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Vohemar (Iharana) → Ankify port (boat to Nosy Be) transfer

To Nosy Be without flying: 275 km (about 4.5 hours) via Ambilobe and Ambanja down to Ankify port, where the boats cross to the island. This price takes you to the port; most travellers then cross as foot passengers by speedboat (30–45 minutes) and let their hotel handle the island. We time the departure so you cross in daylight. Want the car and your driver to stay with you on Nosy Be instead — no haggling for transport every morning? That is a separate package: message us with your dates and we quote it, ferry included in the plan.

Price per person

* Travelling alone? The whole car is yours — a private trip costs the same in total. Bring a travel companion and the price per person halves.

Zebu on the road are part of driving here. Herds cross the national roads and rest on the warm tarmac, and after dark they are genuinely hard to see even on full beam — which is one reason we do not drive between towns at night. A zebu is worth around 400,000 to 500,000 Ariary, more than a month's wages for most people in this region, so an animal on the road is somebody's livelihood rather than an obstacle. Knowing which stretches carry herds, and at what hour, is exactly the kind of thing a driver who runs these roads every month knows and a rented car does not come with.

Chameleons cross these roads, slowly and without looking, and your driver will stop for them. In much of northern Madagascar it is fady — taboo — to kill or even touch one, and that belief is the reason the big Oustalet's chameleon is still common here when it has thinned out elsewhere. In many villages they are held to carry the spirits of the ancestors, so harming one, even accidentally at the wheel, is not a small thing. One piece of advice a visitor would never guess: in traditional belief even pointing at a chameleon is a bad omen, and the misfortune is held to fall on the person and their family rather than on the animal. Admire it, keep your hand down, and let your driver decide what happens next. Fady varies from region to region and sometimes from village to village, which is another reason to travel with somebody who knows which one he is in.

Nosy Be is an island. The price covers the drive to Ankify port; the car ferry crossing for the vehicle is NOT included and is charged extra at the current ferry rate. Many visitors cross as foot passengers by speedboat instead — tell us your plan and we'll help you choose.

Prices are per person. Full car = cheapest per seat. Children under 3 travel free on a lap. The price covers the booked travellers only — every traveller in the car pays.

Read first: driving in northern Madagascar — night, zebu, fuel and the rains →

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