Andringitra and ascent of Pic d'Imarivolanitra

Hi Rory,
Only a partial response but there are two different areas in the greater Andringitra area (a lot of the hikes go outside the national park proper), Namoly to the east and Morarano to the west. For Pic d'Imarivolanitra (Boby), you're better off staying at the Namoly end where the hike can be done in 2 days, from Morarano (Tsaranoro massif end) it's more like 3-4 days. The roads to both off RN7 are quite bad especially after rain so you might need to hire a 4x4 to get there, the Namoly road is worse than the Morarano one. Camp Catta and Tsara are at the Morarano end and we stayed at Camp Catta where they can arrange guides and equipment for any of the hikes but it is very expensive (78,000 for the hut plus expensive food and drink, there's nowhere else really to go to eat). The website has lots of info: www.campcatta.com including about the Tsaranoro hikes and the one to Pic Boby from there so if you did want to do both then it's a good option, they also have tents which are cheaper than the bungalows. They can organise transfers too. We did the Pic du Chameleon which is only 6 hours but stunning and the 'sacred forest' around the camp is beautiful too. The prices are per guide so you'd save if there's a few of you.
At the Namoly end Tranogasy camp can arrange hikes and also has an informative website in French: www.tranogasy.com. The Bradt guide has quite a lot of info on the area. I don't know anything about Pic Ambondrombe and Pic Ifandana but the camps would be able to advise you.
Hope that's useful! Feel free to PM me if you need more info.

Parisii, Thank you for this very useful information. I'll do some more research and PM you in due course. I have the Bradt Guide but the information was not clear to me from reading it.

Kind Regards Rory

The simplest and cheapest way to Pik Boby (Pic d'Imarivolanitra) is from Andringtra NP entrance. The trip to the top and back takes two days. First day you get to the Park entrance, then climb from the entrance to plateau below the summit nad overnight. On second day you climb Pik early in the morning and return to the Park entrance. Guide is taken at the Park gate.
If you have your own tent, sleeping bag and mat you are most comfortable. If you plan only one hike it's not worth carrying whole eguipment. You can rent a tent from some guides in Ambalavao (I did). Quality of the tent was rather poor, but it was sufficient manly due to dry weather. The sleeping bag is best to have your own. It was quite chilly at night in October. The road to the Park entrance is very bad, but passable by normal car (if you don't care about it :-) We took a driver with 40 or so year old Peugeot. In some places on the road I had a feeling that it was simply impossible to drive, but our driver did it. The trip through park is beautiful. If a guide is competent he can show you some animals you would never noticed yourself. The ascent to the top of the mountain isn't difficult at all for somebody with basic fitness. Views from the path to summit are stunning. I remember view of the plateau - it looked like from "Lord of the Rings". There is a river at the plateau and it is possible to swim in it - quite nice option after whole day of walking.

Marcin, thank you for your helpful and comprehensive advice and sorry I have not responded earlier.