The very strange but un-deniably cute Aye-Aye Lemur.

Northern Parks: Nosy Mangabe

Nosy Mangabe is a small island reserve located in Antongil Bay about 2 km offshore from the town of Maroantsetra in eastern Madagascar. 520ha in size, it is accessible by small boat and is part of the larger Masoala National Park complex.

Despite this island's remote natural beauty, you can still find traces of its former human inhabitants: the graves of an Antimaroa family are located deep in the forest, and rocks where Dutch sailors scratched out engravings in the XVIIth century can be discovered along the coast.

Four lemur species (black and white lemur, brown lemur, aye aye, microcèbe), two of which are nocturnal, also can be found on Nosy Mangabe. This is one of the places where you can find the Uroplatus, a well camouflaged and otherworldly looking lizard. Nosy Mangabe also shelters the world's smallest chameleon, the tiny Brookesia, as well as other rare species like the Aye-Aye. In fact, this forested island is thought by many to be the best place to observe the Aye-Aye, thought by many to be Madagascar's strangest lemur.

With its golden sand beaches from whose shores you can see humpback whales swimming in the bay, and its emerald green forests where lemurs fling themselves through the canopy, Nosy Mangabe is a rare delight.