Today is a great day! The first date) Your first taste of Madagascar will be your arrival in Antananarivo (or Tana, as it is known by the locals) from your international flight. We will do our very best to make our trip in Madagascar unforgettable! Our bureau's team will be at the airport to welcome you from your international flight.

Our North Madagascar Family Tour will begin in Antananarivo, where we will depart by car, but before catching a hotel we will visit in the Ivato crocodile farm, also called “Croc Farm”. Spanning three hectares, this lush green oasis is ideal for you to relax, we know that having an international flight is tiring.

After, we will depart by car to your nice hotel, where a prepared-room with a comfortable bed will be available for you to rest. Once there, refresh yourself. Look by the window, you made it! Take time to unpack what you need for tonight, rest and be ready for tomorrow! Discover the City of a Thousand as you are taken to hotel where you will stay overnight. And in the evening after dinner, over a cocktail we discuss our program.

From the first day to the last day our experienced and professional guide and the driver will be next to you, so don’t worry about it, they are near to make sure you have everything you need. Tomorrow we are leaving the capital city.

During the course of the morning you travel to Tsarasaotra which means birds‘ island, a small green oasis in the north of the city. The park is a refuge for many birds that can be easily watched and photographed here – among them 14 endangered species that only occur in Madagascar.

After visiting Tsarasaotra Park, we will drive along a scenic road to Anjozorobe-Angavo - Protected Area (2 h). Here the adventure really starts. Anjozorobe-Angavo offers you the simplicity of harmonious communication with nature.

Arrival at the camp, accommodation at the hotel, lunch, a pause to rest.

In the afternoon we will have an easy walk «Community Immersion tour»: over 7 km, 2 to 4 hours of walk. The “community immersion” tour is very good for you to discover the daily life of the local population who live in the protected area and its surroundings: rice fields, fields, laterite, green forest… It’s a rich landscape and colours tour. Crossing rice fields and visiting the Ambodipaiso and Antsahabe villages, you’ll understand how to produce the Malagasy’s basic food, the rice and its long step. The “community immersion” tour allows to know the story of the eucalyptus entry in Madagascar, its links with  railways, countryside, source of income… *meeting the local craftsmen with their wickerwork  and  the zebu carts manufacturing; *discovering the Imerina typic village and its social and cultural organization: the village origin and story, the house style and orientation and the agricultural products preservation; *participating in the Antsahabe Fokontany to the villagers daily activities: collecting food products in the fields, their preparation and the typical merina cooking. The “Community Immersion” tour will also give you the opportunity to learn more about the positive impacts of the conservation biodiversity on the local community. You can participate to planting trees from the community nursery. So, you contribute to the development of the community and the sustainable management of the site’s natural resources.

Shadows and light tour, 3,4 km, between 3 to 4 hours of walk: Enjoy this silence place and the biodiversity. Realize their importance life for the local community and their ecological role. It allows to discover the Anjozorobe-Angavo protected forest’s fauna and flora, the primary forest rich in medicinal and endemic plants. The famous bird “Jakoko Mena” or Rufus Headed Grandruler can be observed during the tour too.

You can meet two of the largest lemurs of Madagascar: the Indri Indri, almost with a black coat, characterized by their morning shoot to wake you up, and the Propithecus diadema, easy to observe, with white and brown coat. Some nocturnal species such as Lepilemur mustelinus and Avahi laniger can also be seen in their sleep during the day. There are a lot of plants too that local population use, like “Ramy” in Malagasy or the Canarium madagascariensis (for manufacturing a perfume incense), the “Vintanina” (for manufacturing carts wheels) and the «Hasina» (for circumcision). The Sacred waterfall tour ends up for visiting the small fall, a traditional religion place. Villagers are doing there some ritual blessed request or “tso-dràno” to “Zanahary”, the Great God and ancestors in Malagasy. For information, tuesday, thursday and saturday are taboos for the fall to do sacrifice. The villagers respect that.

In the afternoon we will have a stroll «Bamboo tour»: between 2 to 3 hours of walk. You can see many animals and plants of the protected area, like the famous bamboo trees. They are a Hapalemur griseus’s house. During you walk, you can meet the Eulemur fulvus and Propithecus diadema too. On the “Vakona” trees or pandanus, you can see frogs. They stay on their leaves.

Orchid tour: 1 hour of walk. The Anjozorobe Angavo protected area is characterized by the presence of different orchids. The very famous orchids of the rainforest, Angraecum and Aerangis citrata, are present. Orchid tour allows you to see the forest panorama and the Antsahabe village, an amazing view from the forest. You can meet in the meantime some lemurs and the community reforestation.

Hiking tour: 14km, between 5 to 7 hours of walk. This tour is for the big walkers. First, the long walk goes through the forest remnants of Madagascar highland. You can see indeed the Indri indri and the Propithecus diadema, and understand the forest socio-economic and cultural functions. Second, when you arrive at the top of the protected area, your sight is directly to the deterioration process of the natural resources, especially the highland forest. Third, your passage of the Afatrapeo Doany is good to know the local cultural as the Alahamadibe or the Malagasy New Year. It’s a sacred site with gap and 3 raised stones. Then, you see the Ramanarabe tomb during your tour. He was a Betsimisaraka southsayer, the witness of this important region for the Merina royal conquest. On the edge of the natural forests, you’ll meet some people who making charcoal with Eucalyptus trees. After, you’ll pass in the Ambodipaiso small village where you can develop to the villagers your knowledge about the local wickerwork and the zebu cart makers. When you arrive in the Antsahabe village, the population origin and story, the house’s style and color, the social organization within the fokontany and the underground rice storehouse or “silo” in Malagasy, will be explain by the elders of the village. In one of the houses, you would be invited to savour the local coffee. The tour will be continue and visit the public primary School of Antsahabe and the Antsahabe birthplace of “Ravoandriana village”, then crossing between rice fiel and finally the community nursery of Andreba where you can participate in the local reforestation.

After an early breakfast, we will return to the capital, if time permits - we will have a short city tour.

Today your tour ends. A transfer back to the airport Ivato. We wish you a comfortable journey home and are sure you will take with you some wonderful memories of Madagascar. Experienced travelers are used to goodbyes, but that doesn't mean they get any easier. When the time comes to depart the wonderful Madagascar, we wouldn't be surprised if you were already planning a return trip!