Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Johannesburg – Antananarivo MD 125 17H50 / 21H45. Meeting upon arrival by the flight from Johannesburg. After clearing customs, you will be met by someone, then driving and transfer into the city. Overnight on bed and breakfast at the hotel Tana Plaza or similar.
Day 2: Antananarivo – Antsirabe. After breakfast, depart for Antananarivo Through the mountains, the hills and the rice fields. En route you will see many burial tombs some simple, others elaborate which play an important role in the local people and their fascination with the afterlife. Arrive at Antsirabe at the mid-afternoon. Short city tour and drive to the hotel. Overnight and dinner at Arotel or similar.
Day 3: Antsirabe – Fianarantsoa. After breakfast drive to Ambositra, on the way visit of the typical villages to have a contact of the population. Possibility to have a break at Ambositra (visit of the shops or have a soft drink) after lunch, continuation to Fianarantsoa through the forests of eucalyptus and pine trees. Halt to watch some birds or photos. Overnight and dinner at Tsara Guest House.
Day 4: Fianarantsoa – Ranohira. Morning departure from Fianarantsoa for the very long days drive south wards, going down to the southern part. In Ambalavao there is an interesting factory making hand-made paper which is well worth visiting. It takes ten minutes or so to see the various processes at work and there is a small gift shop at which you can buy some of the products. A visit to a local vineyard will also be made. On Wednesday the zebu market is very interesting.
In the afternoon the second part of the journey is over Ihosy to the wide Horombe grassland plains and on towards Ranohira. The scenery begins to change as you travel through the ‘Gateway to the South’ mountain and enter the attractive countryside of the Betsileo people where granite outcrops dominate the skyline. Here the village architecture also begins to change, from the single-storey ‘African-style’ house to the double-storey buildings of the central highlands where the people are more akin to those from south-east Asia than Africa.
Day 5: Ranohira – Isalo National Park. Early start for the drive through to nearby Isalo National Park. Collect a local guide at the park headquarters in Ranohira and walk up (90 min) to the natural swimming pool of the National park through the Tapia forest. For the nature lovers, they have the opportunity to learn about the endemic plants of Isalo: the aloes, the pachypodium or bottle plants. Stop at the natural swimming pool. It’s possibility to swim, then back the same way to the vehicle. Drive back to the hotel.
Day 6: Ranohira – Tulear – Ifaty. After breakfast drive to Tuléar through the savanna and the spiny bush. Stop on the way to take some photos of the baobab trees, typical tombs. Arrival in Tuléar after 3 hours of drive and short city in Tuléar before continuation to Ifaty. A fisher village situated about 45” from Tuléar between the spiny bush and the lagoon. Overnight and diner at Le Paradisier or similar.
Day 7: Ifaty – Tulear – Antananarivo. Breakfast at the hotel. Morning free at leisure. Then transfer to the airport and flight back to Antananarivo. Meeting at the airport and transfer to the hotel.
Day 8: Antananarivo - Johannesburg. Breakfast at the hotel. Visit of the artisan market before the transfer to the airport. Flight back to Johannesburg at 15h00 or your destination.
Sites to Visit – South Tour:
* Ambatolampy - 69 km from Antananarivo, first step on the road to the South, aluminum capital in Madagascar, in so far as all the pans are manufactured there, the Ambatolampy profile can be seen on the Ankaratra blue horizon at 1500 altitude meters, usually one can stop there for lunch.
* Antsirabe - Localized in the middle of a fertile plain surrounded by high mountains of 2500 altitude meters, it is at 170 km away from Tananarive, in a comparatively recent volcanic zone. Antsirabe is a thermal station, "the water city" as it is called; it has become a very important economic city, famous for its fresh products and its mineral water, commonly called "Visy gasy". A small ride in rickshaw along the Independence Avenue, a drive to the semi-precious stones workshop.
* Semi-precious stones workshop "At Joseph's" - A very highly specialist in semi-precious stones and samples are exhibited in his workshop, Handicraftsman can be observed as they are busy in their interesting work.
* Ambositra - This town has become famous thanks to the skill of its handicraftsman: "Furniture, sculptures, marquetry". It generally constitutes a stopover for lunch. At any rate, do not forget to visit the marquetry workshop which makes the celebrity of this town, then you will be told the origins of this handicraft. You will have the opportunity to buy wonderful articles on marquetry basis.
* Fianarantsoa - It is the Betsileo Kingdom, a stopover necessary town for recovering all one's energy and being a good shape for the next step; actually it offers very few interests; it is just a compulsory passage for heading to the South. It is a large town, the capital of the South in the heart of a region, rich in tea, and wines; Fianarantsoa is, in some way, a catholic center for the great island with its numerous churches.
* Ambalavao - A small township crossed on the way to the South, it shelters the Antaimoro paper workshop, this handicraft paper, ones dried, is decorated on the basis of fresh flowers petal and gives a rare handicraft, from the writing papers, to the lampshade. All the chronology of this handicraft can be seen on the spot. Ambalavao is also famous for its wines.
* Ranohira - A tiny village, at the skirt of the Isalo mountain-range, is the basis of the excursions. The Isalo, a magnificent uniform mountain-range offers a multitude of possible excursions, reserved most of the time to experienced ramblers.
* Piscine naturelle de l’Isalo - An hour walk under the heat in the mountain-range for discovering a magic place, a swimming-pool fed by a mini–waterfall, in the shade of pandanus, the last destination of a walk in a wonderful landscape.
* La Fenêtre de l’Isalo - An exceptional viewpoint for photography amateurs, not to miss especially when the sun sets.
* Tulear - A port town under the Tropic of Capricorn, the town itself has not got much touristic interests, but it is the best place in the great island to purchase shells; a few kilometers from Tulear is there a wonderful lagoon where you can profit by the beach and the submarine bottoms; Tulear is also a point of departure of the excursions for the deep South at the discovery of a wild countryside.
* Ifaty - A fishermen‘s village situated at about 30Km from Tuléar. This is a beautiful place for relaxing and snorkeling after the south road. It is famous for its coral reefs.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price & conditions on request.
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
Madagascar
National Parks
Cultural Journey
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