Andasibe National Park
Follow the eerie call of the Indri, Madagascar's largest lemur...
Overview
Lemur Safaris in Mantadia & Andasibe National Park
The eastern rainforests of Madagascar are a must-see on any Madagascar safari. These tropical montane rainforests are some of the densest in the world. A key attraction is the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. These two adjacent parks lie an easy 3-4 hours scenic drive from Antananarivo (Tana).
A big part of the attraction are the Indri lemurs. Walking through the rainforest, as its distinctive siren-like calls emanate from the mist-covered canopy is one of the most memorable experiences of your Andasibe safari.
Ideally, we recommend 2-3 nights here so that you can visit both parks. Two nights also gives you enough time to relax at your lodge, head to Lemur island and enjoy a night walk.
Andasibe-Mantadia is separated into two parks. The most accessible part is the Indri Special Reserve. This reserve has several well-maintained forest paths, mostly gentle in terrain. Typically you visit at dawn to see the Indri lemurs when they are most active. For a wilder safari to see the golden sifaka lemurs, you can explore the Mantadia National Park. This has pristine forest and more challenging terrain, with steeper trails. So best if you are reasonably fit. The forest is primary rainforest so there is a greater variety of wildlife here, with several lemur species.
Handy Tip: The challenge in Madagascar is to reduce the number of nights in Tana. If you put Andasibe at the end of your trip, then you can travel back to the airport by road on the final day.
Milandi Joubert
Africa Travel Specialist
Features
Why you may love it
- The parks boasts 13 species of lemurs, chameleons and more than 100 bird species.
- Tracking the impressive Indri, the largest lemur of all.
- Its floral diversity is particularly rich.
- Mantadia offers a greater variety of wildlife.
- Wilder, and steeper walking trails in Mantadia reserve.
- Night walks to see the nocturnal species.
- Kayak over to Lemur Island at Vakona Forest Lodge for a close-up lemur encounter.
- Birding in Mantadia Reserve is especially good with over 100 species.
Explore the Andasibe National Park map
When to visit Andasibe National Park
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Vakona Forest Lodge review
I stayed at both Andasibe Hotel and Vakona and can recommend both happily, but Vakona was my favourite, even though the rooms at Andasibe Hotel were much smarter. Why did I like Vakona more? I think it was the setting of the hotel, being more in the forest, the lakeside setting and ambience of the main octagonal building cantilevered over lake with a roaring central fireplace.
The main building had a lot of charm with sitting areas, a billiard table, restaurant serving good food and of course a lovely terrace overlooking the serene lake. The grounds are extensive with a lovely walking trail in the valley below the main approach road, canoes on the river, its own private lemur reserve (with very tame lemurs!) and also a separate nature reserve which is worth a visit, especially if you are a family, as we were.
The only thing to note is that rooms were pretty basic and not that attractive, mostly up plenty of steps so a nice workout if you forget something and need to go back! They have everything you need (and even offer hot water bottles in winter which was a nice touch) but they are small and rather characterless. But I felt that overall the lodge more than made up for this.
- WildlifeThe Indri-Indri is largest lemur in the world.
- WildlifeThe largest chameleon in the world can be found here.
