Group tour Madagascar
Group trip
3 people for pp 3194
5 people for pp 2665
Travel dates
Departure dates
September 4, 2024
Return journey
September 24, 2024
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Group trip to Madagascar
Step out of your comfort zone and discover the undiscovered paradise of Madagascar together with like-minded adventurers! Our exclusive 21-day group trip to Madagascar is specially designed for solo travelers between 30 and 50 years old who long for adventure, new friendships and unforgettable experiences.
September 4 Flight and arrival in Antananarivo
September 5 To Antsirabe
September 6 Antsirabe
September 7 To Ambalavao
September 8 Ambalavao
September 9 To Tsaranoro
September 10 Visit the Tsaranoro Valley
Oct 11 To Ranohira
Oct 12 Visit Isalo National Park
Oct 13 To Ifaty/Mangily
Oct 14 Mangily/Ifaty
September 15 To Ranohira stopover
September 16 To Sahambavy
September 17 By train to Manakara
September 18 Manakara (visit Pangalanes channel)
September 19 To Ranomafana
September 20 Visit Ranomafana NP
September 21 To Ambositra
September 22 Walk to the Rova Palace (remains) and to Antsirabe
September 23 To Antananarivo
September 24 Departure to the Netherlands
The program
September 4
On the way to Madagascar
The group trip to Madagascar starts in the Netherlands. We meet at Schiphol and take the same flight via Paris to Antananarivo. You can of course also book your own flight and we will meet in Madagascar at the first accommodation. If you are looking for flights yourself, you can look at AirFrance, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines or Kenya Airways.
September 4
Arrival in Antananarivo
After arriving at the airport in the north of the capital, you drive to the center in about half an hour. The center is a colorful chaos and there is a chance that you will be stuck in a traffic jam. Depending on the arrival time, we will walk around the area to stretch our legs and get to know life in a big city.
5 September
To Antsirabe
After your first breakfast in this country, you get on the bus and we drive to Antsirabe in about 5 hours. Along the way we can stop often enough to take pictures of the beautiful view. We will have lunch in a restaurant along the way, but we will start with hot lunches every day! Antsirabe is a colorful city. You really notice that it is much quieter here than in Antananarivo. Walking around is therefore a bit nicer here. One option is to walk to a street where all kinds of artisanal souvenirs are made. You can see how people use a zebu horn to make various products such as salad scoops and earrings.
September 6
Antsirabe
Today we drive by car to Lac Tritriva. It is a special lake with different stories and myths. The guide can tell you all about this. For example, make sure you haven't eaten pork for breakfast. This is 'Fady' or taboo here.
After a cooling dip in the water, it's time to put on your sports clothes. The mountain bikes have been removed from the roof of the bus and you cycle back down to Antsirabe. They are real mountain bike trails. Every now and then you have to go up a bit, but in general you race downwards. You will be back in the city in about 2 hours.
You have time to walk to a restaurant of your choice. Consider, for example, l'Insolite, where a French owner has taken up the sport of making French cheeses from Malagasy milk. Enjoy French!
September 7
to Ambalavao
Today a longer travel day of about 7 hours to Ambalavao. Ambalavao is a village just below the major city of Fianarantsoa. Here you will spend the night in the center where you can stroll around upon arrival. For example, there is a workshop here where paper is made from tree bark. You see menus made of this paper all over the country, for example. It is not a complicated process, but it is a lot of work. They usually decorate it with beautiful flowers. Silk is also widely produced here. You can see how the most beautiful scarves and cloths are made from a silkworm.
September 8
Ambalavao
Today you will take a walk through the mountains just below the city. It's quite a climb, but the view is worth it. The last part of the walk takes you through the Anja reserve. This is a locally run reserve where you will see many lemurs. The guide also has such good eyes that he often sees the chameleons where we would simply walk past them.
Have you ever heard of Malagasy wine? He exists! Production is largely in Ambalavao. Definitely worth giving this one a try.
September 9th
To the Tsaranoro valley
In about three hours you travel to the Tsaranoro valley, where you can take a short walk through the valley in the afternoon. You are surrounded by the great Andringitra mountains and your view is beautiful. At the pool you can enjoy the beautiful view. Lemurs also occasionally walk around this area. Make sure you don't have any bananas with you.
September 10
Visit the Tsaranoro Valley
Today you will take a walk through the valley. We walk past small villages where you get an insight into how the people live here. People of the Betsileo ethnic live in this valley. The Betsileo are known for being hard workers. They earn their money as traders or in agriculture. The houses you see are typical of this area. Often with one or more floors. The ground floor is for animals such as zebus or goats and chickens.
In addition to this fun, you go up a little bit, giving you a view over the valley. A nice walk after which we can return to the hotel satisfied.
September 11
To Isalo NP
You drive to Ranohira in about 4 hours. The hotel is located outside the center, but it has a nice swimming pool where you can spend the rest of the day. Read a book, play games, rest for a while and prepare yourself for a long walk tomorrow.
September 12th
Visit Isalo NP
This park is described by many as the most iconic in the entire country. It's so varied! You continue walking across open plains with strange rock blocks around you. There are also natural pools where you can swim and let a waterfall splash down on you. Then you walk a few more stretches through a green gorge and, completely tired and satisfied, you are dropped off back at the hotel.
the 13th of September
To Mangily/Ifaty
It takes about a 5-hour drive to travel to the charming coastal town of Mangily. We will spend the night here in a hotel where there is plenty to do. You can paddle on the sea with a mini pirogue (hollowed out tree trunk), there is a ping pong table, a game of petanque is part of every holiday and of course there is a swimming pool.
Also read more about this place in the blog
September 14
Mangily/Ifaty
As adventurous travelers we don't stay in the hotel. We can take a walk to the spiny forest on the other side of the village. Here you can see the baobabs up close and many cacti. The salamanders race through the warm sand and people pass you by on a zebu cart. Plenty to see. Furthermore, it is a pleasant village with nice bars and restaurants. You can also go snorkeling or diving at sea. All materials are available for this.
September 15
To Ranohira
To Ranohira, you travel back north along the same road. Along the way you will make a stop in the Zombitse National Park. Here we will have a picnic together and you will take a walk of about an hour through the park. Various species of birds, lemurs and chameleons live here. The Sifaka is a lemur that moves on its arms, it looks like dancing!
16 September
To Sahambavy
You travel again via Ambalavao where we can possibly make a stop for some souvenirs or visit a craft workshop. It is also not a problem at all to arrive at the Lac Hotel a little earlier.
Sahambay is known for its large tea plantations. We will visit this this afternoon accompanied by a guide. We learn facts about tea that we may not have known before! Of course we can also taste some tea and there is a shop where you can buy tea.
You can also choose to stay at the hotel. Here you can still swim in the lake, or sail around in a boat. There is also a large garden where you can take a walk.
September the 17th
To Manakara
Today a true adventure awaits us. The train between Manakara and Fianarantsoa is very changeable. He goes twice a week, and can sometimes cancel at the last minute or leave much later. Once we leave, the journey can take anywhere from 8am to 8pm. We bring enough food and drinks. We will stop very often along the way to walk around. If the train does not go, we will go to Manakara by car. Read more about the train journey in this blog .
September 18th
Manakara
We take a pirogue trip on the Pangalanes Canal. From the hollow tree trunk (this is how a pirogue is made) we see the life of Sakalava (the inhabitants of Manakara). In addition, there are plenty of birds to see and, above all, beautiful landscapes. In addition, we can view the production of essential oils up close in a small workshop. A lot of work is done with the oils of orchids, ravintsara, cinnamon and camomile.
If we still feel like it in the afternoon, we can walk to the center of Manakara. Here you can find many types of pepper, cinnamon, rice and possibly vanilla on the market.
September 19
To Ranomafana
To Ranomafana. This road is one of the best roads in the country! You will arrive in the small village in about 4.5 hours by car. 'Rano' means 'Water' and 'Mafana' means warm. This name arose because warm water comes from the ground. Do you want to experience this? Then we will swim together in the pool that is almost hot! It can be quite busy, but there is always room.
If it is dry, we will take a walk with a guide in the evening. He walks in the lead with a flashlight and can see the chameleons and frogs from a few meters away. You can take the photos from very close up, which is spectacular to see. We eat dinner at the hotel and rest for tomorrow's busy day.
September 20
Ranomafana
We put on our walking shoes again, pack the raincoats and visit the National Park. We walk through the rainforest with the guide at our own pace. The park has become a protected area since 1991 and is home to no fewer than 12 species of lemurs. It's not guaranteed that we'll see them all, but there's certainly a chance. Just like various reptiles and amphibians. We mainly visit the secondary rainforest, which was planted at some point and is no longer the original forest. Yet there is plenty of flora and fauna to see that you will not find anywhere else in the world. The guide can tell you all about the medicinal effects of different plants.
21st of September
To Ambositra + walk
Today we travel to Ambositra in about 4 hours. We leave early so that we can take a guided walk in the afternoon. This walk takes us to the renovated Rova Palace while the guide tells us about the cultures and customs of this region. The original palace is no longer there, but it is a historical memorial of where the former Betsileo king lived. Now it is also an example house of how the nomadic tribe still lives in this region.
If we are lucky, we will be invited by one of the residents from the nearby village to take a look at their house. This way you can see what the houses look like on the inside and the residents will proudly talk about what their daily lives are like. The Betsileo are very warm and enjoy meeting new people. They are also curious about our stories and so it is an exchange of new insights.
September 22
To Antsirabe
In the morning we can visit the boutiques where the famous wood carvings are sold. Then we travel to Antsirabe in about 2 hours. Here we will take a break and have lunch before visiting the local market with a guide. We buy groceries to cook real Malagasy dishes for dinner. Most dietary requirements can be taken into account.
September 23
To Antananarivo
We leave early for Antananarivo so we can have lunch there. The food in Madagascar is something you will miss in the Netherlands, so we better take advantage of it.
Lunch gives us energy again to visit the royal palace of the last queens of Madagascar. These palaces are also no longer the original buildings, they have now been converted into a museum. A guide can tell us all about the history of the various kings and queens who ruled the country.
25th of September
Return flight
Today is the return flight to the Netherlands. Depending on the departure time, we can go to the market or go for a walk in the morning.
Explanation of price
Personal attention, a good atmosphere and making beautiful memories together. These are the spearheads of this group tour through Madagascar. It is an adventurous journey with many highlights.
The smaller the group, the higher the expenses. This has to do with transport and guides. You then divide these costs among fewer people. For this you will receive a completely organized trip, in a small and attractive company!