Southern Madagascar â Group Trip â Autumn 2012 - Audley Travel

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New Mill, our offices in the Windrush Valley on the edge of the Cotswolds We are proud to have received a number of awards over recent years. We have been the Daily Telegraph Ultra Travel Best Small Tour Operator winner and runner-up for the previous two years and, similarly, have been the winner or runner-up of the Guardian and Observer’s Best Small Tour Operator award for the past five years as well as featuring in Wanderlust magazine’s Top 10 Tour Operators for the past nine years. The readers of Condé Nast Traveller magazine have also voted us their Favourite Specialist Tour Operator 2010. These awards are widely recognised as being the most respected in the travel industry as they are professional surveys of the publications’ readerships. With over 500 tour operators for you to choose from in the UK alone, we hope you find these awards are an additional reassurance of the quality of service you can expect from Audley. *** Southern Madagascar – Group Trip – Autumn 2012
AN INTRODUCTION TO SOUTHERN MADAGASCAR OVERVIEW Madagascar is one of the world’s most exotic and exciting islands. There are virgin rainforests full of endemic animals, open plains cut by deep canyons and a coastline with small fishing villages and idyllic beaches. This tour is designed to give a real feel for the country. Travelling by road you’ll explore not only the national parks but also enjoy local life, staying in small towns, stopping to explore pretty villages and taking fishing boats along the coast. The tour visits four reserves: Andasibe, Ranomafana, Anja and Isalo. Each has numerous lemur species which can readily be seen and photographed. Andasibe has the largest lemur species – the indri whilst Anja has troops of playful ring-tailed lemurs which can be viewed from close quarters. Night walks will reveal species such as mouse, dwarf and sportive lemurs. As well as lemurs you will be able to see brightly coloured chameleons, frogs as large as your hand and small as your thumbnail and some weird and wonderful lizards such as the leaf-tailed gecko which is hard to spot from even a foot away. The trip ends with two nights relaxing in a beautiful lodge on a remote beach. With a lovely location overlooking a calm bay you can happily while away the hours reading a book and watching the fishermen sailing past in their traditional pirogues. CLIMATE Madagascar experiences a subtropical climate, with a dry season from May to November. September to November is a lovely time to visit as the weather is dry and warm, skies are blue, the jacarandas are in flower and lemurs have babies (also lychees are in season). The lemurs tend to be active during these month and are readily seen. THE MADAGASCAR TEAM AT AUDLEY Each member of the Madagascar team has travelled extensively throughout the country and we have pooled their collective knowledge to create a trip that we think reflects the best of Madagascar. Your initial enquiry will be handled by Victoria, Zoe or Donna who will then proceed to be your main point of contact until you return from the tour. Please feel free to contact them at any time. GROUP SIZE The group size is kept to a maximum of 16, this ensures that the trip is a more personal experience and that you can hear and speak to your guides. The small group also ensures that your experience of a particular sight is not marred by the presence of too many people. TOUR HEALTH & FITNESS REQUIREMENTS To ensure that all participants get the most out of the tour, it is important that you are fully aware of the level of activity, fitness and medical health required to successfully complete this itinerary. Please read this dossier carefully prior to confirming your place on the tour. Having established the facts, it is your responsibility to contact us with any concerns regarding individual levels of fitness, health or ability. Please be aware that our tour leaders have the right to exclude customers from the tour if they feel they are not sufficiently fit, healthy or able to complete the tour without affecting its safety, comfort or smooth progress. If you would like to discuss any of these issues further please contact the Madagascar team on 01993 838585 ACTIVITY LEVEL OF TRIP = MEDIUM-HIGH It is not possible to drive in Madagascar’s National Parks and therefore all the activities are on foot. There is a large amount of walking on this trip, some trips lasting three hours or more. Paths in the forest can be steep at times, with roots crossing them. Vegetation can be wet and slippery and the atmosphere is humid. Walking in virgin rainforest is an amazing experience however you do need to have a good level of fitness to enjoy this trip. There is also driving on rough bumpy roads, and a couple of very long days as travel distances in Madagascar are large. We believe this is a wonderful trip, however it is for the active traveller with a good level of fitness. SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS Special dietary requirements should be highlighted by you on the booking form. However you must be aware that it is unrealistic to expect specialist diets to be catered for in some of the destinations we will be visiting. We will advise hotels and airlines of your request but we cannot guarantee their availability. TOUR GUIDES You will be accompanied at all times by two experienced and knowledgeable guides who speak English. Please note that there is not a tour leader accompanying this group from the UK – your driver-guides will be leading the group as well as being your point of contact on the ground. SINGLE TRAVELLERS As a single traveller you have two options – you can choose to share a room with another single traveller on the tour and pay the standard tour price (this option will only be available if another single traveller of the same sex is also willing to share), or you can choose to guarantee the sole occupancy of your room, in which case a single supplement of £800 is payable. MEAL ARRANGEMENTS Breakfast and dinner are included throughout the course of your trip with the exception of Relais Des Plateaux in Antananarivo where just breakfast is included. Your tour guide will be able to make some good suggestions for lunch in the course of your trip. Southern Madagascar – Group Trip – Autumn 2012
Page 1: CONTENTS: IMPORTANT INFORMATION MAP
Page 5 and 6: MAPS OF THE REGION Southern Madagas
Page 7 and 8: DAY DATE ITINERARY IN BRIEF ACCOMMO
Page 9 and 10: Chameleon, Andasibe-Mantadia Nation
Page 11 and 12: HOW TO BOOK If you are happy with t
Page 13 and 14: CHARITY SUPPORT Audley has been sup
Page 15 and 16: Madagascar's Central Highlands Intr
Page 17 and 18: As you leave the coast and the land
Page 19 and 20: While most people only spend the ni
Page 21 and 22: Tuesday, 13 November 2012 RANOMAFAN
Page 23 and 24: Thursday, 15 November 2012 EXPLORIN
Page 25 and 26: Sunday, 18 November 2012 EXCURSION
Page 27 and 28: VAKONA FOREST LODGE, ANDASIBE- MANT
Page 29 and 30: SETAM LODGE, RANOMAFANA NATIONAL PA
Page 31 and 32: LE JARDIN DU ROY, ISALO NATIONAL PA
Page 33 and 34: HOTEL VICTORY, TULEAR (TOLIARA) Sim
Page 35 and 36: FINANCIAL PROTECTION We hold an Air
Page 37 and 38: UK AIRPORT HOTELS, CAR PARKING AND

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Southern Madagascar â Group Trip â Autumn 2012 - Audley Travel