Safari to Kirindy

the best chance of sighting fossas

Set in the west of Madagascar, the Kirindy Forest is a relatively low key conservation area, but one which has a certain magical draw card.

This is the one location in the country where you are likely to see fossas, thanks largely to the fact that a handful of them have become habituated in the area around a particular research camp.

There’s plenty of other interesting wildlife in these dry deciduous forests, notably including the endangered giant jumping rat.

The Kirindy area is usually visited in combination with the famous tsingy rock formations of the Bemaraha area, the two areas easily making it worth the journey out to this otherwise little-visited region.

Another modest bonus is that the drive in passes right through the famous (and generally over-hyped) Avenue of the Baobabs.

The Kirindy area only features very occasionally in trips, most commonly in relatively hardcore overland expeditions through these western areas.

The usual stay duration is just one night on the way through.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Kirindy is generally considered to be during the long Apr-Nov dry season.

However if you are planning to combine with the Bemaraha area then you should probably focus on the latter part of the dry season, Jun-Nov, when the roads have had plenty of time to dry out and become passable.

During the Dec-Mar rainy season Kirindy remains accessible and the precipitation is not usually too heavy, but temperatures and humidities can climb to uncomfortable levels and there can be very annoying swarms of sweat-bees.

Getting there

The coastal town of Morondava is usually accessed by scheduled flight services from the capital Antananarivo, but can also sometimes be reached by air from Tulear, further south on this same western coastline.

The road journey from Morondava to Kirindy only takes around 90 minutes and passes through the famous Avenue of the Baobabs, where people like to pause to take photos (and take in the many handicraft stalls which have now turned up to take advantage of the opportunity).

If you are combining with the Bemaraha area to the north, then chances are you will break the long drive on the way up and maybe also on the way back with a night in this area.

Where to stay

There are no recommended accommodation options in this area, just two simple camps which are best suited to guests who are happy to rough it for a night or two.

Relais du Kirindy is located closer to the Kirindy Forest area, whilst Camp Amoureux is situated outside the Marofandilia Forest and is actually operated by the conservationists there.

In all honesty the accommodation here is so poor and unreliable that, for some guests, we are unable to include it in trips. This makes visiting Kirindy a little bit awkward. The journey from Morondava to Bemaraha is really too long to sensibly visit Kirindy on the way through. So the only solution is to stay two nights in Morondava and visit Kirindy on a day trip from there. This unfortunately leads to a lot of back and forth along the same road, but for some people that is preferable to sleeping the night out here.

a stop on the arduous road journey to Bemaraha