A sweet little street urchin
Will Tesco's be opening here soon?
The High Street
View of Antananarivo
I visited Madagascar during the end of October and early November 2003 with Prem and Derek on custom designed itinerary organised by Derek Schuurman of Rainbow Tours, London. We decided where we wanted to go and then Derek put the package together for us. If only all tour operators could be as polite and professional as Derek. He is a true expert on the wildlife of Madagascar and was extremely helpful.
Madagascar’s population is about 15 million (about 25/sq km) with 4 million in the capital, Antananarivo, formerly Tananarive and still known as Tana. The official languages are Malagasy (related to Indonesian) and French. Local dialects are also spoken. Very little English is spoken except by the guides, hotels and at airports.
Wed 22 Oct 14:15 Departure from London Heathrow for a one hour flight to Paris (CDG). Then an overnight Air Madagascar flight MD051 from Paris CDG to Antananarivo, commonly known as Tana.
Thu 23 Oct 08:05 Arrive at Tana's Ivato airport (TNR) after a 9½ hrs flight to be met by our Za Tour representative, the local agent for Tana. Bureau De Change at Airport to change some local currency from Euros, followed by a one hour transfer to Hotel De France for B&B. Here we have a sightseeing tour of the capital and and evening dinner at a good local restaurants.
Fri 24 Oct Morning transfer to the airport for flight MD722 (a Boeing 737) to Fort Dauphin (Taolagnaro) where we are met and transferred for 2 nights at Berenty Lodge, DB&B.
Sun 26 Oct afternoon transfer to Hotel Miramar, Fort Dauphin, DB&B where we visited Libanona beach, with come excellent swimming and friendly local fishermen. In the evening we watched dolphins jumping in the bay. We then enjoyed an unexpected extra day here at Air Madagascar's expense as our booked and reserved seats were not available!
Wed 29 Oct Morning flight, via Tulear where we collect more passengers, to Tana, to be collected by our friendly Za Tour guides to then take us on a 2½-hour transferred to Vakona Forest Lodge, 3* B&B for 2 nights. A fascinating drive,, of which several miles we done by torchlight as the headlights had failed! Two days lemur watching here.
Fri 31 Oct Morning transfer back to Antananarivo (TNR) and fly on to Nosy Be and transfer by Taxi to Hotel L'Heure Bleu B&B for a few days of relaxation to finish off the holiday.
Tue 4 Nov a.m. Final morning to relax on Nosy Be, before afternoon transfer to Nosy Be airport for flight back to Antananarivo. Stop at the new Country View Guest House near Ivato airport for a short break before returning to airport for return overnight flight to London, via Paris, arriving home on Wednesday the 5th.
Our first and final days are spent in Tana, Madagascar's capital city.
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A sweet little street urchin |
Will Tesco's be opening here soon? |
The High Street |
View of Antananarivo |
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From the airport, it's a two hour drive, with stops en route: first to see a grove of carnivorous pitcher plants (maybe); then an Antanosy graveyard; then a slope covered with Triangular palms and finally, in the spiny desert, you'll see endemic Baobabs and remote Antandroy villages. Lemurs are abundant and very confiding in both. Berenty private 260 hectare reserve is situated 92 kilometres (by road) from Fort Dauphin. To get to Berenty one drives through low land secondary woodland then through the bizarre spiny-forest made up of various species of vegetation. The Reserve was created half a century ago by the d'Heaulme family as a private park, and have made it one of the best-protected and studied forest areas of Madagascar. In the last twenty years it has been turned into a nature reserve cum hotel. It is the easiest way to see Lemur catta and Propithecus verreauxi in the wild. The Lodge is a 3* property, consisting of bungalows and tree houses. | ||
 Ring-tails sunning themselves |
 A Verreaux's Sifaka |
 Brown lemur |
 Ringtails are very friendly if it's a banana you have in your pocket. |
 The rare triangular palm |
 What a picture! |
Berenty is probably the most famous Malagasy reserve. Birding is rewarding. The reserve protects both spiny bush and dry tamarind woodland, along the Mandrare River bank. The guides are among the best in Madagascar, but it is easy (and permitted) to follow the broad trails and explore Berenty independently. The museum of Antandroy culture has rare examples of Sakalava carvings. There is also a sisal factory nearby where sisal fibres are extracted, one in front of the reserve where we visited.
There are resident lemur populations as well as endemic plants, chameleons, birds and other natural history attractions. Brown lemurs, Ring-tailed lemurs and sifaka are sure to be seen - they are well used to people and the photogenic ringtails will even hop on to your shoulders to accept a proffered banana
There are good guides at Berenty but actually, you do not need any of them if you don't want to use their services. It's the only reserve in the country where visitors are welcome to explore independently, as it is small (285ha), with very broad paths that are swept daily and the wildlife is just so abundant and habituated to human presence that it is extremely approachable. The ringtail lemurs especially, need to be watched as they can be very naughty and raid your luggage for sweets or other food. They often enter the chalets there.
After Fort Dauphin, lunch at Vakona Forest Lodge is wonderful. They
have a really good menu and the quality and service is the best we had in
Madagascar. The lodge has a private swimming pool and bungalow
accommodation. The highlight for me though has to be the island nature reserve
within the lodge grounds. Here the lemurs are exceptionally friendly and
will do anything for a special treat. A certain Black and White ruffed
lemur gave me a good licking after she's finished the figs ... well I hope it
was a girl! Guided walks are and horse riding are available from the
lodge.
During evening walks by torchlight we saw mouse lemur and various chameleons
which loose the camouflage at night and turn white, so are easily spotted in our
lights.
We had a 37 km drive from Perinet to the 10,000-hectare Mantadia primary montane forest
reserve to complete one of
the excellent trails there. Need good walking
boots here! We found Black and White lemur, brown lemur and the large Diadem Sifaka
as well as a baby Streaked Tenrecs (“hedgehog”).
On the last day we made an early morning visit to the Perinet Reserve.
This upland rainforest is the island’s most visited protected area, and with
good reason: its wildlife is diverse, including flagship Malagasy animals like
the indri, the gigantic Parson’s chameleon and the bright golden mantella frog.
There is a good network of trails into the 810-hectare reserve, which claims a
world record for frog diversity among rainforests of comparable size. A shame we
didn't see any grey bamboo lemurs!
Nosy Bé is the most developed holiday complex of Madagascar. Situated off the North-western shore of the country, Nosy Bé is known as the perfumed island, from the fragrance of dampness-cooled Ylangs Ylangs, coffee-trees, and pepper plants. The main town in Nosy Bé is Hell-Ville. It’s a quiet little village, which seems to live in the nostalgia of the past. It is here that you can undertake the excursions to many beautiful well known nearby islets.
Hell-Ville, a busy town of 10,000 inhabitants. Its colourful market displays all the island's fruits and spices. Daily excursions are organized to the principal attractions of Nosy Be: The fishing village of Ambatoloaka, the western hills dominated by Mount Passot, 329 m (1,080 ft) and its curious lakes formed in volcanic craters, Djamandjary and its sugar-cane distilleries, the luxuriant vegetation of the east and the golden beaches of Andilana, Befotaka and Amporaha in the north.
| We stayed at the Hotel L'Heure Blue (shown above), situated at the end of the bay.
The hotel, consisting of luxury wooden chalets, was clean and comfortable and the hotel staff were very friendly and
helpful. The hotel's swimming pool was also clean and much preferable to the
nearby beach. Day trips can be arranged by the hotel Reception. One day we took a taxi to Hell-Ville to visit the local main town and port. Not much to write home about here! The local Ambataloak village some 500 yards from the hotel has quite a few shops and bars, a bit of night life and some interesting local watching! We arranged a day excursion by boat to the islands of Tanikely Marine Reserve for a BBQ lunch and snorkelling, followed by Nosy Komba to feed the Black and Nosy Bé sportive Lemurs. It’s Madagascar's most popular day trip and very easily done. |
 Black Lemur |
 Nosy Be Sportive Lemur |
From Nosy Be, we should have done the day excursion to the reserve of Lokobe, the last original 'sambirano' forest left on Nosy Be which is good for wildlife and a nice walk but just didn't have the time!
The 740-hectare reserve is a blend of evergreen rainforest and moist deciduous forest, significant for plants and animals found either nowhere else or highly localised in distribution. Here you will find the Black and Nosy Be sportive lemurs.