Milay Trek

The Milay is a fairly simple and short 3-day trek, but will be more difficult when it rains and the paths become slippery. The trip leads us through several villages where you can experience the Malagasy hospitality and enjoy the local culture. During the hikes and boat trips through the jungle we will see Madagascar's wonderful vegetation. Along the route you can come across chameleons, lemurs, geckos and a range of other unique animals. The trip will be led by an English or French-speaking guide, as you like.

The trip day by day

Day 1

Departure from Toamasina
Your guide will pick you up in the early morning to catch a ride from the taxi-brousse station towards Brickaville. The taxi-brousse station is not far from Centre Lambahoany and the best way to go there is by taking a pousse-velo, the Malagasy bike-taxis. Taxi-brousse means bush taxi, but it is best described as a minibus (or sometimes a car) which takes up to 14 people and drives between certain locations. You can find these buses almost everywhere in Madagascar. On our trip to Brickaville, we will first pass an oil palm plantation of Savonnerie Tropicale where the soap for the whole of Madagascar is manufactured from palm oil. One hour later, after a drive through a variety of green landscapes and road side villages, we will arrive in Brickaville, a busy little town. Before we head for the boat, you can get some additional breakfast at a hotel and do the final shopping with the guide at the market. The boat then departs for a trip up the river Rianila. After a few miles you will see the sugar refinery Sirama on your left. On the banks small villages will appear behind banana trees and you can see woman doing laundry.

Anivorano
After a 3-hour boat trip, we will arrive in Anivorano, a beautifully situated village with large white sandy beaches. From the bank, you can enjoy a broad view across two joining rivers. Here we will stop for lunch. After lunch, we will continue upstream towards Gisimay. During the trip you can see large rocks, banana and sugar cane plantation, village, and perhaps young boys herding their zebus.

Fetrahomby
After one hour we will arrive at the rapids. For our own safety, we will get off the boat and walk a few hundred metres along the river and get back in the boat on the other side of the rapids. People carrying chickens have to get off the boat for another reason: it is fady (taboo) to pass the rapids with chickens. We will then be on the boat for about another hour until we arrive in Fetrahomby. In the village a bungalow with a shower and toilet is awaiting you. After freshening up, we are going to visit the pierre bizarre (weird stone), also known as the embarrassing stone (Pierre qui fait honte). This stone plays an important role in the life of the women in the village. Women who want a child go to the stone to pray. When the stone is visited we must perform a short ceremony to honour the ancestors - some sacrifices are placed on the stone and some rum is shed. After the ceremony, we will walk back to the village for dinner.

Day 2

Ambodiriana
Today we are going to leave early in the morning for a 3-hour hike, depending on the weather. This trip will take us to the 120 meter high waterfall at Ambodiriana. On the way we have a good chance of spotting some lemurs or other animals. The local guide will also explain the medical use of several plants and trees. If the weather is good we can climb all the way to the top of the waterfall, where with a bit of luck you can dive into the lake at the top. In any case, we are going to have a picnic at the bottom of the waterfall. When we are satisfied with our visit, we head back for Fetrahomby for some local music and dancing performed by the villagers. As long as we have daylight we can visit the rest of the village and meet some locals. Your guide can translate your conversations.

Day 3

Anivorano - Toamasina
After breakfast we take the boat back to Anivorano. Because we are going downstream, the trip will take us just 2 hours. If you like, you can also walk the first miles to Gisimay and board there. In Anivorano we will have lunch and continue towards Brickaville. You can choose to do this by boat or taxi-brousse (faster). From Brickaville we will take a taxi-brousse to Toamasina where your bungalow at Centre Lambahoany is ready.