Itinerary advise North Madagascar | Madagascar - Lonely Planet Forum

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Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:12:44 +0000

Hello all,

We are Chris and Fabienne and we are planning our honeymoon to Madagascar from Nov 24 till Dec 18.
From Tana we would like to fly to Antalaha in order to visit Masoala National Park at Cap Est.
From there we want to travel North to Marojejy NP, Daraina Reserve and Amber Mountain NP.
After that we are going back to Tana and want to visit Nosy Be along the road. We are in Madagascar for 3,5 weeks.

Our first question is, is this doable in 3,5 weeks?

Second, on the website www.parcs-madagascar.com it says that the road between Ambilobe and Vohemar is impassable between Dec and Apr. Is this really the case? (we are aware that we would need a 4WD to pass this road).

Any other advise is welcome.

Thank you!

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Sun, 14 Oct 2012 09:47:21 +0000

Hi there,

Three and a half weeks should be ample time to do what you want.

The road from Vohemar to Ambilobe is normally passable by 4 x 4 even in the wet. It becomes impassable for the non-4x4 minibuses that operate as taxis brousse on the route during the dry.

Alternatives to hiring a 4x4 (in case you need them):

All-weather taxis brousse operating from Sambava to Tana are bus-style bodies mounted on high clearance truck chassis. You can usually book seats on one of these as far as Ambilobe.

There is a once weekly direct flight from Sambava to Antsiranana/Diego Suarez.

The problem with these alternatives would be that you’d have to cut out Daraina.

A very worthwhile addition to your programme if you have the time would be to visit Ankarana National Park, which is directly on the road south from Diego to Ambanja and Ankify for Nosy Be.

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