Upon your arrival in Antananarivo, you will be met and transferred to your hotel which can take around one hour 30mn drive.

From a distance you will see ,on the highest hill the Queen’s Palace or Rova and the ‘city of the thousand warriors’: Antananarivo (TANA) which in the evening sunshine has the quality of a child’s picture book: “coloured houses stacked up the hillsides with mauve jacarandas, purple bougainvillea against the dark blue sky …rice paddies tended right up to the edge of the city … all deliciously ‘foreign’ and can hardly fail the first time visitor.

Overnight : MAISON Gallieni (or Equivalent/ HB).

Transfer to the airport for a short morning flight to TULEAR on the west coast .(TNR12:30-14:20TLE ) After lunch visit of the ANTSOKAY Arboretum just outside of town where we will enjoy the bizarre and exotic spiny forests thriving in the southern arid region of Madagascar.

Overnight: MORINGA (or Equivalent/FB)

Today , we make our way to ISALO National Park ,passing by famous Mahafaly and Masikoro tombs and their Aloalo. (Some people think that the name Masikoro came from “Mashokora” which in parts of Tanzania means ‘scrub forest’ .this tribe may have some African origin. After the sapphire town of SAKARAHA we will make a stop at ZOMBITSE Special Reserve . The park offers amazing views of baobab trees (Adansonia madagascariensis , Adansonia za ) orchids, and is home to various mammals and birds .

We will try to spot : Verreaux Sifaka ,red fronted brown lemur, grey mouse lemur and the Zombitse sportive lemurs, and endemic birds such as Appert’ s tetraka ,white headed vanga ,blue vanga ,giant coua and standing geckos. We continue our drive to the heart of this semi-desert where lies the biggest sapphire deposit of the world ILAKAKA some 40 sq km , and later the magnificent ISALO Massif with its stark beauty. This stunning park is home for the next 2 nights.

Lunch :Picnic lunch at ZOMBITSE / Overnight: JARDIN DU ROI (or Equivalent /FB)

Today we enjoy our time hiking and exploring ISALO National Park. The park encompasses the wildly eroded Jurassic sandstone massif ; characterized by alternating flat grassy plains and sandsto-ne ridges dotted with palm trees and pachypodiums (see left picture below) , commonly known as “elephant’s foot”.

This Jurassic landscape has been sculpted by wind and water into fanciful hoodoos that appear to have eyes, ears, noses, and beaks.

Typical of the Malagasy culture, this haunting place is filled with a variety of local fady (superstitions and taboos) that must be observed as one moves through the park. We enjoy numerous guided walks and hikes in the park in search of wildlife such as ring-tailed lemurs, red browed lemurs ,Verreaux’s Sifaka ; endemic birds such as ‘Benson’s rock thrush” or Hook billed Vanga and enjoy a picnic lunch at a beautiful natural swimming pool or at Namazaha.

Lunch :At the hotel or picnic / Overnight: JARDIN DU ROI (or Equivalent/FB)

Today is a long travel day. We set out early for the journey leaving the Bara to the Betsileo city of Fianarantsoa. Along the way we enjoy a visit and hike in ANJA wildlife reserve. which not only offers incredible scenery, but is also known for being a great location to view ring-tailed lemurs and Chameleons . After a picnic lunch we continue our drive into the lush highlands and have an hour stop at AMBALAVAO to learn the fascinating production process of ‘tapia wild silk ‘ and the production of a unique kind of paper :‘the Antemoro paper’ made from the bark of a local bush called Avoha . Historically this is the place where the Betsileo confronted the Bara (18th century) and the Merina (19th century) to keep their territory and independence.

We then continue to FIANARANTSOA (locally abbreviated to Fianar), which has long been known as the academic and intellectual center of Madagascar ,a charming town, dominated by the backdrop of 4,500 ft (1,372 m) Mount Kianjasoa.

Lunch :Picnic (ANJA or Bougainvillier AMBALAVAO) .Overnight : ZOMATEL (or Equivalent/HB).

After an early breakfast we leave Fianarantsoa and drive some two hours heading north to reach RANOMAFANA PROTECTED RAINFOREST . Historically, it served as a thermal bath center, but now the prime attraction is the newly established national park. Lying at an altitude of 2,600-3,900 ft (793-1,189 m), it is comprised mainly of rainforest covered hills, carved by numerous small streams feeding the whitewater of the Namorona River.

Today, enjoy your first morning in this famous National Park which has been first set up by Dr. Patricia Wright , and one of the most pleasant places in Madagascar. Depending on where the lemurs are ,we may start our day with the "Talatakely trail" one of the most visited and one of the best for spotting lemurs.

Walk will vary from 3 to 4 hours back to back trying to find some 6 lemur species :the golden bamboo,the greater bamboo, the grey bamboo, the Milne-Edwards’ sifaka , the red bellied lemur ,the red fronted brown lemur . After this morning visit we will go straight to THERMAL hotel for lunch .

Later by 5:00 PM ,we leave the hotel for the “nocturnal visit” to spot the famous brown “mouse lemurs” ,Chameleons and frogs .

Overnight : THERMAL hotel (or Equivalent /FB )

This national park is home to 29 species of mammals, including 12 species of lemurs. On an average day in the park, we see red-bellied lemurs, red-fronted lemurs, and Milne-Edwards sifakas (commonly called chocolate sifakas). We may even glimpse a golden bamboo lemur, which is unique to this park and only recently discovered.

The diversity of flora is incredible, with orchids, tree ferns, palms, mosses, a variety of flowering plants and stands of giant bamboo - 278 species of trees and bushes as well as numerous other species of smaller plants. The Ranomafana Protected Rainforest is part of the UNESCO Natural Heritage Site cove -ring the rainforests of the “Zahamena Corridor”.

This second day we will discover the other side of the park through 3 to 4 hours walk in “Vohiparara” Circuit” to see more Sifaka and for birders :brown emutail, Madagascar snipe, Meller’s duck and may be the extremely rare slender billed flufftail , rufous headed ground roller ,Pollen’s vanga and yellow bellied sunbird asity.

Lunch /Overnight : RELAIS THERMAL hotel (or Equivalent/ FB).

Today is a long travel day. After an early departure from our hotel, we begin our journey along bumpy roads, to AMBOSITRA (which means “Place of Eunuchs”) to see fine local woodcarvers and their wares. We will have the opportunity to see Betsileo dancers performing during our lunch .

The last stretch of the drive brings us to ANTSIRABE, our resting spot for the evening.

Lunch : Chez L’Artisant Guest House . Overnight : COULEUR Café (or Equivalent/HB).

This morning before heading to TANA ,we explore some part of the beautiful town of ANTSIRABE situated at an altitude of 4,900 ft (1,493 m) by “pousse-pousse” (rickshaw) and later visit famed skilled artisans “Chez Mamy Miniatures”a family workshop specializes in the creation of miniature objects: bicycles ,cars, rickshaws, by recycling anything from aluminium cans box to make toys, “Atelier Corne de Zebu” where artisans turn zebu horn into numerous objects from jewellery to salad spoons etc…you will see the whole production process from how to separate the bone from its keratin shell to polishing the final products with old Jeans .

After two hours drive ,we stop at AMBATOLAMPY a charming and very typical High plateau town ,for lunch stop and to see a local workshop and watch artisans at work making the ubiquitous “marmites” (aluminium pots) .The aluminium used to manufacture pots here is from various origin car parts etc…melted in furnace and poured in handmade moults of fine laterite and coal powder.

Lunch :La PINETA Guest house / Overnight : Maison Gallieni (or Equivalent/BB).

Today we enjoy the drive to ANALAMAZOTRA Special Reserve through the Madagascar high-lands. After some three hours drive , we will make a stop at PEYREIRAS Reptile Farm an opportunity to discover almost all the colorful and different kind of Chameleons existing in Madagascar ,from the very two big : Oustalet’ s chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) and Parson’s chameleons (Calumma parsonii) (length can exceed 24 inches), to the midgets “nose-horned “chameleon ( Calumma nasutus) (1,37 inches) We will continue till Analamazotra Special Reserve ( named after the river which traverses it).

Lunch : ”Diary hotely”or ”Le Coq d’Or” MORAMANGA . Overnight :MANTADIA Lodge (or Equivalent/HB) .

Today we go deeper into “ANALAMAZOTRA” the southern part of the Special Reserve ,looking for the famous three foot tall indri, the largest of the lemur species which can live for up to 30 years and can jump upwards of 30 feet! Early in the morning, it is possible to hear their haunting song which can be heard for several miles. We will be on the watch for grey bamboo lemurs, common brown lemurs, diademed sifakas and chameleons, of which eight species are found here as well as the Giraffe-necked weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) .

There are 24 species of amphibians including some endemic to this reserve. Bird life is also abundant. After a late lunch we enjoy some free time in the afternoon or visit the ANDASIBE Village .

Overnight :MANTADIA Lodge (or equivalent)/FB.

For this second day, after breakfast ,we will visit the MITSINJO Park (owned and managed by a local association promoting reforestation and other conservation measures) trying to spot other Indri Indri families ,diademed sifaka ,endemic birds :blue coua ,red fronted coua ,blue vanga ,red tailed vanga, may be Velvet Asity ,Pitta-like ground roller ,short legged ground roller as well as reptiles and frogs.

We will go back to the hotel for lunch after 3 to 4 hours trek in the forest .

In the afternoon we will visit the VAKONA Lemurs’ Island to see more closely (in semi wild) :Common brown lemurs, Black and white sifaka, Diademed sifaka and other Bamboo lemurs .

Lunch :Feon’ny Ala or Mantadia Overnight :MANTADIA Lodge ( or equivalent)(FB).

This morning ,after breakfast, we drive back to TANA(Antananarivo ) and would try one of the famous restaurant in town before enjoying an afternoon visit of the “Haute Ville” with a local guide to better understand the Malagasy culture and history .We later heading back to your hotel .

Overnight :MAISON GALLIENI ( or equivalent)/HB.