The Isalo experience

Extract taken from a recent visitor to Isalo national park

Madagascar’s Isalo National Park, often referred as the Jurassic Park, is arguably the best place to see ring-tailed lemurs and white sifakas dancing and jumping. It is one of the country’s most dramatic and pleasant national parks.

This place should really be called ‘National Isalo Jurassic Park’ since the massive plateau and rocks were from the Jurassic era.

The park itself was very impressive, some say that it was a sort of Malagasy Colorado. The scenery nicely resembled the photography from ‘Bonanza’, the American TV series. It’s been a pleasant recollection from my trip to the USA. It did not however resemble Colorado almost at all but rather Utah. All those people who said it was the Malagasy Colorado must have never been to Utah, where the Zion National Park, Natural Bridges and the Canyonland were amongst the best places I have visited.

Flavors of Madagascar

Our cuisine is an eclectic mixture of European and local Malagasy cuisine which changes as the seasons change. Our breakfasts are hearty and serve as the fuel for the day.

Although animal life is not the park’s most prominent feature, there are a few species to look out for, including:

There are 55 species of birds, including:

Benson's rock thrush
Madagascar little grebe
darter and white-faced duck
Madagascar partridge
Torotoroka scops-owl
white-throated rail
Madagascar coucal
Madagascar wagtail
Madagascar kestrel

There are 55 species of birds, including:

Benson's rock thrush
Madagascar little grebe
darter and white-faced duck
Madagascar partridge
Torotoroka scops-owl
white-throated rail
Madagascar coucal
Madagascar wagtail
Madagascar kestrel

Hidden
Oasis

Then, I also realised that Isalo was not only sand stones from Jurassic era, but also some interesting pools and waterfalls. They were hidden in valleys, smaller canyons and simply behind the rocks. After seeing numerous typical pictures from rocky Isalo, one was usually very surprised to see the extent of vegetation there. Most of the visible species of plants were actually known for growing only in close vicinity of fresh water, an actual scarce resource in this area of Madagascar. On the second half of the first day, I went to see L’Oasis, which was kind of recommended by one of the guide books I was dragging along with me across the entire country.

Fenetre de L'Isalo, a hole in a rock is another attraction of the park, was heavily advertised almost everywhere and this actual place was even signposted, like very few things on Madagascar.

I went to see this hole at sunset. Unfortunately, the sun was not setting yet and it was a bit too harsh for viewing and taking pictures. The surrounding area however was captivating with vastness and tranquility, screaming silence!! As I was waiting for the sun to go down, I actually lied down for good half an hour on the ground under the Fenetre and thought of life, the universe and everything.

Isalo’s reptiles and frogs include:

Oustalet's chameleon
jewel chameleon
spiny-tailed iguanid lizard (oplurus saxicola)
stump-tailed chameleon
brookesia ebenaui
two locally prevalent frogs, the beautifully coloured scaphiophryne gottlebei and the mantidactylus corvus

Safari Highlights in Madagascar

Isalo National Park is a National Park in the Toliara Province of Madagascar. The park is known for its wide variety of terrain, including sandstone formations, deep canyons, palm-lined oases, and grassland. The closest town is Ranohira, and the closest city is Toliara. A local guide is required for visitors entering the park, and guides and porters can be hired in Ranohira. Treks in the park can last from several hours to a week or longer.The main threat to this park comes from illegal wildfires set in the park. The wildfires limit the extent of forest and maximize grasslands used by cattle. Park National de Isalo was established in 1962 and covers 81,540 hectares of wildly eroded sandstone massif. The grassy plains are surrounded by sandstone ridges sculpted into various wild forms, and secluded in the rocks are many Sakalava Tombs. The Canyon des Singes (‘Canyon of Monkeys’) makes for an interesting day walk, and you will have a good chance of seeing sifakas (a common lemur) leaping through the trees. You can also walk along the canyon to the Piscine Naturelle – a hot and thirsty walk but worth it for the breathtaking landscape along the way. The Grotte des Portugais is at the northern end of the park. The cave isn’t worth seeing, but the surrounding Forêt de Sahanafa is beautiful, with natural springs and a lot of lemurs to enjoy.