed lemurs and the always entertaining Verreaux sifaka are the highlight of this excursion. Return to camp for lunch and a relaxed afternoon by the pool. Late in the afternoon, head for a walk through the sacred spiny forest filled with the ancestral tombs of the local Antandroy tribe, as well as an extraordinary array of flora and fauna, unique to the spiny forest. Your private guide and a tracker from the local community will give you an introduction to Antandroy culture and customs. Your visit is followed by sundowners on the Mandrare River banks.

Main Destination:

Fort Dauphin (Town)

Accommodation:

Mandrare River Camp

• Luxury tented camp located just outside Ifotaka Forest

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Transfer to Fort Dauhphin and fly to Tana

After breakfast, drive to Fort Dauphin (4hours) in time for your Tsaradia flight back to Tana. Upon arrival into Ivato Airport you will be greeted by an English speaking guide from MCC who will accompany you to your hotel just nearby the airport. You stay in a Superior room and have access to the hotels great facilities included a fantastic restaurant.

Main Destination:

Antananarivo (City)

Accommodation:

Novotel Convention & Spa Antananarivo

• Luxury hotel located in Antananarivo (City)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Charter to Masoala Forest Lodge

After an early breakfast, your driver will take you back to Ivato Airport in time for your scheduled charter flight to Maroantsetra. The densely forested Masoala Peninsula contains the largest remaining block of protected rainforest in Madagascar and harbours a wealth of rare and unique species including the red-ruffed lemur, seen only in Masoala. You are met on arrival and transfered to the jetty to board the 2 hour boat voyage across Antongil Bay to Masoala Forest Lodge. Sightings of dolphins and whales are likely.

On arrival at the lodge beach, you are welcomed ashore and settle into your thatch and canvas tree-house. The afternoon activities include exploring the beaches and coastal forest in the lodge area and maybe enjoying a swim in the sea, before taking a guided walk along the coast past Tampolo Point, with the possibility of spotting white-fronted brown lemurs in the coastal forest. Return to camp to sundowners on the beach before dinner is served in the beach house.

Main Destination:

Masoala National Park

Best Time To Visit August to November (Less rain)

High Season July, August and December holidays (The park doesn’t get busy)

Best Weather August to November

Wildlife in Masoala NP

Red ruffed lemur Common

Humpback
whale Common

White-fronted
brown lemur Common

Masoala
sportive lemur

Common

Leaf-tailed
geckos Common

Show more

Masoala
woolly lemur Occasional

Masoala
fork-marked lemur

Occasional

Mouse lemurs Occasional

Tomato frog Occasional

Panther
chameleon Occasional

Lowland
streaked tenrec Rare

Greater
hedgehog tenrec Rare

Aye-aye Very Rare

Fossa Very Rare

Accommodation:

Masoala Forest Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located inside Masoala NP

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Explore Masoala

You have two days exploring with Masoala. Explore the primary rainforest in search of the red-ruffed lemurs, dwarf chameleons and other wildlife endemic to this forest. The afternoon activities could be a snorkel on the nearby coral reefs, rich in diversity, or a guided sea kayak to the look-out rock at the “Secret Cove” for the sun set, with the chance of a close encounter with bottlenose dolphin or green turtle.

Sightings of the incredible scaly and short-legged ground-rollers are regular. Mixed species flocks can contain an incredible diversity of vangas – the islands most celebrated bird family. After a couple of hours walk, take a welcome swim in the crystal clear pools of the Tampolo River at the foot of the forested mountains. In the evening, enjoy a guided nocturnal walk with the intriguing possibility of seeing some of the secretive nocturnal wildlife such as leaf-tailed gecko, mouse lemurs and maybe even the elusive aye-aye.

Main Destination:

Masoala National Park

Accommodation:

Masoala Forest Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located inside Masoala NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinks not included

Fly back to Tana and connect home

This morning you head back to Maroansetra by boat in time for you scheduled charter flight back to Tana. Upon arrival your driver guide will assist you in checking for your outbound flight.

Main Destination:

No major destination visited

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
• Drinks not included

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You'll be dropped off at the airport.