Birding In The Red Island

Welcome in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar! How was your international flight? We’re glad you are here. Maybe, it is your first time in Madagascar: don’t worry; we will be at the airport to welcome you and to transfer you to your hotel.

Your first immersion inside of the Malagasy way of life will start in Ifaty. To get there, we will transfer you to the airport to take the flight to Toliara. On your arrival in Toliara, someone will be there to help you to go to Ifaty. Once in your hotel, take time to rest and settle a bit. We will visit the Reniala reserve in the early afternoon (3.30 PM). What about dinner? Well, it will be ready at your hotel, where you will stay overnight! Did you bring your diary? It’s now time to start writing everything down!

You may wonder about the birds we’ll encounter. Here is our Bird Top List:
Subdesert Mesite, Lafresnaye’s vanga, Long-tailed Ground Roller, Banded kestrel, Running coua, Archbold’s Newtonia, Madagascar brush warbler, Thamnornis warbler, Sickle-billed Vanga, Green-capped coua.

Early in the morning, we will go at the towering thorny bushes to look for the very rare endemics bird species.
Find our Bird top list here: Long-tailed Ground Roller, Subdesert Mesite, Running coua, Green capped coua, Lafresnaye’s vanga, Banded kestrel, Archbold’s Newtonia, Madagascar brush warbler, Thamnornis warbler, Sickle-billed Vanga, Madagascar Plover.

In the afternoon (3 PM), bring your hat, sunglasses and camera! Don’t forget to apply sunscreen; we will stroll near the Belalanda Lake to see some typical migratory shorebirds such as the Baillon’s crakes, the Greater flamingos, the White throated rails. Hmm… What about dinner? Try something new today! Coming to Madagascar also means tasting its delicious food!

Very early departure today, heading to Toliara (40km – 1 hr. track) for us to reach a site to observe the Madagascar Sand grouse (observable only from 4.30 AM to 6.30 AM).
Then we will continue to the flat-topped mountain called “La table” to observe the Red shoulder Vanga and the Verreaux coua.

Yay, we will enjoy the beautiful setting during the excursion we will have somewhere around. Let your imagination wander in the sky and admire the beautiful scenery. It’s also a good time to empty your head and slowly preparing for a fresh new start. Tomorrow will be another great day!

A room is already waiting for you at the hotel where you’ll have dinner.

How was your night? Did you sleep well? Being in this adventure with you is such an honor for us. Today, we will have a transfer to Toliara port, and then another transfer by boat, for 1 hour, to Nosy Ve, near Anakao. Why? Because we want you to see the red-tailed tropicbird and the littoral rocks thrush: they are magnificent. From there, we will also have a transfer back to Anakao to find the crab plover. Then, we will go to the hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.
What is your best photo so far? Think of what you’ve seen until now and have rest.

The days we spent together are so precious! As you read these lines you may think of all the moves we’re making, almost every day, and you’re right. But the truth is that we really want to give you the best during your stay in Madagascar. It is important for us to be with you in this adventure of a lifetime.

Tomorrow night we will be at Ankarafantsika and to do so we must return to Antananarivo. So, depending on your flight schedule, we will have a transfer by boat to Toliara, and by car to the airport to take the flight to Antananarivo. Our tour-guide will be there to welcome you at your arrival and to transfer you to your hotel, where you will be able to rest in your room before dinner. Relax and refresh yourself!

Hello friend! Today, you have a transfer to the airport for your flight to Mahajanga. We will already be there to welcome you and to drive you to Ankarafantsika National Park, a sanctuary of birds and lemurs. It is home to 129 species of birds of which 75 are endemic. Can you imagine that? We want to inform you: from day 7 to day 8, dinner will be ready for you to taste at your camp where you will have your overnight stay.

It’s time to get up! Today, we will experience new adventures! Early morning will be devoted to the deciduous forest of Ampijoroa! Guess what? It is also one of Madagascar’s finest bird watching venues.

In the afternoon, we will bird along the Ravelobe Lake to see the Madagascar fish eagle, the Glossy ibis, the Humblot’s heron, the African darter, the Purple Heron, the Madagascan jacana, the Madagascar paradise-flycatcher and the White-faced whistling duck.

Our other Birds Top list?
Van Dam’s Vanga, Madagascar fish eagle, Schlegel’s asity, White-breasted mesite. But also three species of Coua (red-capped Coua, Coquerel’s Coua, crested Coua), Madagascar pygmy kingfisher, Madagascar green pigeon, rufous Vanga, and the amazing sickle-billed Vanga.

Reptiles and Frogs top list:
Oustalet’s chameleon, rhinoceros chameleon, leaf-tailed geckos.

Lemur’s Top list:
Coquerel’s sifaka, common brown lemur, mongoose lemur, western woolly lemur, small Indian civet, grey mouse lemur.

Ouch… This is our last morning of birding here! After your moment of meditation and your last tour around, we will drive to Mahajanga in the afternoon, where a room will be waiting for you to settle at the hotel. You’ll have your dinner at your hotel as well.

How is it doing so far? How many bird species have you spotted? Today we will transfer you to the airport to take the flight to Antananarivo. One of our tour-guide will welcome you and give you a lift for a 3 or 4 hours car transfer to Andasibe National Park (144km). Like Ankarafantsika, this place is well-known for its endemic birds (80% of them are found only in Andasibe): there are 120 species of birds in the park, for instance the Ground roller. 5 species are really endemic of Madagascar, and 4 of them are only seen in Andasibe National park. [Our Andasibe top list: please look at Day 13]

Your attention please, today we will visit the special reserve Indri – Indri! Oh man! We are so excited, this place is breathtaking. Covering an area of 810 ha, this special reserve is managed by Madagascar National Park and it is home to the largest lemur in Madagascar: the Indri Indri. Once there, you will quickly notice that there are also many other species of lemurs, birds, chameleons and frogs. And we have not even mentioned yet its rich flora which includes lots of species of fern and orchids, thousands of species of medicinal plants and valuable timber species. For you to get the most of it, we will end our second day in Andasibe with a night tour. And we will meet nocturnal species of lemurs and chameleons.

Today, dinner will be platted at your hotel where you’ll stay overnight. Please note: we will leave early tomorrow.

Youpee, early morning departure today! We are heading to the Torotorofotsy marsh, where we will spend the most of our time observing some species of birds and especially the Golden Mantella frog (Mantella aurantiaca). Our Top lists?

Birds Top list: Slender-Billed Flufftail Sarothrura watersi, Greater Painted Snipe Rostratula benghalensis and aggregations of waterfowl: such as Meller’s Duck Anas melleri.

Frogs top list: Golden Mantella, Mantella Painted.

So, how was Andasibe? As it is our last day in Andasibe, it is also our last chance to stroll around a bit before leaving. Here comes our birds, lemurs, reptiles and frogs top list. Check them to make sure you have met at least 5 of them! Around noon, we will transfer back to your Antananarivo hotel for dinner and an overnight stay (144km – 3 or 4 hours).

Birds Top list: 4 species of ground-roller (pitta-like, scaly, rufous-headed and short-legged ground-roller), Vanga (Chabert’s, White-headed, Blue, Red-tailed, Nuthatch, Tylas, Red-fronted Vanga), Coua (Blue, Red-breasted, Red-throated Coua), Velvet Asity, Common sunbird-Asity, Long-billed Green Sunbird, Collared Nightjar.

Lemur’s Top list: Black and White Ruffed Lemur, Diademed Sifaka, Brown Lemur, Red Bellied Lemur, Indri-Indri, Mouse Lemur, Common Brown Lemur, Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur, eastern Woolly lemur, Grey Bamoo Lemur , Red-Bellied Lemur
Reptiles and Frogs top list: Parson’s chameleon, Short-nosed chameleon, nose-horned chameleon, stump-tailed chameleon, and frogs: 3 to 4 species of boophis and about 5 species of Mantidactilus

Yay, are you ready for the last day of your trip? Bring your peace and your thirst for adventure: this morning, we will depart for Tsarasaotra Lake, located in the town of Antananarivo itself. Please note that Tsarasaotra is closed to visitors during the week-end.
This place is so wonderful. Tsarasaotra Lake is a RAMSAR site. It is also called “home to egrets, herons and endemic ducks.”
Our Bird Top List: Cattle Egret (Bulbucus ibis), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), Blackcrowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), Dimorphic Egret (Egretta dimorpha), Blackcrowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) , Red-billed Teal (Anas erythrorhyncha), White-faced whistling Duck(Dendrocygne viduata), Knob-billed Teal (Sarkidiornis melanotos) , Malagasy Kingfisher(Corythornis vintsioides), Swamp Warbler (Acrocephalus Newtoni).

Then we will transfer you to the airport for you to flight back home.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the program. Have we made you want to come and experience it? We are used to say that it’s better in person and that we’ll do our best to make your trip unforgettable. Wish to welcome you soon in Madagascar!