River Expedition & Tsingy
Tsiribihina River - Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park - Marofandilana Reserve - Kirindy Reserve - (Allée de Baobab) Baobab Avenue
11 days & 10 nights
Highlights
Tsiribihina River: Remote river
trip
Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park: Limestone formations and observation of the Van der Decken's sifaka
Marofandilana Reserve: Observation of the smallest primate of the world, the Madame Berthe's mouse lemur
Kirindy Reserve: Observation of the largest predator of the island, the fossa
Allée de Baobab: The national monument
Tour description
Day 1: Antananarivo (or Tana)
Arrival at Ivato International Airport. Meeting with English speaking agent and transfer to the hotel.
Day 2: Tana - Miandrivazo (D)
We leave Tana and drive to Miandrivazo (about 7 hours), from where the river trip starts the next morning. We have a quick stop in the town of Ambatolampy to visit some workshops where aluminum cooking pots are made by skilled worker. Most of the cooking pots that we use in Madagascar come from this town. Thereafter we continue driving, after Antsirabe we’ll get a panoramic view of rice paddies, cornfields, vegetable fields and Merina family tombs.
Overnight and dinner at the hotel. (Dinner, bed and breakfast.)
Day 3: Tsiribihina River trip (B, L, D)
Boarding the local boat at the jetty of the Tsiribihina River. We slowly follow the river downstream. Although we have a busy itinerary planned, sometimes we stop and go on land to visit various villages. Lunch and dinner on the boat. When the sun goes down, we set up the tents on the sandy riverbank.
Camping on the riverside.
Day 4: Tsiribihina River trip
(B, L, D)
Continuation along this river with a stop at Anosin’Ampela, where we take a shower in a beautiful waterfall. We will have the opportunity to discover beautiful landscapes, baobab trees and steep mountains. Overnight camping on the riverside.
Day 5: Belo sur Tsiribihina - Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park (B, L, D)
Arrival in Belo sur Tsiribihina and heading towards Tsingy de Bemaraha. Check-in at the hotel, in the afternoon we walk around Bekopaka. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Bekopaka.
Day 6: Bekopaka - Small Tsingy (B, L, D)
Day visit to the Tsingy of Bemaraha National Park, which is classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pirogue trip along the gorges of the Manambolo River (about 1.5 hours) to discover the limestone walls. We get out of the pirogue and walk through the forest of the Small Tsingy. Picnic lunch inside the park. Thereafter we continue our hike and walk back to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in the hotel in Bekopaka.