Tracking Lemurs in Madagascar

Arrive in Antananarivo, Madagascar's bustling capital, where you'll be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel.  

Your journey begins on an island whose long isolation has produced wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. Gather with your Expedition Leader and fellow travelers for an introduction to the expedition ahead, from listening for indri in the eastern rainforests to observing endangered lemurs with Malagasy researchers in Ranomafana National Park.

Leave the capital behind and travel east through Madagascar's countryside toward the town of Andasibe, your gateway to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. The landscape grows greener as you approach the rainforest, where dense vegetation shelters an extraordinary variety of endemic wildlife. 

Settle into your accommodations before exploring the surrounding forest with expert local naturalist guides. Search for chameleons concealed among the foliage, listen for endemic birds and watch for movement in the canopy. 

After sunset, conditions permitting, head out on a guided night walk. Scan branches for tiny mouse lemurs, sleeping chameleons and tree frogs as the forest reveals wildlife rarely seen by day. 

Rise early and enter Andasibe-Mantadia National Park as the haunting calls of indri echo through the rainforest. Follow expert local guides beneath the canopy, searching for Madagascar's largest living lemurs as they call to one another from the branches. 

Over two days, explore the trails of Analamazaotra and Mantadia, two distinct rainforest areas within the protected landscape. Watch for leaf-tailed geckos nearly indistinguishable from tree bark, brilliantly colored chameleons, unusual frogs and endemic birds. Your guides help reveal the subtle movements and markings that make these animals so difficult to spot. 

Along the way, learn about the pressures facing Madagascar's eastern rainforests and the efforts underway to protect and restore critical wildlife habitat. 

Return toward Antananarivo, then board a private charter flight to the Ranomafana region, avoiding a lengthy overland journey. 

Ranomafana National Park is home to a lemur research program with more than four decades of field observations. In 1986, Dr. Patricia Wright discovered the golden bamboo lemur here, a finding that helped spur the park's creation. Researchers have since followed generations of wild lemurs through these forests, documenting their behavior, reproduction and responses to habitat disturbance. 

Meet members of the Malagasy research team and learn how scientists identify individual lemurs, follow family groups and record observations in the field. You'll soon put these methods into practice on the forest trails. 

Set out with Malagasy researchers into the steep, humid rainforest of Ranomafana National Park, home to endangered Milne-Edwards' sifakas and critically endangered golden bamboo lemurs. Search for families that scientists have followed for generations, then begin recording their behavior. Watch a sifaka launch itself between branches, an infant cling to its mother's fur or a golden bamboo lemur pause to feed. Record what the animals eat, where they travel and how family members interact, adding your observations to more than four decades of research. 

Explore disturbed and relatively undisturbed rainforest habitats, comparing areas affected by selective logging, wildfire or invasive Chinese guava with less disturbed rainforest. Notice changes in vegetation and feeding opportunities as researchers investigate how these conditions influence lemur behavior, reproduction and survival. Depending on current research priorities, you may also help collect non-invasive biological samples for genetic, hormone and parasite studies. 

Between field sessions, search for colorful chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, frogs and endemic birds along Ranomafana's forest trails. Visit Centre ValBio, founded by Dr. Patricia Wright, to meet scientists and discover how long-term observations help identify habitats that need protection or restoration. 

Your time in Ranomafana also offers a closer look at Malagasy traditions. Meet women from the FAMIOVA cooperative to learn about silk weaving and natural dyes, and explore medicinal plants and healing practices with FIMARA traditional healers. When the schedule allows, browse the village market, where farmers and artisans gather to sell tropical produce, spices and handmade crafts. 

As your fieldwork draws to a close, review the observations collected during your expedition and learn how they contribute to ongoing studies of Madagascar's endangered lemurs. 

Bid farewell to Ranomafana and the researchers who have introduced you to the lives of its endangered lemurs. Board your private charter flight back to Antananarivo, leaving the rainforest behind after days of close wildlife observation and fieldwork. 

Back in the capital, gather with your Expedition Leader and fellow travelers to share favorite encounters and stories from the field, from the calls of indri to your days following endangered lemur families through Ranomafana's rainforest. 

Return home with memories of indri calling through misty rainforests, endangered lemurs leaping through the canopy and days spent exploring Madagascar's wild side with Malagasy researchers. After breakfast, transfer to Antananarivo's airport for your departing flight.