Dates: Sep 21 – Oct 6, 2012 (16 days) Price: $7150 US
(dates and price awaiting final confirmation)
Join MIKE BYRNE for the experience of a lifetime in one of the world’s most unique places: Madagascar, Sep 21 – Oct 6, 2012.
Photograph the incredible limestone formations of Tsingy (a UNESCO world site) and their endemic fauna and flora. Explore the Kirindy forest, home to fossas (Madagascar’s largest predator), giant jumping rats and a myriad of spiny tenrecs, birds and reptiles. Capture sunrise photos at Baobab Alley and sunsets at the “window of Isalo.” We’ll take a morning trek to explore the massif of Isalo, with many opportunities for great landscape photography plus endemic lemurs and unique plants. There will be several opportunities for cultural photography, including a visit to Andasibe village.
Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean, about 400 km’s from the Africa’s east coast. Over millions of years, Madagascar has developed a unique flora and fauna. It has such a high degree of endemism that it is truly a place like nowhere else on earth! Madagascar is famous for their remarkable selection of lemurs (51 + lemur varieties occur here!), primitive primates, brilliantly coloured chameleons & lizards, tenrecs, fossas, bats and rodents.
 Indri lemur in Madagascar |
 Deluxe accomodation in Madagascar |
Upon arrival at Antananarivo International Airport (TNR) you will be met by your tour leader and a local guide and then be transferred to your hotel. Antananarivo is the capital city of Madagascar and you will have time to explore the city or just relax and recover from your flight.
Next morning we will catch a short flight to Morondava on Madagascar’s west coast. Here we will explore the famous Baobab Alley before driving to Bekopaka along dry forest and savannah-like landscapes. The river crossings can be an adventure and there will be many opportunities for landscape and nature photography. We will spend four days exploring this area, including caving and canoeing opportunities in Tsingy and Kirindy, before flying back to Antananarivo and onward to Tulear, near the southern tip of Madagascar.
For the next eight days we will explore several national parks and private reserves, including Reniala (private reserve), Isalo National Park, Ranomafana National Park, Mitsinjo and Vakona Parcs, and the exotic Parc of Marozevo.
We will photograph daily with many days starting before sunrise with an early morning shoot lasting until around 10:00 am. We will go out again in the afternoon until sunset, guaranteeing a minimum of seven hours of photography. Between photo sessions there will be individualized image critiques, digital workflow sessions and Q&A discussions (as requested).
Your accommodation varies from luxury hotel rooms to wilderness camps. Internet access is available in some locations.
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Friday 21 Sep: Arrival at Antananarivo. Meeting at the airport then transfer to the hotel. Opportunities to explore the city.
Saturday 22 Sep: Fly to Morondava, drive to Baobab Alley, overnight at Palissandre cote Ouest hotel.
Sunday 23 Sep: Depart for Bekopaka in 4WD cars; great photo opportunities as we travel through dry forest and savannah-like landscapes, with adventurous river crossings.
Monday 24 Sep: Visit the incredible limestone formations of Tsingy of Bemaraha (UNESCO world nature site) where we enjoy cleft wilderness and see the amazing limestone pinnacles and some endemic fauna and flora. We will do a little ride with the dugout canoe on the Manambolo river with the possibility to see some caves.
Tuesday 25 Sep: Further exploration of the Tsingy area.
Wednesday 26 Sep: Drive to Kirindy, a tropical, dry forest on the west coast. This forest claims a world record for primate density which includes the world’s smallest primate, the pygmy mouse lemur. Kirindy is the best place to see giant jumping rat, fossa’s (Madagascar’s largest predator), various spiny tenrecs, birds and reptiles.
Thursday 27 Sep: Drive to Morondava for sunrise photos at Baobab Alley, then fly to Antananarivo.
Friday 28 Sep: Fly to Tulear and transfer to Ifaty, where we visit the private reserve of Reniala, then relax on the beach.
Saturday 29 Sep: After a visit to the Tulear Arboretum we drive to Ranohira, a scenic route through high bushes, thick gallery forests and Mahafaly tombs.
Sunday 30 Sep: Morning trek inside the Isalo National Park to explore the massif of Isalo, its ruin-like sandstones, canyons, endemic fauna and flora (lemurs and endemic plants). Visit the “window of Isalo” at the end of the afternoon to see a wonderful sunset.
Monday 1 Oct: Early departure to Ranomafana National Park. Stop 12km before Ambalavao – the commercial centre of the southern Betsileo region, renowned for its folks, arts and crafts – to visit the Anja park, where we can see some families of ring-tailed lemurs in their natural surroundings.
Tuesday 2 Oct: Early morning visit of the Ranomafana National Park. This is a superb area of rainforest where a new species of lemur, the Golden Bamboo Lemur, was discovered in 1985.
Wednesday 3 Oct: Drive to Andasibe. This route takes us through a landscape composed of rice fields, waterfalls, and scarce forest stations. On the way we visit the exotic Parc of Marozevo.
Thursday 4 Oct: Andasibe. This 810 ha reserve is unique with its endemic fauna and flora. It contains a wide variety of orchids, canopy, and endemic animals like chameleons, tenrecs, and many birds. In the afternoon, we visit Andasibe village, a typical Betsimisaraka (Betsimisaraka means: The-Many-inseparable) village, and the second largest tribe on the island.
Friday 5 Oct: Andasibe. Visit of Mitsinjo Parc in the morning where we could find Indri lemurs and many other species of plants and animals. In the evening we will take a nocturnal visit to find frogs and perhaps, new lemurs.
Saturday 6 Oct: Drive back to Antananarivo and transfer to airport.
Included:
Not included:
WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND TRAVEL AND HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THIS TRIP
If you have any specific questions about any photo safari please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Email mike@clocktowerimages.com or Tel 1-800-667-0007
Our Personal Information/Registration/Risk Waiver can be downloaded here.
To book your spot today please click here or call toll free 1-800-667-0007 (North America only) or +1-250-889-6700 (international) or send us an email mike@clocktowerimages.com.
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