Bliss out on an intoxicating blend of spiny desert spiking the sunset, granite domes rearing above virgin rainforest and glassy waves crashing onto stretches of coral reef. Jacques Marais tripped into Madagascar and discovered a gentle island where French flair and Polynesian tradition blend with a laidback, African vibe.
I travelled to Madagasacar expecting Africa. I anticipated the emerald rainforest's embrace where lemurs might lurk and orchids would miraculously bloom. I expected the spiny desert to be like another world, a surreal place where didieracea cactus scratched at the sky next to big-bellied baobabs.
I hoped I would catch a glimpse of a crested coua, that I extraordinary laze in the ample shade of a gnarled casuarina, drift between technicolour tropical fish and sail along an endless beach in a pirogue. I thought the Red Island would taste of Africa, but I never expected to savour so many flavours in this ancient world.
Madagascar is an unexpected island, rather like a small and hitherto unknown continent suspended somewhere outside our familiar world. Flashes of the Far East, moments of Mexico and the flair of a long-gone France, all blending together in a spicy melange of unexpected encounters and outstanding memories.
Here, on the world's fourth-largest island, a full house of climatic zones encompasses everything from vast tracts of rainforest and divergent deciduous woodland to a profusion of granite mountains and an ageless, Androy desert.
From the highlands to the coastal plains, your senses are assaulted by diverse floral domains teeming with an abundance of giant bamboos, dwarf pachypodiums, thorny euphorbia and more than 1200 species of endemic orchids. Go for a walk in the wilds and you might come across chameleons in excess of 60cm in size, or bump into 32 species of lemur, a primitive species of primate found nowhere else in the world.
But it is the diverse and gentle inhabitants of the island that turn on the true Madagascar magic. They arrived as recently as 1900 years ago, Polynesians and Indonesians journeying across treacherous seas in small, outrigger canoes.
These early settlers were later joined by Africans and Arab slave traders from the east coast of Africa and, through a slow process of integration, eighteen distinct tribal groups evolved. Compassion and ceremony is inherent to a culture where the shy smiles of gentle eyes are sure to touch your heart.
Red Route - Deserts, Rivers & Coastlines If you like it hot, this itinerary will keep you sizzling (FH! in summer, so you've been warned). Jet from JHB to Antananarivo with Air Madagascar, connecting straight through to Miandrivazo on an internal flight. It is advisable to book your flights in SA, otherwise availability cannot be guaranteed.
Boating the Tsiribihina River
Your holiday is about to kick in, big time. Book into the Gite de la Tsiribihina guesthouse in Miandrivazo and get horizontal within spitting distance of the Tsiri river. Pre-book your three day river cruise or barter when you get there.
Launch onto the latté coloured water and let the slow, broad flow do the work down toward Belo sur Tsiribihina on the west coast. Camp along the river shore for two nights, revelling in starry skies and possible daytime sightings of the rare Madagascar fish eagle. A word of warning - take along Terminator-strength suntan lotion, a family pack of mozzie repellent and a huge hat.
Explore the Sakalava Kingdom
From Belo sur Tsiribihina, the road snakes south through sand and shimmering heat. Take the brousse-truck and hunker down as you belt through muddy potholes along the atrocious track to Morondava. The Kirindy Swiss Forest along the way is an excellent stopover, offering eyeball-to-eyeball contact with the world's smallest primate, the pygmy mouse lemur weighing in at an lilliputian 45gr. Once safely ensconced on Morondava's cowboy coast, scuttle to the Avenue of Baobabs in a creaky Renault 4 to see the sunset kiss these gnarled giants good night.
Ifaty Beach Bumming
You're between a rock and a hard place, bud. A road trip to Ifaty via Morombe equates to two day of severe bodily contortions along a bone-jarring track, while a pirogue jaunt along the coast might linger for up to four days, depending on favourable winds.
Whatever your choice, by the time you get to Ifaty you will be in a beachy mood. Swing into the rhythm of the west coast swell by booking a snorkelling trip to the vast coral reefs or just get mellow on rhum au coco at one of the tropical beach bars. A walk in the Reniala Arboretum will steer you into the surreal spiny desert where you may wander amongst bloated baobabs, spiky didieracea cacti and carbuncled euphorbia.
Sarodrano Cave Diving
Negotiate the shifting sands southwards past Toliara towards St Augustine Bay, booking into Melody Beach Bungalows overlooking the mangrove flood plains. Walk into the arid hills where flint-eyed falcons keep watch over Veso tombs or book a pirogue trip to Sarodrano caves. Reputed to have once been a pirate hide-out, the freshwater cave system offers superb snorkelling in a milky-blue pool where schools of fish flutter below the surface.
Whale Watching in Taolanaro
Taolanaro (Fort Dauphin) by road is sheer torture, so opt for an Air Madagascar connection from Toliara. Here you can crash out at Libanona, a paradisiacal beach ringed by casuarina trees, offering some of Madagascar's best diving and swimming. Whale watching trips, is conducted either by ski boat or pirogue. Berenty and Amboasary-Sud Reserves are situated about 80km to the west, offering excellent fauna and floral diversity.
Green Route - Rainforests, Lakes & Mountains
Head south through the scenic highlands along a route that kicks off in the capital Antananarivo (say Tana, it's easier and everybody else does anyway). Spend your first night (or maybe two) in the capital to get into the Madagascar groove before taxi-broussing along the RN7 highway to Antsirabe. Commandeer a colourful pousse-pousse pull cart and race to the taxi point to connect to Lake Andraikiba, a journey of about half an hour in a rickety car crowded way beyond capacity.
Biking the Lakes
Lake Andraikiba is situated less than 500 metres from the main road along a secondary dirt track and secure camping is possible at Hotel Dera. Not only will their security guards keep an eye on your tents, but zebu steaks and cold beers are sure to lure you onto their restaurant balcony. Endless possibilities for exploration abound - go for a leisurely 5km stroll around Lake Andraikiba, where gnarled yellowwood trees line the lakeshore. A day trip by bicycle to the azure waters of the volcanic Lake Tritriva, situated 12km along an undulating dirt road from Andraikiba, will transport you into a landscape of tiered rice paddies, ancient burial tombs and medieval villages.
Rainforest Trekking
Follow the road south from Antsirabe, winding your way through highland vineyards and plantations as you near the educational centre of Fianarantsoa. Expect the taxi-brousse trip to take around 4 hours, so you might have to spend a night here. From Fianar to the Ranomafana National Park, the road goes all bedonnerd and the 200-odd kilometres might take anything up to five hours. To step into this leafy rainforest land is to be enthralled by it - surrender to looming mountains cloaked in forever-green vegetation and a constant raindrop soundtrack.
Beyond the whitewater snarl of the Namorona river stretches the emerald shadows of Ranomafana, a mist-veiled forest filled with crested couas, bamboo lemurs, thermal springs, millions of leeches and otherworldly orchid blooms. Guided day hikes and night walks will be your gateway into a shimmering, jade dreamspace.
Inselberg Scrambling
Brace yourself for the beauty of what must be Mad's most enchanting town. In Ambalavao (it means the New Valley), all the cultures, charisma and traditions of Africa, the East and an earthy Provence flow together in a blend of imposing, mud-red-homes, intricately carved balconies and gentle smiles. Once you meander beyond the laidback charm of the town boundaries, you had better ready yourself for action. Here the grasslands explode into dome upon massive granite dome, with huge inselberg massifs bucking skywards to shrug aside grassy knolls, creating a climbing and hiking Disney World.
Visit Analanja Site Touristique, eight kilometres south along the RN7, and let your endorphins run amok in bouldering, scrambling and rockclimbing paradise.. . or just to relax in the shadows of a formidable monument to the gods of rock. And look out for the grumpiest lemur on the planet!
Zombitse Night Hiking
Really a toss-up between this and Isalo, a more touristy but by all accounts unbelievable trekking destination. Zombitse, poised between the arid spiny desert of the south and the deciduous highland forests, offers an interesting look into a transitional biosystem. Baobabs, bamboos and a surreal mix of flora is home to Verreaux's sifaka, long-eared owl, Madagascan gymnogene and various endemic bird species (Appert's greenbul is found nowhere else). A night walk will let you discover a rustling Zombitse full of luminous eyes.
Blue Route - The Ones That Got Away ...
A three week trip is way too short to completely cover Madagascar and we sadly had to skip the northern part of the island. Not to mention the Taolanaro area, the Pangalanes Canal along the east coast, the Masoala Peninsula and the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, which means I will have to go back. Excellent! here are my top priorities for the next visit.
1. Exploring the Masoala Peninsula
Getting there is a bitch (except if you fly), but once you're in Maroantsetra, you will be spoiled for choice. Lowland rainforest, rare birds and aye-aye lemurs, as well as exceptional snorkelling, scuba diving, sea kayaking and trekking expeditions make this one of Madagascar's prime eco-tourism destinations.
2. Visiting the Marojeji and Montagne d'Ambre National Parks
Marojeji was proclaimed as a national park as recently as 1998 and, with the help of the WWF, is being developed a s a community-based tourism project. Its main drawcard is a phenomenal five day return trek to the summit of the Marojeji massif. Montagne d'Ambre National Park offers visitors a lush montane bio-system dotted with sparkling waterfalls and crater lakes - get a guide and plan an ascent on the 1 747m peak of the same name for breathtaking views across the forest canopy to the bays around Antsiranana.
3. Exploring the Caves in Ankarana National Park
Travel further south along the main highway (avoiding the road craters) to reach the incredible tsingy plateau where abundant wildlife inhabits sunken forested canyons and the surreal limestone cave network. Nile crocodiles lurk in underground tunnels, while sifaka, crowned lemurs & fossa may be seen.
4. Canoeing along the Pangalanes Canal
More than 600km in length, this chain of lakes and canals stretches from Tamatave to Manakara, offering excellent water sports opportunities to east coast visitors. Although overgrown by alien vegetation, projects are under way to have it cleared. Excellent fishing and great hotels keep tourists coming back.
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