Your solidarity travel in Madagascar

Lemuri Tours Voyages Your solidarity travel in Madagascar Localisation Fianarantsoa-Ambalavao-Tulear Duration 14 days Contact us Start Day 1In Antananarivo Arrival at Ivato airport , welcome by your guide and transfer to your hotel. Overnight in BB Day 2Antananarivo – Antsirabe – Manandona (170 KM + 22 KM) Departure to Antsirabe and stop at Ambatolampy wellkown for the making of the traditional pot, visit of the factory. Then continuation to Antsirabe, city tour with a rickshaw. Arriving at Manandona at the end of the afternoon. Welcome and meeting with the members of an association that promotes the development of local activities in the region (agriculture, livestock, crafts) Dinner and overnight in a local’s house where you will prepare together of the dinner. Day 3Activities with the villagers in Manandona After your breakfast, departure by bicycle to visit the village and its surroundings, participation in activities in the fields with the farmers (rice or potato etc., it changes according to the season). Visit and initiation to silk weaving (domestic silk). Cultural exchanges with the members of the association. You will prepare the dinner with them. A moment of sharing experiences. Day 4Hikking at Ibity Early departure for a hike to Mount Ibity, which peaks at more than 2500 meters. Composed mainly of granite and basalt rocks, this mountain give a very beautiful panoramic and a unique biodiversity. With your local guide, you will discover postcard landscapes. Among the para-agricultural activities highly valued by the local population, silkworm rearing is a real source of additional income for the farmers there. Moreover, this region is also rich, mineralogically : During the walk,we may meet miners, who, according to their luck, will find their happiness in the exploitation of the quarries of semi-precious stones; the less fortunate ones will only get a talcum powder. We can also find on our way, the vestige of the old villages, with its earthen « tamboho » (wall), as well as endemic plants like pachypodiums, high palm trees.Duration : about 06 hoursLevel : fairly steep slopes in some places – slippery course in rainy periods, crossing of irrigation canals – passages on stones in some places (wide passages)Vertical rise : around 550m With a medium level of difficulty, this hike is possible for many people, you just have a minimum of physical condition. Cultural exchanges and animation with the villagers and members of the association in the evening. Participation in the preparation of your dinner Day 5Ibity – Manandona – Fianarantsoa (267 km for 6 – 7 hours drive) Breakfast and departure for Fianarantsoa, the cradle of Malagasy culture. Arrival and possibility to visit the photographic laboratory of Pierrot Men, world-renowned and considered the greatest photographer of Madagascar. Snapshots, taken on the spot, full of life and light, poetry and melancholy are his main topic. Continuation in the hotel and overnight in BB Day 6FIANARANTSOA- MASOABE 30 mn drive for a transfer to the pier + 3 hours walk to reach the village , breakfast at the local’s house + 2 hours walk to reach the bivouac. After breakfast, early transfer for about 1 hour in the eastern part of the Betsileo’s capital.Beginning of the hike for 5 hours crossing Betsileo villages, rice fields, we will meet locals and discover their daily life. Lunch at the local’s house. Late afternoon arrival at Tambonenjanana the village where we install our bivouac. Day 7CANOE TRIP – SAHAMBAVY – FIANARANTSOA 2h30mn of navigation in canoe + 2h of walk until the place for pic nic , then the car pick up us to join Fianarantsoa ( 20 a 30 mn of car) After the breakast , let’s prepare for the descent by a traditional pirogue to the village of Iseta. Meeting with the local people along the 2hours of navigation. When the descent is finished we have 2 hours walk for SAHAMBAVY with a stop to visit schools and the unique tea plantations in the whole island. Picnic lunch and return to Fianarantsoa. Overnight in BB at the hotel Day 8Fianarantsoa – Ambalavao – Ranohira 290 km for 6- 7 hours drive Breakfast at the hotel and road to Ambalavao. Visit of the Antaimoro paper workshop, the silk workshop and the showroom. Then visit of the market and the city center of Ambalavao. Departure to Anja reserve which counts some colonies of makis catta (ringtailed lemurs) composed with about 80 individuals, divided into several families. It’s also possible to find reptiles like chameleons.Continuation for Ihosy and Ranohira. Crossing the ruiniform plateau of Horombe passing the through the savannah. Arriving at Ranohira and overnight in BB at your hotel. Day 9Ranohira – Isalo national park 3km Breakfast and easy trekking in the park. Opened in 1962, the Isalo National Park (pronounce « ish-ah-loo ») covers 81 540 ha of the eroded jurassic sandstone of the same name, and stretches from 180 km long with an average of 25 km wide. Departure for a walk in the Isalo National Park ,located in Bara Zafimanelo territory till the Canyon entrance. Start of the walk in the canyon (do not forget trekking shoes, hat and binoculars). Pic nic lunch,in the afternoon, riding (according to everybody physical capacity) in direction of the « piscine naturelle » (« Natural swimming pool » about 90 minutes walk approximately on outward journey but less than this time in the return), bathing in a crystalline water prettily surrounded with pandanus. Overnight in BB at your hotel. Day 10Ranohira – Tuléar – Ifaty 270 km environ (Ranohira-Ilakaka 20 mn; Ilakaka Tuléar:3h30mn,Tuléar – Ifaty : 45mn) Early breakfast and early morning departure for Tulear (means the place where we are arriving) passing through Ilakaka, which was in the past a small village became today a real « far west town » with the discovery in 1998 of the one of the bigger sapphire deposit in the world … Discovery of the Southern funeral art : the Antandroy tombs, with overview on the Mahafaly tombstones. The Antandroy tombs are componed with « Valavato