Ranomafana National Park — Attraction in Ranomafana

Excellent national park, I've travelled large parts of Madagascar, and this is certainly one of the best rainforest habitats that you will find. I specifically came for the reptile life, and it didn't disappoint. Point of note, you cannot night walk along the main road that bisected the national park without a guide, they have had problems with animal poachers and loggers so you're basically not allowed to wander or poke around on your own. Not the end of the world, but do expect to pay around 35,000MGA (£10) for a guide to accompany you for a 2-3 hr night walk. Worth it, though, as they will be much better at spotting the animals and will know the best spots to check. As others have mentioned, the terrain is steep at points within the park, but there are easier flatter routes as well. The local guides are good spotters and helped us find our target species of chameleons and geckos for photographs, and we saw a few unexpected ones as well. People have mentioned the leeches, while I've found the odd few trying to latch on when walking in other national parks, Ranomafana is definitely the worst I've encountered in Madagascar for leeches, I got covered at times. Wear long loose trousers and tuck shirts in at the waistband, and you'll be fine though, you just have to pause and flick them off your clothing every 20 mins or so. They were more prevalent right down the bottom of the slopes by the streams and river, not many at the top. The river that runs through the park has a wonderful waterfall at the top, and aside from all the amazing animals we saw, it's just a generally wonderful place to go hiking. There's also a bit of history deep within the rainforest with an old holy site, which is like tombstones but not...

A rainforest with no mosquitoes, no venomous snakes, and no poisonous bugs! What a treat!

If you want a good guide, ask for Daho. He is incredibly knowledgeable and a descendant of the local forest tribe. He is very adaptable and willing to take you for a whiter more adventurous hike (definitely something we loved!). He works with a teammate, James, who is an excellent animal spotter. Between the two of them we saw several species of lemurs, tons of birds, and all kinds of interesting bugs and plants. Daho is easy to work with, professional, and super knowledgeable. He can tell you stories about local history as well as western science. He is very well versed.

If Daho is not available, ask for Linda. She has been guiding for a long time and is also a great wealth of information. She was very accommodating and we saw her handle a variety of groups with care.

The park itself was lovely, and we had the good fortune to meet some scientists conducting field work.

The night walk for chameleons is also a very good!

Remember, be a compassionate and respectful visitor. Do NOT feed the wildlife, no matter how cute they are, and bring extra water for the warm hike!

The guide fee is paid at the park entrance and is cash only. There is a parking lot and parking along the road. The entrance has some curiosities for sale and some spices.

You can do a circuit in the park, anything from an hour to a half day to a...

I was really excited about this park, but it turned out to be a disappointment. I booked the 7-hour tour, but we barely walked into the forest. As others have mentioned, it’s just a group of mediocre guides and animal spotters constantly calling each other. You end up standing with dozens of other tourists, all staring at a few unfortunate animals. Check the photos in the reviews to get an idea of how bad it really is.

The so-called “night walk” also felt like a scam. You basically just walk up and down the main road to spot a few poor chameleons—and if you’re lucky, a grey mouse lemur lured in with a banana just to get a 600W LED in his face.

Unfortunately, this park doesn’t come close to the quality of other great national parks you might have visited in other parts of the world and I left feeling disappointed.

The worst part is the drive here. It gives you a real sense of how devastating deforestation in this country has become. Seeing firsthand that 80% of the forest is already gone is heartbreaking. Even right next to the park, there are vast dead zones and areas that have been freshly burned—or are still burning.

It feels like no one cares, and they’ll probably only stop when the last bit of forest is gone....