:: Sample Holidays - suggestions to whet your appetite

JOURNEY THROUGH MADAGASCAR travelling first by road with your private guide, exploring some of Madagascar's best National Parks in search of wildlife and visiting culturally interesting sites along the way, before flying to an enchanting lodge for relaxation by the sea

	Fly overnight from London via Paris to Antananarivo. Overnight at Royal Pallisandre Hotel. By road to Antsirabe and overnight at Résidence Camelia. By road to Ranomafana. Setam Lodge for 2 nights. By road to Fianarantsoa and overnight at Tsara Guest House. By road to Isalo. Relais de la Reine for 2 nights. By road to Tulear and fly back Tana and then by road to Perinet. Vakona Lodge for 3 nights. Return to Tana and overnight at Royal Pallisandre Hotel. Fly to Anjajavy for 4 nights. Fly back to Tana and overnight to London via Paris. From £4,320 per person sharing for 17 nights
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You need a sense of adventure to best appreciate this fascinating island but as long as you are prepared for the odd delayed flight and perhaps a meal that might not be of the highest standard, your tour will reward you with some wonderful experiences.

A private guide and driver will whisk you away from the airport bustle and take you to the calm of Le Royal Palissandre, situated on a hillside near the centre of TANA where you can catch a flavour of the city and relax after your journey.

The next day set off south with your guide and driver through the highlands of central Madagascar, passing typical landscapes of distinctive architecture and rice fields of the Merina people. Résidence Camelia, a converted colonial villa in a pretty garden setting, is centrally located in ANTSIRABE, an elegant town with streets that throng with pousse-pousse (rickshaws)!

Your journey now enters the country of the Betsileo people and it is worth stopping in AMBOSITRA, an attractive town with ornately carved balconies and shutters. After visiting a woodcarving workshop, turn off the main road to enter a wonderful montane rainforest and continue to RANOMAFANA. Setam Lodge will be your base for exploration on foot of Ranomafana National Park which was created to protect two critically endangered lemur species, golden bamboo and greater bamboo. These are among a dozen different species which, along with frogs, chameleons and the many endemic birds make this one of the country’s richest wildlife areas.

After a morning’s walk, drive on to FIANARANTSOA, Madagascar’s second largest city, in an area of tea estates and vineyards. Stay overnight at Tsara Guest House, a converted church which provides charming accommodation and very good food. Be sure to sample some of the local wines with your dinner!

The route continues through more magnificent scenery with a detour into AMBALAVAO where there is a paper making factory and a convenient restaurant for lunch. A little further on is community-run ANJA PARK where ring-tailed lemurs can be found. The journey now takes you past the Andringitra Mountains, an area of huge granite peaks and domes and through IHOSY the capital of the Bara people who were originally nomadic cattle raisers. The scenery changes to grasslands on the Horombe Plateau and you will drive through RANOHIRA on your way to your next hotel.

Relais De La Reine is a lovely French-run hotel on the edge of ISALO NATIONAL PARK. You will have a wonderful day exploring the caves and canyons of the dramatic sandstone massif, being suddenly startled by the lemurs that inhabit the area and perhaps taking a dip in the piscine naturelle.

Drive further west to Tulear, past the tombs adorned with zebu horns. There are also a couple of ‘settlements’ which have sprung up since the discovery of sapphires. Quite fascinating and reminiscent of the Gold Rush! Fly back to Tana and then drive east to the rainforest reserve of PERINET. Vakona Lodge is close by with its charming cottage accommodation.

As you enter the forest, listen for the haunting cry of the Indri, the largest of the lemur species. Your guide can also help you find other lemurs, tree frogs, chameleons and tenrecs on the island in the lake, part of Vakona’s property.

Drive back to Tana, overnight at Le Royal Palissandre and then fly early to ANJAJAVY on the northwest coast where the spacious bungalows overlook the ocean. Not only is this perfect for relaxation but there is also enough of interest for the energetic with lemurs to be found along with other small mammals and a good variety of birds. This is an area of dry deciduous forest and tsingy limestone, and a cave with stalactites and stalagmites that is well worth a visit.

What a journey this will be – imagine all the images and memories that you will take home!

and what about?
	There are other areas to explore in Madagascar including Nosy Mangabe in the east for a chance to see the strange aye-aye lemurs and the Avenue of the Baobabs near Morondava in the west. Instead of travelling to Anjajavy, consider staying on Nosy Be, the ‘Big Island’ of the north west coast which has a well developed structure for beach holidays. You can hire a car or perhaps mountain bikes to go exploring or book onto organised excursions to see lemurs and chameleons, to visit local markets, to snorkel or scuba dive.

:: Sample Holidays

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