morondava to kirindy car & driver hire

Myself and another thorn tree user are getting together to make the journey from Tana to Kirindy next week. As it stands, we're planning to try and get overnight taxi brousse from Tana to Morondava, then private car & driver from morondava to kirindy.
I therefore have 2 questions:
1) Is it possible to do the tana to morondava section overnight? Ive read that it is unsafe to do at night, but also been told its fine.
2) how much should we expect to pay for the car and driver to take us to kirindy then back to morondava? I saw something online quoting AR450000 but this seems way over the top for 65km each way. Any ideas?

I wouldn't personally advise an overnight trip from Tana to Morondava. It's just so far, and bound to be uncomfortable. Assuming you arrived safely, which statistically you would, you'd be knackered for 24 hours…

As for the trip to Kirindy, I based myself at Chez Maggie in Morondava, where Gary was immensely helpful and full of good advice. The hotel itself is very nice, though like everywhere in Morondava, a wee bit more expensive than other west coast towns, eg Majunga and Tulear. I paid 270,000ar for the trip from Moronodava in an ordinary 2x4 car (a 4x4 would be very handy, but more expensive), which made the trip, but it's sandy in parts and once or twice we almost got stuck. Then the driver stayed over at Kirindy, and drove me back to Morondava airport the next morning. This price was at the low end of normal. I visited the Allée des Baobabs the evening before (2.5 hours, 70,000ar), but my original plan was to visit the baobabs on the way back from Kirindy in the early morning. I'm actually glad I didn't as Kirindy is so good that you really want to make the most of every night you stay there - including the early morning walk.

Have a great trip!