The Wild South Madagascar Tour (11 days)

Landing in Antananarivo

A Discover Africa representative will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the Maison Gallieni . Antananarivo is a crowded city full of life.  Explore the vibrancy of its people and overwhelmingly unique architecture and history before you settle in for a comforting dinner. 

* Please expect a long transfer to your hotel as the streets can become highly congested

Antsirabe

Today you are transferred to Pluemtia Hotel, where you will be spending the night on a half board basis. Driving time: 3 to 4 hours depending on traffic to get out of Antananarivo. Your day also includes a city tour in Antsirable. 

You have a stop in Ambatolampy, where recycled aluminum cooking pots are made. Ambatolampy is a city located between Antananarivo and Antsirabe on National Road 7 (RN7) leading to southern Madagascar. One of the local specialty of this city is the artisanal manufacture of aluminum cookware used for cooking food in all Malagasy homes. 

Ranomafana National Park

After a scrumptious breakfast, you are collected and transferred to the Thermal Ranomafana Hotel, where you will be spending the next two nights on a half-board basis. En-route to your hotel, you can stop at Zafimaniry Handicraft shops on the way. Find more information below:

Situated in Central Madagascar, surrounded by rice paddies, the pretty town of Ambositra is considered to be the heart of Madagascar’s wood carving industry. Local houses featuring ornately carved wooden balconies and shutters, along with the architectural marvels of the Benedictine Chapel, make for a most attractive setting. Ambositra serves as an excellent base from which to explore the traditional Zafimaniry villages. The Zafimaniry people build entire houses using their own wooden architecture. Their art is listed as UNESCO World Heritage. You can buy handicrafts here. The best shops are found right opposite the Grand Hotel, which is also worth a visit. 

Ranomafana National Park

Today you have a night walk in the Ranomafana National Park. 

Situated in the southeastern region of Madagascar, Ranomafana National Park is one of Madagascar’s most popular national parks. Spanning 41 600-plus hectares of tropical rain forest featuring an array of rare and exotic fauna and flora. Established to conserve this unique biodiversity and subsequently declared a World Heritage Site in 2007, the Ranomafana National Park is home to twelve species of lemur, one of which is the critically endangered golden bamboo lemur, discovered here in 1986.Visitors should stay at least one night to make the most of the trails available and to enjoy a night ride to view the park’s rather exotic collection of reptiles, frogs and insects.

Fianarantsoa

This morning, upon checkout, you have a two hour transfer from Ranomafana to the Zomatel Hotel, where you will be spending the night on a half board basis. On the way you will stop at the Shambavy Tea Plantation, the only tea plantation in Madagascar. You will also enjoy a city tour in Fianarantsoa, where you will visit the local carmaker and the thrift shop. 

Ambalavao

We continue our road trip and we begin to see the majestic Andringitra in the horizon. We leave the highlands of Madagascar and enter a new microclimate: the dry bush and semi-desert of southern Madagascar. 60 kilometres after Fianarantsoa ( 1 hour ). We arrive in the small town of Ambalavao, one of the cultural treasures with its architectural houses with verandas.

Anja Community Reserve

The Anja Community Reserve: We will spend some time at the Anja Community Reserve, located 13 km south of the district capital Ambalavao. It is a unique environmental and cultural preservation site in the south of Madagascar. As both a nature reserve and a growing Malagasy town, Anja is an example of how humans and nature can co-exist and flourish.

Ranohira

Today you make your way to Isalo.  Your trip will be approximately eight hours. We pass through a massif which we call the gates of the South, we are now officially leaving the highlands. After a 240km drive from Ambalavao, we arrive in the massif of Isalo, a plateau of continental sandstone
massif dating from the Jurassic era and wildly eroded by wind and rain.

At the end of the day, we drive to the window of Isalo, a rectangular formation of rocks atop a hill with a large hole, hence a window. This natural picture frame is the perfect setting for a photo of the beautiful Madagascar sunsets.

Isalo

Isalo National Park: Accompanied by your park ranger, we will hike through the canyons and oases of Isalo and its lunar landscape to reach some waterfalls. During that hike, we will see different species of lemurs, including the world-famous ring-tailed lemur. After the canyons, we will go to different places to see a panoramic view of the landscape. We will have the opportunity to relax in this environment and swim in the natural pools.

Antananarivo

We transfer you to the domestic terminal so you can take your Tsara Dia flight to Toliara. On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel where you will spend the night.

End of Journey