A SELF-DRIVE EXPEDITION FROM THE HIGHLANDS INTO THE LOST CANYONS AT THE HEART OF MADAGASCAR
West of the highlands, at the centre of Madagascar, lies a country of canyons the map barely names: sandstone massifs cut by rivers into gorges and natural pools, where the tracks end and the only way through is the one you find. This expedition drives into it from the capital: down through the highland towns, off the tarmac into the remote bush and the Makay for two nights under canvas, on to Isalo National Park, and out to the Mozambique Channel, where the crossing ends on the beach. Nine days, the heart of the island to its edge, in the window your calendar allows.
What This Journey Holds
Max 28°C l Min 14°C
Ineos Grenadier AT
Dirt roads, sandstone tracks and tarmac
EXPEDITION DIFFICULTY
Two kinds of expedition. The terrain, the weather and the altitude decide which.
Tough & Challenging: The country sets the pace and the plan bends to it.
– Long driving days, with journey times the road decides
– Trails that ask something of you
– Weather that can turn, and altitude that slows everything down
– Breakdowns, fixed on the road
– Basic stays, with little around them, and shared facilities at camp
Moderate & Comfortable: The same country, an easier line through it.
– Steadier days, journey times that hold
– More road under the wheels
– Beds with walls and doors
– Amenities within reach
Neither is the soft version. The difference is how much the country is allowed to decide.
MAX GROUP SIZE
Small groups, always. Twelve at most on a Signature expedition, fourteen on a Classic.
– Small enough to move as one convoy
– A camp that fits around one fire
– No one becomes a passenger in their own expedition
– Many join solo. No one finishes that way.
Choose Your Edition
Swithun
Head of Africa and Middle East Operations
Swithun built an off-road community of his own in Oman before he brought it to a bigger stage. He runs Nomadic Road’s operations across Madagascar, mainland Africa and the Middle East, and leads the expeditions there, with the terrain experience that keeps them safe and the grit that keeps them honest. He also runs our marketing and communications, so the road reaches the people who belong on it.
Swithun
Head of Africa and Middle East Operations
Swithun built an off-road community of his own in Oman before he brought it to a bigger stage. He runs Nomadic Road’s operations across Madagascar, mainland Africa and the Middle East, and leads the expeditions there, with the terrain experience that keeps them safe and the grit that keeps them honest. He also runs our marketing and communications, so the road reaches the people who belong on it.
Prices are per person, in US dollars, and exclude your international flights. Dates and prices are
set in good faith, and two things beyond our control can move them: a domestic flight schedule
that changes can shift the dates by a day, and a sharp move in fuel prices can change the price. If
either happens after you book, we tell you first, and why.
This ground, your dates, your circle? That’s Privé →
Nothing Discovered Later
Where You’re Headed
Your Journey, Day by Day
Antananarivo
Antsirabe
Malaimbandy
Drive into the Makay Canyons
Remote Bush Camp
Isalo National Park
Isalo National Park
Toliara
Antananarivo and departure
The Drive
An Ineos Grenadier with automatic transmission, on highland tarmac to begin, then dirt roads that run for days and sandstone tracks into the canyons at the heart of the island, where the convoy picks its own line. In convoy, from the capital to the coast.
The Landscape
Rice terraces and red hills in the highlands. Then the Makay, a country of sandstone canyons, gorges and natural pools, savannah running to the horizon, the canyons of Isalo, and the turquoise channel at the end of it.
The Nights
Hotels in the highland towns and two nights in a jungle lodge at Isalo National Park. Two nights in remote camps we raise ourselves, in places where no hotel has ever existed: a proper tent, carpet underfoot, mattress, bedding and towels, and a field shower and ablution block for the group. A boutique lodge on the channel to finish.
The Table
Local and international cooking at the hotels and the lodge. In the wild, curated meals from our own field kitchen, cooked at the end of the day in the middle of nowhere.
The Culture
The highland towns and their markets, zebu herders on the savannah, the villages of the canyon country where the track is the only road, and the fishing people of the coast at the end.
WHO THE ROAD BELONGS TO
Every expedition here runs on hands you’ll mostly never see. The field chefs cooking before you wake. The mechanics working behind the convoy to keep the machines running. The hospitality and camping crew who raise your night’s shelter, and the cultural specialists, local guides, and staff who open the ground itself. All of them live here. That’s why the road opens for us, and it’s where what you spend on this expedition stays.
