MADAGASCAR EAST

Meeting at Ivato international airport and transfer to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel

After breakfast, drive east by car, through a landscape characterized by its nested rice fields and wooded hills. In Marozevo visit the Exotic Park (also called Peyrieras Park after its founder), where you can see many chameleons from close up, as well as butterflies, frogs and other amphibians. Then on to Andasibe, the place looks more like a poor wooden shack village, it is the starting point for the visit of the national park, the realm of the legendary Indris. Once the only hotel in Andasibe was in the mighty train station building with a few bungalows opposite on the hillside.  But in the course of the years, thanks to the visitors from all over the world, numerous new hotel complexes were opened, in which a lot of jobs were created. Possibility to walk with a local guide along the road near the National Park Perinet-Analamazaotra in search of nocturnal animals before dinner. With a little luck you will see wool and mouse makis, chameleons etc. Overnight stay at the hotel.

After breakfast, an early morning visit to the 810 hectare reserve of Analamazaotra (930 to 1000 meters altitude), the realm of the mysterious Indri lemurs with their distinctive calls heard for miles around, and 13 other species of lemurs. You can also find various species of birds, chameleons etc. This hike on the Trail "Indri II" takes about three hours and leads on paths first in an upward gradient, and is then mostly flat. Afterwards you drive on the national road 2 about 113 km into the sugar cane and fruit growing area around Brickaville. After a few kilometres, the road turns right onto a 7 km long dirt road to the formerly busy holiday resort of Manambato. There we board a covered motorboat and transfer on the Pangalanes Canal (about 20 km) to the hotel in the middle of beautiful nature in Akanin'ny Nofy at Lake Ampitabe.  Overnight stay there.

By the way, the Pangalanes Canal is considered to be the second longest canal in the world. It is a continuous waterway of about 645 km in length, which leads from Tamatave, the northernmost end point, to the village of Farafangana in the south, running parallel to the Indian Ocean. The distance to the sea is sometimes only a few meters, at some points it also touches the sea, and therefore the water is slightly salty. During the colonial period, eight years of construction work created artificial connections between the naturally formed lakes and river courses, which are fed with water from wooded elevations. Artificially constructed branch canals were used to create connections to the nearest standing or flowing water sources.

A whole day to discover the surroundings of the hotel on the shores of Lake Ampitabe. Among other things, you can visit the private Palmarium Park with a great variety of lemurs during a hike lasting several hours, or you can explore the area by canoe or on foot. A nocturnal excursion is planned, partly by boat, in search of the rare and endangered Aye Aye lemurs (Daubentonia madagascariensis) with their unusual appearance. These strange lemurs have been settled on the island and are guarded around the clock. In the evening during the Aye Aye stalking, coconuts are clamped between two tree trunks, and one can watch how they are opened by this creatures with the beaver-like teeth and spooned out with the long middle finger. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Transfer early morning by motor boat along the Pangalanes canal until Tamatave. And then road trip to Mahambo on the road by the sea. Overnight at the hotel.

Today you will have a boat trasnrfer to Sainte Marie.  Pick up at the port and transfer to the hotel. Overnight hotel.

Days at leisure, possibilities: Swimming, snorkelling, diving, excursions by boat, bicycle, motorbike or on foot (fishing villages, pirates' cemetery, Ile aux Nattes in the south of the island or up north etc). With a bit of luck you can see mighty humpback whales, some with calves, during a boat trip or even from the beach from July to September. In contrast to the long east coast of the main island, the beaches of Sainte Marie (Nosy Boraha) are surrounded by protective coral reefs. There are numerous walks to be made, over hills, through meadows, along clear streams, past miles of sandy beaches, on the dunes of the Indian Ocean and in the rainforest. Many Malagasy traditions of the mainland can be found on Sainte Marie, and both traditions of the Merina of the highlands and typical festivals of the Sakalava from the west coast have been preserved in their original forms. The island now has a good 50 km long road with a bitumen layer from the airport to the north. The island can be explored on foot, by bicycle, motorbike or tuk-tuk. Around 27,000 people live on the island, whose highest point reaches just 114 metres.  A pirates' cemetery south of the clearly laid out capital Ambodifotatra reminds us of the time before colonisation, when pirates hid here. Overnight stays in a hotel.

Transfer to the airport for the flight to Antananarivo. Pick up at the airport and transfer to the city. Overnight at the hotel

Depending on the departure time of your international flight, you may be able to visit the historical sites of Ambohimanga (UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001). It is the holy city of Merina, and was once the residence of the most powerful of all Merina princes, King Andrianampoinimerina. Until the conquest and final subjugation by the French in 1896, no foreigner was allowed to enter it. It had seven city gates, and the most powerful of them still serves as the entrance gate to the place today. Next to the gate there is a huge, smoothly polished and almost circular stone slab. In former times it was rolled every evening in front of the entrance gate. From the top of the "Blue Hill" - that is the translation of Ambohimanga – at 1468 meters of altitude, you have a beautiful view of Tana and the surrounding area.

Afterwards visit a market with Malagasy handicrafts to buy last souvenirs and, if the flight is late in the evening, day use of a room in the hotel. Afterwards transfer to the airport and check-in for departure for the flight home.