©
Servane Rigault
Madagascar Travel Guide
©
Servane Rigault
Located at just a comfortable 3 hour drive from Antananarivo and Tamatave on the RN2, it's a place that's easy to access for the observation of a large part of Madagascan biodiversity: 11 species of lemurs including makis vari and indri indi which are approaching extinction, amphibians and around 300 medicinal plants.
If you arrive at night, make sure you can absolutely trust whoever drops you off by the side of this road, which is plunged in total darkness. You're bound to wonder what landmarks have guided your driver to stop at this precise place. I can assure you that it's perfectly natural to ask a few questions, particularly if this is your first visit. In a nutshell, this excursion is suitable for adventurous travellers...
As soon as you glimpse a small group of men shaking with animosity, in the glow of your vehicle's headlights, you'll know for sure that your journey is ending here, or almost. Actually, there's still a 45 minute walk needed to get to the Relais du Naturaliste, where there are guides and porters whose job it is to lead you.
Once you've strapped on your head torch, you just neeed to move forward into the total darkness on a narrow path that leads to a railway track. This type of walk may not be very sporty but will raise new questions and make you feel like an illegal immigrant crossing a border with a people smuggler.
However, when dawn comes, you'll feel like you've reached a hidden paradise. You will be entranced by the amazing natural spectacle that reveals itself to you in this tropical landscape, in a myriad shades of emerald green. Maybe the most beautiful part of your travels in Madagascar?
On first sight, it's like a real-life version of National Geographic magazine: from the song of the birds to the whispering of the waterfall, and the guest accommodation constructed entirely from wood.
The accommodation consists of a spacious dormitory that can house 22 people, three individual bungalows in falaf (the leaves of the travellers' tree), and the option to pitch your tent nearby. Meals are served in a big shelter that opens onto the forest, with a chimney near the seating area, specailly adapted to receive groups (including students).
The Relais du Naturaliste welcomes everybody, for short and long stays, particularly as part of eco-volunteering or voluntary construction projects and also for scientific research.
By signing a 25 year renewable contract with the Ministry of Water and Forestry, the Madagascan NGO, L’Homme et l’Environnement (Man and the Environment) is working for the conservation of species and forest in Vohimana which has lost more than 50% of its territory between 1962 and 2002. The NGO specialises in the preservation of biodiversity and also in involving disadvantaged local people. it has raised the awareness of villagers to the need to protect the environment via collective environmental conservation work.
Collectively, Vohimana is an association of 5 villages with around 1,000 inhabitants organised into groups (porters, artisans, guides, and farmers) who arrange a variety of activities for visitors (fishing, farming, palm-weaving with the women, observation of the flora and fauna, etc.). Here, you can also visit the essential oil distillery, the plant nursery, the organic vegetable garden and the medicianl garden. Great discoveries in perspective!
The vast range of this project represents not only permanent economic activity for the local people, but above all an alternative to slash-and-burn cultivation.
The remaining Vohimana Reserve is still home to as many wonders as the country's national nature reserves which attract tourists to habitats of virtually domesticated lemurs.
It's a true paradise for researchers who can drink in both the natural riches and serenity of the surroundings. Vohimana isn't just the perfect place to run a survival skills course... Follow your guide and you'll be taken into amazing virgin forest that's home to native species and numerous lemurs, including some on the verge of extinction.
Some of the most threatened species are the indri, the biggest lemurs, that you're almost certain to see. With their loud and raucous, wailing cry and their extraordinary agility that enables them to swing from branch to branch, in spite of their weight, any encounter with these creatures is guaranteed to be unforgettable.
Their faces, on first sight, look almost human and the brief meeting with the biggest carnivore in Madagascar will be etched into your memory forever.
