9-Nights Tailor Made Madagascar: Living Treasures - Luxury Tailor Made Travel from $14,690

Itinerary Details

Abercrombie & Kent: Tailor Made Madagascar: Living Treasures

Day 1 Antananarivo, Madagascar

Arrive in Antananarivo (Tana), where you are met and transferred to your hotel. The capital city of Madagascar, Antananarivo is situated in the island’s Central Highlands.

This morning, transfer to the airport for a private charter flight to Isalo, where you are met and transferred to your hotel. Sandstone into deep canyons and eroded into spectacular shapes, along with rare endemic plants, make Isalo one of Madagascar’s most appreciated parks. For botanists there are native spine-bearing palm trees and locally endemic aloe; and for lemur lovers there are sifaka, brown lemur and ring tails. Isalo is also sacred to the Bara tribe who for hundreds of years have used caves in the canyon walls as burial sites. This afternoon, visit Giorgio’s Window for a fantastic sunset photo opportunity.

After breakfast, set out on a full-day guided walk to explore one of Madagascar's most diverse parks. Observe the lush, diverse tropical vegetation in the east as well as vast rolling plains interspersed with stunning rock formations. Keep your camera at the ready for possible sightings of ring-tailed lemur, brown lemur, sifaka and 14 nocturnal lemur species hiding in dense vegetation along the streams. Look up for a glimpse of some of the 80 species of bird (including the rare Benson’s rock-thrush, the knob-billed duck or the crested ibis) living here, and down to see any of the 35 species of reptiles and endemic frogs. Choose from a variety of possible trails depending on your interests and physical abilities, including the Canyon des Singes, which winds through the dense forest foliage brilliantly colored rock formations to reach a stunning rock pool called the piscine naturelle.

This morning, transfer to the airstrip and board a flight to Ifotaka in the remote south of Madagascar. Upon arrival at your permanent tented camp, settle in and enjoy the majestic views over the Mandrare River. Later, take a guided night walk in the eerie, prehistoric spiny forest, keeping watch for diurnal lemur bedding down and nocturnal lemur as they begin to wake.

This morning, depending on river conditions, walk or boat across the Mandrare to reach the largely deciduous gallery forest with its excellent sifaka and ring-tailed lemur populations. Keep your eyes peeled for inquisitive ring-tailed lemur and the always entertaining Verreaux’s sifaka. Return to camp for lunch and a relaxed afternoon by the pool. Later, head for a walk through the sacred spiny forest filled with the ancestral tombs of the local Antandroy tribe, as well as an extraordinary array of flora and fauna, unique to the spiny forest. Your English-speaking guide and a tracker from the local community will give you an introduction to Antandroy culture and customs. After returning to your hotel, enjoy a sundowner amid the magical baobabs.

Today head into the spiny forest for an early morning walk. Witness dawn’s sunlight break through the octopus trees while looking out for the many endemic birds such as crested coua, a variety of vanga and the running coua. Return to camp for a sumptuous breakfast followed by a visit to the local market or the local village to meet the fascinating Antandroy tribe. Lunch will be served at the camp followed by a relaxed afternoon watching life along the river from your tent terrace. This evening, depart for a sundowner amid the baobabs, watching the sun set and moon rise with a view to the mountains beyond. In the evening, local village residents may come to perform beautiful traditional dances, accompanied by singing and music. Song and dance is at the heart of Antandroy culture and is used to accompany major rituals as well as the events of everyday life.

This morning, fly back to Tana. On arrival, journey overland to rainforest-situated Andasibe-Mantadia National Park with its singular Analamazaotra Reserve. Home to the large indri lemur, noted for its distinctively loud song, the biodiverse park also features native species like the big Parson’s chameleon, in addition to rare orchids and ferns. Walk the trails here that weave through dense forest and past lakes to the Sacred Waterfall. Following a stop for lunch en route, check in to your hotel and enjoy the balance of the afternoon at leisure to settle in. If you are not too tired from the journey, a night walk can be organized in the community-managed forest near the national park.

After breakfast, set out to explore Mantadia National Park with a picnic lunch. Look for some of the lemur species in this stunning preserve, including the Indri indri, diademed sifaka, grey bamboo lemur, red-bellied lemur and white-ruffed lemur. While the trails are slightly more difficult, the rewards are great as the forest is taller, wilder and less crowded than Perinet. Watch for the abundance of birds including the scaly ground roller, the pitta-like ground roller and the red-breasted coua. This is a naturalist’s goldmine with many seldom-seen species of mammals, reptiles and birds. Enjoy a picnic by the Rianasoa Waterfall before hiking back to the vehicle and return to the lodge. Once night falls, hike with a guide through the surrounding forest in search of the nocturnal mouse, white-footed sportive, fat-tailed dwarf and woolly varieties of lemur.

Explore the Perinet Reserve, keeping watch for the indri lemur with its teddy bear-like face, twitchy tail and black and white markings. Search, too, for the 11 other lemur species that inhabit the park. You may spot troops of grey bamboo, white ruffed, or common brown lemur. Marvel as well at the vivid bird life, perhaps catching glimpses of the endemic velvet asity or nuthatch vanga. You are also apt to sight any of the bevy of reptile and invertebrate species — not to mention over 1,000 orchid species — also found here.

Today, transfer to the Antananarivo airport and board your homebound flight.