East Circuit: Andasibe, Pangalanes Canal, Natural Rock Pools, and Haunts of Pirates.
- Duration: 12 Days (approx.)
- Product code: mtt-4-en
Arrival to Antananarivo from your international flight. Customs formalities. Meet your driver-guide at the exit and transfer to the city center to your hotel. Accommodation and breakfast at the hotel. Welcome to Madagascar, a whole other planet on one island!
Day 2: Antananarivo – Andasibe
155KMS 3H30 on ASPHALT
Breakfast at the hotel. Meet at the hotel in the morning for the beginning of the East expedition of the Island through the National Route 2. This region is characterized by its wet climate thanks to the rain forest.
Crossing a myriad of villages and getting a feel for the traditional lifestyle of the Malagasy people, sail high past incomprehensibly abundant rice paddies, chimney-less long clay red houses in the Malagasy style, and millions of roadside markets displaying a variety of handicrafts, fruit and meat markets- all this against a pretty backdrop of golden grasslands and granite inselbergs.
On the way, visit the Perieyras farm, where you can easily see some reptiles, like chameleons from the biggest one to the smallest. Keep on driving, pass Moramanga. Arrival in Andasibe in the afternoon. Visit of the Vakona private park.
Day 3: Andasibe
Andasibe National Park
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer by car to the entrance of the park. This full day is dedicated to discovery by trekking inside the rain forest.
The park of Andasibe gathers 2 protected areas under one green umbrella: the National Park of Mantadia and the Special Reserve of Analamazoatra (or the Perinet reserve). The Perinet reserve is well known to be the shelter of the Indri-and the Indri are only present in this area. This species is considered to be the biggest primate living in Madagascar. The Mantadia reserve is characterized by orchids. In the park, there are 12 different species of lemurs (nocturnal and diurnal) but also more than 110 bird species with an endemic rate of 50 %. Tenrecs (sort of hedgehog) and chameleons cross your way too, and you enjoy primary forest curiosities such as trees ferns, lichens, epiphyte orchids (angraecum, bulbophyllums,…), medicinal plants, and precious woods like Dalbergia. Back to the hotel.
Day 4: Andasibe - Akanin'ny Nofy
160 KMS 4H APHALT+ Boat Crossing
Breakfast at the hotel. Hit the road toward Brickaville where you will leave the RN2 and take the track until you reach Manambato.
Boat crossing from Manambato to Ankanin’Nofy by passing through the sparkling Rasoabe Lake and Rasoamasay, and then into the Canal des Pangalanes - and finally you will arrive in Ampitabe Lake. This is where the hotel is located.
Day 5: Akanin'ny Nofy
Spare day in Ankanin'ny Nofy.
Optional Activities and visits available on site: Palmarium reserve, local school, crocodile lake.
Day 6: Akanin'ny Nofy-Tamatave (Toamasina)
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer by boat to Tamatave along the canal. We discover the canal life: traditional pirogues, tiny villages on the edges. Arrival in Tamatave and transfer to the city where your hotel is settled.
Day 7: Tamatave (Toamasina) - Sainte Marie
Flight today
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer by local staff to the airport of Tamatave. Boarding and flight to Sainte Marie by Air Madagascar or Tsaradia. Reception by the hotel’s staff and a short drive to the island resort. The remainder of the day at leisure.
Day 8: Ile aux Nattes
Boat trip from the southern tip of Nosy Boraha to the islet Ile aux Nattes, rimmed by gorgeous blue pristine water, populated with lemurs, and vantage point for the best Eastern vistas of Madagascar.
Day 9: Pirate Cemetary and the Libertalia Pirate Nation
Today we take a trip into town for briefly visiting Libertalia's (the old name of the pirate nation once founded on Sainte Marie as an independent free sovereign state of pirates in the 1600's) graveyard. 1500 pirates and 17 ships lived here and it was probably the most popular pirate haven in the world at the time. Eventually the pirates and their admiral Tom Tew were pardoned, having gained the respect (or at least status) of serious small nation, and dissipated with the onset of more patrols in the Indian Ocean
Day 10: Natural Rock Swimming Pools
Today we head due north to the most fantastic (and partially sacred) natural rock formations in Sainte Marie, and pretty unique among the whole of Madagascar. A small bay hosts a series of black rock natural swimming pools where the sea has created natural basins and rims where you can both swim, see the hem and haw of the tides and the waves, and gaze at the sea facing the Indian Ocean out to Australia. This is one of the best spots on Sainte Marie.
Day 11: Sainte Marie-Antananarivo
Flight today
Depending on the flight schedule, transfer to the airport by the staff of the hotel. Flight back to Tana. Lunch in Sainte Marie or Tana. Meet at the airport and transfer to your hotel in the city center.
Day 12: Antananarivo
Breakfast at the hotel. Day fully dedicated to the visit of the city. Sightseeing city tour with a driver-guide and a car at your disposal. Hit the road to the north part of the city to visit the old palace of Ambohimanga.
AMBOHIMANGA
We leave the hotel after breakfast to reach Ambohimanga, the blue hill. This hill is considered to be the fulcrum and ground zero of unification of the Imerina (from which the local ethnic name "Merina" come from) kingdom. At the capture of Antananarivo in 1794, the famous 12 sacred hills of the Imerina country became unified and directed by the one and only king: Andrianampoinimerina. Originally born in Ambohimanga, he decided to establish his summer palace in the city and at his death he was buried there. This ex-royal city was considered as sacred and forbidden to any foreigner, however in modern-day Tana this situation has turned to open its doors on Ambohimanga, conveniently, for your visit...
Back to town in the afternoon and around the premises and architecture of Tana to visit the old city or "haute ville" high (mountaintop) city replete with the most gorgeous architecture. Transfer to the hotel for day-use and dinner. Return to the airport late in the evening, and flight back.
END OF SERVICES...OR CHOOSE AN EXTENDED STAY WITH US TO EXTEND YOUR ODYSSEY!
Included: Airport transfers in Antananarivo and Sainte Marie Island; 11-nights accommodation with breakfast in midrange hotel according to the itinerary; tours and entrance fees according to the itinerary; guides in the national parks
Not Included: International or Domestic flights, lunch/dinner, visa cost, health insurance or travel insurance. Refreshments or snacks and things not on the above itinerary.