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Thank you for your interest in our holidays. To help us provide the best service for you, please tell us a bit more about what you are looking for, including details of activities or particular holidays you are interested in. Our expert will then begin planning your perfect visit to Madagascar.

We really excel at tailor-making your trip to your needs. You may want to see certain species or visit particular parks, reserves or lodges. You may want a private plane or helicopter and high class car, or need to travel at a certain time of year. Tailor-making works whether you are an experienced traveler or trying out a wildlife holiday for the first time, wanting to enjoy a wildlife experiences as part of an occasion like a birthday, honeymoon or anniversary, or a busy executive in search of a short wildlife fix.

Have you always wanted to design your own tour but let someone else handle all the nitty gritty of organizing it? Do you run specialized tours where you'd like us to put them together for you? Keen birders, scuba divers, conservationists, volunteers, photographers, surfers, medical adventurers, hikers, bikers, historians and geologists – no matter what your specialty is, we can tailormake accordingly! We also offer unique tours which you're more than welcome to join us on!

Do you have a large family or group of friends that you would like to travel? Does your company want to run its own set of branded series tours? The NDAO-i-Travel tailormade services and charter team can do organize all of this for you, and more! Whether it be in an air-conditioned bus, a minivan or a 4 x 4 vehicle, we will tailor a tour for you to ensure that your dream holiday takes in everything you're expecting from it.

Our team of well-travelled and dedicated individuals will provide you with a detailed itinerary, suggested accommodation, professional, friendly service and all the support you need to make travelling in Madagascar an absolute pleasure.

Whether your party is made up of two or two hundred travelers, we'll pull something special out of the bag, just for you!

You can enjoy complete flexibility in planning and booking on all our tours for a truly customized Madagascar holiday that is in your budget and personal style. Traveling around a theme or exploring something in particular? Our tailor-made holiday experts are eager to assist in planning an experience that fits your requirements putting you in complete control of your next Madagascar holiday.

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MADAGASCAR RUBY & SAPPHIRE

What of Madagascar's spectacular gem diversity? Madagascar lies smack-dab in the middle of precious stone nirvana. Madagascar represent some of the richest gem deposit on the planet.

Madagascar is most famous for blue sapphire, but many different colors have been found, including pink, yellow, green, white and padparadscha. Some fine color change sapphires have also been found, that display blue or violet depending on the lighting. However, it is not just the quantity and variety of material that has made Madagascar so important as a sapphire producer. Rather it is the combination of the quality and size of the gems, a combination that had not been seen in the gems business for many years.

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Sapphire is a gemstone, a kind of corundum. It is believed that this mineral is blue in color. But this is not the case, as sapphires can have different shades and colors, which affects their value.

Corundum stone has a rich color palette that includes all the colors of the rainbow:

Red corundum - ruby.

All other shades are sapphire varieties.

Among other things, sapphire is highly durable and ranks second in hardness after diamond. For the variety of colors and brilliance, this mineral is extremely valuable in the circle of royal dynasties.

IF THE STONE IS REALLY EXPENSIVE, IT DOESN'T NEED A DIFFICULT CUT BECAUSE IT HINDS COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF SAPPHIRE QUALITY.

Sapphire is also credited with medicinal properties. It is believed that it is able to cure cancer, heart disease, back pain, insomnia, eye disease.

The most expensive sapphire, which has a cornflower blue color. Its coloration is so clear that it is difficult to tell whether it is light or dark blue before the eyes. The price of a cornflower blue mineral varies from $ 300 to $ 1000 per 1 carat - it all depends on the processing method. Minerals without heat heating are much more valuable, and their price is over $ 1000 per 1 carat.

Depending on the processing, yellow sapphire can have a deep yellow or light golden hue. The price of a mineral of this color is from $ 215 per 1 carat.

Sapphire, which has a green color, is extremely unusual. The bottom line is that the color of the stone is impure green. These are thin streaks of yellow and blue. Refracting and alternating, they cause the illusion of green color.

Green sapphires start at $ 230 per carat.

The cost of a sapphire will depend not only on the color, but also on the size.

MINERAL CHECK

The word "sapphire" in Greek means "blue stone". There are stones of various colors - colorless, pink, green, purple, orange, yellow. Such stones are very expensive, however, even the high cost does not guarantee the authenticity of the mineral. For this reason, adherents of luxury should keep in mind how to check the stone so as not to buy a fake. Take a close look at the sapphire, it is recommended through a magnifying glass. If in its structure you notice some defects of the type of colloidal inclusions (impurities of iron and titanium), then the probability of the authenticity of the gem increases. Focus on transparency. The stone is more precious the higher it is. At the same time, ideal transparency should arouse suspicion: it is possessed by specimens that were grown artificially, and there are some defects in natural stones, so-called inclusion. Assess the color of the stone. If, for example, it is dark blue, however, at the same time there are noticeable inclusions of other colors (for example, yellow, red, or several at the same time), then such a mineral is real, although its cost should not be high. Only stones with a uniform color are expensive, and accordingly the price for 1 carat of such a mineral will be significant.

STONE CUT - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Understand the cut. The product glows brighter than there are more edges. The quality of the cut and the number of facets can be found on the product label. Thus, the letter "A" indicates that the cut class is the highest: the rules of symmetry and proportionality are followed exactly. The further you go according to the alphabet, the lower the skill level of the cutter. Analyze the tactile sensations of the stone. If you took the mineral in your hands and felt the cold, then the stone can be considered natural. Synthetically made forgeries do not give this feeling.