10-Day Madagascar Lemur Safari

Arrive at Ivato International Airport, Antananarivo (Tana). Our representative meets you on arrival and transfers you to your hotel in the capital. Depending on arrival time, enjoy a brief orientation drive through the hilltop Old Town, past the Rova Palace and the traditional merchant quarter. Welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

After breakfast, drive east through highland rice terraces and eucalyptus plantations as the landscape drops gradually toward the eastern rainforest escarpment. Arrive at Andasibe-Mantadia National Park by midday. Check in to your lodge. Afternoon guided walk in the Réserve Spéciale d'Analamazaotra, the most accessible section of the park, in search of the habituated Indri family groups. The Indri is the world's largest lemur: black-and-white, tail-less, and capable of producing an extraordinary wailing duet that carries for kilometres through the forest.

Rise before dawn for the most rewarding lemur experience in Madagascar. The Indri groups begin calling at first light in a resonant chorus that is one of the natural world's most affecting sounds. Your guide leads you to the family groups before the tourist rush. Midday rest at the lodge. Afternoon guided walk in Mantadia National Park, a wilder and more extensive section where additional lemur species including diademed sifaka and black-and-white ruffed lemur can be found. After dinner, a guided night walk reveals mouse lemurs, chameleons, and the improbable leaf-tailed gecko.

A morning at Vakôna Forest Lodge's private island lemur reserve, where semi-habituated groups of ring-tailed lemur, brown lemur, and bamboo lemur can be encountered at close range: an excellent photography opportunity. Afternoon guided reptile and chameleon walk with a specialist herpetologist guide. Madagascar hosts over 160 chameleon species, from the tiny Brookesia (the world's smallest reptile) to the magnificent Parson's chameleon.

An early departure south through the central highlands. The drive passes through a deeply photogenic landscape of rice paddies, zebu cattle, and hilltop villages characteristic of the Merina and Betsileo peoples. Arrive at Ranomafana National Park in the Haute Matsiatra region in the late afternoon. Check in and a short introductory walk on the park trails at dusk.

A full day in Ranomafana, one of Madagascar's finest and most biodiverse national parks. Your guide leads a morning walk through the park's primary rainforest in search of the golden bamboo lemur, the species whose discovery here in 1986 prompted the park's creation. The park hosts 12 lemur species in total, including the greater bamboo lemur (one of the rarest mammals on Earth), Milne-Edwards' sifaka, and red-bellied lemur. Midday at the lodge. Afternoon walk for birds: 115 species recorded, including the velvet asity, short-legged ground roller, and the remarkable helmet vanga.

A relaxed morning walk along the Namorona River, where blue-nosed chameleons and brightly coloured frogs occupy the riverside vegetation. Afternoon at leisure: visit the hot springs at the village of Ranomafana (the park takes its name from these thermal waters). After dinner, a specialist night walk in the park reveals the extraordinary cast of nocturnal lemurs: the woolly lemur, sportive lemur, and aye-aye territory permitting.

Morning guided walk in the southern section of Ranomafana, less visited and often quieter. Drive to Fianarantsoa, the cultural capital of the south, for a walking tour of the Haute-Ville: a UNESCO-listed old town of stepped lanes, churches, and traditional Betsileo architecture perched above the surrounding countryside. Optional: take the historic CFM train for a section of the spectacular descent to the coast.

Return to Antananarivo by road (approx. 7 hrs through the highland plateau, passing through Ambositra, Madagascar's wood-carving capital) or by domestic flight if available. Arrive in Tana by late afternoon. Final evening at leisure: dinner at a rooftop restaurant with views over the illuminated hilltop capital.

Final morning at leisure for any last-minute shopping at the Zoma craft market or a visit to the Rova Palace viewpoint. Transfer to Ivato International Airport for your onward flight. End of Saringi Tours services.