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Madagascar Endemic Birds and Lemurs Tour Leaflet 2021

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BIRDING AFRICA THE AFRICA SPECIALISTS Madagascar Endemic Birds and Lemurs Tour Leaflet 2021 Sickle-billed Vanga © Tertius Gous 15 – 20 November 2021 (Main Tour) 20 November – 6 December 2021 (Masoala Extension) Madagascar 2021 BIRDING Tour leader: Tertius Gous AFRICA THE AFRICA SPECIALISTS Birding Africa Tour Summary Tour Africa Birding Summary Tour Africa Birding 120 endemics in 17 days • targets 123 endemics and near- endemics in 17 days • see all seven endemic bird families and sub-families • Helmet Vanga on the Masoala Extension Short-legged Ground Roller ©Tertius Gous Tertius grew up in the bushveld in South Africa and • see over 25 lemur species has birded widely across Africa, and now leads tours Our 17-day Main Tour and optional 6-day Masoala be visiting Madagascar’s best birding spots we will Extension run back-to-back and are designed make sure to search for all the available species • night walks for lemurs and for Birding Africa to numerous countries. He has birded extensively in Madagascar and led numerous for you to experience the greatest number of (within reason) and will see a great diversity. chameleons Madagascar's birds and lemurs as possible, tours there. He is also an accomplished and well- Enjoying Madagascar’s diverse lemurs will also depending on your available time. • our 38th Madagascar tour known bird photographer who has that rare balance be a focus of our tour and we will search for these between showing people good birds and sharing his On the Main Tour, we travel overland to visit the during day and night walks. Madagascar also has Schlegel's Asity © Tertius Gous photographic insights. mega-diverse eastern rainforests of Andasibe- a fantastic diversity of amphibians and reptiles Mantadia and Ranomafana National Parks, home and we are likely to have some great chameleon Dates (2021) to most of the endemics, grasslands at the scenic sightings, from the tiny Brookesia to the giant Masoala Extension 15 – 20 Nov Isalo National Park, dry deciduous forests of Parson’s Chameleon. Zombitse National Park, baobab-fi lled spiny desert Let us know if you have target species or want to Main Tour 20 Nov – 6 Dec of the south-west, wetlands of the Betsiboka Delta know more about the species we might encounter. and Lake Ravelobe and dry deciduous forest of A species list will be handed out to you as part of Ankarafantsika National Park. Prices + Single your tour booklet at the start of the tour and is Th e exact sequence of sites visited is subject to Air available beforehand upon request. Masoala Extension $2330 + $570 Madagascar’s fl ight schedule. Main Tour $6650 + $980 Th e tour is timed to coincide with the start of the bird breeding season. Th e days will be cool to Excludes internal flights estimated at $650 Tour Focus warm in the highlands and hot in the dry forest. (Masoala) and $960 (Main Tour) Th is is a dedicated birds and lemurs tour with early Our itinerary has been fi ne-tuned to target as starts and lots of fi eld time. many of Madagascar’s endemic birds and lemurs Book online possible, as time-effi ciently as possible. We will drive short distances by minibus or four- wheel-drive vehicles and elsewhere by coaster bus, Visit www.birdingafrica.com Our tour plans for multiple opportunities to which regularly allows for approximately one and Deposit ($150) by credit card fi nd some of the hardest-to-see birds, especially a half seats per person. More details about what Email [email protected] ground-rollers, couas, asities and vangas, giving to expect, how to prepare and what to pack are us the best chance of success. However, as we will provided in our Tour Information. 2 | Madagascar 2021 Madagascar 2021 | 3 INTRODUCTION Our Main Tour commences in the north-west by Moving further south, we’ll explore Isalo and exploring the Betsiboka Delta for Bernier’s Teal Zombitse forest in the central highlands. Appert’s and Madagascar Sacred Ibis and dry deciduous Tetraka is restricted to one forest here! forests at Ankarafantsika (Ampijoroa), where Ifaty in the south-east, haunt of the fabulous Madagascar Fish-Eagle, White-breasted Mesite, Sickle-billed Vanga, offers spiny forest specials Birding Africa Tour Leaflet Tour Africa Birding Schlegel's Asity and Van Dam's Vanga can be Leaflet Tour Africa Birding like Subdesert Mesite, Long-tailed Ground-Roller, found. Running Coua and Green-capped Coua. Nearby, Andasibe-Mantadia (also called Perinet), our next Toliara holds a small breeding population of the location, is where the largest living lemur, Indri, very localised Madagascar Plover while La Table is regularly seen. Few experiences can match the could treat us with some excellent coastal birding mornings here where the haunting wails of Indri and the recently discovered Red-shouldered Vanga. resonate across the misty valleys. We’ll make a Weather and Air Madagascar permitting, we’ll visit special effort to track down a family group. Birding the Red-tailed Tropicbird breeding colony on the highlights here include four species of ground- island of Nosy Ve in the south west, before taking a roller (Rufous-headed, Short-legged, Pitta-like and flight back to Tana, where our journey ends. Scaly)! Our Masoala Extension is entirely focussed on The primary forest of Ranomafana in the eastern visiting the largest remaining patch of forest on highlands is famous for its recently-discovered, the island, on the Masoala Peninsula. Here we will Endangered Golden Bamboo Lemur. The birding search for the incomparable Helmet Vanga. is spectacular: amongst other many endemics we’ll search for Yellow-bellied Sunbird-Asity, Brown Mesite and Pollen's Vanga. Running Coua © Tertius Gous Indri © Tertius Gous Accommodation and meals Walking Accommodation and meals are good by African This tour requires a moderate degree of fitness. standards. We make a special effort to stay in Most walks will start during the coolest part of comfortable, hand-picked accommodation, the day and take place at a slow to fair pace. The upmarket where possible, as close as possible to the terrain is largely relatively flat, with small ups best birding areas. Rooms have private bathrooms and downs on many trails. At Ranomafana and and although the supply can be intermittent, there sometimes Andasibe the trails can be fairly steep is hot water most of the time. and slippery. If you are concerned about this, these walks can either be skipped out or taken slowly Meals are Western-style, with French and with a private trail guide, subject to availability. Malagasy influences. Zebu, the local beef, features predominantly on the menu. Seafood is popular at the coast. Please advise if you are vegetarian and International flights what foods you enjoy, so that we can cater for you. Please do not book and pay for your international Water is not safe to drink so we supply flights without first consulting our office. Internal complimentary bottled water in the vehicle, that flights in Madagascar, such as to Masoala and you can also take to your rooms for drinking and back, are often changed by a day or two. This can tooth brushing. sometimes require us to move the whole tour by a day or two, and so it is necessary to have a spare Group size arrivals and departure day. Maximum 9 participants. 4 | Madagascar 2021 Madagascar 2021 | 5 ITINERARY AND MAP Masoala Extension Itinerary Day M1 15 Nov 2021 Arrive. Overnight in Antananarivo. Day M2 16 Nov 2021 Fly to Maroansetra. Overnight Maroansetra. Birding Africa Tour Leaflet Tour Africa Birding Day M3 17 Nov 2021 Maroansetra to Masoala. Overnight Masoala. Leaflet Tour Africa Birding Day M4 18 Nov 2021 Full day at Masoala. Overnight Masoala. Day M5 19 Nov 2021 Full day at Masoala. Overnight Masoala. Mahajanga & Maroansetra Day M6 20 Nov 2021 Masoala to Maroansetra to Antananarivo. Tour ends. Betsiboka Delta 2 M3 3 Masoala Main Tour Itinerary Ankarafantsika 4 M4 – M5 Day 1 20 Nov 2021 Arrive. Overnight in Antananarivo. M2 Day 2 21 Nov 2021 Antananarivo to Mahajanga. Overnight in Mahajanga. 5 M6 Day 3 22 Nov 2021 Betsiboka Delta. Drive to Ankarafantsika. Overnight at Ankarafantsika. Day 4 23 Nov 2021 Full day at Ankarafantsika National Park. Overnight at Ankarafantsika. Day 5 24 Nov 2021 Ankarafantsika to Antananarivo. Overnight in Antananarivo. Antananarivo 6 Andasibe-Mantadia Day 6 25 Nov 2021 Antananarivo to Andasibe. Overnight at Andasibe. M1 + 1 7 – 8 Day 7 26 Nov 2021 Mantadia National Park. Overnight at Andasibe. 9 Day 8 27 Nov 2021 Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. Overnight at Andasibe. Antsirabe Day 9 28 Nov 2021 Andasibe to Antsirabe. Overnight in or near Antsirabe. 10 Day 10 29 Nov 2021 Antsirabe to Ranomafana. Overnight near Ranomafana. 17 Day 11 30 Nov 2021 Full day in Ranomafana National Park. Overnight near Ranomafana. Ranomafana 11 – 13 Day 12 1 Dec 2021 Full day in Ranomafana National Park. Overnight near Ranomafana. 14 Day 13 2 Dec 2021 Full day in Ranomafana National Park. Overnight near Ranomafana. Anja Day 14 3 Dec 2021 Ranomafana to Anja Lemur Reserve to Isalo. Overnight at Isalo. Isalo Day 15 4 Dec 2021 Isalo to Zombitse to Ifaty. Overnight at Ifaty. Ifaty & 15 Zombitse Day 16 5 Dec 2021 Ifaty Spiny Forest to Toliara. Overnight in or near Toliara. Toliara 16 Day 17 6 Dec 2021 Toliara area and Nosy Ve. Fly to Antananarivo. Tour ends. 6 | Madagascar 2021 Madagascar 2021 | 7 DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY Please note that this tour schedule is for Day 2: Fly to Maroansetra guidance only. The exact arrangements Today we fly to Madagascar’s north-east, where the depend on the internal flight schedule of Air Masoala peninsula shelters the Bay of Antongil.
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