Southern Flamingo Package - 5 Days

Private Lodge tour to the South and West of Madagascar - 3 Nights / 4 Days

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Tour code: SFP

Once in Madagascar, take the opportunity and explore the remote southwest of the island. Lake Tsimanampetsostsa National Park and the Sacred Island of Nosy Ve are just two highlights during your journey. The package is a perfect add-on tour to our 1000 Views of Madagascar. Departs: Tulear, Madagascar. Ends: Tulear, Madagascar. Group size: Minimum 1 guest and Maximum 10 guests. Departure Dates: Classic or Superior tour options every day of the week – subject to availability. (Please note – if you are combining this tour with the 1000 Views of Madagascar, you will join the Southern Flamingo Package from day 10 of the 1000 Views, transferring from Ifaty to Tulear) Summary 15-Day Private Lodge tour through the south and west of Madagascar. Highlights Antananarivo, Ranomafana National Park, trekking in Isalo National Park, private Arboretum garden, Tulear, Morondava, Kirindy Reserve. Meals 3x Breakfast, 3x Dinner. Where included dinners will be enjoyed in the restaurants of the various accommodation establishments. Please advise us of any special dietary requirements in advance. Safari Pricing (per person) PRICING 1 Pax 2-3 Pax 4-5 Pax 6-7 Pax 8 Pax 10 Pax Single Supplement Classic Acommodation $ 965 $ 615 $ 515 $ 535 $ 505 $ 505 $ 120 Superior Acommodation $ 1,645 $ 1,125 $ 1,035 $ 1,010 $ 985 $ 985 $ 240 Single Supplement for English guide Class $ 205 / Superior $ 265 (both are per group) • Prices shown exclude flights. • Please note that internal flights should be booked in conjunction with international flights and the rates are subject to class, availability and change. • All rates are subject to change according to rate of exchange fluctuations.

Note: The accommodation specified in the itinerary is a guide only and is subject to availability. Alternatives will be nearby and of a similar standard.

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Included
Accommodation based on a Bed & Breakfast basis in twin sharing rooms, dinners in Anakao, all transfers and transport mentioned in the program, all entrance fees, specialist English-speaking guides in the national park as per program, all excursions mentioned in the program, a French-speaking driver for transfers.

Please note that Malagasy drivers speak basic English and have general knowledge of history, culture and the fauna & flora in Madagascar. A supplement is payable should you require a specialist guide to accompany you throughout the tour.

Excluded
All excursions not mentioned in the program, supplementary English-speaking guide throughout the tour, bottled water, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, laundry, international and domestic flights, airport taxes, visas and travel insurance, all lunches and dinners (except dinners at Anakao), personal items. (Flights from Tulear - Antananarivo can be arranged by Eyes on Africa).

Pre and Post Tour Arrangements
Pre and post tour accommodation and transfers can be arranged on request.

Departure
Your tour starts in Tulear on day 1, where you will board a boat for your transfer to Anakao. Should you arrive prior to day 1 or already be located elsewhere in Madagascar, pre tour accommodation can be arranged and you will be picked up from your hotel on the morning of day 1.

Transport
A 4WD vehicle is used during this tour.

Accommodation
Please note that Madagascar is a country which is in its infancy when it comes to tourism. Accommodation is limited so all the above mentioned accommodation are subject to availability and we reserve the right to change these using similar accommodation of the same standards. The Hotels used are simple & clean and of basic standard, with bathrooms en-suite. Please note that there is an option for an upgrade to a higher standard of accommodation.

CLASSIC OPTION: Basic hotels: Longo Vezo, Lalandaka Hotel or similar Please note that due to low water pressure levels in Anakao, most standard hotels do not have running water and offer bucket showers or similar facilities.
SUPERIOR OPTION: Mid to upper-range hotels: Anakao Ocean Lodge or similar.

Visas
A visa is required to enter the territory of Madagascar: Tourists staying in Madagascar for less than 90 days will be able to receive a free visa upon arrival. Please check if your passport is still valid (at least 6 months before expiry date). You can easily obtain a visa at the airport of Antananarivo. Please note that, to get a visa at the airport, you do not need to bring photographs.

Gratuities
If you feel you have been looked after well by your crew or guides, and you wish to show your appreciation for their services, a monetary tip is very welcomed by those in Madagascar. Here follows some suggested guidelines:
• Around EUR 4 per person, per day (10,000 Ariary) for a guide or a guide/driver.
• Around EUR 2 (5,000 Ariary) for a park guide, depending on your satisfaction.
• Around 5% of the bill at a restaurant
• 200 Ariary per bag for a porter.

As Euro coins cannot be changed into local money in Madagascar, it is advisable to tip in Ariary. We would ask that you please reserve your generosity for tipping for services only, and not providing free handouts to children or adults, as this encourages begging.

Information on Areas Visited
MADAGASCAR
Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. Madagascar is the 4th largest island in the world. It is the home of five percent of the world's plant and animal species, 80 per cent of them unique to Madagascar. Most famous among those are the lemurs. Its teeming fertile forests and geographical isolation have served to preserve and propagate 'nature's design laboratory' in a mix found nowhere else on earth. Madagascar's forests are a shimmering, seething mass of a trillion stems and dripping leaves.

Tsimanampetsotsa National Park
Tsimanampetsotsa National Park is a saline lake in the Toliara Province close to the coast and approximately 90km south of Tulear. The park was named after its spectacular lake which is the major highlight of this region, and it comprises of 430 km² of spiny forest and wetlands. The lake is an important wetland and it is protected within a national park and listed on the Ramsar list of internationally important wetlands.

Tsimanampetsotsa is a birders paradise and is best known for its bird population, including hundreds of Greater flamingos found on a shallow lake located on the sandy coastal plain. It shelters more than 100 bird species, 4 lemur species (ring-tailed lemur, Verreaux´s sifaka, Gray-brown mouse lemur and white-footed sportive lemur) and virtually 90 % of all the species found in Tsimanampetsotsa are endemic to the park. Among the 39 reptile species, the most significant one is the radiated turtle, which is endemic to this region and considered the most beautiful tortoise in the world.

Because of the chemical composition of the saline lake, no fish can survive in it. Nevertheless, the unique blind fish is easy to find in some of the underground caves. Another unusual and beautiful sight is the baobab, endemic in the Tsimanampetsotsa National Park and typical of the spiny thicket that dominates the limestone escarpment adjacent to Lake Tsimanampetsotsa.

Anakao
Anakao is a small beautiful fishing village stretching over a long beach located about 40 kilometers south of Tulear. Anakao, (meaning "your child" in the south-west dialect of the Malagasy language), is the largest of the Vezo villages – the "Vezo" being a nomadic ethnic group.

With the exception of a fairly small number of visiting tourists, the relative isolation of the village has helped preserve a traditional Vezo lifestyle amongst its estimated 3,000 inhabitants; one of the highest concentrations of Vezo people found anywhere around the coastline of Madagascar. Only a few kilometers from this village of extraordinary fisherman, you can reach the island of Nosy Ve.

Due to poor road conditions, the village is best reached by boat from Tulear, which usually takes about one hour. Not far from the coast, on the level of the lagoon of Saint-Augustin, one can cross the coral barrier and appreciate the place where the Onilahy River meets the sea of the Channel of Mozambique. Sometimes, we can see a ballet of dolphins escorting while crossing the sea.

The village of Anakao is also one of the rare occasions to join the tropic of Capricorn and to pass from one side to another, a tropical zone to a moderate zone. Anakao, with Nosy Ve just a short canoe ride distance, offers an excellent location for swimming, snorkelling and especially scuba diving, where you can enjoy the thousands of species of fish and underwater sea-beds at the level of the coral barrier. The sea in this area of Madagascar is known as an almost unlimited aquarium containing thousands of multicolored fish such as starfish, lobsters, shells… Anakao and its ocean is also a place coveted by surfers and windsurfers with the Tsiokatimo strong wind.

Nosy Ve
Nosy Ve is a flat uninhabited and mostly unshaded island located off the southwest coast of Madagascar, about 5km from Anakao Village. The French originally landed at this location in 1888 prior to conquering the mainland. Some ancient tombs from French settlers can still be found here. The island has also served as a hideout for pirates.

Nosy Ve is a sacred location to the Vezo people, where each year locals sacrifice zebu according to traditional rituals. The island is home to the world's most southernmost all-year breeding colonies of red-tailed tropic-birds, which attracts ornithologists from all around the world.

There's a Marine Reserve fee to visit the island and offshore about 7km south of Anakao is the island of Nosy Satrana, which offers some excellent additional dive sites.

Aepyornis (better known as Elephant Birds) once inhabited this area approximately 1,000 years ago, when the 400-kilogram bird became extinct, and you can find eggshell fragments all over the dunes here. The vegetation consists of xerophytic thicket of coral sand.

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