Parc National de l'Andringitra

Day 1: Fianarantsoa - Andringitra Approx. 95 km of road including 45km of track Duration: 4h of walking Difficulty: Not Difficult Elevation gain: 350 meters Departure for Andringitra National Park. In Ambalavao, visit the handcrafted paper factory Antemoro. This vegetable paper made from the bark of the Avoha mulberry tree was introduced to Madagascar in the 15th century by the Arabs and is still produced today using the same process in this small workshop in Ambalavao. And departure for the Anja reserve (located +/- 10 km) to observe the lemurs. Continuation by a sometimes difficult track but with splendid landscapes, we head to the heart of the Andringitra park. This huge massif is in front of us and bars the horizon of its granite ridges. You thus enter the Namoly valley dominated by the cliffs of the Andringitra massif, in which you spot two large waterfalls. Go down across the Zomandao River to reach a small clearing. This is the place of your first bivouac, Belambo, which means a lot of wild boars in Malagasy

Parc National de l'Andringitra

Day 2: Andringitra National Park Duration: 6 hours of walking Difficulty: Not very difficult Ascent: 750 meters Description: Your discovery of the park begins with a small morning loop in the forest to access the feet of the Zomandao waterfalls. The water here is a great wealth and you are in a tropical rain forest, typical of the eastern rain climate and very different from the dry valley forest of the camp valley. Through abundant vegetation where medicinal plants from Madagascar, Orchids, Ferns, Phylipias and Calenchoees rub shoulders, you reach the edge of the river. There is a cave and its remains, the past home of zebu guardians before the forest was protected. After a point of view on the circus and its waterfalls, you plunge back into the vegetation composed little by little of large trees of the family of Dombeyas and Agoryas, in which many lianas intermingle. You also pass by canals that irrigate rice paddies in the Namoly valley. The path leads to the impressive Andrianbavy waterfall or the Queen's Waterfall. In the dry season, you can cross the torrent to approach the bottom of the second a little further, the Andriandahy waterfall or Cascade du Roi. The names of these Sacred Waterfalls, 250 and 300 meters high, result from the coming of the Queen and King of Ambalavao, in search of pure water which allowed them, under the advice of a healer, to give birth of their eight children. After this walk, you turn back to climb quietly on the plateau overlooking this circus. At the end of the climb, a superb view opens out before you over large granite cliffs, the supports of the famous Pic Boby. On this immense meadow of altitude grow only different varieties of Phylipias as well as beautiful Orchids. You then begin its crossing to the South, passing by the magnificent pools of Andranolava. Ideal place to relax, the less chilly can also swim there. To reach the site of the camp, you continue walking towards the cliffs, in the company of many birds, most of them endemic. You cross the river one last time at a place called Andrianbola or Cascade du Prince, then you come to a small torrent. You finally go up the latter to arrive at the place of your second bivouac, Andriampotsy, meaning white waterfall, where you are at the foot of the Andringitra cliffs