Not much is known about Madagascar other than lemurs. And this is probably because of the famous movie “Madagascar” . However, when I personally travelled in Madagascar, the first destination my group went to is Andasibe National Park. Here, we will be did a lemur safari in the forest of Analamazotra.
Andasibe – Looking for lemurs in Analamazotra
After breakfast, we left our accommodation and headed for the Analamazotra reserve. There, we started our lemur safari adventure deep in the forest.
Our guide greeted us and showed us the price for doing the tour then lead us into the small museum where we read up on some facts about the lemurs.
We signed up for the Analamazotra adventure tour which cost our group 60,000 Malagasy Ariary + tips. I ended up paying 15,000 Ariary for the tour plus 5,000 Ariary for my share (there was 4 of us in the group). As for the tourist fees, it was already included in the price we paid when we signed up to do a tour with a local Madagascar tour company.
Andisibe – Entering the Analamazotra forest
We entered the Analamazotra forest and weaved through the vegetation. Our guide was using her ears to detect the Indri Lemurs.
While waiting, I noticed a group of small animals running. We quickly took our cameras and shot some pictures. Turns out the animals is the rare ring tailed mongoose that even our guide has never seen in the 20 years she’s guided this safari.
I think it’s because we went during rainy season where animals are easier to spot than dry season despite the worser weather conditions to do the safari.
Andasibe – Indri Lemur
After much excitement, we went deeper in the jungle following the loud noises that the Indri Lemur was making (the local resident lemur species).
To our luck, we found several lemurs in the forest. At one point, we even ran into a family of four Indri Lemurs that was jumping around near us while eating.
Other wildlife
After an exciting time hunting for Indri Lemurs, our guide also showed us some local wildlife. We got a chance to see butterflies, various insects, and ant hives.
Andasibe – Bamboo Lemurs
The final pleasant surprise for us is our walk back to the entrance of the Analamazotra forest. We stumbled upon another specifies of lemurs. This one is hands down my favourite of all the five lemurs I saw in Madagascar. The cute Bamboo Lemurs!
Conclusion
Overall, visiting the Analamazotra forest reserve in Andasibe was a great start to my trip in Madagascar.
It was our first introduction to lemurs and seeing them in the wild. Our next journey would be the longest one as we head towards the famous Avenue of the Baobabs!
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3 thoughts on “Andasibe National Park – Doing A Lemur Safari In Analamazotra”
Hi, I am a travel blogger from Madgascar.
I have read your articles from my country and i thought that you had a great experience from the big island with the “small five”: Lemurs, Giraffe necked weevil, Chameleons, several species of insects, may be geckos ……..and attending the sunset at the avenue de Baobab (must do experience from Madagascar, to me)
I do agree with you that Madagascar is an amazing country to visit despite the sum of issues to fix in term of sustainable tourism.
Greeting from Madagascar,
Cheers,
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. Madagascar is a beautiful country and definitely worth visiting. I hope more tourist from around the world get to visit the raw and mostly untouched destination of Madagascar!
Cool animals and the trees are like no other alright. Have fun!!!….