Color of the South : From Antananarivo to Ifaty

Getting settled at your hotel, departure after breakfast in joining the national road 07. First stopover of this day : Ambatolampy and its aluminum recovery workplaces, where artisans manufacture most of the kitchenware of Malagasy households. Still having lunch and taking off for Antsirabe, stopping on the way for the traditional villages' visits as well as for taking some pictures. Arrival in Antsirabe in the middle of the afternoon and visit some craft workshops before your room installation .

Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

We start this day with a little orientation tour, a marketplace visit and a little jaunt through the countryside of the highlands, a visit of villages to meet the day to day of Malagasy people.
Coming back again to the national 07 and setting out for Ambositra. We break into the mountain roads and reach Ambositra in the afternoon. Installation in the room.
Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

Leaving the hotel and a link until Antoetra for the visit of the village. The Zafimaniry are recognized as being the guardians of woodcarving. The Zafimaniry art is a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Their villages are thus made up of small houses that are entirely curved with figures that remind some Indonesia shapes.
After the visit start out again to join the southbound national 07 .. A serpentine mountain road brings us little by little along east coast of the island. We reach the Ranomafana locality at the end of the day. Installation.
Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

A devoted day for the National Park of Ranomafana
A transfer by car to the park upstream from the Ranomafana village. After the entrance formality, starting the visit that lasts about four hours.
During about thirty years, Ranomafana had been famously known as a thermal city. Various p from the Indian Ocean, the Southern Africa and even sometimes from the Western Europe, come there to follow treatments. The mountain chain, the ancient volcano, products some curative mineral water spring. The creation of the park rised in 1986 when a new species of lemur was discovered, the Hapalemur Aureus, its peculiarity is to feed quasi exclusively with endemic growing bamboo . What are intriguing, are those growing bamboos which contain a high quantity of hydrocyani acid that could kill about ten persons if we pick up the ingurgitated dose of an animal in one day. The park shelters as well diverse endemic floras, undoubtedly because of its singular environment with a volcanic subsoil.
Exiing the park in the middle of the day, having lunch in the village.

Optional visit :
– Enjoy the thermal swimming pool in the afternoon so as to relax after the walk.

Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

Taking off Ranomafana in the early morning for Fianarantsoa, stopping in a traditional metalworker village. They pratically supply the whole region with farm tools such as spades, ploughs and so forth. Coming along Fianarantsoa at the end of the day and visiing the old city. This high part apart of the town is the most interesting in architecture and history. These peaceful little alleys invite you to love the rythm of the town : "Mora mora".
Kep going southern to Ambalavao , getting through the pass of Vatoavo and its view over the valley of Ambalavao. We go beyond the highlands to the great expanse of the south and we leave bit by bit the rice fields with pastureland . Arrival in Ambalavao and visit of some workshops. Installation in the room.
Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

After the breakfast, a little orientation tour : a short walk visiting the small city of Ambalavao in wondering at the balustrades of the typical houses of the highlands, Here the architecture remains the same, the marketplace also worths the travel.

Optional visit on the way :
– The Anja reserve which is located in 13 kms from Ambalavao. an unavoidable site if you would like to observe the makis, the most famous lemurs of the Island. Those who have already seen the cartoon "Madagascar" know them.
A way through the vast plateau of Ihorombe and descent into Ranohira. Installation in your hotel.
Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

Visit of the National Park of Isalo.
Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

Description of the suggested tour in Isalo :
natural swimming pool
Medium tour, a full or a half day
Access : 3km from Ranohira (30mn by vehicle) until the parking at the site entrance
A tour of 3km and lasts 1h30mn on foot (except the stops and photo breaks)
Elevation : 60m
This is undoubtedly, the tour that is most done in this park, the naturalswimming pool is a great asset. Apart from the easiness of its journey, it offers a natural swimming pool on arrival for refreshing the tired hikers. During this tour, you will see the natural garden, the natural colors of the massif and a peculiar panorama at one of the valleys of Isalo .

Namazà
Easy tour, a full or a half day
Access : 4kms from Ranohira (20mn by vehicle) until the parking at the site entrance
A tour of 800m and lasts 20 mn on foot Elevation : 0 m
For this tour, the jant will draw you at the heart of the massif but this time, it will be in the canyons and the valleys. The route will show you the "cascade des nymphes", the blue and the black swimming pool as well as abnormal viewpoints.

Makis and Rat Canyons
sportive tour, a full-day required
Access : 17km from Ranohira (45mn by vehicle) until the parking at the site entrance
A tour of 9km and lasts 5:00 on foot Elevation : 60m
This tour allow you to enjoy some panoramic views (rice fields, cliffs that are incised with gorges) which are overlooked by the Canyons of Makis and the Canyon of the Rats. For the most sportive, this journey allows you to make a link between the canyon of makis and the village of Ranohira.

Departure after the breakfast. Going beyond the mushroom city of Ilakaka that was born in 1998 when a tourmaline collector noticed some sapphires in a stone plot. Following expert's report, about 3000 people already squat the region. Today nearly two million euros of gems daily tutn in this area
Getting along southern to Toliara. After going across the bush of the south, coming along in the middle of the day. Following a brief visit of the city of the sun, keep going to the north and arrival at the end of the afternoon. Installation in your hotel.

Possibility of visits :
– Sapphire mines in Ilakaka : Sapphire Mine by 15 kilometers of Ranohira.
– The Arboretum of Antsokay and visit of this places that gather unique flora richness . It stretches along nearly 4 ha, it is a real museum of flora and deciduous dry forest. It gathers about 900 vegetal species of the south-west of Madagascar, in which 90 % are endemic. The local fauna is mainly composed with Lemur microcebus, lizards, radiated turtles, and some bands of nomadic maki.
Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

A relaxating and discovery day, for enjoying the hotel and the beach.
You will discover the forest of baobabs in the morning. Not far from the locality of Mangily there is an area that is dedicated to the discovery of those famous trees with singular shapes. Through this visit, you will also have the opportunity to discover the fauna of this region. Coming back to the hotel ;

Optional activities :
– An outing with a traditional pirogue.
– Diving, fishing, snorkling…

Bed and breakfast in the hotel.

Transfer by car 30 to Tulear and 01 hour flying to Antananarivo.
Depending on the flight schedules, a transfer to the small airport of Toliara and formalities assistance . Take some hours for a direct flight to the capital. Reception on arrival and transfer to your hotel.