After spending the morning at Andasibe-Mantadia National Park chasing lemurs through the gorgeous rainforest I thought that I had already seen too many lemurs for one day… I was wrong… There is no such thing as too many lemurs for one day.

Andasibe is well-known for being home to a huge number of wild lemurs but it is also the home of Lemur Island – a tiny reserve in the Vakona Forest Lodge that protects a number of habituated lemurs. Yep, an island of tame lemurs that I was warned could be a bit overconfident. Including some resident  bamboo lemurs, black & white ruffed lemurs, brown lemurs and one diademed sifaka. I was excited to meet these friendly locals.

Even though it was a wet day the park was packed! Discovering that the Lemur Island was a bit overcrowded we decided to first visit the more sinister-looking locals…

As an Australian I haven’t had the chance to really get too close to some of our own beasts but the land down under isn’t the only home of the prehistoric-looking creeps, also known as crocodiles…

At some point some Nile crocodiles managed to make their way to little old lemur land and settle down in Madagascar. I completely understand the fear of Australian creatures now. Crocodiles are creepy. Especially when the only thing between you and the beasts are a dodgy-looking fence and a precariously wobbly bridge…

But crocodiles aren’t the only thing the little lemurs have to look out for… The mongos-looking Fossa is the main lemur predator and the park has their very own captive Fossa to admire these endangered carnivores.

Finally we made our way back to the lemurs. Hoping they were still hungry after a long day of tourist-visits we took the 30-second canoe journey onto the island and immediately met the locals.

Lemurs are surprisingly heavy but also unexpectedly clean-looking. But mainly greedy. These spoilt island brats (that have all at some point been rescued) have the appetites of 18-year-old boys and are willing to do anything to get that piece of banana that you have to offer.

The afternoon featured many ‘aww’s’ and we canoed across the various islands, each time greeted by a varied range of lemur species (including the iconic ringtail that hopped right on the canoe carrying some itty bitty baby lemurs!).

After seeing the wold lemurs at the national park – lemur island was the cherry on top of a delicious cake of a day. Like all close animal encounters, it is hard not to be suspicious of whether the treatment of this animals is something you should be supporting but don’t worry, the islands are completely humane and all of the lemurs have been rescued from captivity.

The only risk that these lemurs have in their lives is the potential to be spoilt absolutely rotten.

Parc National d’Andasibe-Mantadia, Eastern Madagascar

Vakona Forest Lodge is located in the heart of the Perinet Forest, a few kilometres from the village and on the doorstep of the Andasibe National Park. The lodge is 140 km from the capital, Antananarivo. It is north of the village of Andasibe, 7 km from the Périnet park entrance and about 20 km south of Mantadia National Park.

How to get there

Vakona Forest Lodge is 140km East of Antananarivo by good tarmac road (drive time approximately 3 hours).