Best Time to Visit Madagascar

Geographical location

Madagascar is the second largest island state in the world after Indonesia. The Republic is located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Mozambique.

About 24 million people live on an area of around 365000 square miles. This results in a population density of 37 inhabitants per square kilometre.

The central area of Madagascar is a plateau about 1100 meters high. The highest point is the mountain Moromokotro with a height of 2876 meters.

The coastal zones are covered by rainforests, almost 90 percent of the island is covered by savannahs. Madagascar has an incredibly rich flora and fauna, so there are numerous endemic plant and animal species.

Due to its considerable size and its very independent natural characteristics, some travel guides also refer to Madagascar as the “eighth continent”. In fact, the country was a French colony for over 60 years and gained independence in 1960.

The capital Antananarivo is located in the central east and has an international airport. The fascinating island can be reached from a few major airports such as Paris, Bangkok, Guangzhou (China) and neighbouring Indian Ocean islands.

Climate in Madagascar

Madagascar has a tropical climate, so there are no typical seasons. The climate is mainly determined by the rainy season. The hot and rainy season lasts from November to April, the cooler and drier months from May to October. Madagascar unites four different climate zones on the island:

The east coast is considered tropical and humid, the humid trade winds from the southeast are most noticeable in this region. In the months of October to April there are high precipitation levels of 1500 to 157.48 in, and tropical cyclones can also occur during this period. The temperatures are quite constant at around 28 °C.

The north and west coasts are known for their year-round warm weather, the average temperature here is around 26 °C. Compared to the east coast, it rains considerably less here during the rainy season from November to April. The slipstream through the mountains ensures that considerably less precipitation occurs here. The southwest coast is considered semi-arid with very little rainfall and rather sparse vegetation.

In the central highlands there is a warm and temperate climate. Temperatures here also rise less in summer and can drop to as low as 5 °C at night. This also applies to the capital Antananarivo, which has pleasant daytime temperatures of 20 °C to 25 °C during the dry season. Due to the high altitude it never gets too hot here, the warmest month of November brings an average of 25.8 °C during the day.