City: Madagascar
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What to do and see in Madagascar, Madagascar: The Best National Parks
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1. Rainforests of the Atsinanana
2. Masoala National Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 95 reviews
Reviewed By marleensera
During our trip to Madagascar last year, my husband and I visited some of the National Parks. Although it is off-the-beaten-track (or maybe exactly for that reason), we decided to go to Masoala, a patch of primary forest with amazing biodiversity and very few tourists. We contacted Lauriot from Visit Masoala, who organised the tour for us with professionalism and kindness. They have multitude of options (including hikes, etc.) and they all seem to be interesting but due to our schedule, we chose to stay 3 nights in Masoala and 1 night in Nosy Mangabe. It was one of our best experiences in the trip. In Masoala our lodge was just a couple of meters away from a beach that belonged to the lodge. You could listen to the waves from our room, it was mind blowing. We did day excursions and saw lots of animals thanks to our very knowledgeable guide. There was also time for relaxing and to swim and snorkel. Food was delicious. Nosy Mangabe is a tiny island covered by primary forests. The accommodation is very basic (tent) but they provide everything you need, so it is really easy. So, if you want to visit Madagascar, Masoala is one of the must see places and you can contact Lauriot on [email protected] if you need help with the organisation.
3. Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 719 reviews
A true paradise for nature lovers, the Andasibe Mantadia National Park enjoys a rich and incredible flora and fauna. Located in the Rural Municipality of Andasibe, this Protected Area is the most visited in Madagascar because of its proximity to the capital: 135 km for around 3 hours by road.
Reviewed By midway42 - Minnesota, United States
Located east of Antananarivo, it takes about a three-hour drive from Tana (on a paved road…. yes!) to access the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. The area consists principally of primary growth forest and receives a significant amount of rain annually. It is home to a number of Madagascar’s unique, iconic wildlife. I stopped by here with my guide and driver early in the morning during my second full day in the country. After paying the requisite admission fee we were met by the local guide and toured the area for about two hours. The visitor center greets everyone with a brief description of the surrounding ecology and history of the area with English subtitles to boot. After a few minutes here we struck out on the trails, and after passing by a number of unique plants and insects we were face-to-face with a number of lemurs. Brown lemurs abound here and are like squirrels, but the real find was a group of indri which were high in the tree-tops. We observed them for about an hour, hearing the distinctive call and watching them interact. This was followed by a group of sifaka (jumping lemur) that literally took the hat off this reviewer. A trip to one of the internal lakes and a visit to a bamboo grove rounded out the experience with a visit to the small souvenir shop. Overall this was a memorable experience and the perfect introduction to Madagascar’s signature species. The local guide made all the difference here and was in touch with other guides that identified the indri and sifaka; he also exhibited an encyclopedic knowledge of all of the plants, insects, and animals encountered during the tour. The sighting of the Indri was a highlight not only of the visit here but of my entire time on the island; unable to be kept in captivity and critically endangered, their survival is among the most tenuous of the animals in the country. Moreover, there were no more than a dozen tourists in sight while we were in the forest proper. The trails weren’t strenuous by any means but did provide a bit of physical exertion to boot. A recommended visit.
4. Isalo National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 647 reviews
Distinguished by a canyon and beautiful, rolling plains, the Parc National de Isalo is an attractive reserve of Madagascar's land and wildlife.
Reviewed By PeterE5 - Sydney, Australia
I spent 3 days in Isalo National Park and loved it. Although it's rainy season here this area is relatively dry and a good place to go at this time of year. It is difficult to get to sites and trailheads without transport, and the access roads are poor, but I managed to join another traveller with a vehicle, making things much easier. I am sure my experience was made much better by my guide Sandra. Sandra is a local Ranohira woman, has 3 years experience as a guide, has recently completed her tourism degree and speaks excellent English, as well as French and Malagasy. There are over 100 guides for the park, but only 5 females. So just in the interests of advancing women in Madagascar I would recommend hiring a woman, but Sandra was excellent. The guide rates are set at 120,000 ariary for full day, or 80,000 for half day. You can hire a guide at the guides office, across from the National Parks office, or they may approach you first. The Fenetre (Window) of Isalo is a unusual rock formation and great place for sunset - you need a vehicle to get there. My first hike was to the Piscine Naturelle, then we crossed within a wide canyon to Namaza camp site where there were lemurs and many birds, and then up the gorge to Piscine Bleu and Piscine Noire with waterfalls and beautiful natural swimming pools. Beautiful! My second hike was to Canyon des Makis and Canyon de Rates (but no rats!). They are two beautiful gorges. We were the only ones hiking there that day. I thoroughly recommend the Park and these hikes.
5. Parc National de l'Andringitra
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 125 reviews
Reviewed By bendeus44
Travelled in Madagascar for a month, and the Andringitra was absolutely one of the best things I discovered in the country. Stunning landscape, amazing hiking paths and a close connection to nature. In comparison to Ranomafana and Isalo for instance, this never felt like a park to me, which I truly loved. With a limited budget background, I decided to stay 3 days, of which one day truly in the park (45k ariary entrance fee each day you're in). The other days were a walk back and forth from Vohitsaoka to the tiny village of Antambohobe, where I spent the nights with my guide and the local villagers (Vohitsoaka is reachable by taxibrousse from Ambalavao and costs way less than hiring a 4x4 to the alternative 'main entrance' of the park. If you have the money though, very recommendable to take this option as well). The villagers over there were incredibly kind and generous in a very honest and joyful manner, which is unfortunately not so often the case in this country... Anyway, also had an extremely good guide, named Tovo from Marcellin Guide Ambalavao, an officially recognised guide instance. He's a regional guide, but he's working in close connection to the local villager guides in the Andringitra area (taking such a local guide is compulsory once entering the park). He is very well organised and pays 100% attention to you as a visitor, but also to the sustainability of the local community. Really felt like the money I paid for guidance, food, etc. was very thoughtfully used to back the local, still very poor villagers. Don't know about the performance of other guides, but would never want to change guidance anymore going here. Totally up to you personally, but [email protected] if you would be interested. Anyway, in short, what a time!
6. Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 37 reviews
Reviewed By mawe733
This is a small park just by the RN7 15km or so north of Sakaraha. We had stayed in Sakaraha (Hotel Palace, booked via their Facebook page, cheap but really not that great) and made our way here for an early start at 7.30. We had one guide and one tracker who were both very good and we saw various species of sportive lemurs and a family of Verreaux's sifakas who were quite close and happy to be photographed. We also saw a number of very pretty birds, unfortunately I know nothing about birds which this park is said to be particularly good for. We went at the end of August and bugs as mentioned by other reviewers weren't an issue at all for us. We spent about 2.5 hours here, staying a good while taking photographs with each sighting though so you can do it in less time.
7. Black pool
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 64 reviews
Reviewed By Jht38
My group and I trekked for about an hour from a campsite to get here, the walk itself was interesting and made the outcome even more special. There were fewer tourists crowding this particular pool in comparison to the blue pool, making this one slightly more peaceful and refreshing. Perfect for a dive and a swim, make sure to keep an eye of your belongings when in the water. Worth the visit!
8. Il trekking del Camaleonte
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15 reviews
Reviewed By KatrienS955 - Ghent, Belgium
This is a great day hike to do, start early morning to try beat the heat a bit. The walk goes through the sacred forest, where there is a small natural pool, ideal place for picknick. The other way is down (or in our case up) the steeper and bare slope of the mountain. From some angles the top of the rock really look like a chameleon, hence the name. Throughout the hike, which is not too difficult, one has stunning views of the surrounding valley. Once on top you also have great views over the other valley and the Tsaranora mountain, for which there is a complicated legend.
9. Natural pool
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 12 reviews
Reviewed By KF804 - Asheboro, United States
We stopped here to cool off during our trek around Tsaranoro Valley. It was very relaxing to soak our feet and sit in the shade. We watched the local children play in the water before we went for lunch at the Tsarasoa Hotel. Nice!
10. V.O.I.M.M.A. Community Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 52 reviews
Reviewed By Katana107 - Abbotsford, Canada
I really enjoyed my night walk (the forest one ) and my day time walk. On the day walks, we saw brown lemurs and the indri indri up close. We saw a parson's chameleon and several leaf tailed geckos. On the night walk, we saw a small species of chameleon, leaf tailed chameleon, nocturnal lemur (I can't remember the name) and a mouse lemur.
