Next door
Lokobe, the forest beside the lodge
One of the last primary forests on Nosy Be begins at the lodge.
The reserve
A national park next door
Lokobe is a national park of 862 hectares on Nosy Be. It protects one of the last remnants of the Sambirano rainforest, the lowland forest of north-west Madagascar, and a strip of sea in front of it: coral reef, seagrass and a little mangrove.
It is run by Madagascar National Parks together with the villages around it, whose people take part in looking after it.
Twelve small rivers run through the forest and bring clean water to the villages around it. The lodge’s own spring water comes from the reserve.
Photographs from Lokobe on this page: the shore by Marcello Iasoni; the panther chameleon at the top by Diego Delso. CC BY-SA 4.0.
What lives there
Lemurs, chameleons and 48 kinds of bird
The best known is the black lemur. Only the males are black; the females are a russet brown.
Two smaller lemurs are named after the island: the Nosy Be sportive lemur and the Nosy Be mouse lemur. Both are threatened, and both come out at night.
Among the reptiles are the panther chameleon and the minute leaf chameleon, one of the smallest chameleons in the world. The park counts 54 kinds of reptile, 18 of amphibian, 48 of bird, among them the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle, and 363 of plant, 221 of them found only in Madagascar.
From the lodge
Three ways to see it
By day
About 5 hours. You leave the lodge at 9 am by boat or traditional pirogue and spend an hour and a half in the forest with a guide and a tracker, then have lunch in the fishing village of Ambalaouka before coming back. Included: the boat, the guide and tracker, entrance fees and lunch.
Through the villages
About 6 to 7 hours, between the forest and the villages from Ambalonko to Ampasipoye, with a traditional lunch and the way back by sea. Included: the pirogue, the guide, entrance fees, lunch and a soft drink.
At night
About 2 to 3 hours, leaving in the late afternoon with a local guide to look for the forest’s night life: lemurs, chameleons and more. Bring closed shoes, light long sleeves, mosquito repellent and a head torch. Booked in advance, depending on night access to the reserve and the weather.
Excursions are booked through us and priced separately.
Booking
Tell us your dates
Write with your dates and how many of you there are, and Marylin will reply with the price and the dates still available.