More information on Madagascar holidays & safari tours that combine lemurs, wildlife & the beaches of Nosy Be, St Marie:
Our wide range of fascinating Madagascar holidays & safari tours allow you to explore this unpolished ecological jewel, set in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa. At 1,000 miles in length, it is the fourth largest island in the world. Cut off for almost 90 million years, it is also the oldest. The island is 250 miles from Africa, across the Mozambique Channel. As a result this spectacular country has evolved its own unique ecosystem and character in splendid isolation from the rest of the world.
The protected reserves have animals, birds, reptiles, insects and plant life seen nowhere else on earth. The rainforests, deserts, mangrove swamps and mountains continue to support a staggering 200,000 species. One of the extraordinary attractions of Madagascar holidays is that most of these species are found only here. As a result of this astonishing diversity, and an infrastructure that can only be described as challenging, Madagascar holidays & safari tours can become genuine adventures. They can be as exciting, unusual and varied as you wish.
Lemurs are the most famous inhabitants and they are found almost nowhere else in the world. Madagascar boasts over 100 species, most of which live only in specific habitats spread all over the island. Lemurs are mainly tree dwellers, effortless climbers and almost supernatural jumpers. On Madagascar holidays & safari tours, lemurs can be seen in most parts of the island and walking in different types of forest to find them with an experienced guide, by day and night, is a very special experience.
Madagascar holidays & safari tours usually begin in the capital of Antananarivo, known locally as Tana, in the centre of this country of 22 million people. It is a sprawling, busy city of over 5 million in some need of modernisation. Stay in a charming boutique hotel in preparation for your onward journey via a good network of domestic flights.
There is a superb range of national parks from which to choose on Madagascar holidays & safari tours. For example to the east of Tana there are the pristine rainforests of Andasibe and Mantadia. Trekking in these luxuriant rainforests is a wonderful experience in itself and can also be a wet one, so take your rain gear. The paths are clear but you will enjoy scrambling a little to see the stars of Andasibe - the Indri. These are the largest of all the lemurs, with a highly distinctive long, wailing call warning other troops to keep their distance. If lemurs, insects and reptiles are not your thing, this is also a birdwatcher’s and botanist’s paradise.
On Madagascar holidays & safari tours, to see the widest variety of lemurs possible you should take the RN7 road trip travelling southwards. It takes you from the capital of Antananarivo to Anakao, a lovely, peaceful resort on the south west coast - a brilliant two week tour of some 500 miles. You will see a wide variety of species of lemurs all the way. Before flying back to Tana, relaxing on a magnificent mile long beach beside the dazzling crystal clear Indian Ocean.
As well as lemurs and its incredible bio-diversity, Madagascar holidays & safari tours are also famous for their baobab trees. These strange massive tuba-shaped trees with peculiar stunted branches live for hundreds of years, even in the driest of landscapes. They can be seen in various places but no more so than in famous Baobab Alley, on the west coast near Morondava. Madagascar holidays & safari tours are never complete without the memory of these baobabs outlined against the setting sun.
On the southern tip of the country at Berenty and the Mandare River reserves, you can see cheecky Ring tailed and the beautiful dancing Sifaka lemurs. On Madagascar holidays & safari tours to this region, you can wade across the river with local Malagasy herders and their zebu cattle, as you make your way to the best lemur viewing locations. Here you will see both dry spiny forest and contrasting lush gallery forest. You will also see large roadside villages with their vibrant, colourful markets. Away from the towns, the Malagasy people all over the country live their lives much as they have done for generations.
In the north lies the magnificent Montagne de Ambre (Amber Mountain) and Ankarana national parks. Here the terrain is pristine montane rain forest and volcanic massif. For birders, many of the country’s most beautiful and exotic species are endemic here. On Madagascar holidays & safari tours, you can also climb the Great Tsingy of Ankarana. The spikey tops of these towering, eroded islands of limestone offer breathtaking views.
For even more fabulous tsingys, go west to Beharama National Park - a World Heritage Site. A brilliant system of pathways, steps, ladders and bridges have been put in place to facilitate access to this awe-inspiring phenomenon.
At the end of all Madagascar holidays & safari tours, it is wonderful to relax on one of the island's glorious turquoise beaches - such as at Anjajavy, where sifakas dance across the lawns, or Ile St Marie on the east coast, where whales breed from July to September. In the northwest you will find the islands of Nosy Be. Here the white sandy beaches and clear warm sea are perfect for water sports of every kind. The ‘big island’ of Nosy Be and its main town Hell-Ville, is the jumping off point for other islands, including beautiful and luxurious Tsarabanjina island.
Wherever you go on Madagascar holidays & safari tours, you will experience unique wildlife and incredible floral diversity on what will be an adventure of a lifetime.