Ankarana Lodge

a convenient base for a fleeting visit to Ankarana

Ankarana Lodge is located in the Ankarana area in the north of Madagascar.

Set about 1 km to the east of the RN7 highway immediately to the east of the Ankarana Massif, this is a relatively simple but pleasant enough place.

It is owned and run by Yorke and Lydia Pareik, who have lived in the Diego Suarez region for decades and who have a prodigious knowledge of the region.

The lodge is centred on a large swimming pool, with a bar alongside The dining room is a separate open-sided structure set a little further through the trees.

To be honest, we’ve heard quite a few complaints about this lodge, so we do recommend that you only include it in your trip if you are ready to be forgiving of any drop in service levels.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Ankarana Lodge is in a total of 12 rooms, four of which are contained within the same building (one of which is a larger family suite), the remaining eight being contained within detached bungalows.

All of the rooms have air-conditioning and fans, but there is only electricity 1900-2200 hrs, which could be a bit of an issue during the hot season.

Activities

Ankarana Lodge provides access to the following activities …

• Ankarana tsingy hike
• Nature walks on the private reserve

The Ankarana area is reasonably close to the popular beaches of Nosy Be, so tends to feature quite frequently in trips, especially as a stop on a private-guided overland safari to Diego Suarez.

The usual stay duration is 1-2 nights.

Seasonality

The best time of year to visit the Anakarana area is generally considered to be during the May-Oct cool dry season.

The May-Oct period represents a cool dry winter season, when daytime temperatures may reach 22C/72F, whilst nighttime temperatures manage to drop to around 14C/57F. The relatively infrequent rainfall tends to come in the form of occasional showers, with the prevailing conditions being hot and sunny.

The Nov-Apr period represents a warm wet summer season, when daytime temperatures may reach 28C/82F, whilst nighttime temperatures struggle to get below 20C/68F, which can be quite uncomfortable in the potentially very high humidities. Rainfall can be extremely heavy and persistent, possibly exceeding 300mm/12″ per month during Jan-Feb.

Getting there

The Ankarana area is usually accessed by road, usually as a stop on the overland journey from Diego Suarez to Nosy Be.

This type of trip typically starts by flying from the capital Antananarivo to Diego Suarez, where you are met by a guide for the 1-2 hour drive to Montagne d’Ambre. After staying here, the road journey continues south to the Ankarana for another 2-3 nights, then on down to the lodges of the Nosy Be area, either along the mainland coast or by motorboat out to the islands. After staying out there for maybe 4-5 nights, you can either fly back to Antananarivo or depart on international flights from Nosy Be.

Where to stay

There’s essentially two choices of accommodation in this area …
If you are on a very fast paced trip and only have one or maybe two nights in this area, then it’s probably best to stay on the eastern side of the tsingy, which provides easy access to the main park gate. Ankarana Lodge would be the obvious choice.

However if you travelling at a more relaxed pace and have three or more nights to spend here, then it is usually best to combine one night at Ankarana Lodge with two or more nights at the excellent Iharana Bush Lodge, which is more remotely located to the southwest and offers a much wider range of activities, notably including a via ferrata and caving.

accessed by road from Nosy Be