Only in Africa

The haunting call of Madagascar’s buggy-eyed indri, the largest lemur in this East African island country, echoes across the lush canopy of the 810-hectare Andasibe National Park.

The siren-like sound of the yellow-eyed, bear-faced primate can be heard for up to three kilometres, and you don’t have to wait long for a response from a sibling or playmate before the child-sized creatures tumble together on the forest floor – they are, after all, a highly social species.

For those who love wildlife, few experiences will match watching a limber lemur leap from tree to tree – all the while knowing it is found nowhere else on Earth.

Travel here with Abercrombie & Kent and you’re likely to spot some of the other 11 species of lemur as you wander through the rainforest: bamboo lemur, common brown lemur, diademed sifaka and black and white ruffed lemur, to name but a few.

The forest is also home to satanic leaf-tailed geckos and five chameleon species; while the lemur’s loud call often competes with the croaking and chirping of frogs.

Twitchers can gaze skyward beyond the canopy for the velvet asity, blue coua and nuthatch vanga.

Head further south and you’ll be able to walk among the ancestral tombs of the Antandroy tribe, meeting the local tribespeople who live in the arid, spiny desert peppered with 500-yearold baobabs, where lemurs are never far behind.

Here, among these ancient trees, sip sundowners before you retire to spacious tents with four-poster beds on the banks of Mandrare River and fall into a blissful sleep – waking only to the call of the lemur. abercrombiekent.com.au 01 A leaping lemur is an incredible sight to see 02 The ancient baobabs you’ll see across the country 03 It’s wildlife writ large here 01 - 03 © Dale Morris.

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