Islands of Evolution
12 Days · Small group with Steve Goodman · 29 Oct – 9 Nov 2027
A small-group journey with Steve Goodman
Islands of Evolution is a privately guided, small-group journey through Madagascar with Dr Steven M. Goodman, a Field Scientist with Chicago’s Field Museum, a 2005 MacArthur Fellow and one of the world’s foremost authorities on Madagascar’s biodiversity. He first came to Madagascar in 1988, has helped describe dozens of species new to science and co-founded Association Vahatra with Malagasy colleagues.
Just seven to eight guests travel together, with Steve and Nicky Aina, a Malagasy biologist, wildlife photographer and one of the island’s top English-speaking guides. The journey brings together three contrasting regions: Namoroka’s little-visited limestone tsingy, caves and dry forests, explored from an intimate tented camp; the rainforests of Andasibe, with indri calls and extraordinary endemic wildlife; and Nosy Be, with Lokobe’s forests, the coral reefs of Nosy Tanikely and seasonal whale shark encounters, finishing with a coastal villa stay.
This departure can be booked by the seat, for a solo traveller, a couple or friends joining the group. All arrangements in Madagascar are handled by African Fusion Travel. Guests should be comfortable walking on uneven forest trails and limestone terrain, and the coastal programme includes boat excursions and snorkelling.
12 days / 11 nights · 29 October – 9 November 2027 · 7 to 8 guests · internal flights included, international flights excluded
Day by day
Day 1
Arrival in Antananarivo
Friday 29 October 2027. On arrival at Ivato International Airport you are met by your English-speaking guide and transferred to your hotel in Antananarivo, the highland capital, about 25 minutes away.
Overnight at Radisson Blu (Superior room | Dinner & Breakfast).
Day 2
Antananarivo – Soalala – Namoroka Tsingy Camp
Saturday 30 October. Fly by scheduled charter to the coastal town of Soalala (1 hr 30 min), then drive about 2 hours 30 minutes to Namoroka Tsingy Camp, with a stop for a village walk beneath mango trees.
On arrival settle into your safari tent before a guided walk through the forests around camp, with sundowners and dinner to follow.
Overnight at Namoroka Tsingy Camp (Safari Tent | All Inclusive).
Days 3 & 4
Namoroka National Park
Sunday 31 October and Monday 1 November. Two full days in one of Madagascar’s most remote and least-visited protected areas, where tsingy formations, dry forests, caves and baobab-studded landscapes combine.
Walks go through the tsingy pinnacles and hidden canyons, with lemurs including Von der Decken’s sifaka, Milne-Edwards’ sportive lemur and red lemur, and with luck the elusive aye-aye, plus about one hundred bird species. Where conditions permit, visit sections of the cave system with fossil remains of extinct species.
The camp works closely with Wildlife Madagascar, and guests may meet researchers in the field. Overnight at Namoroka Tsingy Camp (Safari Tent | All Inclusive).
Day 5
Namoroka – Soalala – Antananarivo
Tuesday 2 November. After an early breakfast, drive to Soalala for your charter flight to Antananarivo. After lunch, visit the Royal Hill of Ambohimanga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Madagascar’s most important cultural landmarks.
This evening your guide accompanies you to Le Marais, one of Antananarivo’s most highly regarded restaurants, led by award-winning Malagasy chef Lalaina Ravelomanana.
Overnight at Radisson Blu (Superior room | Full board).
Day 6
Antananarivo – Andasibe Rainforest
Wednesday 3 November. Drive east to Andasibe (about 3 hours 30 minutes), passing rice paddies and red-brick villages. Andasibe is one of Madagascar’s most important rainforest strongholds, renowned for its indri lemurs.
After lunch at the lodge, visit the Mitsinjo community reserve, a local NGO deeply involved in reforestation, environmental education and amphibian conservation, with chameleons, frogs, geckos and several lemur species.
Overnight at Mantadia Lodge (Standard room | Full board).
Day 7
Mantadia National Park
Thursday 4 November. Spend the day in Mantadia, one of the tallest and least disturbed rainforests in eastern Madagascar, with picnic lunch near the Rianasoa Waterfall. Possible sightings include indri, diademed sifaka, grey bamboo lemur and black-and-white ruffed lemur, and birds such as the scaly ground-roller and red-breasted coua.
After dark, take a guided night walk in the VOIMMA Community Reserve for mouse lemurs, sportive lemurs, fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, woolly lemurs and chameleons.
Overnight at Mantadia Lodge (Standard room | Full board).
Day 8
Perinet Reserve & return to Antananarivo
Friday 5 November. Explore the 810-hectare Perinet Special Reserve in search of the iconic indri, with other possible lemurs including grey bamboo lemur, common brown lemur and diademed sifaka, and endemic birds such as the velvet asity and blue coua.
After lunch, return by road to Antananarivo.
Overnight at Novotel (Superior room | Half board, with lunch in Andasibe).
Day 9
Antananarivo – Nosy Be
Saturday 6 November. Fly to Nosy Be and transfer to Home The Residence, an intimate collection of private villas in ten hectares of tropical gardens overlooking Befotaka Bay. The group stays in well-separated bedrooms within beachfront or sea-view villas, each with a private swimming pool.
There is a beachfront restaurant and a spa beneath a centuries-old banyan tree.
Overnight at Home The Residence (Sea View Villa with Private Pool | Full board).
Day 10
Nosy Tanikely & Lokobe Reserve
Sunday 7 November. Take a boat to the Nosy Tanikely marine reserve to snorkel coral gardens and walk to the 1908 lighthouse, with a picnic lunch on a white sandy beach. Then continue to Lokobe Reserve, one of the last fragments of Sambirano rainforest.
Look for the black lemur, found only in north-western Madagascar, brilliantly coloured panther chameleons, Madagascar pygmy kingfishers, long-eared owls and tree boas.
Overnight at Home The Residence (Sea View Villa with Private Pool | Full board).
Day 11
Whale & marine wildlife encounters
Monday 8 November. A half-day marine excursion with a specialist guide around Nosy Komba and the Nosy Be archipelago. Between October and December these are among the few places in the world where Omura’s whale has been reliably documented, and the waters also seasonally host whale sharks. Encounters are carefully managed to protect the animals.
Return around midday, with the afternoon at leisure.
Overnight at Home The Residence (Sea View Villa with Private Pool | Full board).
Day 12
Nosy Be – departure
Tuesday 9 November. Transfer by road to Nosy Be Airport for your international flight with SA Airlink to Johannesburg.
Take a look around
What’s included
Included
- Expert trip leadership throughout by Dr Steven M. Goodman
- Naturalist guide Nicky Aina throughout
- Scheduled charter flights Antananarivo – Soalala – Antananarivo, and the flight Antananarivo – Nosy Be
- Private transfers in Antananarivo with an English-speaking guide in an air-conditioned vehicle
- Private vehicles and experienced English-speaking local guides in each location
- All accommodation and meals as specified in the itinerary
- Non-alcoholic drinks, beer and house wine throughout, and all drinks at Namoroka Tsingy Camp
- Tips for hotel staff, local guides, porters, trackers and drivers
- All excursions and activities in the itinerary, including park and reserve entrance fees and conservation, community and environmental levies
Not included
- International flights, visa fees and visa assistance
- Tips to Steve Goodman and Nicky Aina, which remain at guests’ discretion
- Additional drinks beyond those included, and personal expenses
- Optional activities
- Travel insurance: all clients must hold appropriate cover, including emergency medical evacuation and cancellation
Terms & Conditions
- Price from €12 280 per person sharing a double or twin room for 8 guests (€12 650 for 7 guests), plus a €450 per person contribution passed on in full to Association Vahatra.
- Single room supplement €1 910 per person. At Home The Residence, single occupancy provides sole use of a bedroom within a shared villa.
- A 30% deposit secures the booking; final payment is due 90 days before arrival.
- Cancellation: 145 days or more before departure, the 30% deposit may be carried over to a future booking by the same clients; 145–50 days, 30% cancellation fee; 50–30 days, 50% cancellation fee; 30 days or less, 100% cancellation fee.
- Luggage on charter flights is limited to 20 kg per person including hand luggage; soft-sided bags are recommended.
- Prices are subject to change without prior notice due to currency fluctuations. Standard terms and conditions apply.
Photo credits: Namoroka Tsingy (Samuelsidler, public domain); Indri, Andasibe (Heinonlein, CC BY-SA 4.0); Panther chameleon, black lemur and whale shark, Nosy Be (Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0); Madagascar tsingy path (TinyMoomin, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
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