Exploring Madagascar’s Great South

After an early breakfast, you’ll head out on a scenic 4-hour drive east with your guide to Andasibe, en-route to your next hotel. Made up of two protected areas - the Perinet Reserve and Mantadia National Park - upon entering Andasibe you’ll get to see the habitat of a beloved creature that is endemic to Madagascar – the lemur! 

The Perinet Reserve is renowned over the world for its population of Indri lemurs. The largest living lemur species, the ‘Indri Indri’ are recognisable by their distinctive black and white colouring and wide, inquisitive eyes. You’ll get to explore this incredible rainforest with your guide and keep on the lookout for the Indri lemur, as well as another 11 species that call the protected reserve home. 

Today you’ll be venturing into the Mantadia National Park for a thrilling day of lemur spotting, as well as encountering an abundance of birds, reptiles and other animals that are exceptionally rare in the natural world. As you navigate the trails through this rich and diverse park, you’ll find this area wilder than the neighbouring Perinet Reserve, but the rewards are better than you could ever dream of.  

With a forest that’s taller, wilder and less crowded than Perinet, this goldmine of natural wonders has a cast of colourful birds, including the scaly ground roller, the ground roller and the red-breasted coua. After enjoying your picnic lunch by the Rianasoa Waterfall, you’ll hike back to the vehicle and return to the lodge. You'll also have the chance to go on an organised night walk through the forest, where you can see the nocturnal lemurs come out to play. 

Isalo is one of Madagascar’s most diverse parks and we’ll bet you can’t wait to get out there and explore. There’s something for every nature-lover here; botanists will appreciate the Pachypodium plants and locally endemic Aloe, whilst lemur lovers can get their fix with the sifakas, brown lemurs and ring tails that call this unique national park their home. The park is also sacred to the Bara tribe, who for hundreds of years have used caves within the canyon walls as burial sites. 

During your stay, you’ll also get to explore the nearby Zombitse National Park, a 36,300 hectare transition forest between Madagascar’s western and southern habitat types. It's incredibly rich in biodiversity, offering an outstanding chance for avid birdwatchers to glimpse Appert’s greenbul, one of Madagascar’s rarest endemic species. Here, you can also see six endemic species of the unusual Baobab Tree, or the ‘tree of life’, which have become an iconic natural sight for visitors to the country. 

The Mandrare Valley is one of Madagascar's most sublime landscapes, and you'll begin your time here by exploring the stunning, sacred gallery forest to the south of the Mandrare River Camp. As you trek through this rugged wilderness, you'll have the chance to spot the ever-inquisitive groups of ring-tailed lemurs and the ‘dancing’ Verreaux sifakas, endemic to Madagascar. 

After a relaxing lunch, you'll spend the afternoon exploring the almost alien spiny forest, a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. As well as this, you'll discover the many ancestral tombs belonging to the local Antandroy tribe within the forest, whilst learning from your guide about their unique culture and customs. 

You'll begin you stay in Manafiafy visiting the Antanosy community, where you'll find out about the Stitch Project, a programme that provides local women with sustainable livelihoods. After lunch and some relaxation, you'll head to the nearby mangroves; you’ll be blown away by this 40km slice of paradise, which stretches from Manafiafy to Fort Dauphin and is framed by the magnificent Anosy mountain range. Adventure seekers will jump at the chance to explore the mangroves by motorboat or kayak.  

On your last day, get up bright and early to catch the sunrise as you head out into the coastal rainforest to spot some more wildlife; on your walks through this region you may spot red-collared lemurs leaping through the canopies, or at dusk the stealthy flying fox bat as groups of them often fill the skies.