RN7 Tour

Meet your driver after breakfast and then continue to Antsirabe. Stop at Ambatolampy for a visit of a workshop working on recycled aluminiumn, a good example of Malagasy know-how and handicraft skills. Continue to Antsirabe; check in at the hotel upon arrival. Antsirabe is a thermal town also famous for the handicraft workshops. Be sure to enjoy the taste of a true Malagasy beer whilst here. An option is to visit the two crater lakes of Andraikiba and Tritriva. Legend says that there were two young lovers forbidden to marry by their parents, so they threw themselves into Tritriva and drowned. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis.

• Les Chambres du Voyageur
• La Residence Camelia
• Couleur Café hotel

Breakfast at the hotel. Hit the road southwards to Ranomafana, passing by Ambositra and visit. Ambositra is the Zafimaniry capital. Zafimaniry being people of the forest, they have for year mastered woodcarving and all wooden furniture manufacturing. The Zafimaniry Capital is a real work of art; the shutters and walls are carved in geometric designs inspired by Arabic designs. Lunch at your charge. Continuation to Ranomafana and check in at the hotel by the end of the afternoon. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis

• Manja hotel
• Grenat hotel or similar

Visit of Ranomafana National Park in the morning, located on rain forested uphill that lies at an altitude of 800 to 1200 meters. Ranomafana NP was created in 1990 after the discovery in 1986 of the « Golden bamboo lemur » (scientific name is Hapalemur Aureus). Lunch at your charge. Then head towards Fianarantsoa. You will make a short city tour to the « old town » of Fianarantsoa. The only train that is still working in Madagascar for passengers is departing from this town to Manakara. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis

• La Rizière hotel
• Villa Sainte Sylvestre

Continue to Ambalavao where we will visit the Antemoro paper workshop in Ambalavao. Stop at Anja Private Reserve for a short walk during which we will have the opportunity to see the Catta Lemurs and other brown lemurs, and depending on the season, reptiles. Continue to Isalo. On your way down to Ranohira, you’ll pass by the “Porte du Sud”, and cross the Plateau of Horombe. Check in at your hotel upon arrival. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis

• Isalo Ranch
• Orchide of Isalo

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we explore the bizarre landscapes that are scattered throughout Isalo National Park, and with a little luck we might encounter the three lemur species that are found here the Red-fronted Brown Lemur, the highly charismatic Ring-tailed Lemur and the loping bipedal Verreaux’s Sifaka. Picnic lunch during the visit (at your charge), and return to the hotel in the afternoon. Time permitting will allow for a turn at the window of Isalo, one of the most famous spots of this National Park. It is where people generally take pictures of the sunset reflecting on the sandstone massif. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis

• Isalo Ranch
• Orchide of Isalo

Continue to Tuléar after breakfast. You will pass by Ilakaka, the sapphire town. This used to be a small village before is expanded in an amazing way from 1998, since the discovery of a sapphire mine. From this point of the road, you will see the difference in habitat, which is different from Ranomafana evergreen forest, to the dryness of Isalo, and then the lush green vegetation within the massif, and finally going drier southwards. The forests around Tuléar are typical dry forests, and bushes. On the road, you will see a few baobabs as well, a different species from those seen in Morondava. Also, funerary arts seen on the local Mahafaly tombs. Arrival in Tuléar, lunch at your charge. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis

• Bella Donna
• Le Nautilus

Relaxing days at Ifaty. Possible visit of the Reniala reserve known as the forest of baobab. Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis

• Bella Donna
• Le Nautilus
• Jardin de L’Isle