Madagascar in October; weather and where to go

Similar to September, October is a pretty perfect time to travel to the huge island of Madagascar. One of the most magical highlights of the month has to be the baby lemurs. Pregnant ringtail, and other, lemurs give birth in September. So by October, there are lots of baby lemurs around of ages varying by just a couple of weeks. They are held by their mother for the first few weeks, until they are strong enough to cling to the hairs on their backs. At this time, they hold on effortlessly as their mums scuttle around on the ground, or swing through the trees. Every now and then they dare to take just a few steps away from the adults on a mini-adventure of their own, before heading back to the safe clutches of mother. What a wonderful and unique thing to experience! Mandrare River Camp is an excellent spot for witnessing this.

Crowds are smaller as we move away from school holidays, but the weather is warmer, meaning excellent beaches. The snorkelling around Madagascar is sublime and the oceans clear and bright turquoise. Definitely bring an underwater camera if you can. Unfortunately, the humpback whales will have left the coast by now, but there is plenty more marine-life to keep you interested.

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We are now in the midst of bird mating season and, although the bird population in Madagascar isn’t vast in size, 51% of the species are endemic. There are incredible dry, deciduous forests on the west coast which are home to an incredibly diverse amount of wildlife are excellent at this time and there is also the Avenue of Baobabs on the West coast, perfect at sunset. The Malagasy people have called baobabs ‘the tree of life’ and they sure do live up to their name. The trees can store hundreds of litres of water, grows its own fruit and can adapt to its environment- some have even been used as houses for both animals and humans! The weather in this area is generally dry especially in comparison to the east coast; at this time of the year there is very little, if any rainfall and temperatures range from 20-25°C.

This is also a great time to head to Anjajavy where the wonderful gardens are brightened further by the presence of dancing lemurs who have adapted a funny way of getting from A to B on their feet. Anjajavy is also backed by beach; one of our top spots in Madagascar.