This week’s dream: miniature Madagascar

"Anjajavy has been described as 'Madagascar in miniature', or even, with some affection, as 'Madagascar lite'," says Peter Browne in Conde Nast Traveller. The only way to get to this hotel and private nature reserve on the island's northwest coast is by plane from the capital, Antananarivo – a 90-minute journey across a wilderness of "rich-red mountains and open plains fringed with forests" that serves as a "heart-racing reminder" of Madagascar's "vast scope and scale". After that, Anjajavy's neat lawns, palm trees and sprinklers can seem "oddly reassuring", and the 450 hectares of dry deciduous forest surrounding it, quite intimate. Those inclined to explore, however, will find a microcosm of the island's "unique flora and fauna" here.

The forest at Anjajavy is "cut through with mangroves and jagged limestone formations", but there are no "life-threatening snakes or dangerous predators": it's completely safe to stroll or cycle anywhere you wish. Indeed, Madagascar as a whole can seem "tame" compared to Africa. Look closer, though, and "it's obvious this isn't Dartmoor": it's teeming with lemurs, the "cuddly" primates for which the island is most famed, and boasts a "vast array" of butterflies, chameleons and frogs.

A motorboat will take you to some of the "many beautiful islands" just off the coast, where you can snorkel in "calm, blue bays". Waterskiing, windsurfing, canoeing and fishing are all available at the hotel, too – as well as "very good" food. This is best enjoyed by candlelight in its "magical botanical gardens", where "in the early morning the lawn is carpeted with bees feasting on the nectar of tiny yellow flowers, and lemurs gather at teatime".

Anjajavy L'Hotel (0033 144 69 15 00) has villas for two from €1,260 for three nights. Rainbow Tours (020 7226 1004) has 10-day tours of Madagascar from £3,425pp, based on two sharing. ·