Andringitra: the One Place It Snows in Madagascar

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By Jordan Lamont · Last updated 7 October 2026

Ask anyone to picture Madagascar and they will give you beaches, baobabs and lemurs under a hot sun. Almost no one pictures frost. Yet high in the granite massif of Andringitra, in the southern highlands, the temperature can fall below freezing, the grass crisps white with frost, and — on rare mornings — snow dusts the peaks. This is tropical Madagascar’s coldest corner, and one of its greatest and least-expected adventures.

The mountain that touches the sky

Andringitra is crowned by Pic Boby, officially Imarivolanitra — “the mountain that touches the sky.” At 2,658 metres, it is the highest peak in Madagascar that you can actually climb (the island’s absolute summit, Maromokotro, is remote and far harder to reach). From the top, granite domes and barren alpine plains stretch to the horizon, a landscape that feels nothing like the tropical island below.

Where Madagascar gets cold

Altitude does what latitude cannot. On a tropical island, 2,600 metres is high enough for a genuine alpine climate: nights drop below zero, frost coats the grass, bitter winds scour the summit, and occasional snow falls — a phenomenon so rare in Madagascar that it still astonishes. Trekkers who summit at dawn often describe a world of ice and wind utterly unlike the forests they climbed through the day before.

Three worlds in one climb

The trek — usually two to three days — is a journey through climate zones. You start in low-altitude rainforest, climb through montane forest and savanna, and emerge onto cold, open high-altitude grassland. Remarkably, ring-tailed lemurs live here far higher than most people expect, alongside endemic alpine plants found nowhere else — life squeezed into a cold niche on a warm island.

Why it matters today

Andringitra flips every assumption about Madagascar: here the island is a mountain kingdom of frost and granite, not a beach. For hikers it is the island’s premier high-altitude trek, and a reminder of just how varied this one country is. Plan it carefully with our Andringitra guide, choose the season with our best-time guide, and arrange transport with Carla and the rest of our Madagascar travel guide.

FAQ

Does it snow in Madagascar?

Rarely — but the high Andringitra massif is one of the only places cold enough for frost and occasional snow, surprising on a tropical island.

What is Pic Boby?

Pic Boby (Imarivolanitra, “the mountain that touches the sky”) is Madagascar’s highest climbable peak at 2,658 m, the summit of Andringitra.

What is the hike like?

A classic 2–3 day trek through rainforest, savanna and alpine grassland to a cold, windswept summit — some of Madagascar’s finest hiking.

What wildlife is there?

Ring-tailed lemurs live at surprisingly high altitude here, alongside endemic alpine plants adapted to the cold.