Madagascar is a spectacular tour destination that makes up for the relatively small number of bird species with the high number of endemics. In addtion, it is a special place to visit because it's the only place in the world to see lemurs. Our basic tour covers most important birding areas in southwestern and central Madagascar including the arid southwest, the rainforest of Ranomafana, and the Andisibe-Mantadia area. More than 150 species of birds and some 20 species of lemurs are likely to be seen on this tour.

The tour begins with arrival in the capital city of Antananarivo. The first part of our tour focuses on the southern section of Madagascar. The first full morning of the tour we'll fly to the southwest coastal city of Tulear. After visiting Arboretum d'Antsokay in Tulear, we'll drive a bit north near the coast to Ifaty, where we'll devote a full day to birding in the Ifaty spiny forest. We'll depart early the next morning for a transfer to Anakao, followed by an early afternoon boat trip to Nosy Ve to visit a Red-tailed Tropicbird breeding colony and a late afternoon transfer to Tsimanampetsotsa National Park. We'll spend much of the next day birding there before driving back to Anakao for an overnight stay. Next, we drive to Isalo National Park, stopping en route for birding at Zombitse National Park. We'll spend a full day birding at Isalo National Park before transferring to mountainous Ranomafana National Park. We'll devote two full days to birding at Ranomafana National Park, where we'll be faced with a bit of challenging birding while looking for the special endemics found there. From there we transfer back to Antananarivo. That afternoon we'll have time to do some birding around Tsarasotra Lake in town.

The next morning we'll begin the second part of our tour by driving about 4 hours to reach the Andasibe area of central Madagascar. After our arrival there, we'll visit nearby VOIMMA community reserve to look for Indri lemurs. That evening we'll do some night birding in Mitsinjo Forest Reserve looking for several species of owls as well as some nocturnal lemurs. We have 2 full days to bird the Andasibe area. We'll devote the first day to birding Mantadia section of Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. We'll devote the second day to birding nearby Maromizaha Reserve. The following morning, we'll bird the Analamazaotra section of Andasibe-Mantadia National Park before transferring back to Antananarivo after lunch. Early on the last morning of the tour we'll visit Tsarasotra Lake once again to look for rails we may have missed on our previous visit. The tour ends at the airport after lunch.

Tour Considerations

PACE - Moderate

DIFFICULTY - The tour requires some long drives of 8-10 hours. Birding at Ranomafana requires somewhat strenuous hiking and bushwhacking to see the key species. Birding in other areas is along easier trails or along roadsides.

DOMESTIC FLIGHTS - The domestic airline in Madagascar is notoriously unreliable, partly or mostly because of weather conditions. Flights are often delayed or even canceled, especially to the northwest region around Masoala Peninsula. For this reason we don't include that site in our tours. Also for this reason, we limit internal flights to the bare minimum and do some long ground transfers instead.

CLIMATE - The climate of Madagascar is essentially subtropical with a strong marine influence. It's governed by southeastern trade winds and northwestern monsoons. The climate varies drastically by region. The east coast receives heavy rainfall and has high humidity. The central highlands is cooler and more temperate. The northwest is drier and warm year-found. The southwest is very arid. Dry season is from May to October. Wet season is from November to April with the heaviest rains in January and February.

BIRD ACTIVITY - Birds are most active during peak breeding season from September to December. Activity is much lower druing the wet season from January to March and the dry season from June to August.

PHOTOGRAPHY - Opportunities for photography can be very good, especially in the more open, arid southwest. Getting photos in the rainforest is much more difficult. Some lemurs can be photographed easily, but others are nocturnal or in dense forests where photography can be challenging.

 

 

 

 

 

• Photos from Past Tours
• Travel Information

BIRDING LOCALES
FOR THIS TOUR

• Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
• Ifaty Forest
• Ifaty Salt Pans
• Isalo National Park
• Maromizaha Reserve
• Nosy Ve Island
• Ranomafana National Park
• Tsimanampetsotsa National Par
• Tulear Mud Flats
• Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park