Lake Alaotra

Alaotra is the largest lake in Madagascar and the centre of the country's rice production, with a broad plain of paddies around it fed by the lake and its marshes. The marshes hold the bandro, the Alaotra gentle lemur, the only primate in the world that lives its whole life in papyrus and reed beds, swimming between stems and eating them; it is critically endangered as the marsh is burned and drained for rice. Community associations run pirogue trips into the reeds at dawn to look for it, which is the main reason outsiders come. Waterbirds are numerous and two endemic species of the lake are probably extinct. The setting is working farmland rather than wilderness, and the tension between rice and marsh is visible everywhere.

What you actually see

• Bandro lemurs - the reed-dwelling lemur found only here.
• Papyrus marshes - the reed beds reached by dugout at dawn.
• The rice plain - Madagascar's largest paddy landscape.
• Waterbirds - herons, ducks and warblers in the reeds.

When to go

April to November for the roads. Dawn trips are the only realistic time to see bandro. The rice cycle changes the look of the plain completely between planting and harvest.

Honest expectations

Pirogue trips start before dawn and are cold and cramped. Bandro sightings are usual but brief and distant. Accommodation in Ambatondrazaka is basic. The road from the capital is long and rough. This is a place for a specific interest rather than general sightseeing.

Nearby

Ambatondrazaka is the base town; Andasibe lies south.