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Write a User ReviewA Little-Known Gem Hiding a Sacred Lake and Canyon
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aren’t allowed inside, it’s worth having a look through the fence and the guides will happily tell you about the program and its success in saving this species from extinction.
Madagascar’s Last Dry Deciduous Forest
But it’s the birds and the hiking that really make this park stand out for me. At last count, 129 species, nearly half of all species found in Madagascar, have been seen within the park’s boundaries. I heard the sickle-billed vanga
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before I saw it, while the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle also inhabits these parts. And eight short hiking routes take you within reach of the park’s exceptional scenery, with forests, a canyon and lemurs in the west and baobab-fringed lakes in the north.Forest of Rarities
One of my favourite national parks in Madagascar is the 1,350km2 Ankarafantsika, whose diverse flora comprises more than 850 largely endemic plant species. We hiked the Circuit Grande Boucle, which follows an extensive patch of dry deciduous forest before emerging on a grassy plateau above the spectacular Ankarokaroka Canyon, a lovely river-carved gorge whose angular sandstone pillars and fields of crystalline fairy chimneys glow golden-red in the early morning and late afternoon light. We had great views of the lovely Coquerel's sifaka and brown lemur en route, but dipped out on seeing the localised mongoose lemur, a ferret-faced partially nocturnal frugivore listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Bird-wise, the main draws are the localised Van Dam’s vanga, Schlegel’s asity and white-breasted mesite. I would strongly recommend a boat trip on the sacred Lake Ravelobe, which is a good place to look for the endemic Madagascar fish-eagle and Humblot's heron.