Flora and Fauna of Madagascar

On arrival this morning in the capital Antananarivo (usually known as ‘Tana’) we will be met by our local guide and transfer to our hotel where dinner is served this evening.

After breakfast we take and internal flight north to Diego Suarez/Antsiranana, situated on the far north coast. On arrival, we will drive to our accommodation at the Mantasaly Resort in Diego Suarez/ Antsiranana.

Later, we will drive towards to Sakalava Bay, 25kms from the hotel. Here we take a walk along the Three Bays (Bay of Sakalava, Bay of Pigeons and Bay of Dunes), bordered by a turquoise sea and white sand. The track runs alongside an endemic forest of baobabs and ends at the majestic entrance to the Diego Bay Pass. We will also visit the lighthouse and the old French military installations.

After lunch at a local restaurant we will visit the fishing village of Ramena, before returning to our hotel.

A full day excursion to the Montagne d'Ambre National Park that protects an isolated rainforest block extending over 18000ha awaits. With a maximum altitude of 1475m, this area of former volcanic activity is like a green oasis in the centre of the desert, a real paradise for botanists, with much of the flora and fauna of Montagne d'Ambre being locally endemic. This is the wettest part of Madagascar with an average rainfall of 3585mm, so the park is filled with rivers and lakes, torrents and waterfalls.

Plant highlights include tree ferns and the large epiphytic tree fern, Asplenium nidus. We have a good chance of seeing Sanford’s brown lemur and the amazing, camouflaged Leaf-tailed gecko, Uroplatus fimbriatus, on this walk, as well as a view of the Antomboka waterfall. A picnic lunch is included today.

We return to our hotel in Diego Suarez. Dinner is served in the evening.

We head to the dry Montagne des Français to see the locally endemic dry-country flora. This is the type locality of the northern ‘flat-top’ baobab, Adansonia suarezensis, which emerges to stand proud above the surrounding vegetation on the slopes on the way up the dry mountainsides. One even has a few orchids nestling in the crown (Angraecum praestans & A. leonis). Other pachycaul plants to be found include Adansonia madagascariensis, Pachypodium rutembergianum, P. decaryi and the cone-shaped Cyphostemma pachypus, as well as ‘true’ succulents such as Aloe suarezensis and Euphorbia ankarensis.

Near the top, on Pic des Orchidées, the most famous of all Malagasy orchids, the Comet Orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale), should be in flower. This has the longest spur of any orchid, which as Charles Darwin correctly predicted is pollinated by a moth with a 30 cm-long tongue, Xanthopan morgani praedicta. A picnic lunch is included.

Flight schedule permitting, we take an afternoon flight from Diego Suarez back to Tana.

After breakfast we transfer to the airport for flight to Fort Dauphin on the far south-east coast, set on a peninsula backed by high green mountains – depending on the flight schedule we will have lunch in either Tana or Fort Dauphin. On arrival, here in the southernmost limit of the humid eastern domain, we travel inland along fairly poor roads to Berenty Private Reserve, which protects parcels of the bizarre 'spiny desert' habitat (Euphorbia-Didieraceae bush) as well as dry Tamarind gallery forest. After the Ranopis Pass which marks the transition zone between the southern and eastern domains - and where we can stop to view a slope full of the marvellous and strange Triangulated Palm - we enter the 'spiny desert' which stretches for as far as the eye can see and is dominated by tall, thorny Didieraceae trees and much Euphorbia. 

After breakfast today we will explore the Berenty Reserve, where the trails are broad and the terrain is flat. Best known for its large and well habituated populations of the iconic Ringtail lemur and the "dancing" Verreaux’ sifaka, Berenty is home to six species of lemur, the south's largest colony of Madagascar fruit bats, and 103 bird species, 56 of whom breed in the reserve. It also holds a wide variety of fascinating dry country flora including ancient Tamarind trees, tall, impressive Pachypodiums and Moringas. We have the whole day to explore the reserve. Note the tall, bloated Pachypodiums, Moringas and other xerophytic species typical of the spiny bush on sandy substrate, such as various endemic (and endangered) Aloe species, and some of Madagascar’s unusual woody tree Euphorbias.

Towards the end of the day, after lunch at the Reserve’s restaurant, we travel back to Fort Dauphin with stops en route to see localised and rare flora including tall, spiny Didieraceae trees; Baobabs (Adansonia za) and the peculiar, endangered and highly localised Triangulated palm. With luck, if they have re-established themselves, in the more humid area near Fort Dauphin we can see endemic Pitcher-plants: Madagascar marks the westernmost limit for this predominantly Asian group of carnivorous plants which do not exist in Africa. 

After breakfast we transfer to the airport at Fort Dauphin for our flight to Tana.

We depart for Andasibe this morning on road N°2 connecting Antananarivo to Tamatave, the biggest harbour of Madagascar, travelling through luxuriant forests of Angavo, with a picnic lunch en route. We will also visit Peyrieras, a unique farm which is home to a wide variety of chameleons and other reptiles.

Following an early breakfast we will spend the morning exploring the lush rainforest of ‘Périnet’ (the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park).  This is the most visited protected area in the country due to its world renowned rainforest flora and remarkable wildlife. Several nocturnal species live in the park, such as the tiny Microcebus. Chameleons, frogs are present everywhere, among a flora rich in pandanas, eucalyptus, ravinala, rosewood. There are also several lakes covered with water lilies, full of charm and mystery.

We can look for the marsh orchid, Gastrorchis lutea, and lovely, terrestrial orchids such as G. pulcra var. perrieri and G. tuberculosa. Aerangis orchids may be in flower in the Orchid Garden and also Cymbideiella pardalina, which in nature only grows in clumps of the Staghorn fern, Platycerium madagascariensis. Star attractions on the wildlife front include lemurs such as Indri (largest of the extant lemurs and noted for its whale-like 'song'), shy grey bamboo and brown lemurs, a wonderful selection of rainforest birds (notably blue coua, velvet asity and coral-billed nuthatch vanga) and reptiles such as the giant, emerald green Parson's chameleon.

After lunch in the hotel, for those who wish we will visit the Vakona reserve by canoe, which will enable us to reach the forests where different species of Lemurs live. We can expect to observe these lemurs very closely - some are so familiar that they will jump on your shoulder.

Alternatively you may wish to spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool. Dinner is served in the evening.

We have another early morning start as we trek through the forest reserve of Analamazaotra, managed by the Mitsinjo association, which works for the preservation of Andasibe fauna and flora. Lunch is served back at the hotel after which the afternoon is free to relax. Once night has fallen (around 6.00pm), we will have a one hour nocturnal visit to discover the smallest chameleons and frogs species on the rainforest and the smallest lemur species called mouse-maki.

After breakfast we transfer back to Antananarivo. Lunch is provided on the way. Upon arrival in Anatananarivo, we transfer to our hotel where the rest of the day is free to spend how you wish.

This morning we visit the nursery of the late Alfred Razafindratsira, who was a major supplier of seeds for palms and gained immortality by discovering a new species which bears his name:  Beccariophoenix alfredii, also known as the High Plateau Coconut Palm. After lunch in Tana there will be an opportunity for souvenir shopping in the local craft markets. We enjoy a farewell dinner before we transfer to the airport for our return overnight flight to London.

We arrive in London.