Madagascar | Optional Pre-Trip Extension: Avenue of the Baobabs

Depart the United States for Madagascar.

Upon arrival at Antananarivo International Airport, clear customs and immigration, meet your local guide, and transfer to your hotel. This is a travel day and no meals are included. Please note operational days for flights to Madagascar are subject to change without prior notice and there might be need for additional hotel nights at Antananarivo at additional cost. Check in starts at 12 pm.

After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, we'll visit Lemur Park, where we'll have a chance to see different species of lemurs from all around Madagascar. Lunch will be at the site. We'll return to our hotel in the afternoon and have some time to rest before having dinner at our hotel.

After a late breakfast, we will be transferred to the airport for our flight to Morondava. Upon arrival, we will be met and transferred to the hotel for lunch. This afternoon we will have our first visit to Baobab Avenue.

We will have a leisurely morning and after an early lunch, we will set out for a day excursion to the Kirindy reserve. In Kirindy you will have the chance to see 7 species of lemurs, including the fat-tailed lemur and the tiny Pygmy Mouse lemur, believed to be the world's smallest primate. Kirindy is the best place to see the giant jumping rat as well as the fosa (Madagascar's only predator), and you can also witness various spiny tenrecs, birds and reptiles aplenty. The diverse flora includes three of the six endemic Malagasy baobabs. We will stay at Kirindy for a nocturnal walk and get back to our hotel very late in the evening (about 11 pm) and have cold dinner served in our rooms.

After breakfast at our hotel, we will depart by canoe to a fisherman village of Betania. This afternoon we will depart for Avenue of the Baobabs for another afternoon shoot.

After breakfast, we will tour the city of Morandava. Morondava is situated in the heart of Sakalava territory and is known for the royal sculpted tombs of the Menabe ancestors. These tombs are frequently decorated with well-executed, often erotic, funerary carvings representing life and fertility. Return to the hotel for lunch then transfer to the airport for our flight back to Antananarivo. Transfer Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel and meet the rest of the group you will be traveling with during the main program. Dinner with at the hotel.