Eco-Lite: Lemur Island, Vakona Forest Lodge, Madagascar

OVERVIEW

Lemur Island is located on the grounds of the Vakona Forest Lodge.  The lemurs here are tame and will jump all over you, especially if you have bananas.  It’s basically a glorified zoo but in natural foliage setting.  It’s fun to spend an afternoon visit there when it’s too hot to go birding but don’t confuse this with real eco-tourism.  Kids are welcome.

HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

From Andasibe village, keep going north to the Vakona Forest Lodge.  Lemur Island is just near the main gate.  After you buy a ticket, you will be rowed across a small river to the island where you can wander around as you wish.

HOW MUCH IS IT?

Tickets are 15,000 ariary per person.  You can buy them at the reception of the Vakona Forest Lodge and use a credit card (when the machine can get a signal).

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU SPEND THERE AND WHAT SHOULD YOU SEE?

We spent about an hour there.  The lemurs will jump all over your fellow tourists, sometimes with hilarious results.  Staff will give you bananas to feed them.  The lemurs found here include bamboo lemur, the black & white ruffed lemur, brown lemur and diademed sifaka.

VALUE TO CONSERVATION

While not affiliated with any conservation programs, the island does provide a home for some lemurs that were formerly captive as pets and rescued and can’t live in the wild.  You can get excellent photos as the lemurs come right up close.

 

WHERE TO STAY NEARBY ON POINTS

There are no points hotels anywhere in Madagascar.  You can earn airline miles by bookng through Pointshound or Rocketmiles.

PHOTOS

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My husband making friends

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Look at the hands on this close up – 4 fingers and a thumb just like humans!

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Mama and baby

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A few birds we saw on Lemur Island

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Vakona Forest Lodge – Lunch With A View

This is the lunch that almost didn’t happen.  The Vakona Forest Lodge is the only place in Andasibe that accepts credit cards and since my cash reserves were low after paying for the hike in the park and guiding fees, I was keen to use plastic wherever possible.

Vakona Forest Lodge is quite a ways out of town, you can’t walk it so you need transport to stay or visit here.  It is a beautiful drive and you may see birds on the way.  After passing the gate, you still have a km or so to get to the main building.

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I was so nervous about the credit card not working, I insisted they run the card and get an approval code before serving our lunch.  Turns out I had good cause to worry.  It took them forever to get a signal!  The clerk was taking the machine and walking as far up the stairs as possible, then climbing a small hill while I waited below biting my nails.  It was a good 45 minutes before he finally succeeded in getting a signal and charging the card.  Woohoo – we can eat!

Actually, they had already given our order to the chef and the food was prepared before the card was approved.  I don’t know what they would have done if the card hadn’t gone through as we didn’t have enough cash to pay for it and I had asked them not to prepare the food until I was sure it was paid for.  I had also charged a few bottles of water to take with us to get us through until we were back in Tana and could hit up an ATM.  The food was really good.  I can’t remember exactly what we ordered but it was good, we were definitely satisfied customers!

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The dining room has a beautiful view of the small pond and an outdoor terrace so you can watch birds while you eat.  A birding group staying at the hotel came in shortly after us so it was interesting to compare notes.  They had clearly seen a lot more birds than we had so it does pay to have the best possible guide.  Money talks and the large birding companies do have a big advantage over independent birders.  Unfortunately, we will never be in the financial position to join one of those tours so we have to do the best we can.

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My apologies for not taking notes on these birds.  If anyone can help me identify them, please do so in the comments.  It was still fun to just enjoy them while having lunch!

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