Mantadia National Park lies about 18 kilometres north of Andasibe village, requiring a vehicle to reach. It is wilder, less visited, and more demanding than Analamazoatra — the terrain is steeper, the trails rougher, and the wildlife more elusive, but the experience is correspondingly more immersive. The forest feels genuinely remote even though the capital is only three hours away.
The diademed sifaka is one of the key draws: a spectacular lemur with a tawny orange body and a striking white-and-yellow face, seen in Mantadia more reliably than almost anywhere else. The park also harbours the aye-aye, Madagascar's most bizarre lemur — a nocturnal creature with enormous ears, a skeletal elongated middle finger for extracting grubs from bark, and eyes that glow orange in torchlight. Sightings are not guaranteed, but the search makes for an extraordinary night walk. Bring good rain gear regardless of season.