Andasibe is a region with many parks to visit like Analamazaotra, Mantadia, VOIMMA, and Mitsinjo. The main reason to come here is the famous indri indri, but there are also different species of lemurs to discover. The area is an absolute must to get to when in Madagascar, as this is the wildlife area of the island. It can be a bit overwhelming to choose where to go, so I can help you. To know more about this area, keep reading! 

Price: Different prices for all parks (see Andasibe page)

Tourist occurrence: Medium

How to get here: A 3-4-hour drive east from Antananarivo.

How much time needed:  2 Days

Analamazaotra

Analamazaotra is also the most famous park around Andasibe. This park is the same organisation as Mantadia, and you have to pay the same entrance fee, which is valid for both parks on that day. The park gives the best chances of seeing the diademed sifakas (see picture). Besides, you can find indris, common brown lemurs, grey bamboo lemurs, and more. Hiking is very easy, and the trails are a bit more manmade than other trails in this region's parks. It is also the busiest and most accessible park in the area.

There are 4 hiking trails, and they take from 1 to 4 hours. All of the trails have some good chances of seeing lemurs. The park is a 15-minute walk from the closest village, which makes it easy to get to. One hike is enough to do this park, as the trails are very similar and only differ in length. 

Combination with Mantadia and Analamazaotra

The entrance fee for Andasibe-Mantadia (or Analamazaotra and Mantadia) is 55.000 ariary, and you can combine both parks as the entrance fee is valid for both parks per day. Above, you can also see the prices of the compulsory guides in both parks. If you do one short hike and a longer one, you can visit both parks in one day. 

Analamazaotra

Price: 55,000 per person and the guide fee per group as stated above.

Tourists occurrence: Medium

How to get here: A 3-4-hour drive east from Antananarivo.

How much time needed:  2-4 hours.

Mantadia

For pricing for this park, you can check out the picture at Anamalazaotra. Mantadia is my favorite part of the Andasibe area. This is very wild, and you are really walking through a magnificent, almost untouched part of Malagasy nature. There are some good hiking options, and you will have some great trails that are pretty easy to hike. The biggest advantage of Mantadia in comparison to other parks in the region is the presence of the black and white ruffed lemur (see picture), which is only found in Mantadia. These loud lemurs are fantastic to see, and there are good chances to find them here. You can also easily find red-bellied lemurs, and common brown lemurs. Indri, bamboo lemurs, and diademed sifakas are a bit more difficult to find, although you are guaranteed to hear the indris in the forest.

There are 4 trails going through Mantadia, and I would recommend doing the Tsakoka trail in combination with a trail in Analamazaotra. This trail gives the best options for wildlife viewing. Besides, you can walk to a nice waterfall, but seeing wildlife is more difficult, and the trail can be less interesting. A nice advantage of this park is that the trails are quieter than in other parks, which makes it a very intimate experience. A disadvantage is that the park is a one-hour drive from the main village.

Mantadia

Price: 55.000 per person (valid for Mantadia and Analamazaotra on same day) and the guide fee per group as stated above.

Tourists occurrence: Low

How to get here: A 3-4-hour drive east from Antananarivo.

How much time needed:  2-6 hours.

Mitsinjo

Mitsinjo is a park 3 minutes walk from Analamazaotra and gives you good chances to see indris and common brown lemurs. There are also chances to find red-bellied lemurs, and bamboo lemurs and this park is a nice place where you can do a proper night hike. To be honest, I have only been in this park during the night, and you can find many chameleons, frogs, and leaf-tailed geckos there. Besides we saw a Goodman mouse lemur (Mort in Madagascar, the film), which is very cool. During the day, I only talked about other sources I found and could not use my own experience.

There are some different, pretty easy hikes through the park, and depending on the hike, there is a compulsory group guide fee, as stated above. During the night, this is 35,000 ariary. There may be better night hikes in Madagascar, but every hike is different and offers other wildlife to discover.

Mitsinjo

Price: As stated above

Tourists occurrence: Low

How to get here: A 3-4-hour drive east from Antananarivo.

How much time needed:  1.5 hours for a night hike.

VOIMMA

VOIMMA is a community reserve very close to Analamazaotra and maybe the best place in the area to find the indris (see picture). The park is very small, and there are a couple of indri families, and we saw a fantastic family. They screamed as well, and that is majestic. For the rest, VOIMMA is the place to see the endemic Parson's chameleon, which is only in VOIMMA. For other lemurs, the highest chances are for the common brown lemurs, which are very often seen here. Diademed sifakas, bamboo lemurs, and red-bellied lemurs are present but difficult to find.

There are only short hikes here, and I would recommend doing the longest to have the best chances to find indris. Besides, I would stay as long as possible at these amazing creatures. The hikes are easy, and because the environment is more open, it is good for wildlife viewing. Pricing depends on the hike and the price includes the guide fee, which is very uncommon in Madagascar.

VOIMMA

Price: As stated in the picture above, which is the total amount for the entrance fee and guiding. 

Tourists occurrence: Low

How to get here: A 3-4-hour drive east from Antananarivo.

How much time needed:  2-3 hours.

We talked about the parks individually and now we will talk about the region in general

Indri

The indri (or indri indri) is the eye-catcher of the area, as it is the biggest still-living lemur in Madagascar (so the world). They can weigh up to 7 kg. Another fantastic thing about these incredible creatures is the extremely loud sound they produce, which is a kind of alarm sound. You can hear it from 4 kilometres away, and that is a great way to wake up in the morning. Seeing these creatures will be one of the best experiences in all of Madagascar.

Other lemurs and wildlife

Indris is probably the most important species to find in this area, but also diademed sifakas, bamboo lemurs, common brown lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs (Mantadia), and red bellied lemurs are the other diurnal lemurs to find, and that is definitely possible in this area in 2 days (I found all 6). In the night, it is more difficult, and only Goodman mouse lemurs are common to find. Birding is also very good, and you can see many species, like a great nightjar (see picture). Also, reptiles are pretty good here. We were very lucky to find a wild fossa in a tree, which was unique. This is probably the best area of Madagascar for wildlife watching.

When to visit

Andasibe can be visited all year, but it can be wet from January to March. It can be a bit more crowded from July to October. 

Where to sleep

Andasibe is a small village close to most of these national parks (some are close enough to walk to the parks). There are many accommodations in the village. The village itself is not very interesting, but you may be lucky enough to find some wildlife next to the road.

How many days 

For me, you have to stay here for at least 2 nights, and 3 nights may be better. A day trip from Tana is possible, but I would always recommend staying 2-3 nights and visiting all parks. 

Itinerary 

When you stay here for 2 nights without the possibility of doing something on the day of arrival but with some time on the day of departure (it can also be the other way around), I have some recommendations:

2 nights option 1:

Day 1: Arrival day

Day 2: Mantadia 3 hour trek, Analamazaotra 1 or 2 hour trek (depending on your time), night hike Mitsinjo

Day 3: VOIMMA and departure

2 nights option 2:

Day 1: Arrival day

Day 2: Mantadia 6 hour trek, night hike Mitsinjo

Day 3: VOIMMA/Analamazaotra and departure

3 nights option 1: 

Day 1: Arrival day

Day 2: Mantadia 6 hour trek

Day 3: Mitsinjo day and night hike

Day 4: VOIMMA/Analamazaotra and departure

3 night option 1: 

Day 1: Arrival day

Day 2: Mantadia 6 hour trek

Day 3: Analamazaotra + Mitsinjo night hike

Day 4: VOIMMA and departure

Of course you can fill this as you want to, but I would at least recommend seeing Mantadia for the wild experience and best hikes and for another park to have bigger chances of seeing indris.

Final thoughts

The Andasibe area is one of the most important sights in the whole country of Madagascar, and this should be on your bucket list. It is very accessible as it is close to the capital and close to a big road. The amount of wildlife is superb, and seeing many lemurs is probably one of the things you want to do when visiting Madagascar. Even when you go to the north, but fly through the capital, you can make a 2-3 day trip here.

If you want to know more about Madagascar, check out: