Hi,
Given that you’re going to be there for up to a month, you’re not tied to the type of itinerary that needs a flight back to Tana. Get a decent guide book, like Bradt, decide what you want to see, and do it by taxi brousse.
Since you mention Masoala, I’ll give you a suggestion that will enable you to combine a visit there with a less usual itinerary. Masoala was the first place in Madagascar that I went to on my very first visit to the country many years ago, and it is not a “hard task” for anyone who is even half-way self reliant. However, as it’s portrayed as difficult in many sources, it remains a “less trodden path”.
First, with all due apologies to #1, I absolutely disagree with her opinion that April is “not the best time to visit Masoala.” On the contrary, it’s a very good time, as is almost any other month. Masoala is the wettest place in Madagascar and one of the wettest in the world. You can have both heavy rain and blazing sunshine at any time of year, and it makes no sense to say that any particular month is reliably better – or worse – than any other. In fact, the last two years, some of the “best” weather has been in February and March, which officially count as the rainy season, and when most people don’t go for fear of cyclones.
Whenever you go, you’d be unlucky to have continuous rain over several days (although it admittedly can happen). Much more likely are showers or periods of heavy rain interspersed with long bursts (often days) of sunshine.
Okay, getting there: Of course the quickest and easiest way is to fly, but as you have so much time, you could go by taxi brousse, which is an adventure in itself. Get a taxi brousse from Tana to Tamatave. A stop-off for a couple of days to visit Andasibe-Mantadia for the indri-indri and diademed sifaka is worthwhile – it’s on the road. If you do that, retrace your route from Andasibe to Moramanga to get your onward taxi brousse to Tamatave – stopping one on the road is difficult as they tend to be full.
In Tamatave, get a taxi brousse to Maroantsetra. They run three or four times a week. The “road” (trail would be a better word) north of Soanierana-Ivongo is in appalling condition (which is what makes the trip interesting), but the route is very beautiful. It’s worth paying extra and even waiting a couple of days to get seats in the front next to the driver, so you can enjoy it. Depending on the weather and the tides in the rivers, you’ll need between two and four days to reach Maroantsetra.
You should in fact break your journey in Mananara to visit Aye-Aye Island, where you’d be certain to see aye-ayes in a natural environment. With more effort you could also take in the little visited Mananara Nord National Park. For that, you’d need to break your journey at Sahasoa. If you do stop in Mananara, try to book your onward taxi brousse to Maroantsetra as soon as you arrive.
Once in Maroantsetra, visit Nosy Mangabe and stay overnight, and decide what you want to do. An ideal way to see the rainforest is to trek – four to six days – to Cap Est (not Antalaha – that trail is mainly outside the forest). You can organise both visits easily by going to the ANGAP/MNP office in town and engaging a guide. S/he will arrange with you things like supplies and porters – it won’t break the bank. An alternative trek is all the way round the peninsula, but for that you’d need well over a week.
You could also take in the main visitor’s trails, which are based down the peninsula at Tampolo and Ambodiforaha, where it’s easier to see the red-ruffed lemur, and which also have beautiful lonely beaches. Places to stay: the Tampolodge is directly by the beach, the Arollodge at Ambodiforaha is about 100 metres from the beach. The boat trip down there is pretty expensive (around €150 return is not unusual) unless you go most of the way by pirogue, which the guides generally don’t want to do.
To continue your itinerary: if you trek to Cap Est, get a taxi brousse from there to Antalaha and on to Sambava. If you don’t trek, fly to Antalaha or Sambava – it’s a short hop and so cheap enough. You’d need to book as soon as you can, though – do it in Tana or Tamatave, as the flights get full quickly.
From Sambava, you should visit Marojejy National Park, which like Masoala is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, and where you can see among other animals the rare silky sifaka.
After Marojejy, return to Sambava, from where your itinerary would take you to Vohemar and from there to Daraina, where you can take an excursion to see the very rare golden crowned sifaka. After that, continue via Ambilobe to Antsiranana (Diego Suarez), where there are, among many other things to do and see, some good beach opportunities.
From Antsiranana, you can visit the national parks of Montagne d’Ambre and Ankarana (here you can see tsingy as well as wildlife).
Continuing south, you can cross from Ankify to Nosy Be for some beach time. Organise your time so that you cross in the morning. In the afternoon it will be unpleasant and possibly dangerous.
After that carry on south to Ankarafantsika National Park – unusual dry deciduous forest, baobab trees, plenty of birds and sifakas, a lake with water birds and crocodiles, a spectacular canyon with beautiful red rock formations.
From there go to Mahajanga – it’s a lively and interesting town, and an evening eating from stalls on the “corniche” by the river estuary is highly recommendable. Take a day or two-day trip across the estuary to Katsepy to enjoy a lonely beach. Chez Chabaud at Katsepy is a comfortable place to stay.
From Mahajanga, it’s back to Tana by taxi brousse.
You can do all of that without taking a single domestic flight, unless you decide not to trek from Maroantsetra – there are no roads north or west from there. You’ll visit some of the most beautiful parts of the country, and for much of the time, you’ll be on “less trodden paths”. If you have time, another excursion would be from Katsepy to Soalala, from where you can access the remote and little visited Baie de Baly National Park. However, transport is irregular, and you’d need to plan quite a bit of time to do this trip.
Taxi brousse is not the world’s most comfortable form of transport, but you don’t need to be a complete masochist.
Whatever you decide to do, you should enjoy Madagascar – it’s a great place.
