Lemur fans around the world will celebrate World Lemur Day on Friday, October 30, 2026.
In southwest Madagascar, Lemur Love is planning something special for local communities in the village of Efoetse near Tsimanampesotse National Park. A celebration titled “Lemurs, Learning, and Local Action: Empowering Youth Through World Lemur Day 2026” will be held in collaboration with Madagascar National Parks, Analasoa Association, Teach for Madagascar volunteers, local schools, teachers, and community leaders.
An Important Sponsorship
This year, Chez Maggie Hotel — Morondava and Remote River Expeditions — Madagascar are generously sponsoring Lemur Love’s World Lemur Festival event in southwest Madagascar. These two travel businesses have been Supporting Business Members of the Lemur Conservation Network since 2024!
By sponsoring World Lemur Festival events in Madagascar this year, Remote River Expeditions — Madagascar and Chez Maggie Hotel generously continue their support in a direct and practical way, making this community-based celebration of lemurs and conservation possible.
About Tsimanampesotse National Park and Efoetse
Tsimanampesotse is a remote and striking part of southwest Madagascar, where dry and spiny forest stretches around a broad salt lake and scattered baobabs rise from the landscape. It is a place of strong light, open space, and distinctive wildlife, including the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) that students will hopefully encounter during the forest visit.
Efoetse is a village on the eastern side of the park in the rural commune of Beheloke in southwestern Madagascar.
A First Encounter with Lemurs for Local Children
For local children, the day is designed as more than a single outing. Contests and team activities give students a shared experience with their schools, teachers, and peers, helping make the event feel public and participatory as well as educational.
For many students, the park visit will be a first opportunity to see ring-tailed lemurs in the wild and to experience the protected landscape for themselves. That direct encounter gives the day a stronger sense of occasion: students are not only hearing about lemurs and conservation, but encountering the habitat where those ideas become real.
That setting is part of what makes the event distinctive. Tsimanampesotse is not just a backdrop but a defining part of the experience, with its dry and spiny forest, broad salt lake, and scattered baobabs creating a landscape unlike most classroom environments. For children from the surrounding area, entering the park as part of a guided World Lemur Day program can turn conservation from a lesson into a direct memory, especially when that visit includes their first sight of ring-tailed lemurs moving through the forest.
Why This Support from Remote River Expeditions and Chez Maggie Hotel Stands Out
At the Lemur Conservation Network, we are deeply grateful to Remote River Expeditions — Madagascar and Chez Maggie Hotel as the Full Sponsors of this event. Their sponsorship is especially notable because both businesses are based in Morondava, located in the middle of Madagascar’s west coast, while the event they chose to support takes place far to the south in Tsimanampesotse National Park. The two locations are both on the west coast, but they are not close, and travel between them takes significant time by road.
There were no World Lemur Festival events in Morondava this year, yet Gary Lemmer of Remote River Expeditions – Madagascar and Chez Maggie Hotel still wanted to support lemur conservation education. So, they chose to back two events in other part of the country!
Their support a meaningful example of tourism businesses giving back to Madagascar’s wider natural heritage.
Learn about Planet Madagascar’s event, which they are also sponsoring!
About Lemur Love
Lemur Love is a US-based non-profit organization working in Madagascar with the mission “Protect lemurs. Empower women. Further science.” Founder and Director Dr. Marni LaFleur started the organization after witnessing deforestation and poaching of wild ring-tailed lemurs in southwestern Madagascar.
Since, 2008, Lemur Love has run long-term field research and monitoring on ring-tailed lemurs in Tsimanampesotse National Park. They also partner with Malagasy women to build scientific and conservation capacity. That long-term connection to the landscape is one reason Lemur Love is such a natural organizer for a World Lemur Day event here.
About the Sponsors
Remote River Expeditions — Madagascar
Remote River Expeditions – Madagascar (RRE) is a small hands-on company based at the Chez Maggie Hotel in Morondava. They have a strong reputation for offering quality services with reliable communications and attention to detail at a reasonable cost.
They take their name from their original 1985 expeditions exploring the rivers of the Great Red Island. Since then, they have become specialists in creating truly unique vacations and learning experiences that cater to all ages, interests with a personalized, ethical, and sustainable approach centered on sharing a genuine love for Madagascar. The company is owned and managed by Gary Lemmer, an American guide and naturalist.
Remote River Expeditions designs and operates tours throughout the island; welcome all requests and cater to all budgets, from luxury charter flight tours to multiactivity programs for budget and economy travelers.
Their river journeys include calm water floats on the Mangoky, Tsiribihina, and Manambolo Rivers. River travel offers the opportunity to experience Madagascar’s wildlife, landscapes, and local communities.
Chez Maggie Hotel — Morondava
The Chez Maggie Hotel is a comfortable retreat in a relaxed garden setting. A small secluded property on the beach of the Mozambique Channel with extensive gardens, swimming pool and wonderous sunsets. Perfect for family vacations and honeymoons. The hotel known for offering a friendly reception and quality service. Chez Maggie is owned and operated by Gary Lemmer and his wife Baholy.
Accommodations include two-story chalets, garden-view rooms and bungalows along with traditional Vezo-style reed bungalows. Most have air conditioning and all have ceiling and floors fans. Each has it’s unique and distinctive flair featuring colorfully tiled bathrooms, hand-picked artwork and most have large sitting areas. Baby crib available upon request. The restaurant offers a varied menu and generous portions.
About Morondava
The town of Morondava is the gateway to the many wonders of Madagascar’s Menbe (western) Region. Highlights of the region include Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Kirindy Forest Reserve and the world famous Avenue of the Baobabs.
With this full service tour operator based at the Chez Maggie Hotel, guests can arrange regional activities, car hire, guide services and fully inclusive tours in the west and throughout Madagascar. Their multi-lingual staff are on hand to offer advice, recommendations, assist with tour arrangements and provide logistical and emergency assistance.
How Travelers Can Help
Travelers can support this approach by choosing tourism businesses that give back to Madagascar’s communities and biodiversity and following responsible wildlife-viewing practices.
Readers can also support future World Lemur Festival events directly through the Lemur Conservation Network. Donations help support World Lemur Festival events and community conservation work in Madagascar. Donate to support World Lemur Festival events, or learn how to fully sponsor a World Lemur Festival event.
View the World Lemur Festival event calendar and learn more about World Lemur Day and the World Lemur Festival.
