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Tsingy RougeMADAGASIKARA

From€285 / per person

The two tsingy of the north, three days apart in colour and age

Red laterite, grey limestone

Madagascar has two kinds of tsingy and they have almost nothing in common. Three days puts the young red sandstone of Irodo beside the 150-million-year-old limestone blades of Ankarana.

4.9 · 61 reviews
  • DepartureAntsiranana, 06:00, day 1
  • WalkingModerate · 19 km on foot
  • TravellersGroups of 8 maximum · From age 12
  • 3 days2 nights

Ankarana is limestone dissolved by rain into blades sharp enough to shred a boot. Irodo is compacted sediment carved by runoff into rounded, fragile towers. One is a hundred and fifty million years old, the other is younger than agriculture.

Seeing them within seventy-two hours of each other is the clearest geology lesson available in the north, and it needs no diagrams.

What stays with you

  • The Ankarana canyon and its crowned lemurs at dusk
  • The suspension bridge over the grey tsingy
  • A night at the Red Tsingy camp on the way back

How the time is spent

  1. Day 1

    South to Ankarana

    Three hours on the RN6 to Mahamasina, then an afternoon walk to the Petits Tsingy and the Grotte des Chauves-souris.

  2. Day 2

    The grey blades

    An early start for the Grands Tsingy, the suspension bridge and the perched canyon. Long day, real walking, worth every kilometre.

  3. Day 3

    North to the red

    Back up the RN6 and onto the Sahafary track for the Red Tsingy in afternoon light, lunch at La Rouge, Antsiranana by evening.

Included

  • 4x4 with driver from Antsiranana and back
  • Community guide from Sadjoavato, English- and French-speaking
  • Site entrance and community conservation fee
  • Tent, mattress and bedding on the canyon rim
  • Dinner under the stars and breakfast at first light
  • Lunch at La Rouge, welcome cocktail included
  • Filtered water for the whole walk
  • Third-party liability cover for the guided part of the day

Not included

  • International and domestic flights
  • Accommodation in Antsiranana before and after
  • Drinks other than water and the welcome cocktail
  • Tips for the guide and driver
  • Personal travel insurance and personal spending

Best months

  • Jan
  • Feb
  • Mar
  • Apr
  • May
  • Jun
  • Jul
  • Aug
  • Sep
  • Oct
  • Nov
  • Dec

Gallery

  • Pale ochre pinnacles standing on white sand against a deep blue sky
  • The canyon opening out below the plateau rim under a clear sky
  • A guide showing a visitor the grain of the rock at the foot of a pinnacle

From people who went

  • 4.0
    Drei Tage, zwei völlig verschiedene Tsingy: die Idee geht auf. Der zweite Tag in Ankarana ist lang und anstrengend, das sollte man wissen. Organisation und Guide waren tadellos.

    Andreas K. · DE ·

Asked before every departure

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