We hope you enjoyed your international flight. We will be at the airport to welcome you and transfer you to your hotel, where you will stay overnight. Let’s start by learning a new word: “Tongasoa”, read it Toongasoo, which means Welcome. Our tour will begin in Antananarivo, where are 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.

From the “Croc Farm” we will transfer you to your hotel, where you will stay overnight. Do you want a piece of advice? Choose a light meal for dinner. You will feel more comfortable during your overnight stay at your hotel. In the evening after dinner, over cocktails 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. We are leaving tomorrow.

Today, depending on the flight schedule, we will proceed to your transfer to the airport and flight to Sainte Marie Island. After about a three-hour journey, you will arrive at the lodge or hotel.

Let’s enjoy it. Discover this amazing place where you’ll stay for few days! Start gathering highlights from today on: enjoy exploring the beaches, swimming in the sea before going for a walk along the coast. Relax. Delight and don’t worry, we took great care of everything. You will enjoy your lunch and dinner at your hotel, where you’ll stay overnight.

What do I do once there? As said before: “Doing everything or doing nothing, both are great and possible.” Nosy Boraha has enough to do that you can fill many days here.

The island of Sainte Marie and its small surrounding islands are a true jewel and very rich in terms of terrestrial and marine biodiversity. Nosy Boraha also offers a stunning landscape: majestic waterfalls, clear natural pools, preserved tropical forests and - of course - fine sand beaches that face the turquoise sea. Its seascape is equally impressive thanks to its coral reef and its waters filled with fish.

You can of course, and we recommend it, fishing in the Deep or soak up the sun, enjoy of beaches and kaleidoscope of the local cuisine, get a cocktail in a bar or on the beach between palm trees – or have fun in the local discotheque. Ile Ste Marie has everything for everyone.

To whet your Island hopping appetite, we’re offer a look at seven of the most popular things you can do together with us on the lush and charming Ile St Marie.

Today we leave off to Akanin’ny nofy (Palmarium), known as the ‘nest of dreams’. For years, Akanin’ny nofy (Palmarium)  famous for its many very tame lemurs. Ten species of lemurs live in freedom in the reserve, as well as reptiles, amphibians and crocodiles.

First you will head to Soanierana Ivongo by the speed boat, 1hr trip, where a car is waiting for you. We will drive to Toamasina, where we join the Pangalanes Canal. Along the route our boatman will give you the opportunity to visit a fishing village and interact with the fishing folk. Further along as you get closer to Palmarium you will see more and more fishermen tendering their fish traps in their dugout canoes as the village children wave you by. Bamboo rafts are used to transport various small goods up and down the canal as well as large canoes and some motor vessels.

After light refreshments and some entertainment from the resident Lemur family you have the balance of the day free for you to enjoy at your leisure either exploring the area or just relaxing. In this reserve, you can really leave all your cares behind! Soon you forget all your daily life sorrows trying tasty Malagasy food and self-made rum. You can take a sunbath on the beach, let your feet dangle from the boat stage or enjoy swimming in the warm water of lake Ampitabe.

An early start at 6.30 am is called for, either breakfast first or a 2 hour walk seeing and interacting with various lemurs, including the largest Indri Lemur, plus various exotic birds and rare plants in the forest, and breakfast on your return.

After, together with our guide, you can also explore the lowland rainforest via simple paths. All paths inside the reserve are quite flat and easy to walk. From the viewpoint you have a great view over the reserve, the belonging crocodile lake and lake Ampitabe. For years, Akanin’ny Nofy (Palmarium) is been famous for its many very tame lemurs. Ten species of lemurs live in freedom in the reserve, as well as reptiles, amphibians and crocodiles.

In the afternoon we by a boat visit a fishing village located between the ocean and the Pangalanes Canal. It is a relaxing moment alongside the local fishermen. The scenery is guaranteed, you will enjoy visiting, the swim and picnic with fresh seafood on the white sand of the Indian ocean beach.

In the evening there is often a local band at the hotel bar, where you can relax and enjoy the Malagasy music, and lemurs that will spy around the restaurant.

Today will be a travel day, through stunning natural scenery on very beautiful and photographic paved roads, you make your way to Andasibe, base for discovering the Mantadia National Park, a journey of about 4 hours.  During this drive, you cross a myriad of villages and get acquainted with the traditional lifestyle of the Malagasy people. 200 km to enjoy pretty golden grasslands, amazingly abundant rice paddies, chimneyless long clay red houses and millions of roadside markets displaying a variety of colourful and gorgeous handicrafts, fruits and flowers.

We arrive just after noon in time to stroll around the private reserve – Lemur island with the opportunity to get close to lemurs as they are known to jump on your shoulder to get a closer look!

Soon after sunset, we’ll make another brief visit to the edges of the Analamazaotra Special Reserve to admire some of small nocturnal creatures at work, hoping to observe the night “mouse lemur” Microcebus, the smallest of all the lemurs.

Early in the morning you'll wake up in the Mantadia NP to the characteristic cry of the indri. The sound carries for kilometers, and is intended to delineate their territory. Sometimes you hear ten different families, some distant, others nearby.

We just after early breakfast, take an half day trip to visit the reserve of indri or, better known as the Analamazaotra Special Reserve, during which, you will certainly start to see the various species, including the indri, is the largest of the species of lemurs. You’ll see them jumping from tree to tree with incredible agility despite their size and above all, you’ll hear them scream. Our guides help you to find the indri and almost always they'll find a family of them. Also 'Woolly Lemurs' and 'Brown Lemurs' are frequently seen. Furthermore there are chameleons, various very special frogs and many species of birds including coua's. The tour will largely be along well-trodden paths, but to see lemurs you will occasionally need to leave the path and embark on a little scrambling and climbing.

In the afternoon, we will head off on the next part of the adventure. We’ll spend the time visiting the great park of Mantadia, few kilometers north of where we are staying. We will do a circuit of about 4 hours, to meet groups of lemurs as the indri, the diadem sifaka and the bamboo lemur. This circuit is also very spectacular for its landscapes we’ll see waterfalls and rivers surrounded by strikingly beautiful tropical plants. The path is pretty good, but with some hills.

In the evening, if you want, we can organize another night walk in the forest to see nocturnal wildlife.

Awake reckless spirit! Today, after breakfast you will encounter Torotorofotsy Ramsar Site and conservation projects of Mitsinjo. What about looking at a few birds’ species? Situated in the fokontany of Menalamba in the north-west of Andasibe Commune, the Torotorofotsy wetlands (together with its three branches Mokaranana, Ankahelava and Ambasimbavy) serve as a large reservoir for water and host an array of water dwellers. Birds, frogs, lemurs and chameleons depend on the wetland just as much as the rural human population living close to it.

You will love it. The region where Mitsinjo is based contains a number of rainforest and marsh sites which offer mind-blowing birding – a true ‘O.O.E.’ (Orgasmic Ornithological Experience in birder speak), to put it mildly. You might wonder why Andasibe-Mantadia is included in all Madagascar birding itineraries. Well, for starters this is where we can seek the bulk of Madagascar’s rainforest-dependent endemic birds, as well as a select band of marsh-dwelling species unique to the eastern domain.

When we return to your hotel, enjoy the view. Discover the beauty of your hotel before dinner! Truly, it is a wonderful tour! Tonight we are in the VOIMMA Park, full of nocturnal species of lemurs and chameleons, is run by the village community. This evening will delight in late-night strolls.

Prepare your camera! To give you a last sweet taste of Andasibe, we will have a last visit, before breakfast, just a snacking. We will get a visit to the lovely private reserve of Vakona lodge known as the "Island of lemurs" to take part in their feeding and to meet some of the friendliest primates of the island. You'll be keen to experience this unique activity! The lemurs - brown, ruffled, dancing, lemurs galore - they will want our bananas and they will be willing to do whatever it takes to get them. Including jumping on our heads, shoulders, arms, and gouging our eyes out. Get ready! - many lemurs will be intent on boarding a canoe! Lemurs pirates!

Then, you will enjoy a 4-hour drive hitting the 160 km road towards Antananarivo. Get your “wow” moments on the way, this road is filled with typical malagasy landscapes for you to contemplate. There will be plenty interesting spots on the way, but the most exciting is stop at a farm specializing in Madagascar reptiles and butterflies. You visit the exotic farming centre of Mr. Pereyras, Marozevo, where you will see chameleon species of Madagascar, butterflies, lizards, snakes and other interesting animals.

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!