From Tamatave you will easily reach Analalava Reserve, a small lowland forest reserve managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden. Analalava is truly a treasure for any palm lover and was described in an article in PALMS 54(3) by Rakotoarinivo et al. in 2010, despite an area of just 200 ha, as among “the top six palm hotspots in Madagascar” . You will find incredible diversity in a small area; around twenty species of palm trees, have been recorded including the mythical Marojejya darianii and Marojejya insignis, as well as the mysterious Masoala madagascariensis. You will be captivated by the immense Dypsis carlsmithii and Orania trispatha.You will stay at the camp in comfortable dormitories (bunk beds). After this first visit, a real expedition awaits you. You will take the mythical National Route 5, at first a tarmac road to the town of Soanierana Ivongo where you will spend the night, then a day of dirt roads sary to reach the village of Manompana. The three river crossings by ferry will be memorable and you will be captivated by the landscapes of seaside, dunes and mangroves all along the way. Depending on the time of the trip, you may make a stop to visit the forest of Pointe A Larrée managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden.
From the village of Manompana, you will go up a small river by canoe to the camp of the protected forest of Ambodiriana. The camp, consisting of small bungalows, is located at the foot of an impressive waterfall in a breathtaking rainforest landscape. From there, you will discover an exceptional botanical richness and an incredible amount of palm species. Indeed, in this small piece of forest, 27 different species have been identified, in 4 different genera, which makes it, compared to the small surface of this forest, one of richest places in Madagascar for palms. Among them, several species are considered very rare, You will meet lot of small species of understory Dypsis, but also some more impressive such as the very rare Dypsis hovomantsina (CR), the distichous palm Orania trispatha or the mythical fan palm Satranala decussilvae. In the evening, you may enjoy a night visit to see the mysterious nocturnal animals of the forest, small lemurs and the leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus spp).
