Vavavato, the secret mountains: trek through unknown land from the Ankaratra to the rice paddies of Betafo

We leave Antananarivo towards the west. The road crosses the rice plain of the capital, then the typical villages of the Highlands, with their red brick houses, their granaries and their terraced rice fields. Gradually, large volcanic cones appear on the horizon: we enter the Itasy region.

Itasy is a set of several dozen recent volcanoes on a geological timescale. Their lava flows blocked the valleys and gave rise to Lake Itasy, one of the largest in Madagascar. The volcanic soils are fertile, and crops climb the slopes.

Late in the morning, we arrive in Ampefy, a small town nestled on the shore of the lake. After lunch, free time, we set off for an easy walk along the banks. The path crosses hamlets of fishermen and cultivators: pirogues pulled up on the shore, nets drying, rice fields that come to an end at the water's edge. This first walk allows us to find our rhythm and soak up the very peaceful atmosphere of a region rarely visited.

In the late afternoon, the raking light on the lake and on the volcanic cones is particularly beautiful. We return to our hotel in Ampefy, where we meet the team that will accompany us during the trek.

At dinner, our guide presents the itinerary for the next few days. The Vavavato are a granite massif very rarely visited, away from trekking regions. We will walk there for five days, in bivouac, around 2,000 meters altitude.

We check together the necessary equipment for the rest of the journey: warm sleeping bag, clothing for cool evenings, headlamp, already-worn hiking shoes and sun protection. Most of the baggage travels with the porters; everyone keeps with them a small backpack for the day, with water and a warm garment.

This first day is intentionally quiet. It allows you to recover from the journey and prepare for the mountain, in the calm of Lake Itasy.

Road: approximately 120 km, 2 h 30. Walk: 2 hours, easy.

We leave Ampefy by one of the most beautiful mountain roads in Madagascar. It winds upwards above Lake Itasy, then snakes along the mountainside to Faratsiho, a small town nestled in the heart of the Ankaratra massif. Here, we are on the highest lands of the island, and mountain landscapes reveal themselves at every turn.

At Faratsiho, we meet up with the porters and the cook. The loads are distributed, the bags are packed, and we set off on foot. Very quickly, the roads disappear: the villages in this region are connected only by trails and cart tracks.

Off the beaten path, we carve our way through an area of high relief, towards the edges of the Bongolava. The villagers are mainly potato farmers, and their fields cover the slopes up to the ridges. The mountains that cut across the horizon, the steep valleys and the agricultural plains of western Ankaratra are reliable landmarks: we are indeed on the Highlands of Madagascar.

The walk is progressive, without particular difficulty. It allows us to find the rhythm of the mountain and get to know the team. Our trekking guide knows every hamlet and every trail, and he introduces us to the locals we meet.

In late afternoon, we reach the Ankaratra balconies, a high-altitude meadow where we set up our first camp, at 1,750 meters. The view of the mountains is majestic, and the peaks sometimes disappear into the clouds. The porters pitch the tents, the cook lights the fire, and we watch the sunset over the western landscape.

Night falls quickly, and with it the cool air. Around the fire, the hot dinner is welcome. The sky, far from any light, is covered with stars.

At the camp, the team sorts the waste into colored bags, according to their nature, and brings them back down the mountain at the end of the trek. This is a rule on all our treks, applied from the first to the last day.

Journey: approximately 80 km, 1 h 45. Walk: approximately 3 h 30, 10 km.

We venture into the chaos of rocks. Through a succession of granite ridge lines and valleys that sometimes conceal fragments of ancient forest, our southward journey is varied and exciting. The trails, rarely frequented, connect the isolated dwellings of the highland regions.

Throughout the crossing, lakes are very much present. The inhabitants use them, in traditional fashion, to preserve fish raised in rice paddies during the dry season. Rice-fish farming is the main means of subsistence for the mountain people: tilapias, carp and black bass share the waters with rice.

Housing itself is also very distinctive and contrasts with that of the Highlands. Houses and small hamlets are isolated from one another, and families live apart. Here, there are no defensive ditches or walls around dwellings, as if the mountain itself were enough to protect those who live there.

After lunch, we walk at the foot of an immense conical mountain, which dominates the neighboring reliefs by its dark mass. At the heart of the granite, a volcano has broken through: it is Vohitany, our objective for the day. The ascent is sustained but without technical difficulty.

From the summit, the panorama embraces all the Highlands. Starting from the north, we recognize Ankaratra and the Imerina region. At our feet stretch the two branches of Vavavato and, further on, the Mount Ibity region. To the south extends Vakinankaratra, to the west Bongolava; finally, toward the northwest, the volcanoes of Itasy which we left two days ago.

We descend toward a high-altitude lake, a twenty-minute walk away, where the team has set up base camp. Mountain atmosphere guaranteed: the calm water reflects the ridges, and the evening light gilds the granite.

In the evening, the temperature drops noticeably. We dine warmly dressed, before a night under a sky of exceptional clarity, far from any light.

This day is one of the most beautiful of the trek, for the diversity of its landscapes and for this unique panorama over a large part of Madagascar.

Walking: approximately 5 hours, 10 km, then 20 minutes to the lake.

We set off in the cool of the morning, across the large rocky ridges that dominate the bivouac. Progress is made off-trail, slab by slab, to reach beautiful peaks from which the entire structure of the massif can be read: parallel ridgelines, separated by narrow valleys and hollows occupied by lakes.

Before us stands the highest point of the Mony Mainty, like an invitation to climb it. We walk at around 2,000 meters altitude. The air is fresh, almost cold, but the southern sun remains scorching: hat and sunscreen are essential, even in cool weather.

At midday, we emerge into the central valley, at the heart of the mountains. The places are inhabited, and small hamlets are scattered here and there, surrounded by crops and lakes. We cross the entire high-altitude valley to reach a beautiful line of mountains on the other side.

The people here almost never descend into the valleys of the Highlands. Custodians of ancient cults, they are known only to a few scholars, astrologers and traditional practitioners. Their settlement is ancient, predating the Merina expansion, and history has pushed them back to these heights, where they have maintained their way of life. Women remain in the mountains, and families live largely from what they produce.

This region is full of mysteries, and that is why we became passionate about it. When searching for works or documentation on these mountains, we found only a simple mention in a French military document dating from 1914. Here, only the curious and attentive hiker can venture and appreciate the places at their true value.

Our presence remains discreet. We respect local taboos, which our guide explains to us throughout the day, and we take time for encounters, without rushing anything.

In late afternoon, we set up our bivouac at the foot of the mountains. The evening around the fire is an opportunity to reflect on this timeless day with the team.

It is the longest day of the trek, but also the one where we truly enter into the intimacy of the Vavavato.

Walking: approximately 6 hours, 15 km, partly off-trail.

The western chain of the Vavavato stretches towards the Betafo region. Peaks rise on either side of our route, and offer us every opportunity to reach them: this is not mountaineering, but beautiful hikes on granite ridges, with views over the entire massif.

Since entering the mountains, we encounter herds of unusual bovines. These are "vabus": hybrids between zebu and cattle, sturdy like zebus but without humps. The herds are large, and mixed among the vabus are enormous pigs, which go about their business throughout the day.

The herds are watched over by shepherds we spot by the sound of their flutes. These melodies rise from rocky chaos and accompany our walk for a good part of the day. It is one of the strongest images of the trek, and one that travelers remember for the longest.

At noon, we picnic in the shelter of a rock, facing the mountains. In the afternoon, the landscape gradually becomes gentler.

At the end of the day, we reach an astonishing region, scattered with a multitude of lakes and almost flat high-altitude meadows, where rocky outcrops remain very present. Walking through these places, all that's missing are a few yaks to believe you're on the high plateaus of Spiti, in northern India, at the gates of Tibet.

On a soft meadow, by a lake, we set up our final camp. The evening light on the water and granite is magnificent, and the night promises to be cold and starry.

This last evening in the mountains is a remarkable moment. After five days of hiking, the team has become familiar, and we share a festive dinner around the fire. It is also an opportunity to thank the porters and the cook, who have accompanied us since Faratsiho.

At night, the silence is disturbed only by the wind in the grass and, sometimes, the cry of a bird. The next day, we will leave the Vavavato to descend back towards the world of roads and rice paddies.

Hiking: approximately 5 hours, 17 km.

Suddenly, we reach the southern edge of the Mony Mainty. Through a narrow valley, dotted with stepped lakes, we rapidly lose altitude. We leave the granite behind to reach, without transition, the volcanoes: the scenery changes completely within a few hours of hiking.

Here, nature is systematically managed by humans. The hillsides and valley floors are cultivated, shaped and arranged with extraordinary care. The beauty of the terraced rice fields in the Betafo region is striking, especially in the morning light.

From the wild and preserved nature of the Vavavato, we suddenly pass to a controlled nature. This transition is one of the highlights of the journey, and it gives us food for thought about how people have occupied and transformed the Highlands.

On the outskirts of Betafo, human settlement is dense. Villages are scattered across the hills, between the volcanoes, and the wide valleys are entirely dedicated to rice. We meet many farmers at work, children herding zebus and women carrying harvests on their heads.

We reach the town of Betafo at midday, leaving behind us, with some regret, the mysteries of the Mony Mainty. We have one last picnic with the team, before saying goodbye to them. Our vehicle awaits us for the short road to Antsirabe.

Antsirabe, a spa town founded in the late 19th century, is known for its pousse-pousse, its avenues lined with jacarandas and its colonial-era buildings. We settle into our ecolodge, where a hot shower and a real bed are welcome after five nights under canvas.

The rest of the afternoon is free. We can rest, take a tour around town by pousse-pousse or simply enjoy the peace of the garden. Dinner, on your own, is an opportunity to celebrate the end of the trek.

This day marks the end of the hike, but not the end of discoveries: the Antsirabe region still has much to show, and we will see part of it tomorrow.

Hiking: approximately 4 hours, 10 km, downhill. Road: approximately 30 minutes.

We take advantage of the morning to discover Antsirabe and its craftspeople. The city is renowned for its craftsmanship: making miniatures of bicycles and cars from recycled materials and working with zebu horn. We visit a few workshops, where the artisans show us their gestures and techniques.

We then take the national road 7 heading north. The landscape is that of the Highlands: terraced rice fields, villages of red brick, hills covered with crops and, in the distance, the reliefs of the Ankaratra that we walked along a few days earlier. Along the road, brick factories smoke by the rice fields, and stalls of fruits and vegetables announce the markets of the towns. The Highlands unfold their familiar landscapes, now charged with the memory of the Vavavato.

We make a short stop in Ambatolampy, a lively small town on national road 7, to stretch our legs and browse the market. Then the road continues through the hills, where villages become more numerous as we approach the capital.

We have lunch along the way, at our leisure, then we continue towards Antananarivo in the afternoon. The road is busy: carts, bush taxis, roadside markets where fruits, vegetables and woven baskets are piled up.

Upon arrival in Antananarivo, our team accompanies us to the hotel or to Ivato international airport, depending on the return flight schedule.

This trek allowed us to discover a mountain that very few travellers know, just a few hours from the capital. We hope it will leave each person with the memory of the pink granites, the high altitude lakes and the sound of the shepherds' flutes, but also of the encounters made along the way with the mountain people and with the entire team.

For those who have more time, this trek can be followed by the "Fabulous trekking in the north of the Makay", which departs the next day. Our team can also organize other tailor-made extensions, depending on each person's wishes and available time.

Road: approximately 180 km, 5 hours including stops.