Night walks in Madagascar: what comes out after dark

A night walk in Madagascar is a slow, guided walk with torches after dark, at the edge of a forest or on an official park circuit. It's a way to look for nocturnal lemurs: mouse lemurs, the smallest primates in the world, plus sportive lemurs, woolly lemurs and, at one reserve on the east coast, the aye-aye. You may also find chameleons asleep on the twigs, frogs, leaf-tailed geckos and, in the west, with luck, the fossa.

On our trips the walks happen at Andasibe, along the forest edge at Ranomafana, at Ankanin'ny Nofy on the Pangalanes Canal and at Kirindy in the west. The shortest way to try one is our 2-day Andasibe trip, from €320 per adult: private, with your own vehicle and driver-guide, a night walk on the first evening and the indri early the next morning. Nobody can promise you an animal after dark, and we won't either.

Why so much happens after dark

Many forest animals keep hours that a daytime visit misses. Mouse lemurs, dwarf lemurs, fork-marked lemurs, sportive lemurs, woolly lemurs and the aye-aye are nocturnal groups. As a rule the small lemurs work the night shift and the big ones, the indri, the sifakas and the ring-tails, are about by day.

That's why a night walk adds species a day on the trail can't. It also explains the first thing you'll notice: eyes. Most lemurs keep a reflective layer at the back of the eye, the tapetum lucidum, so a mouse lemur high in a tree shows as two bright points in the beam long before you can make out the animal.

Leaf-tailed geckos keep the same hours, and so do many frogs. And the chameleons, which hunt by day, do something useful for anyone with a torch: they sleep out at the tips of the twigs, far easier to find than in daylight.

Everything else in the torchlight

• Chameleons, asleep. Look for them at the ends of twigs and leaves, picked out against the dark. The tiny leaf chameleons, Brookesia, climb onto low twigs to sleep, some only 5 to 10 cm off the ground, so look down as well as up. Our chameleon guide has the species.
• Leaf-tailed geckos. The satanic leaf-tailed gecko of the eastern rainforest is about 9 cm long, with big eyes and a tail shaped like a dead leaf. A guide may spot one that you would walk straight past.
• Frogs. Madagascar National Parks counts 84 amphibian species in Analamazaotra at Andasibe and 101 at Ranomafana.
• Tenrecs. The common tenrec forages at night and hibernates from about May to September, so it turns up more on walks later in the year.
• Owls, spiders and insects. A scops owl may stare back at the torch from a branch. Golden orb-weaver spiders wait in their webs, and moths and leaf-like insects sit on the leaves.
• The giant jumping rat. A burrowing rodent of about 1.2 kg that lives only in a patch of forest some 20 by 40 km north of Morondava, Kirindy included. Our 20-day trip's Kirindy walk looks for it.
• The fossa, with luck. Madagascar's largest native carnivore hunts mostly at night, and Kirindy gives you a better chance to see one than almost anywhere else, though even there you need to be lucky. Our fossa guide has the months to aim for.

Where night walks happen, and what to confirm

Ask for the name of the reserve or circuit when you book. A night walk listed for Andasibe doesn't automatically mean a walk inside Analamazaotra or Mantadia. Community and private reserves around the village, including Mitsinjo, have their own arrangements.

Our Ranomafana itineraries describe a walk along the forest edge. Kirindy is a forest reserve rather than a Madagascar National Parks site, and the Palmarium at Ankanin'ny Nofy is private. Their visiting arrangements are separate from national-park rules.

Madagascar National Parks lists night visits among activities at Masoala and Nosy Mangabe. That establishes that some after-dark visits are possible, but hours, fees and the circuits actually operating need local confirmation. Don't rely on a blanket claim that all parks allow night walks, or that none do.

Keep to the authorised circuit and follow the guide's lighting instructions. Don't feed lemurs or ask for fruit to be put out to attract them. A brief view of an unbaited animal is enough.

Night walks on our trips

• Andasibe, 2 days, from €320. A guided night walk on the first evening, for mouse lemurs, frogs and eyes shining in the dark, then Analamazaotra early next morning for the indri.
• Eastern Madagascar, 10 days, from €1,620. An optional night walk at Andasibe, then at Ankanin'ny Nofy a night walk to look for aye-ayes, mouse lemurs, chameleons and insects.
• Classic South, 11 days, from €1,730. Two: at Andasibe on day 1, and along the forest edge at Ranomafana on day 4.
• West: Baobabs and Tsingy, 5 days, from €810. Kirindy on the first evening, for nocturnal lemurs and, with luck, the fossa.
• West Adventure, 10 days and Ultimate Madagascar, 20 days. Kirindy again, for mouse lemurs, sportive lemurs and possibly the fossa. The 20-day trip lists giant jumping rats, chameleons and owls too, and adds a night walk at Ranomafana near the end.

Park fees and local guides are in the price. For an extra night walk, ask us when you book. Any national-park circuit depends on the park confirming that an authorised visit is operating.

What to bring

• A head torch with a red setting. The IUCN's recommendations for responsible lemur watching say red light won't disturb the lemurs' eyes, and it leaves your hands free. Spare batteries.
• Long sleeves and long trousers, tucked into your socks against mosquitoes and leeches, and insect repellent.
• Closed shoes with grip, because the paths are muddy and uneven.
• A warm layer, and a light rain jacket in the east.
• A camera that focuses close, which beats a long lens for a chameleon on a twig. No flash.
• Your malaria tablets, if your travel clinic recommends them. Our malaria guide explains why.

The full list for the trip is in what to pack for Madagascar.