Le Relais de la Reine

a great base for hiking in the national park

Le Relais de la Reine is located in the Isalo area of southcentral Madagascar.

Set amongst the rocky terrain of Isalo, about 1 km south from the main RN7 highway, this is one of the most orderly and upmarket lodges in the whole of Madagascar.

The lodge, along with adjacent sister property Le Jardin du Roy, is the thoughtful creation of the Colombier family from France, who have known the area for decades.

Set in a small valley between rocky outcrops and surrounded by manicured grounds along the ephemeral Soarano River, which include a swimming pool, the lodge centred on a substantial main building, with lounge, bar and dining areas, including fireplaces for cooler evenings.

There is also an extensive spa, which offers a wide range of massages and treatments.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Le Relais de la Reine is in a total of just six rooms, which are contained within detached stone buildings, all with air-conditioning.

Activities

Le Relais de la Reine provides access to the following activities …

• Hiking in the national park
• Via ferrata
• Horse-riding
• Sapphire mine tour
• Cultural interaction

Although we really like the Isalo area, it tends to feature in trips relatively rarely, because it is such a long drive to get to. However, if you are planning to fly down to the southwest coast, it’s not such a long drive.

The usual stay duration is 2-4 nights.

Seasonality

The best time to visit the Isalo area is generally considered to be during the Apr-Oct dry season, but conditions are not usually particularly adverse during any month.

The area has not historically experienced a great deal of rainfall. Even the wettest month, January, only tends to peak at around 50mm/2″ and any rain that does fall is quickly evaporated away.

However, in recent years we have had reports of higher than usual rainfall, with a record 526mm of rain falling during the month of January 2019 alone (which is an incredible amount). So maybe we should now be warning against travelling during the Nov-Mar rainy season.

The temperature information tends to be more reliable. During the Apr-Oct dry season the daytime temperatures tend to peak around 24C/75F, but during the converse Nov-Mar rainy season those temperatures can head up and over 29C/84F, with spikes in humidities accompanying any precipitation.

Getting there

Isalo National Park lies 450 km south of Tana on the infamous RN7 highway, the endless road that takes typically 7-12 nights to reach the southwest corner of the country (once you have stopped off at various interesting spots along the way).

These days we actually access the area more often by flying from Antananarivo down to Tulear on the coast and driving the three hours east to Isalo, later departing by the same way.

It’s also possible to access the area by light aircraft from Antananarivo direct to Isalo, but that’s a long and expensive charter.

a long and arduous drive down the main road