Jeep expedition on the island of Madagascar
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DATES
last places
from September 21 to October 4, 2023
THE COST
2790 Euro
GROUP
20 people
TYPE OF RECREATION
Normal physical form
LEVEL OF PREPARATION
Adventure, exploration, acquaintance with authentic cultures
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COST AND CONDITIONS
DESCRIPTION
After a long break, we again go to the island of Madagascar, famous for its unique nature. Here we will see with our own eyes and even feel the famous Madagascar lemurs and chameleons. We’ll meet the sunset among the incredible valley of the Baobabs.
We find out what kind of strange night creature is hiding under the name of Ai-ai. We will reach the amazing Tsingy Natural Park. We will look into the eyes of the local predator fosse. We will swim in the Indian Ocean.
Madagascar is quite a poor country, with complex logistics and not the best hotels; however, what you will be able to see will outweigh any difficulties of this trip.
We are starting to prepare now. Lemurs are waiting for us and asking for our hands. You will bring the most incredible photos from this trip. Study the program below and you will understand everything!
EXPEDITION COST INCLUDES:
- It includes transfer to and from the airport;
- rental of jeeps with drivers at the rate of 3 people in the jeep + driver; - fuel;
- permits and permits to visit the National Parks;
- accommodation in hotels and lodges along the route at the rate of 2 local accommodation;
- meals: breakfasts, as well as full board for 2 nights during the staying in Tsingy;
- excursions according to the program;
- services of local guides and helpers;
- rent of buses, boats, boats;
- payment for ferry crossings;
- services of a tour leader of the Paganel Studio team;
- services of a local expert guide.
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EXPEDITION COST DOES NOT INCLUDE:
- Madagascar visa;
- meals not specified in the program;
IMPORTANT!
Due to the fact that our expeditions do not include international flights to the starting point of the program, we cannot be held responsible for changes in flight conditions by airlines or airport requirements. Since our travelers fly from many different countries and cities, we never participate in the purchase of air travel and limit ourselves exclusively to advisory services in the selection of flights. Air agents or airlines from which tickets were purchased are responsible for the purchase and technical support.
ROUTE
ITINERARY
Day 1
(September 21) – Antananarivo
Arrival in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, which the locals affectionately call Tana. Meeting at the airport with our guide and money exchange. Transfer to a cozy hotel in the central part of the city.
In the evening, in the restaurant at the hotel, we hold a traditional evening of acquaintances of the Paganels. Presentation of nominal expeditionary t-shirts and badges. Rest.
Day 2
(September 22) - Tana - Peyrieras - Palmarium.
We wake up. We have breakfast. We check out hotel rooms. We are loaded into our jeeps. We sit down by 3 people. Today we have a long journey (10 hours) to the eastern side of the island of Madagascar to the famous Palmarium Park.
On the way, we visit one amazing place - Reserve Peyrieras Madagascar Exotic Reptile Park.
Here you will see and even feel many species of chameleons, geckos and small endemic frogs.
Then we continue our journey towards Palmarium.
Palmarium is a huge reserve (50 hectares of rainforest) where 7 varieties of lemurs are found, including the black and white Indri.
The road to the park will take several hours. To get to the Park, we will have to transfer from our jeeps to boats and swim on the lake for 1.5 hours. By the evening, we will have reached the place we need. It can be chilly on the boat, so bring warm jackets and raincoats to protect against splashes.
Upon arrival, we look around, check into houses for 2 people, and if we still have strength enough, we go on a night tour.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 3
(September 23) - Palmarium
We spend this unusual day in the Palmarium. Unusual because every minute you are among the lemurs. Palmarium is the real Lemuria.
They will come to visit you in the evenings, in the morning, with cute innocent muzzles, take away banana and fruit at breakfast. If they smell bananas in your house, they may well dig a tunnel there and when you return to your room, you will find a fluffy and tailed gang there, which rummages through your things in search of your favorite treat.
If they understand that you are a source of bananas, they will start asking for holding them on your hands!
Of course, we will not sit still and just have fun with lemurs. We have a lot of other interesting things to do.
For example, visiting a fishermen's village on the east coast, where you can gently swim in the Ocean, meet the locals, sing songs with children, play tag.
Late in the evening, we will go on motor boats to one of the surrounding islands, where the mysterious nocturnal lemur Ai-ai lives.
Ai-ai lives in the bamboo thickets of Madagascar. Zoologists attribute it to mammals from the order of semi-monkeys. The naturalist Pierre Sonner discovered it during his work on the shores of Madagascar. His name is aye-aye, or the Madagascar little arm. Aye-aye, or simply ai-ai, is a mammal related to a special kind of lemur. The arm is the only species from the family of the same name. Nevertheless, it looks completely different from her fellow lemurs or from monkeys in general. Scientists note that the Madagascar little arm is closer in kinship to squirrels or cats. Even with its size, the animal resembles a domestic cat, only very shabby.
At night, we return to our houses, check if there are any lemurs hiding under the beds and behind the curtains. Rest.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 4
(September 24) - Palmarium - Andasibe
We have breakfast in the morning. We say goodbye to our beloved lemurs. We check suitcases and bags to find hidden animals.
We sit in boats and sail for 1.5 hours to the place where we left our jeeps. Upon arrival, we sit down in cars by crews. Transfer to Andasibe (approximately 5 hours), which is famous for its rainforests.
We get to Andasibe, check into Wakona Lodge. We throw things into the rooms and go to the crocodile farm, where you can also see chameleons and several predatory fosses that are kept here in a special corral.
We return to the lodge. Dinner. Rest.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 5
(September 25) - Andasibe – Antsirabe
We wake up. We enjoy our life. We have breakfast. We take bananas stored in advance, get into cars and drive, and then we transfer and sail in small canoes to the islands where several varieties of lemurs live.
This will be one of the most emotional days of our trip. Lemurs in this park happily jump on the shoulders of visitors, eat bananas from the hands and pose for cameras.
They like bananas of a special kind, ask the guides which ones exactly. It is important to be the first to arrive at the park so you can catch when the lemurs are hungry and looking forward to meeting you. If they are full, then you will see only tails hanging from the branches of trees high above.
After lunch with foie gras tasting, drive (about 8-9 hours) towards Antsirabe. In the evening, we get to the hotel. Dinner. Rest.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 6
(September 26) - Antsirabe - Morondova.
Today we have a big transfer (9 hours) to the other side of the island. However, the day will not go in vain. By sunset, we will have reached one of the most famous top places in Madagascar - the famous Baobab Valley.
We meet the end of the day here. Enjoy the evening views. If there is strength and desire enough, then we can stay for night photos.
Late in the evening or at night we arrive in the town of Morondava, which is located right on the shore of the Indian Ocean. We check into a hotel overlooking the beach.
For dinner, we have a tasting of local seafood. Rest after a hard and eventful day.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 7
(September 27) - Morondova - Bekupaki (Tsingy)
At dawn, we drive back to the valley of the Baobabs. It is worth it. The morning mist, illuminated by the pink sun, makes this place fantastically beautiful.
We take a hundred more ingeniously beautiful pictures for Instagram, so that your beloved friends will envy your photos
Today we have a rather difficult transition. The asphalt road ends, and the famous Madagascar dirt roads begin, the speed of movement along which, due to the large number of pits, is rather low.
However, our jeeps allow us to move quite quickly. On the way, we will have to overcome two ferry crossings across the Tsiribihina and Manambolo rivers.
In the evening, with stops for lunch and a toilet, we get to Bekupaki. We are settling for the next 2 days in one of the best hotels on the island - 4-star Le soleil des Tsingy. It has a good restaurant with a French chef and a swimming pool. We have full board here. We eat, rest and sleep.
Meals: included breakfast and dinner.
Day 8
(September 28) - Tsingy
We have breakfast in the morning. We take with us trekking clothes and especially shoes. We go on trekking in the Tsingy National Park.
Tsingy de Bemaraha, or Tsingy de Bemaraha Reserve is the only mineral formation of its kind in Madagascar, as well as a reserve with a unique yellow limestone and a national park.
The strange mineral formations of Tsingy de Bemaraha are located 80 kilometers from the coast of Madagascar and got their name because the reserve is mostly limestone teeth. The Malagasy call them "scurvy", the same term means "to walk on tiptoe", and this is quite understandable, since the scurvy de Bemaraha is really difficult labyrinth galleries.
The reserve was created on the west coast of the island of Madagascar in 1927 to preserve its unusual natural features. Its area is 152 thousand hectares and is the largest protected area in Madagascar. The reserve occupies the territory from the Bemarch plateau to the Monambolo River.
The Natural Reserve of Tsingy du Bemarch was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1990. Some parts of the nature reserve were open to tourists only in 1998, and some are closed to this day. The places accessible for inspection resemble a piece of another planet brought to Earth.
According to those who have already visited these places, it is impossible to find a flat piece of land throughout the park, and the landscape is so indented that there is practically nowhere to put your foot, and you have to “walk on tiptoe”.
In the afternoon, we return to our cozy and comfortable hotel. We have lunch. Relaxing by the pool. Dinner and sleep.
Meals: included breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9
(September 29) - Tsingy - Kirindi
We wake up early. We have breakfast. We do a checkout. We are loaded into our jeeps. There is a way back. Again two ferry crossings. On the way, we stop to see the oldest, according to local residents, Madagascar baobab, which is more than 1000 years old.
Further, our path lies towards Kirindi Privat Reserve. The reserve is famous for the fact that the only fosses in Madagascar and throughout the world live in it - wild cats, completely unusual in their appearance. Fosses are also the largest predators in Madagascar, reaching a length of 80 centimeters.
Approximately, by 3:00 or 4:00 pm we arrive. We check into the lodge Le Relais du Kirindy. In the evening after dinner, we have a night walk accompanied by a local ranger.
Meals:included breakfast.
Day 10
(September 30) - Kirindi - Morondova
Breakfast. Then another walk in the park. Again, we meet foss, and get acquainted with the white sifaks living here, which are also lemurs, but of a different species than what we observed earlier.
After walking, we load into our jeeps. We say goodbye to fosses and sifaks and rush about 2 hours towards the town of Morondava, already familiar to us, on the coast of the Indian Ocean.
On the way, we pass the Valley of the Baobabs again. Again, we stop, admire, photograph. It is always beautiful there.
We check in for 2 nights at the Laguna Beach Hotel. In the evening, dinner with seafood. Rest.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 11
(October 1) - Morondava
This day is dedicated to rest. You can lie by the pool or on the beach by the Ocean.
Or go for a ride on a traditional fishing boat.
Or go for a walk in the local village. The choice is not very large, but in any case, we are not rushing anywhere on this day, but resting.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 12
(October 2) - Morondova - Antsirabe
We wake up. We have breakfast. We do a checkout. Those who wish can still have time to swim in the Ocean. We load into jeeps. Long and long drive (9 hours) to Antsirabe with stops for lunch and toilet.
In the evening check-in at the hotel. Dinner. Rest.
Meals: included breakfast.
Day 13(
October 3) - Antsirabe - Tana
We return to the capital of Madagascar - Tanu (Antananarivo). 5 hours transfer.
Again, we dine foie gras with marmalade. We stop by to buy souvenirs at the local large souvenir market. We recommend paying attention to the fossils of ammonites and wood. It can be bought only in Madagascar. for such little money.
Those who wish can also visit the famous Madagascar ship model factory. There are only a few such workshops in the world.
In the evening, we gather for a farewell dinner. Meals: included breakfast.
Day 14
(October 4) – Tana
After breakfast, we say goodbye to each other, drivers and local guide. We do not forget to tip them. The expedition is over. Airport transfer. Flight home.
Meals: included breakfast.
We are unique
For many years, we have been traveling the world to our small planet's most remote and unusual places. We do not use the services of domestic travel agencies. The trips we invent and carry out are always unique and have their unique zest, charm, and adventurous spirit.
WHY WITH PAGANEL?
Creation
The first thing that interests us is creativity in everything. During the expeditions, we shoot a lot of videos, take pictures, write stories, draw pictures. If you are interested in a creative approach to life and travel, then WELCOME... we are very happy to meet you!
Interest
By joining our team, you join a kind of club-family, which already consists of several hundred people who are interested in discovering the world with us.
Since most of the expenses for the organization of the trip are air tickets and travel documents for other types of transport, accommodation, excursions, services of local companies and guides, etc. are not refundable in case of your cancellation of the trip. We simply have no way to return it.
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