Where to go in December?

Hello
I am thinking about visiting Madagascar in December. However, looking at the weather stats, this appears to be the start of the worst rainy season.

Our interests are seeing lemurs and baobabs and then relaxing on the beach for a bit.

Can anyone advise the best locations for a late December visit?

Is Andasibe OK, or will it be a mud bath by then?

For beach would you recommend South West (Tulear), Morondova or Isle Sainte Marie?

Many thanks for your advice.

Hi there,
December is wet saison but you can visit Andasibe then follow the national road 7 to Toliara , the south part of this country is driest area so it's not much rain there and you can see the baobab in Ifaty at Reniala reserve (north of Toliara).
Sainte Marie has a beautiful beach but i want not recommend you there because the east part of Madagascar is wet area .
Good luck!
Anne

Hi,
Yes, that's right, Sainte Marie is very wet at this period as it is located in the Indian Ocean, so travelling in the south is nice option and a visit in Adasibe is also possible. The beach of Ifaty is always sunny even during december. But don't forget to book a few times before.
Steven

Hi,
I recommend you travel by road to Tulear. The scenery is really worth it. Depending on the time that you have available you can break the trip up if you don't long periods in a vehicle. The Ranomafana National Park is well worth a visit. Isalo is magnificent. After Sakaraha you will be able see baobabs on the side of the road. You can put in beach time at Ifaty or Anakao. If you still haven't had your fill of baobabs you can fly to Morondava directly from Tulear.on Fridays.
Cheers,
John

Edited by: ethelfleda

Andasibe-Mantadia is a tropical rainforest park, it can rain at any time of year. To call it a mudbath would be mistaken, though – the trails for visitors are well trodden and generally looked after. As with all rainforest parks, you should make sure your footwear has a sole with a good tread and is a made of a material that doesn’t slip easily on wet stones and tree roots, or for that matter on mud.

You should also, by the way, if it has been raining when you make your visit, not be too squeamish about finding leeches on your person and removing them.

If you go to Andasibe, take the opportunity to visit the Mitsinjo community reserve – their office is close to the National Park office. Especially their night walk is highly recommendable – they are still allowed to actually take you into the forest at night, whereas current restrictions mean that the “night walk” of the National Park involves a walk along the tarmac road shining powerful torches towards the forest in the hope of seeing an animal. Not the guides’ fault, but really not worth the money.

Blanket recommendations not to visit Sainte Marie and the east at this time of year because it’s wet are completely misguided. In point of fact, in recent years, some of the best beach weather in the east has been in the months that the guidebooks call the rainy season, with rain falling mainly at night.

In fact, a much more sensible reason for not choosing Sainte Marie is that you want to see baobabs, which means you’ll be heading south-west or west, so that it doesn’t make much sense to go all the way back to Sainte Marie for your beach holiday.

Morondava is a pleasant town with good beaches, and you’ll be able to visit the iconic Avenue des Baobabs and Kirindy Forest Reserve, but the track to the Tsingy de Bemaraha will be impassable, so on balance I’d probably go with what others have said and choose a beach close to Toliara, taking in – for example – Ranomafana, Isalo and Zombitse on the way down, which all have lemurs.