Northern Madagascar

From Tana, we take a short flight to Antsiranana and continue by road to the green oasis of the Montagne d’Ambre (Amber Mountain) National Park, located on Madagascar’s northernmost tip. From our base in a comfortable wildlife lodge, we explore this lush patch of montane rainforest in search of species including Sanford’s Brown Lemur, Amber Mountain Fork-marked Lemur, Crowned Lemur and perhaps even the elusive Fosa, the largest carnivore on the island. The birdlife here is especially abundant and includes the endemic Amber Mountain Rock-thrush, as well as Madagascan Crested Ibis, Souimanga Sunbird, Pitta-like Ground-roller, White-throated Oxylabes and Hook-billed Vanga.

Moving south, after a couple of hours we will turn off the road onto dirt tracks which lead to the local reserve of Analamerana within the wider Andrafiamena Protected Area. Here, a large patch of dry forest has been set up as a local nature reserve to protect a small population of the localised and rare Perrier’s Sifaka and two nights here maximises our chances of finding them these beautiful animals. The birdlife here is superb, and we can look in particular for such species as Madagascan Harrier-hawk, Malagasy Green Sunbird, Blue Vanga, Grey-headed Lovebird and Madagascan Buttonquail.

Continuing south, our next stop is to explore the dry forests of the Ankarana Special Reserve. The Ankarana massif is a limestone plateau which rises abruptly from the surrounding grassy plains. It has been eroded over the aeons into a dramatic landscape of jagged limestone pinnacles, known as tsingy, and numerous caves and other caste landforms, all edged by a dry deciduous forest. Wildlife here includes Crowned Lemur, Sanford’s Brown Lemur and birds such as Crested Coua, Madagascan Pygmy Kingfisher and the localised White-breasted Mesite.

From here we head towards the coast and the beautiful waters around Nosy Be. The largest and most well known of the islands in this area, it has a significant number of endemic species concentrated in Lokobe Nature Special Reserve. We will visit here, but in fact stay on the south coast of the smaller Nosy Komba, in a small exclusive resort on an idyllic white sand beach. There is a population of Black Lemur here on the island and we will also head out to sea with the aim of seeing both Whale Shark and Humpback Whale, both of which can be found in the surrounding waters at this time of year.