Rwanda & Madagascar Safari
Days 1, 2 and 3 - Gorilla Tracking, Volcanoes National Park
After arriving in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, you will be met by your driver who will drive you through lush, cultivated valleys to the Volcanoes National Park for 3 nights. This afternoon you have the time to relax and prepare for one of the most amazing wildlife experiences in Africa – Gorilla Tracking. The Volcanoes National Park is one of the wildlife successes of Africa. Over the years since the Genocide in the 1990s, tourists have been coming to track gorillas here, and the revue generated from this has allowed Rwanda to not only protect but grow the gorilla population. Revenue generated by tourists has also allowed Rwanda to develop other national parks and reintroduce animals that had previously been extinct in the country.
This morning you meet your team, trackers, and guide for your gorilla tracking on the slopes of the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. After a short briefing at the park headquarters where you will learn more about the family of gorillas, you will be tracking, you head off on your gorilla safari. Trackers head out ahead of the team to find where the gorilla family is so they can guide you in the general direction. After you find the family of gorillas, you get to spend 1 hour with them as they go about their daily lives. This is one of the best wildlife experiences in Africa and one that few get to experience.
Tracking on the slopes of the Volcanoes National Park can be tough going and so it is recommended to be fit before embarking on a gorilla adventure.
Day 4 - Kigali
This morning you have the chance for additional activity in the Volcanoes National Park before heading back to Kigali. En route to your hotel, you can visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial. This is a moving tribute to the horrific atrocities that took place across Rwanda in the 1990s.
Day 5 - Antananarivo
This morning you fly from Kigali to Antananarivo (Tana), the capital of Madagascar. Here you are met and transferred to the hotel for the night. Tana is a colorful city with lively markets throughout the center of town. Spend the day relaxing or exploring the city.
Days 6 and 7 - Andasibe - Mantadia National Park
After breakfast, your driver/guide will collect you from the hotel and drive you 3 hours east to Andasibe National Park for the start of your Madagascar lemur safari. Andasibe is one of the more accessible national parks in Madagascar, making it one of the most popular forests to explore. Home to some of the more impressive lemurs including the largest lemur in Madagascar, the indri-indri. A large black and white teddy bear-looking lemur, the indri’s calls can be heard echoing through the forest mist in the mornings. The eerie cry gives their location away as you head into the forest in search of these beautiful animals.
Other iconic lemurs in Andasibe-Mantadia include the diademed sifaka which is a gold, grey, white and black sifaka. Truly arboreal, they are masters of the forest moving from tree to tree with such ease.
Spend your days exploring the forests in search of lemurs, chameleons, and the other endemic creatures of this incredible island.
Day 8 - Antananarivo
From Andasibe make your way back to Tana for the night.
Days 9, 10, 11 and 12 - Miavana Lodge
From Tana, you fly north to Diego Suarez where you will be met by a representative from Miavana and assisted with your onward 30-minute helicopter flight to the private island of Nosy Ankao for 4 nights. Spend your days relaxing on the different private beaches of the island, finding the perfect one just for you. If you are looking for something more active to do, there are lemur walks, snorkeling, diving, or fishing. The snorkeling is amazing straight off the beach in front of the individual villas, so you can enjoy this aquarium in your own time. This is the perfect private island luxury to enjoy at the end of your exciting gorilla and lemur primate safari.
