Wildlife Tours to Madagascar MADAGASCAR CLASSIC
Lemur
| Tour Ref. | Days | Dates | Party Size |
Cost |
Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MG1/12 | 19 | Sunday 18th November to Thursday 6th December 2012 | 12 plus leader | Est. £4385 (£455)* | Simon Mitchell |
*Single room supplement.
Tour Destinations :
- Masoala National Park
- Ranomafana National Park
- Anja Reserve
- Isalo National Park
- Zombitse National Park
- Berenty Reserve
- Analamazaotra Reserve
- Mantadia National Park
Tour Summary
Madagascar Classic
Had Charles Darwin sailed to Madagascar instead of the Galapagos, his thoughts on evolution would surely have been provoked in a similar fashion, for the array of wildlife on this island is totally unlike anywhere else. There are no monkeys or apes, only lemurs – charming off-shoots of the primate family-tree that are confined to Madagascar. Ring-tailed Lemurs live in large troops like baboons, Sportive Lemurs are solitary, the Aye-aye feeds like a woodpecker, while the Indri resembles a giant teddy bear that sings in the rainforest canopy.
Like Darwin’s Finches in the Galapagos, there is a family of birds – the Vangas – that display a huge variety of beak shapes to exploit different sources of food. There are also Couas that peck through leaf-litter like pheasants and elusive Ground Rollers that nest in burrows and haunt the darkest recesses of the forest.
A Madagascar scene
Reptiles too abound – in Madagascar chameleons have found their ‘promised land’ – over 60% of the world’s species live on the island and nowhere else. Other reptiles include the amazing Leaf-tailed Gecko whose camouflage is near perfect, and the beautiful mottled green and black Tree Boa. Add to this a myriad of colourful tree frogs and a multitude of peculiar insects and there is always something to grab your attention.
Madagascar is also a country rich in habitat diversity. There can be few places where it is possible to experience lush rainforests, rugged mountain plateau, dry forests andsemi-desert spiny forests with a single tour. It is an intoxicating country that many visitors fall in love with. The strange and incongruous mixture of Indonesian, Polynesian and African influences combine to produce a country unlike any other.
Chameleon
Itinerary
Day 1 : Your tour departs from the UK via Paris, arriving in Antananarivo late in the evening for an overnight stay.
Day 2 : An early morning flight takes you to Maroantsetra where you will arrive in time for lunch.
Day 3 : A morning boat journey will take you to Tampolo in Masoala National Park where you will have a two night stay.
Masoala National Park comprises some 230,000ha of largely primary forest on the western side of the Masaola peninsula which has the largest remaining area of coastal/lowland rainforest on Madagascar. Masoala, which is the wettest part of the country with many clear, fast flowing streams and small rivers has arguably the greatest biodiversity in Madagascar. During your stay here you will hopefully encounter red-ruffed lemur, white-fronted brown lemur, eastern woolly lemur, eastern fork-marked lemur and aye-aye amongst other species. Helmet and nuthatch vangars are regularly seen along with red-breasted coua, scaly ground roller, short-legged ground roller and velvet asity.
Day 4 : You will have a full day in Masoala National Park returning to your lodge for overnight.
Day 5 : An early boat departure after breakfast will take you back to Maroantsetra from where you depart for Antananarivo on the early afternoon flight. On arrival you will go forward by road to Antsirabe for overnight.
Day 6 : Today you will drive to Ranomafana where you will begin a three night stay.
Days 7 and 8 : Two full days have been allocated to explore Ranomafana National Park which was founded in 1991 to protect the golden bamboo lemur. In all some 12 species of lemur are present many of which are relatively easily seen from the main trails. The reserve has a very pleasant climate, with waterfalls, attractive rushing rivers and a huge variety of birds, reptiles, frogs and invertebrates in the montane rainforest. The endemic rain forest birds are sure to be of interest and among the birds to be found in the reserve are brown mesite, Pollen’s vanga, blue vanga, velvet asity, common sunbird asity, pitta-like ground roller, Henst’s goshawk and wedge-tailed jery. It is little wonder that the diversity of species and the attractiveness of the landscape make this one of the favourite reserves in the country.
Day 9 : After a final visit to the Ranomafana National Park you will drive to Fianarantsoa for an overnight stay.
Day 10 : Today you will drive to Ranohira with a stop at Anja Reserve en route.
Day 11 : A full day to explore the Isalo National Park returning to your lodge for a second night there. The landscape of Isalo with its eroded ‘ruiniforme’ sandstone outcrops, canyons and rare plants make it a place unlike any other in Madagascar. Although there are fewer mammals, ring-tailed lemur, Verreaux’s sifaka and red-fronted brown lemur are all present as are a variety of birds including Benson’s rock-thrush, white-throated rail, cuckoo roller, Madagascar Coucal and Madagascar hoopoe. The mammals and birds are complemented by good numbers of reptile and frog species in this very unusual park with impressive gorges and strange shaped rock features in the eroded sandstone.
Day 12 : An early breakfast is the prelude to a drive to Zombitse National Park which is of particular interest to bird watchers as the home of Appert’s greenbul one of the country’s rarest endemics. Your visit to the reserve will also hopefully encounter some of the several species of lemur to be found here along with fosa and large-eared tenrec. After your visit to the Park you will continue on to Toliara for an overnight stay.
Day 13 : The morning flight from Toliara to Tolagnaro will give you access to Berenty Reserve where you have a two night stay.
Day 14 : A full day exploring the Berenty Reserve, including a trip to Anjampolo.
Day 15 : After a final morning in the reserve you will return to by road and depart from there by air for Antananarivo. An onward drive will take you to Andasibe for a three night stay.
The Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is an amalgamation of Analamazaotra Special Reserve and the nearby Mantadia National Park. Andasibe is an area of mid-altitude montane rainforest rising to over 1,000m and is probably the best place to hear and see Indri. Mantadia features lowland and mid-altitude rainforest with little or no flat ground and many very steep slopes. It is a good area for diademed sifaka, indri, black-and-white ruffed lemur and four species of ground roller.
There is the possibility of seeing 10 or more lemur species in the area which has a good network of paths in the Andasibe reserves and a series of trails of varying degrees of difficulty in Mantadia.
Day 16 and 17 : Two full days to explore Analamazaotra Reserve / Mantadia National Park.
Day 18 : Your final day in Madagascar begins with an afternoon drive to Antananarivo where you will have day rooms to freshen up and re-pack prior to evening dinner and your departure for the airport.
Day 19 : The return flight to Paris departs just after midnight arriving in Paris mid-morning where you connect with your onward flight to the UK.
NB: This itinerary provides a good insight into the activities on the tour. Changes to these activities may occur but these will always be due to matters beyond our control or in the interests of improving the tour.
White-browed Owl