5 Valentin Fischer - 2 months ago
We visited the park in May 2022.
In the morning we lent a 4wd to go to the Mantadia primary forest (which requires a 1 hour drive from the Andasibe village according to which pathway you want to take). Our guide found us the 4x4 for 160 000 AR, it is expensive but a commonly charged price for 4 wheelers.
We did the Tsakoka itinerary. It is supposed to be the longest. It is where you can spot rare birds and different kinds of lemurs, at least that was before covid. According to our guide, this part is so remote from the road and was so poorly monitored during the pandemic that the locals hunted the lemurs. He said we should have spotted several groups of sedentary lemurs in given places but we barely saw some high up in the canopy, which real high because it's a primary forest. The lush green vegetation is impressive.
We went there too late to observe birds and missed the few ones our guide pointed at. The jungle cry I read so much about in the comments is real and it's magical. Watch out for leeches (had one one me) and mosquitoes (heard one I can tell).
There are other routes in that part of the park (leading to waterfalls or a natural swimming pool).
Mantadia is the primary rainy forest, while Andasibe is a secondary one. The trees are skinny, the vegetation way less diversified and the pathway mainly flat and paved. This is where we headed to on the afternoon, as we didn't spot much fauna in the Mantadia primary forest. It is the same entrance fee but you pay your guide for each route you enter.
There we were able to hang out with a group of Sifaka ( about 12 of them). Always keep an eye on the upper branches as they do not bother where their droppings may land. You might have to dodge some bullets. They were much more accostumed to human presence. They were eating leaves and inspecting us from a short distance without embarrassment.
We also spotted another group of brown lemurs and that was all.
What I can recommend and what we couldn't do is to buy your entrance tickets the night before (before 4pm), so that you can enter the park early in the morning (from 5am). The office only opens at 8am, Malagasy time. You loose valuable hours as birds and lemurs are more active early in the day.
Entrance was about 45 000 Ar and our guide 110 000 AR (70000+40000).