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Madagascar & Uganda 2026

Other Travel Trips

Madagascar

Go in mid winter, over the full moon to help nocturnal observations.

Hub Antananarivo Capital city High 70F low 50F, 10F higher at the east coast, 15F higher in arid south west.

In Antananarivo, Wed June 24. Tana ORTANA guided tour

Anbohimanga - World heritage site. 21 km north original Rova

Haute Ville - historic quarter

Rova (palace) of Merina kings

Basses Ville - Analakely Market

Madagascar - Andisabe Eastern lemurs, Mandare River for Southern lemurs

Rwanda - Kigale break

Uganda - Gorillas, QE NP, Chimps, Shoebill Stork

Andisabe in East -

Large NP with rain forest lemurs ; Indri, Common Brown Lemurs, Grey Bamboo Lemurs, Black and White Ruffed Lemurs, Diademed Sifaka, Red Belled Lemurs.

Nocturnal; aye-aye, Mouse Lemur, Fat Tailed Dwarf Lemur, Wooly Lemur.

4hr drive using Mada Rent a Car that includes driver $65 a day.

http://madarentcar.com/

Stay at Mantadia Lodge.

You don't need to book in advance, as guides are available at each park for your visits.
For your information, the parks only accept payment in Ariary cash (park entrance fees and guide fees for excursions).

Guides required and supplied at the park entrances - around $10-20 a day.

On average, you pay an entrance fee of 45.000 - 65.000 ariary/day/person, which is around €10 - €15. Guiding fees are regulated by the National Park Authorities. The fee depends on the number of hours spent in the park. Usually, it is around €15 for half a day up to €33 for a full day, for a group of up to four people. Porter fees are usually around €12. Enquire at the park gate. Tipping is polite and very much appreciated.

https://www.roadtripafrica.com/madagascar/practical-info/national-parks

Early morning - Parc Villageous. Indri Lemur, aye-aye.

9-12 - Parc National Analamazaotra. Circuit Indri2 2 hrs All other Andisabe lemurs

7-9 - nocturnal Parc Mitisinjo

Day 2 Mantadia NP , Take a guide from Analamazaotra. Circuit Rianasoa, Sacred Waterfall, Tsakoka Circuit 3hrs.

Nocturnal at Villageous NP.

Need $110 for guides -+tips and entrance

Need $50 tip for driver

Temperature low 60 high 80 in June - coolest time of year.

Reserve de Torotorofotsy - Birding in Andisabe

Mandrare River Camp in Ifotaka,

Small private reserve, with guides, close to local desert spiny forest reserve. Ring Tailed lemurs, Verreaux’s Sifaka, owls, Coua (cookoo), mouse lemur at night.

The easist way to get to Mandrare River Camp is on our schedule charter flights which operate twice a week between Antananarivo and Mandrare River Camp. The flights are direct to Ifotaka Airstrip which is approximately 5 minutes from Mandrare River Camp. The Schedule Charter flights operate on Mondays and Fridays between the end of May and beginning of November. The flights arrive back in Antananarivo by 13:30 which allows a reliable connection to the many international departure flights.

https://www.madaclassic.com/home

Madagascar Travel and Tours - https://madagascartravelandtours.com/

Uganda

Temperatures in July high 70F low 50F.

Mission Africa 5 day Uganda Wildlife Safari $3700 pp

Mission Africa Safaris seems to be focused on gorilla tours for the elderly. Arrive from Kigali Rwanda instead of Entebbe in Uganda. The driving time and distance from Kigali to Bwindi impenetrable forest is shorter. Driving from Entebbe to Bwindi can take 8 hours or more. From Kigali, it takes only 3 hours to reach Bwindi forest.

1) Kigali city tour then to Bwindi

2) Bwindi Impenetrable Forest - Gorillas - short hike for oldies. In pm Pigmies

3)To Queen Elizabeth NP - Ishta sector. Game drive in evening - Aardvark target.

4) Game drive (Modify to Kyambura gorge for primates) and boat ride Kazinga Channel in am , pm to Kibali

5) Chimps in am, pm to Entebbe

Entebbe - Boat trip to boat tour to see Shoebill Stork. - mabambatours.com $180 pp

Alternates

Golden Monkeys in Virunga NP.

https://www.silverbackgorillatours.com/gorilla/gorilla-trekking-for-the-elderly-old-and-disabled

Madagascar history

The general conclusion of this study is that Southeast Asian maritime powers built, owned, and operated ocean-going ships of respectable size as early as the first few centuries of the first millennium A.D. Trade in the Indian Ocean at the time of first colonization of Madagascar was dominated by Indonesian ships, probably of Borobudur ship (large outrigger) and K'un-lun po types.[4][5] Over two thousand years, the island has received waves of settlers of diverse origins, primarily Austronesian (Indonesian) and Bantu.[6] Centuries of intermarriages between both groups created the Malagasy people, who are roughly an equal mixture of both groups. They speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language with Bantu, French and Arabic influences.

Madagascar wildlife

Lemurs are primates found only on the African island of Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands. However, chromosomal and molecular evidence suggest that lemurs are more closely related to each other than to other strepsirrhine primates. Strepsirrhini is a suborder of primates that includes the lemuriform primates, which consist of the lemurs of Madagascar, galagos ("bushbabies") and pottos from Africa, and the lorises from India and southeast Asia. For this to have happened, it is thought that a very small ancestral population came to Madagascar via a single rafting event between 50 and 80 million years ago.[

Lemurs are wet-nosed primates of around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Most existing lemurs are small, have a pointed snout, large eyes, and a long tail. They chiefly live in trees and are active at night. Lemurs share resemblance with other primates, but evolved independently from monkeys and apes. Due to Madagascar's highly seasonal climate, lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivaling that of any other primate group. Living lemurs range in weight from the 30-gram (1.1 oz) mouse lemur to the 9-kilogram (20 lb) indri.

Ring tailed lemurs are limited to the south of the island. Indrids dominate in the tropical east.

The indri also called the babakoto,[8] is one of the largest living lemurs, with a head-body length of about 64–72 cm (25–28+1⁄2 in) and a weight of between 6 and 9.5 kg (13 and 21 lb). It has a black and white coat and maintains an upright posture when climbing or clinging. It is monogamous and lives in small family groups, moving through the canopy, and is herbivorous, feeding mainly on leaves but also seeds, fruits, and flowers. The groups are quite vocal, communicating with other groups by singing, roaring and other vocalisations. Besides humans, it is the only mammal found that can use rhythm.

Sifakas are medium-sized indriids with a head and body length of 40 to 55 cm (16 to 22 in) and a weight of 3 to 6 kg (6.6 to 13.2 lb). Their tail is just as long as their body, which differentiates them from the Indri. Their fur is long and silky, with coloration varying by species from yellowish-white to blackish-brown. Their round, hairless face is always black. As with all lemurs, the sifaka has special adaptations for grooming, including a toilet-claw on its second toe and a toothcomb. They are medium- to large-sized lemurs, with only four teeth in the toothcomb instead of the usual six.

Sifakas move by vertical clinging and leaping, meaning they maintain an upright position leaping from tree trunk to tree trunk and moving along branches. They are skillful climbers and powerful jumpers, able to make leaps up to 10 m (32.8 ft) from one tree to the next. On the ground, they move like all indrids, with bipedal, sideways hopping movements of the hind legs, holding their fore limbs up for balance, Verreaux’s Sifaka are particularly famous example. Sifakas are diurnal and arboreal. Sifakas are herbivores, eating leaves, flowers, and fruits. When not searching for food, they spend a good part of the day sunbathing, stretched on the branches. Sifakas live in larger groups than the other indrids (up to 13 animals). They have a firm territory, which they mark with scent glands. Edges of different sifaka territories can overlap. Though they defend their territory from invasion by others of their species, they may peacefully co-exist with other lemur species such as the red-bellied lemur and the common brown lemur.

The fossa is a slender, long-tailed, cat-like mammal that is endemic to Madagascar. It is a member of the carnivoran family Eupleridae.

The fossa is the largest mammalian carnivore on Madagascar and has been compared to a small cougar, as it has convergently evolved many cat-like features. Adults have a head-body length of 70–80 cm (28–31 in) and weigh between 5.5 and 8.6 kg (12 and 19 lb), with the males larger than the females. It has semi-retractable claws (meaning it can extend but not retract its claws fully) and flexible ankles that allow it to climb up and down trees head-first, and also support jumping from tree to tree.

Primarily hard old Metamorphic rock hence its survival as an island.

East Africa History

The African Great Lakes kingdoms refers to the numerous historic kingdoms in the African Great Lakes region extending from Lake Victoria south along the Great Rift Valley to Victoria Falls. These polities existed sometime between the eleventh and nineteenth centuries as independent kingdoms, and had similar and yet sometimes distinct cultures, values and traditions. The Great Lakes kingdoms were found in Southeast Africa and some parts of Central Africa, in what is present-day northwest Tanzania, south Uganda, some parts of Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Congo.

Primarily Bantu peoples in a very fertile valley supporting pastoral lifestyle. Evidence of Iron smelting to form steel from 2000 years ago, well before Europe. Bantu languages derive from the Proto-Bantu reconstructed language, estimated to have been spoken about 4,000 to 3,000 years ago in the area of modern-day Cameroon. They were supposedly spread across Central, East and Southern Africa in the so-called Bantu expansion, comparatively rapid dissemination taking roughly two millennia and dozens of human generations during the 1st millennium BCE and the 1st millennium CE.

East Africa Wildlife

UGANDA

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for Gorillas It is important to note that among the gorilla trekking national parks, Bwindi is the most ideal for the elderly. Why? Because it is situated in less mountainous areas. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is not part of the Virunga ranges of mountains like the other three national parks. It sits on lower altitude and the trails are relatively flat compared to Mgahinga and the Volcanoes National Park.

The best time of the year when you should go for gorilla trekking in Uganda is June, July, August and September. If that is not possible, January and February should be relatively okay.

Queen Elizabeth NP - Tree camping lions as well as the usual savannah wildlife. Unusual primates include; black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, red tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, mona monkeys, bush babies and the grey checked mangabeys. Most especially in Kyambura gorge in dry season June to July. Located on Kyambura escarpment near Kyambura trading centre in Queen Elizabeth national Park, the over 16 kilometer long Kyambura Gorge is part of the Western Rift Valley in Uganda the sprawling savannah continues as before.

Kibale National Park has easy access to chimp families. There are 13 species of primates in Kibale National Park. The park protects several well-studied habituated communities of common chimpanzee, as well as several species of Central African monkey including the Uganda mangabey (Lophocebus ugandae), the Ugandan red colobus (Procolobus tephrosceles) and the L'Hoest's monkey. Other primates that are found in the park include the black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) and the blue monkey. The footage of the so-called Ngogo chimps, which live in a remote region of Uganda's comes from an upcoming Netflix documentary series Chimp Empire. It premieres on April 19, 2023.

GABON

Lope National Park Gabon is one of the only parks in Africa where you can see the Mandrills. No other park in Central Africa is considered more vital for primates than Lopé National Park, the oldest and one of the most astounding biospheres on the African continent. Lope National Park Gabon is home to over 1400 endangered mandrills as well as 420 bird species, the national park is equally a stronghold for western gorillas, sun-tailed guenon, black colobus,

RWANDA

Nyungwe Forest NP - very diverse inc. chimps and colobus monkey, accessible forest 5 hrs from Kigali. contains Mt Karonje.

Volcanoes NP for mountain gorillas and golden monkeys.

TANZANIA

Gombe Stream National Park - Jane Goodall chimps

Great rift Valley

The western mountainous side of the central rift Valley is in the Congo. On the East, there is Rwanda in the South and Uganda in the North. Lake Victoria sits to the East of the fault. In the Valley there are a series of ribbon lakes, notably Lake Tanganika. The Gorillas live in the mountains either side of the fault, most notably in the Volcanoes NP at the border between Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. Queen Elizabeth NP is on the edge of Lake Edward.