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 Madagascar's
flora and fauna are so different from anywhere else on Earth that it is
often regarded as an eighth continent. Five families of birds are found
only here, as are 120 endemic species concentrated in five Endemic Bird
Areas. Madagascar is the epitome of the bizarre. Half of the
world’s chameleons live here, from the giant 2.2 ft (68 cm)
Parson’s Chameleon to the miniscule 1.3 in (3.4 cm) Pygmy
Stump-tailed Chameleon. The lemurs are also a hit with visitors; their
antics are hard to ignore,from the wailing hoot of Perinet’s
Indris, to the bipedal loping of Verreaux’s Sifakas.
Day 1: Antananarivo. We arrive in Antananarivo, the island’s capital, and spend a night in a city hotel.
Day 2: Antananarivo to Ifaty.
A morning flight takes us to Tulear, where we transfer to Ifaty,
surrounded by the strange spiny desert. The octopus tree’s
spindly tentacles combine with baobabs to create eerie surroundings.
Our first birds should include Madagascar Bee-eater, Madagascar Lark,
and Madagascar Cisticola. En route we encounter several marshes and
wetlands, where we should find many waterbirds.
Day 3: Ifaty.
This morning we seek out spectacular semi-desert endemics such as
Running and Green-capped Couas, and Lafresnaye’s Vanga, while
Sickle-billed Vangas give themselves away by their baby-like wails.
There are two very rare endemics here: the cryptic Sub-desert Mesite
and the elegant Long-tailed Ground-Roller, an elusive bird resembling a
colorful roadrunner.
 Day 4: Ifaty to Tulear. After another day birding around Ifaty we head to Tulear to overnight.
Day 5: Tulear Area.
Today we head for the strange plateau of La Table to find
Verreaux’s Coua and Red-shouldered Vanga, a species only
discovered in the 1990’s. With luck we may encounter Madagascar
Sandgrouse near Tulear. Mudflats en route often host a variety of
shorebirds and Humblot’s Heron.
Day 6: Nosy Ve.
We board our boat to visit Nosy Ve, a small, enchanting offshore islet,
whose star attraction is a colony of Red-tailed Tropicbirds, but also
often hosts Crab Plovers. We return to the lodge with a lunch stop at
Anakao to search for the very local Littoral Rock-Thrush.
Day 7: Zombitse and Isalo.
An early start takes us towards Isalo to enjoy the wonders of birding
Zombitse, a forest haven in the dry southwest. Our main target is one
of the world’s most endangered birds, Appert’s Greenbul.
Other residents in this dry, deciduous forest include Giant Coua,
Madagascar Cuckoo Roller, and Rufous Vanga. Later we search for the
Benson’s Rock-Thrush that frequents the hotel grounds in Isalo.
Day 8: Isalo to Ranomafana.
Today is a long driving day, but with great rewards, as we stop to
search for the local Madagascar Partridge and Madagascar Little Grebe.
The grasslands of the central plateau are all that separates us from
the beckoning eastern rainforests, which we reach this evening at
Ranomafana.
Days 9-10: Ranomafana.
This is Madagascar’s premier mid-altitude rainforest reserve.
We’ll search for Brown Mesite and Yellow-browed Oxylabes, and
other targets include Henst’s Goshawk, and Pollen’s Vanga.
Higher up we bird Vohiparara, where we look for the highly-localized
Yellow-bellied Sunbird Asity. The ridge is also home to the well-named
Cryptic Warbler. Nearby rice paddies should give us our best chance of
locating Madagascar Snipe and Gray Emutail. Twelve species of lemur,
Madagascar’s weird and enchanting primates, are found at
Ranomafana, and one night we’ll have the unforgettable experience
of mouse-lemurs coming to within inches of our faces to eat banana
bait, and Fanalokas (civet-like predators) posing for photos.
 Day 11: Ranomafana to Antsirabe. After a final morning here we drive to Antsirabe for the night.
Day 12: Antsirabe to Perinet Reserve.
We continue on to Perinet, crossing the Horombe Plateau, where roadside
markets display a variety of handicrafts, fruit, and meat. We will make
a special stop en route for Madagascar Pratincole along the Mangoro
River.
Days 13-14: Mantadia NP and Perinet Special Reserve.
These two areas offer the best chance to see some of the
country’s finest rainforest birds. Mantadia is the best
ground-roller reserve in Madagascar, and we might see Pitta-like,
Rufous-headed, Short-legged, and Scaly Ground-Rollers here. We’ll
also search for easier quarry such as Madagascar Flufftail, Madagascar
Blue-Pigeon, Madagascar Pygmy-Kingfisher, and Madagascar Starling. In
the forested hills around Perinet, we will try to locate the very local
Red-breasted, Red-fronted, and Blue Couas, the glowing Velvet Asity,
and the bizarre tree-creeping Nuthatch Vanga. The experience of birding
in Perinet would not be complete without being serenaded by the
planet’s largest lemur, the Indri. The spine-chilling hoots and
wails will stay with you for months. Night walks should reveal other
mammals including Eastern Woolly, Greater Dwarf, and diminutive
Goodman’s Mouse Lemurs. The reserve’s herpetofauna is also
impressive, with brightly-patterned and bizarre frogs, geckos, and
chameleons, including the giant Parson’s Chameleon.
Day 15: Anzozorobe.
Today we head to Anzozorobe to attempt to find some very rare endemics
including Meller’s Duck, and we’ll have renewed chances of
Madagascar Partridge and Yellow-browed Oxylabes.
Day 16: Anzozorobe to Antananarivo. We return to Antananarivo where we spend the night.
Day 17: Antananarivo. Transfer to the airport for departure.
Western
Endemics extension
Day 1: Antananarivo
to Ampijoroa
Today we fly to Mahajanga on the north-west
coast of Madagascar, for the final leg
of our island adventure. After arriving
in this sleepy town, we will drive to
Ampijoroa, a forest station situated in
the extensive deciduous forests of Ankarafantsika
National Park. En route to the reserve
we will scan roadside water bodies for
African Openbill Stork, Purple, Striated,
Common Squacco, and Madagascar Pond Herons,
and flocks of Black Egret, which we will
watch as they perform their bizarre "umbrella-feeding"
routine. Striking Madagascar Jacanas strut
through lily-covered wetlands and we will
stop off at Lac Amboromalandy to search
for other waterbirds including Humblot's
Heron, Madagascar Little Grebe, African
Pygmy Goose, Red-billed and Hottentot
teals, White-faced Duck, and if we are
very fortunate, the extremely rare Bernier's
Teal.
On
arrival at the forestry station we should encounter numerous "campsite
residents" such as Broad-billed Roller, screeching Lesser Vasa Parrots,
Crested Drongo, Madagascar Magpie Robin, Sakalava Weaver, Madagascar
Hoopoe, Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher, Madagascar Green Pigeon, and
Madagascar Turtle Dove. We will spend the afternoon birding along the
edge of the adjacent Lac Ravelobe, where we hope to find the threatened
Madagascar Fish Eagle, a pair of which is resident here. Wintering
Sooty and Eleonora's falcons may be seen hunting overhead,
White-throated Rails favor the waterside vegetation, and we may find
noisy groups of Sickle-billed and Madagascar Blue Vangas moving along
the forest fringe. Ampijoroa is still poorly developed for eco-tourism,
so in order to experience the unique birdlife of this remote area we
will be accommodated in a comfortable tented camp and have our food
prepared by camp staff. A definite advantage of this arrangement is our
proximity to the wildlife: previous groups have encountered Coquerel's
Sifaka and even the scarce White-breasted Mesite right in the shady
campsite. Meals taken around the open fire, with the background sounds
of nocturnal lemurs and Madagascar Scops Owls, are sure to be some of
the most memorable of our trip.
 Day 2: Ampijoroa
We have a full day to explore the network
of trails through the dry forest around
Ampijoroa, in search of the many birds
restricted to this region. Foremost amongst
these is the secretive White-breasted
Mesite, our third and final member of
this endemic family, and the jewel-like
Schlegel's Asity, which gives one the
impression of a miniature bird-of-paradise.
We will also concentrate on finding the
highly localized Van Dam's Vanga and our
final species of coua that we would not
yet have encountered, Red-capped. Other
birds we hope to see whilst searching
for these specials include Madagascar
Crested Ibis, Madagascar Buttonquail,
Frances's and Madagascar Sparrowhawks,
Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher, and Hook-billed,
Rufous, White-headed, Chabert's, and Red-tailed
Vangas. No less than eight species of
lemur occur in the near vicinity of the
camp and we will search for the comical
Coquerel's Sifaka and Common Brown Lemur
during the day, and the rare Mongoose
Lemur, Western Woolly Lemur (or Avahi),
Milne-Edward's Sportive, Fat-tailed Dwarf,
and Gray Mouse lemurs after dark. If we
are lucky, we may also find the recently
described Golden Mouse Lemur, one of the
world's smallest primates. Reptiles are
also plentiful along the trails and we
hope to see the impressive Giant Hog-nosed
Snake, as well as several smaller species
of snake (all harmless - amazingly, there
are no venomous snakes in Madagascar),
Oustalet's Chameleon (the world's largest
species), and the aptly named Rhinoceros
Chameleon, with its enlarged nasal protuberance.
Day 3: Ampijoroa
to Mahajunga
After some final birding around Ampijoroa,
we return by bus to Mahajunga for an overnight
stay in a comfortable, beachside hotel
renowned for its fine seafood. And, in
the afternoon, for those that want and
can take one more mission we will embark
on an exploratory boat trip to the Betsiboka
River Delta, south of town in search of
Madagascar Sacred Ibis and the elusive
Bernier's Teal.
Day 4: Mahajunga
to Antananarivo
Fly back to "Tana" in the afternoon.
End of services.
Helmet
Vanga and Northeast Endemics extension
 Day 1: Tana-Sambava
Today we fly from the capital to the coastal
city of Sambava. Night Sambava.
Days 2-4: Marojejy National Park.
We will leave Sambava early to maximize
our time in the park, where we have nearly
four full days of birding. We will arrive
at the park entrance and meet our cadre
of porters and cooks who will be taking
care of us during our time in the forest.
We will then set off on the 4km trek to
the first camp, where along the way we
could have our first encounter with the
mind-blowing Helmet Vanga. We will spend
the rest of our time around this and the
next camp, a further 2km down the trail.
From the second camp we will have access
to forest that hosts one of the rarest
and least-studied of the lemurs, the ghostly
and critically endangered Silky Sifaka.
We will also spend time searching for
the region's rare bird specialties-Bernier's
Vanga, Madagascar Serpent-Eagle, and Dusky
Greenbul. Marojejy is also a ground-rollers
bonanza, and we have a good chance of
encountering Scaly, Short-legged, and
Pitta-like, as well as Brown Mesite. It
will also provide us with an additional
opportunity for any of the difficult rainforest
species that we may have missed on the
main tour, such as Red-breasted Coua,
Brown Emutail, or Henst's Goshawk. Staying
inside the forest has the advantage of
both maximizing our time looking for these
species as well as having access to the
interior of the forest at night, where
we have a chance to look for some rarely-seen
nocturnal lemurs, including Fork-marked
Lemur, Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur, and Weasel
Sportive Lemur. Marojejy is exceedingly
understudied and undervisited-who knows
what we will find?
Day 5: Marojejy-Sambava.
We will hike out of the forest and return
to the luxury of our beachfront Sambava
hotel, where cold beers await.
Day 6: Sambava-Tana.
We will fly back to Tana, and from there
we will connect to our international flights.
Tour
Info:
CLIMATE: The eastern rainforest
sites are cool, with rain possible. The
climate at Ifaty and all of the sites on the western endemics extension are
very hot and dry.
DIFFICULTY: Moderate. The eastern
rainforest sites require long days on forest trails; those at Ranomafana are
steep. All other sites have mostly easy trails.
ACCOMMODATION:
Very good throughout.
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