When you get to Miandrivazo, driving on a nice paved road crossing the western Highlands, you take the inland trails as far as the shores of the Mahajilo (a tributary of the Tsiribihina). This is where the river navigation starts. You travel in covered motor boats; the largest ones have a kitchenette and a sun-deck. After another tributary joins it, the majestic Tsiribihina flows between the spurs of the Highlands and then enters the high vertical walls of the Bemaraha Canyons where the tropical forest grows and the lemurs live. During the stops you penetrate the inner territory to see fantastic waterfalls and natural pools in the luxuriant vegetation. After this the river flows through the savannah, dotted by baobabs, among mango and tamarind forests, and the farms and villages of the Sakalava people. During the 2 days navigation you can see parrots, ducks, herons and pink ibis, and sometimes crocodiles and turtles on the rocks and lemurs in the trees. Overnight you sleep on the riverbank in igloo tents with mosquito netting curtains. You have your meals on board or you go ashore, depending on the number of participants. After landing you go by car (off-road vehicle) along the trail which crosses the tropical forest to Morondava.
Antananarivo (Google Map)
When you get to Miandrivazo, driving on a nice paved road crossing the western Highlands, you take the inland trails as far as the shores of the Mahajilo (a tributary of the Tsiribihina). This is where the river navigation starts. You travel in covered motor boats; the largest ones have a kitchenette and a sun-deck. After another tributary joins it, the majestic Tsiribihina flows between the spurs of the Highlands and then enters the high vertical walls of the Bemaraha Canyons where the tropical forest grows and the lemurs live. During the stops you penetrate the inner territory to see fantastic waterfalls and natural pools in the luxuriant vegetation.
Departure by car from Antananarivo along the road that crosses the central Plateau, characterised by villages of houses built with red dirt, and large stretches of cultivated rice fields. After about 3 hours arrival at Antsirabe, which is a typical town on the highlands, lined with swarms of brightly coloured posy (rickshaws). After lunch, continue itinerary west, crossing a region which is densely cultivated by the local Vakinankaratra population, then towards vast regions of bare hills and savannahs as far as the eye can see, which are crossed by herds of pasturing zebus. Then arrive near Miandrivazo, one of the hottest towns in Madagascar. Dinner et overnight at Princesse Tsiribihina Lakana hotel (standard room) or similar.
After breakfast continue towards the banks of the Mahajilo river, tributary of the Tsiribihina. Boarding and begin navigation through the tree-filled savannahs to the first campsite, which is reached late afternoon. Set up of camp by the staff, on the banks of the river, near a Sakalava village. Meals on board and overnight stay in tents.
Breakfast at the campsite, then continue navigation, during which you can see various bird species along the banks of the river, like various coloured herons, the strange-looking drongo with its typical plume, various species of predators like, at times, the fishing eagle. Stop along the way on the river to walk to a beautiful waterfall which originates at a “natural swimming pool” where you can swim in the clear waters, sometimes observed by shy lemurs… Continue navigation, the current becomes faster when the river enters gorges, characterised by high vertical walls and verdant vegetation and the habitat for families of lemurs. Arrive at second campsite at the end of the day. Meals on board and overnight stay in tents.
Breakfast at the campsite, then continue navigation along the savannah where the first baobabs appear and the Sakalava villages, on the river banks, increase in number. Lunch on board before the end of the navigation, then disembark and continue by car along the track that leads to Morondava, along the famous “Baobab Way”, gigantic and magnificent trees that take on surprising colours when the sun sets. Arrival at the end of the day. Dinner and overnight stay in hotel Palissandre Cote Ouest Resort (standard room) or similar.
Breakfast in hotel; time at your disposal; lunch in hotel and transfer to the airport
