Manafiafy is a secluded tropical paradise with excellent wildlife viewing and miles of untouched beaches. This is where French colonists first landed in Madagascar in 1638 and life in the local fishing village has stayed very much the same over the centuries.
These beautiful community-managed forests are some of the last remaining stretches of coastal rainforest in southern Madagascar. Manafiafy is also one of the best locations to see humpback whales in the country as they come to breed from June through to November. Bottlenosed dolphins can be spotted playing in the surf from the beach all year-round.
The Sainte-Luce peninsula is the starting point of a mangrove network spanning 40 sq km towards Fort Dauphin, intersected by rivers and lakes, with the jagged peaks of the Anosy mountain range making for a dramatic backdrop. Take a journey weaving through the tangled mangroves spotting crocodiles, ibises and brick-red kingfishers, walk through the forests in search of collared brown, thick-tailed dwarf, woolly and mouse lemurs, or just kick back on idyllic beaches gazing out at breaching humpback whales offshore.
Manafiafy: where to stay
Manafiafy Beach & Rainforest Lodge
: With just 6 bungalows set along a private beach on the edge of the rainforest,
Manafiafy Beach & Rainforest Lodge offers a fabulous mixture of activities (canoeing in the mangroves, forest walks looking for lemurs, birdwatching, snorkelling, fishing, whale watching) and relaxation.
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