Conservation Areas to the Southwest of Mahajanga, Nosy Boeny

From Katsepy a road, of sorts, provides access to the tsingy, and wetlands which are of great interest to anyone who loves Madagascar's diversity of landscape, plants and wildlife.

Access is exceptionally difficult, however, so even adventurous travellers may prefer an organised tour.

Nosy Boeny (Nosy Antsoheribory): this is a small island, about a kilometre long, in Boina Bay, with some fascinating Antalaotra ruins dating from the 16th century.



The ruins include several cemeteries, houses and mosques.

The island is sacred to the local people so camping is prohibited - but day visits are allowed.

To reach the island, start from Katsepy and continue by road to the village of Boeny- Ampasy on the west side of the bay, where there are bungalows.

A 1 -1/2 hour boat journey brings you to Nosy Boeny.

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Fly-in Beach Resort, Anjajavy

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Anjajavy (www.anjajavy.com)

Anjajavy is about as good as you can get in Madagascar.
This is not just a luxury seaside hotel: in addition to its 24 villas it protects 450 ha of Madagascar's dwindling dry deciduous forest.
In some places this grows right on the tsingy limestone.


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Wildlife viewing here is effortless, including Coquerel's sifakas, brown lemurs, mouse lemurs and sportive lemurs.

Birds include flocks of bright green grey-headed love-birds, sickle-billed vangas, crested ibises, crested couas and vasa parrots, to name just a few.



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You may also see ground boas, hognose snakes and plenty of chameleons and beautiful butterflies.

There is a couple of caves too, spectacular enough with stalactites and stalagmites (and bats), and one with the skulls of an extinct lemur species embedded in the rocks.


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Perhaps most startingly for botanists, Anjajavy and Moramba Bay hold an undescribed species of cycad trees.
Then there are the coral reefs, tsingy, pristine beaches and extensive mangroves ..... not to mention total comfort, good service and superb food.


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Three nights is the minimum stay, five allows you to appreciate all that this amazing place has to offer.
Note that arrivals/departures must be scheduled to coincide with flights unless your group is large enough to warrant an additional flight of the 8-seater Cessna.


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Anjajavy offers a range of land-and water-based activities.
Some, such as guided forest walks, are included in the rates.
Other free activities include sailing, windsurfing, snorkelling, mountain biking and visits to the surrounding villages.


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For a longer excursion there's the magnificent Moramba Bay (15 km / 45 minutes by boat), a must for any nature enthusiast.
It is an equally wonderful spot for relaxation, with a good beach, lovely swimming pool and "oasis" garden.
There is free WI-FI in the restaurant/pool area and some villas.

Anjajavy works with a local school and NGO to benefit the local communities.


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Fly-in Beach Resort, La Maison de Marovasa - Be

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La Maison de Marovasa-Be (www.marovasabe.com)

Located some 15-20 km north of Anjajavy, in Moramba Bay, this lodge is accessible by light aircraft from Mahajanga (45 minutes) or Tana (2 hours).

There are three suites and six luxury rooms, all with en-suite bathrooms and balconies.
The location is, perhaps, not as attractive as that of the other two lodges, and its forest has suffered from slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy).


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However, the hotel itself is beautifully thought-out and offers true luxury with a beautiful swimming pool and other amenities.

The owners are also involved with Ecole du Monde, a local NGO working to benefit local communities.
Their work includes reforestation projects, and guests can contribute by planting a tree.

As with all these lodges, the rates are full board and include a motorboat for exploring the area.


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Fly-in Beach Resorts, Lodge des Terres Blanches

If you look on a map of Madagascar, you'll see a glorious expanse of nothingness along the indented coastline between Mahajanga and Nosy Be.

This is where three entrepreneurs have established fly-in Resorts which come as close to perfection as you could hope for.

Lodge des Terres Blanches (www.lodgeterresblanches.com)
About 100 km from Mahajanga and 25 km south of Anjajavy, this lodge really does qualify for the cliché "best kept secret" (at least from English-speaking tourists) since it sees far fewer visitors than Anjajavy or Marovasa Be and no tour group.

Access is by light aircraft or boat.



There is quite simple, but comfortable accomodation in six double bungalows next to a gorgeous white beach fringed with forest.



Compared with the luxury lodges this is a simple, do-it-yourself resort.
Guests eat together in the lodge, and there is a bar with fridge for guests to help themselves.
Electricity is by generator.
If you want to go on a longer hike, or to be dropped off in a cove somewhere for the day, picnics can be arranged.



This is a popular resort for sport-fishermen, and the two boats are largely used for fishing trips.
However, you can arrange to be taken to some beautiful coves along the coast, or to baobab-arrayed islands, or to an area of tsingy.


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Project Angonoka

Ankarafantsika is also home to the Angonoka Tortoise Programme operated by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

This is one of Madagascar's most successful captive breeding projects.
After many years of research, ploughshares - the world's rarest tortoises - are now breeding readily and are being reintroduced to their original habitat.



Almost as rare, the attractive little flat-tailed tortoise (kapidolo) is also being bred here, as is the Madagascar big-headed/side-neckled turtle.

The site is fortified as a result of thefts, so it is possible for tourists to glimpse them only through a chain-link fence.

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Ankarafantsika National Park, the Circuits (2)

Circuit Ankarokaroka (3 hours) offers a hike through forest and savanna to the canyon, an amazing multicoloured erosion feature.
There's plenty of wildlife to see en route, or you can go to the canyon by vehicle.



Night Walks (1-1/2 hours) will give you the chance to see mouse lemurs and chameleons.

Boat Trips (1-2 hours) are the best way to see Lake Ravelobe - particularly rewarding for birders and a good chance of sighting crocs.

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Ankarafantsika National Park, the Circuits (1)

There is a very good trail system.

The shortest and easiest is Circuit Coquereli (1 - 1/2 hours), on which you may see sifakas and brown lemurs.

More botany-focussed is Circuit Retendrika (2-3 hours), which is also good for birding.



A visit to the park's famous pachypodiums will take about two hours.
A similar lenght of time is required to go and see the tall Adansonia madagascaridiensis baobabs, but if you're pressed for time you can drive part of the way.

On Circuit Source de Vie (3-4 hours) you will gain an insight into local culture and everyday rural life.

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Ankarafantsika National Park, Flora & Fauna (2)

Wildlife - viewing in Ankarafantsika starts as soon as you arrive.

Right beside the parking area is a tree that Coquerel's sifakas use as a dormitory.
They are extremely handsome animals with the usual silky white fur but with chestnut-brown arms and thighs.



On your walks you may also see mongoose lemurs, western woolly lemurs and sportive lemurs; and this is the only place where you might see the g0lden-brown lemur, Microcebus ravelobensis.

If you're keen to see crocodiles they may be sighted year around, but the best months are July to October.

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Ankarafantsika National Park, Flora & Fauna (1)

This is a typical dry, deciduous forest with sparse understorey and lots of lianas.

In the dry winter season many of the trees have shed their leaves, but in the wet months the forest is a sea of bright greens.



Cuspicuous is the tree with menacing spines, Hura crepitans, which is actually not a native species - it was introduced from Central America.

There are 130 bird species (with highlights like the Van Dam's Vanga, Madagascar fish eagle and white breasted mesite), eight easily seen lemur species and reptiles galore.

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Ankarafantsika National Park

This is a super national park; it's easy to get to, thrilling to visit with abundant wildlife, and with clear, level or stepped paths which make hiking a pleasure.

With accomodation now available next to the park, this is a must for naturalists.



Ankarafantsika straddles RN4 about 120 km from Mahajanga.

The most-visited part of the reserve is on the southern side of the road, with Lac Ravelobe to the north - but the park covers over 120.000 ha stretching all the way north to the Mahajamba River.

The name Ankarafantsika comes from the word garafantsy, which means either "hill of thorns" or "nail in the skull".

ankarafantsika@gmail.com

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Mahajanga, Anjohibe Caves & Beyond

Anjohibe means "big cave" so this name is common in the region.
The famous Grottes d'Anjohibe are 82 km northeast of Mahajanga and accessible only by 4x4, and only in the dry season.



There are two places to visit: the caves themselves and a natural swimming pool above the Mahafanina waterfalls.



The caves are full of stalactites and stalagmites (and bats) and have several kilometres of passages.

Dan Carlsson excavated them in 1996:"It seems as though the caves have been used for normal living but also as a place of sacrifice. We found pottery with ash, charcoal and animal bones; also several hippopotamus bones believed to be some million years old".



To reach the caves turn left at Antanamarina and continue for 5 km.
It takes about four hours from Mahajanga.
Don't forget to take a torch.

John and Valerie Middleton add: "Two thirds of the way to the caves the River Mariarano is crossed next to the small village of Posima. The area is very beautiful with many cone-shaped hills often with caves, most with large passageways and beautiful formations".

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Mahajanga, Belobaka Caves

Although classed as a tourist site since the 1940s, these six caves are little known.

The first is a sacred place where people come to make wishes, but the other five are more spectacular for stalactites and stalagmites.



It is said a fence and gate were once erected to manage the tourism, but the resident spirits objected to this arrangement and sent lightning with struck and destroyed the barrier.

Local tour operators can arrange a visit, or you can get here in 20 minutes or so by car: take RN4 12 km out of town then turn left for 2 km.

There is also an ostrich farm nearby.

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Mahajanga, Ankafobe Forest

Ankafobe Forest is a complex of several small and degraded forest fragments located in valleys on the Tampoketsa (high plateau savanna) of Ankafobe in central Madagascar.
It contains much of the remaining population of one of Madagascar's most threatened trees: Schizolaena Tampoketsana.



One of the forest fragments is immediately adjacent to RN4, linking Tana and Mahajanga (some 30 km northwest of Ankafobe, near PK131).

There is a simple chalet with educational signs and seats, and also a 1 km trail, passing through savanna, valley-bottom marsh and forest, with labelled trees.

Although the forest here is small it is of general interest as a living remnant of the type of forest that presumably covered much of the hauts plateaux.

The site supports much else of interest - including three lemur species - for the road-weary tourist needing a short break from the journey between Tana and Mahajanga.

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Mahajanga, Antsanitia & Mangatsa

Antsanitia
This upper - range place, about an hour's drive north of Mahajanga, is much praised by me.
The hotel, restaurant, location and beach are all excellent.
And as a bonus the hotel works with the local community and tries to be ecologically responsible.
The hotel arranges transfers from Mahajanga, but otherwise you will need a 4x4 as the road is bad.



Mangatsa
There is a small sacred lake here, on a site once owned by Madagascar's first president: Philibert Tsiranana.
Aside from the lake, which is home to crocodiles, there are mangroves, baobabs, mango and coconut plantations, and you may see sifakas.
There is a restaurant and bungalows at Espace Kalatody, and it is also possible to camp.
The site is 16 km the north of Mahajanga, 30 minutes by car bejond the airport.

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