Visiting Andasibe National Park in Madagascar

Andasibe is full of all the amazing wildlife that probably drew you to explore Madagascar in the first place. Indri, sifaka, and chameleons, and more. If you are in the capital of Antananarivo (or the short form “Tana”) and you have a bit of time to spare or you just need to find yourself in a bit of Madagascan forest, then Andasibe Mantadia National Park is for you. If you have extra time, it is also possible to stay in the area and enjoy the park for a few days.

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Need to Know for Visiting Andasibe

How to Get to Andasibe

The best way to get to Andasibe is to hire a driver from Tana for a private tour. To save costs, you could also join up with others and share a car. Hotels will have recommendations on this. The drive is 2 hours from Tana. There are also day trip options with tour groups like this one that you can book in advance and have everything taken care of.

When to Visit

Year-round. Visiting around October may give you the chance to see baby lemurs. September unitl November is a fantastic time to visit for slightly dryer conditions. Be aware of the rain and cyclone season which is January to March.

What to Eat

On hiking days I like to take lunch with me. You can usually buy packed lunches from hotels, just ask the night before if it’s possible.

Cheese and crackers from the grocery store also work as an alternative. Laughing Cow cheese doesn’t need to be refrigerated and Salto’s can be found almost anywhere, even at small village stores.

Where to Sleep

Sakamanga Hôtel is a classic recommendation for Antananarivo. It’s in a great location and has a fantastic restaurant along with it.  Everyone that stays there seems quite happy with it.

Day Trip to Andasibe Mantadia National Park

I opted to hire a driver for the day so that it was possible to visit Andasibe National Park as a day trip. The drive to the rainforest was enjoyable for me as I saw a bit of Antananarivo that I hadn’t seen yet on the way out of the city. There was some traffic that slowed me down, which wasn’t the best but it seemed unavoidable.

Once clear of the city, there are small towns you will drive through as well as big open areas. Some of the very twisty roads made me very thankful to have an experienced driver.  The drive was about 2 hours, which gave lots of time to have a short hike in the park and be back for nightfall.

Hiking in Andasibe National Park

On arrival at the park, I scarfed down a sandwich that I had brought with me and headed to the park office to hire a guide. All National Parks in Madagascar require you to hire a guide to enter the park. It isn’t very expensive and helps to keep locals employed and the parks running so it is definitely worth it. It’s one of the best ways you can be an ethical tourist in Madagascar.

The guides tend to be quite knowledgeable and without them, I would end up seeing a whole lot of trees and very few lemurs. If you are looking for a longer trip and to see some ring-tailed lemurs, head down to Madagascar’s southwest and hike in Isalo National Park.

Because I had only one day there, I went on one of the shorter hikes in Andasibe, which was about 2.5 hours long. The Mantadia section of the park is more strenuous and would require you to stay overnight in the area. I loved my time in Andasibe and it would have been fantastic to stay overnight and see more of the park.

Hiking Time: The shorter hike takes about 2.5 hours. You can do longer full day hikes as well.

Rating: Easy level of terrain, pretty much flat with well-marked paths. Some paths may be slippery and muddy when wet. Humidity and heat will make this more challenging though so go into the hike well hydrated and take water with you.

Be Aware: Madagascar rainforests have land leeches. If you visit on rainy days and especially during the rainy season, you may have leeches fall on you from the trees or attach to your shoes and pants from the ground. They aren’t really a big deal, they don’t transmit diseases and are quite small. They usually take their time so just pick them off as they land and you won’t end up being bitten. On dry days they are quite unusual.

Seeing Sifaka

I hiked into the park and the guide took me right away to see diademed sifaka. They are radio-collared and seem very comfortable with people. The group was casually foraging on the ground while I stood about 10 feet away from them. While they are habituated to people, they are still wild animals. It’s also good advice to never stand right below them, there’s a good possibility you will be peed on.

These sifaka have absolutely beautiful golden markings on them and it was such a wonderful experience to be able to see them up close. If you are lucky you will also get to see them in the trees where they are amazingly fast and elegant at clinging and leaping from branch to branch. One sifaka even jumped about a foot over my friend’s head. 

Search for the Indri

Next up, was more hiking through the forest in search of one of the most famous of the lemurs: the Indri. Indri are the largest of the living lemurs. They look like adorable little black and white bears with their rounded ears. Indri are incredibly loud and their calls are something that will stick with you long after you leave Madagascar.

The guides are always scouting and keeping track of where they are so that they can show tourists. Just off of the main path, I came upon a family of Indri. They were high in the treetops but it was really adorable to see the baby interact with its mother.

Your guide will probably offer to play indri calls on their cell phone so that the indri will make their distinctive calls. You can decide for yourself, but I wasn’t comfortable with it because I felt like deliberately causing a wild animal to make territorial calls and possibly stress the animal for my entertainment wasn’t ethical. If you are patient, you will likely hear the indri anyways. Definitely worth the trip to Andasibe just to have the chance to hear and see the Indri.

Andasibe National Park is Full of Wildlife

The hike through the forest was very easy as the ground is mostly flat. There is also the chance to see some local birds, chameleons, geckos, insects, and brown lemurs. It was a great experience to see the forest and the animals that live in Andasibe National Park.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone that wants to see some of the wildlife of Madagascar. It is easy to access Andasibe and the terrain is suitable for most people. If this is going to be your only rainforest experience while you are in Madagascar, I would go for longer than a day so that you can do more than a single hike in the forest and have an opportunity to see Mantadia as well.

Returning Back to Tana

Arriving back in Antananarivo just as the sun was setting, I was definitely exhausted from the day. It was well worth the effort to get out of Tana and breathe in some fresh air of the forest. You could also stop at Andasibe and spend the night on your way to the coast and Toamasina.

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