This is a great classic , a tour you can enjoy all year long. In less than 10 days, you will discover the essentials of this big island. Along a mythic national road heading to the Southern part of the island you will experience the different micro climates, the unique and diverse fauna and flora before ending the tour on the white sand beaches of Ifaty.
Day : 1 Arrive in Antananarivo, and discover the City of the Thousand
Discover Antananarivo, its history and its busy colourful streets. A visit to the Old City, the palace of the Queen, will introduce you to the architecture and urbanism of this particular city. An introduction to the delectable cuisine of Madagascar and the islands of the Indian Ocean is also on the menu.
Day : 2 Crossing the highlands; Antananarivo- Antsirabe
On the first 180 km of RN7, there is a succession of landscapes characteristic of the Highlands: villages of brick houses surrounded by rice fields and overcome with beautiful hills, rivers and waterfalls, small sellers of fruit and vegetables throughout the road. We stop in the city of Ambatolampy, famous for its craft workshops of aluminum cooking pots. We then reach Antsirabe which is better discovered with a rickshaw ride in order to admire its beautiful houses, monuments. Several possible excursions in the vicinity of beautiful volcanic lakes. Antsirabe is considered as a «gourmet step».
Day 3: Antsirabe – Ranomafana
We are heading to Ranomafana rainforest. The road to Ranomafana offers beautiful scenery: Tapias forest, beautiful hills, typical villages, terrace rice fields, and exceptional views.
Day 4: Ranomafana National Park
An early morning wake up will take you in the trails of the rainforest with some park rangers to discover lemurs and different wildlife in their natural habitat.The guided tour of Ranomafana National Park, which is classified at UNESCO’s World Natural Heritage, is crisscrossed by a magnificent dense vegetation typical of the east coast wetlands: 257 species of birds, 12 species of lemurs, reptiles, insects…
Day 5: Ranomafana – Ambalavao – Ranohira
We leave the highlands to continue your journey towards the South with its semi-dry landscape. The first stop of the day is in the small town of Ambalavao, one of the cultural treasures with its architectural houses with verandas. There, we will visit the entirely natural Paper Factory Antemoro, an inlaid paper made from plants and flowers which is exported nowadays everywhere to make beautiful greeting cards. We will arrive in Ranohira later in the afternoon to enjoy a very unique landscape.
Day 6: Isalo National Park
A tour through a lunar landscape in this National Park. Your guide will lead you through the deep canyons, waterfalls and natural pools where you can take a swim. The day ends on a magnificent sunset to the famous window of the Isalo.
Day 7: Ranohira – Zombitse – Ifaty
We make a passage through Ilakaka, the city of the rush to sapphire.After an hour drive, we stop at Zombitse National Park known for its richness in rare and endemic birds of Madagascar like the Bulbul of Appert (Phylastrephus apperti). It is a great opportunity to observe lemurs such as the Sifaka. After a stop in Toliara, we end our journey with a beautiful sunset on the beautiful beach of the Channel of Mozambique.
Day 8: Ifaty – Antananarivo
From here, we will fly back to the city of Antananarivo. Take advantage of the available time remaining to browse through the city.