Introduction:
In December 2025, we embarked on an adventure through Northern Madagascar. We covered islands, scuba, nature reserves, beaches and of course some relaxing. Below is our itinerary:
Day 1: 3 hour flight, night in Hell-ville on Nosy Be island
Day 2-5: Ramena beach in the North, with excursions
Day 6-7: Ankarana reserve
Day 7-12: Nosy Sakatia Island
Day 13-14: Nosy Be Island
Day 1: Travel day to Nosy Be 14/12/2025
Isn’t it funny how the things that you worry most about, are never the problems that come to be. Admittedly I felt a little nervous coming to Madagascar, knowing the itinerary I’d chosen wasn’t the simplest, and expecting that Madagascar would be rather “third world” and the language a challenge. But our adventure (read problems) started long before we were even on the plane…
We arrived at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg decently early, but the queues for Airlink’s regional check in were long! It was, after all, the first weekend that most South Africans take leave in December… We finally reached the check in counter and the agent asked Werner if he had another passport, he said no, confused. It turned out Madagascar expected at least six month’s validity on a passport, and his was expiring before then. Of course he did have another passport, but at home!
The agent tried to call to confirm if they’d let him in but the answer was no. So in a near panic we made another plan - the bags were checked in under my name, while Werner hurriedly grabbed an uber home to collect his German passport. It was going to be tight, it was just over an hour to boarding, but I believed we had a chance. I went through security and passport control myself - I have never seen the airport so busy. It was chaos and many others were pushing in front of me.
After I spent 40 minutes in queues, Werner finally (with much apologising and pushing ahead) reached passport control, and he was able to join me near the front of the queue. From here we literally ran to the gate, but made it, and may not even have been the last ones at boarding! We actually couldn’t believe we made it, but we did!
Safely on the plane, we were finally able to relax and start our journey. 3:30 later we landed on the beautiful lush island of Nosy Be, Madagascar. A long queue formed to enter the small airport and we found ourselves standing in the hot sun on the tarmac, and already sweating in the humidity.
Strangely, as we entered the airport, a guy was standing with Werner’s name. Initially we thought he was our driver, but it turned out he was from the police, they were aware of the passport situation and had made provisions. From here we got a strange, almost premium service, he took us straight to the front of the queue, no queuing for visas needed, and then took Werner into a back office for visas (10 EUR for me, 20 EUR for Werner) while I collected the bags. He wouldn’t give our passports back until he was sure we were leaving the airport, but we found our driver, drew cash and soon were driving in a speeding minivan, windows wide open, towards the town of Hell-ville! It turned out we didn’t need the German passport after all… but the peace of mind it bought was priceless!
The scenery on the way was incredibly green and lush and the driver pointed out ylang ylang, so pretty and fragrant. We reached the town of Hell-ville and it was ramshackle and busy like any African town… it is apparently named after Admiral de Hell from Reunion island, not because it is hellish ;) The driver turned up a dirt road and we wondered what sort of accommodation awaited us (admittedly it was inexpensive, so I was nervous but it was our only option near the port). However the “Bungalows D’Ambonara” was rather nice - it felt like an oasis in a chaotic town, and we were welcomed by a friendly lady that spoke SOME English. Our bungalow was basic but it had a number a beds, all with mozzie nets and fans at least. And a nice “patio” to relax on.
We decided to spend the afternoon chilling, had a swim in the pool and drank our first ice cold THB (Three Horses beer - a pilsner). Sitting by the pool, we admired the stunning tropical garden that surrounded us - coconut palms, cacao trees, hibiscus, tons of flowers, bumblebees, sunbirds and geckos. It wasn’t fancy at all but it still felt like holiday.
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and reading in our bungalow and experienced our first Malagasy thunderstorm.
We ate at the accommodation since it seemed most restaurants were closed on a Sunday. It was nicely decorated and they played a mix of local and international music. But we were the only ones, sadly. We were glad we ate there. We had “carpaccio de poisson” for starters, basically raw white fish with lemon dressing. And then we tried some local specialities: mine was ravitoto with coconut - made of ground cassava leaves and meat and served with rice. I really liked it. Werner ordered romazava - a soup like dish with local greens, zebu beef, and ginger, also served with the staple of rice. It was really flavourful and the greens caused your mouth to tingle, which I found weird! We finished with chocolate fondant, yum!
We hit the sack early, knowing our driver would be picking us up at 5:30 the next morning.
The stillness of night was abruptly broken with loud knocking on a door. We woke with a start, immediately fearing we had overslept and this was our wake up call. On consulting our watches it turned out to be 3:30am and it was our neighbours who were getting the wake up call. Eventually the commotion died down and it seemed like we could manage a bit more sleep. As the saying goes, if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans. At 4am the call to prayer rang out, seemingly from right outside our room, apparently we had been sleeping next to a mosque. The prayers became ever more fervent and went on for a good half an hour. We slipped into a shallow sleep punctuated with strange dreams before our alarm finally put us out of our misery at 5am. We dressed, brewed an instant coffee, gathered our belongings.
Stepping outside our bungalow into the cool dawn, we lugged the bags to the parking area outside and met our driver Romeo. Soon we were on our way, Hell-ville was already awake and busy, yellow rickshaws zooming along the road, along with pedestrians, goats and carts pulled by humped zebu cows. The graveyard was at least peaceful, the whitewashed tombs and gravestones graced with a covering of a verdant green creeper. The town had a lot of character, a typical Indian Ocean town, a melting pot of cultural influences. Women in beautiful sarongs queued for fresh bread outside a bakery. We stopped at the ATM at a modern bank and drew some money, instantly Ariary millionaires. We enquired of Romeo if he could help us buy ferry tickets, he asked us (in French) if we wanted 'special' or 'collectif' tickets, we were stumped. Eventually we assumed it must be the class of ticket, but Romeo was of no further help.
A short drive later we glimpsed the ocean and the port came into view, this was the end of our peaceful interlude. Immediately touts swarmed us, one chap climbed into the passenger seat and greeted us. Romeo came to a stop and more touts closed in, some actually spoke good English. We were offered a variety of options, one chap professed to be a skipper with his own speed boat, only 20,000 Ariary each. Another offered 400,000, at some point one opened my door. They urged us to hand over our passports and cash, naturally we balked. Regrouping, I took the passports and 20,000 Ariary and the touts guided me to a ticket office while Nicki stayed in the car. I managed to get the lady in the ticket office to show me the ticket which was 11,000 Ariary. I snapped a pic on my phone and showed Nicki, we agreed this seemed to be what we should buy. The moment I paid for the tickets at the office the touts vanished like cockroaches when the light turns on. Romeo drove us inside the port, we alighted and transferred to the ferry. Surveying the ferry I had a sobering moment that this could be a death-trap should the ship not be seaworthy, and then boarded anyway. One of the crew stowed our bags and we made our way up to the rear deck to join a handful of local passengers. We laid hold of the available life jackets. We took in our surroundings now that things were calmer. We could see dhows and outrigger canoes sailing the calm waters around the islands. The sun shone brightly, it was a fine morning.
More passengers boarded and around 6:30 the ferry was finally full enough to leave the port, it slowly made its way to Ankify on the main island of Madagascar. We passed Nosy Komba and spotted a number of small resorts. Then we spotted Nosy Tanikely known as a good diving spot. And we were surrounded by boats and dhows. We each ate a snack bar to keep up our energy as we hadn't had breakfast. The ferry was very slow and we eventually got to Ankify around 8:00. We made our way off the ferry and into the port which was a hive of activity.
Some time passed and we came upon a long queue of trucks. We assumed it was a border or check point of some sorts. Many of the truck drivers were sitting under their trucks, cooking food, it seems they were settling in for a long wait. People were lugging bags of food like potatoes along the line of trucks. Eric pulled off the road and parked, simply saying 'baggage'. Bags on backs we hiked along the line of trucks through mud and mire until we reached a river and then it made it sense, the Ifasy bridge was no more. We boarded a small boat which took us over the river. Still following Eric we walked a short distance up the river banks, with young guys carrying large bags of coal pushing past us, and met up with another driver and a tourist. We swapped drivers and went on our way, the new driver’s name was something like Blanco. We set off immediately, re-joining the road past a long queue of trucks.
The rest of the journey was largely uneventful and the roads a lot better. The driver would speed between towns and have to slow down for pedestrians, bicycles, tuk-tuks, carts, livestock etc. We dozed off intermittently, catching up on sleep lost the previous night. On the roadside we frequently saw mango trees laden with fruit. Nicki made a video of a large herd of zebu as I slept. As we headed north the landscape became more dry and the vegetation more sparse. There were many workers improving or maintaining the roads, much of the roads seemed new and lines recently or not yet painted. The improved roads definitely made our journey faster and smoother. We passed a sign indicating Tsingy Rouge. Another hour passed and we rolled into Diégo Suárez (Antsiranana) as it started to rain. From there we headed east along the coast and finally reached our destination the Lakana Hotel in Ramena beach around 13:00. We paid the driver Euro 190 and a tip before heading into the lodge.
We checked in and ordered some lunch right away as we were proper hungry. While lunch was being prepared we settled into our cosy bungalow overlooking the pool. Lunch was duck liver pate, grilled chicken and pomme frites, washed down with a witbier & too sweet bubble gum flavoured drink. We booked some tours for the coming days, the emerald sea and the amber mountain.
We decided to try out a nearby beach restaurant "Le ch’ti Pres". We struggled down to the beach slipping about with only our torches for light. Crabs dashed into their holes as we approached. A short walk along the beach we found the restaurant which was deserted except for two other patrons and the bar staff. This was an exclusively French speaking establishment, we managed to get a menu and went about translating it. We settled on vanilla Rhum Arrange to drink, which is a local drink found everywhere, usually made with home made rum infused in large glass jars with either vanilla, mango, lichi or some other tropical flavourant. We ate parrotfish with 3 pepper sauce plus Carangue fish with white wine sauce and finished with a Nutella banana crepe. The food was excellent.
Day 3: Mer D’Emeraud (Emerald Sea) 16/12/2025
We had a fantastic sleep and woke up just before 7:00, the sun was shining and we knew we had a beautiful day ahead. We tried the American breakfast which consisted of crepes, jam, tropical fruit salad, two fried eggs and toasted baguettes. The coffee was strong and good.
Our boatman Davide walked up into the hotel at 8:30 and found us, and we followed him to a green dhow called Nicolas. I liked the way it was freshly painted bright blue on the inside. Davide had told me, in French that we were picking up four more tourists (turned out to be five) and that was the end of our conversations, the language barrier a challenge…
We stopped further down the beach to pick up the other five, two older French gents accompanied by their two local “girlfriends”, and one more guy who looked like a local and seemed to be looking after one of the French guys, couldn’t quite figure it out and none of us made any effort at conversation…
We headed off into the sunshine, first with the help of the motor but soon the sail went up, and a decent wind carried us easily. We passed the end of Ramena beach, marked by a pier and abandoned hospital, followed by a fort and lighthouse. There were some large swells and we even got splashed as we sat near the front of the boat, no worries it just cooled us down. As we headed more towards the open sea through a gap, it became very shallow, and at one point a few crew got out to push, but we made it.
The Mer D’Emeraud is created by a ring of islands/reefs that form to the west of the northern tip of Madagascar. We travelled quite far through it and then stopped briefly for one of the crew to hop off the boat with his snorkelling gear and speargun. Then we headed to an island with a perfect white sand beach. It had some basic bamboo huts where we could rest in the shade while the crew prepared lunch, and there was only one other group on the island.
We dropped our stuff and headed out for some swimming and snorkelling. We swam/snorkelled almost a kilometre but didn’t really find great corals, but still saw lots of colourful fish like parrotfish, trigger fish, angel and butterfly fish, small Tobie’s and clownfish. We swam as far as a small coral island and snorkelled close to it. The highlight was actually the gorgeous seabirds flying over us - white with a yellow bill, patches of black on the wings, and a long white tail. I later found out they were white tailed tropicbirds.
Then we headed back to relax and take beautiful photos of the tranquil island, with its powdery sand, aquamarine waters and cyan skies, punctuated with puffy and streaky clouds. The boat lady showed us her souvenirs and we were happy to buy a small magnet and a wooden bracelet.
After lunch we were asked to pay 10,000 Ariary (about $2) per person for entrance to the island and then Werner and I took our towels, found a shady spot on the sand under a pine tree, and had a little nap. Too soon the crew were packing up to leave, we didn’t mind as we knew there was a tendency towards afternoon thunderstorms in this part of Madagascar.
We headed back the same way we had come, again unfurling the sail to make the most of the wind. We even spotted a flying fish on the return journey.
Back at the Lakana hotel we swam in the pleasant swimming pool and washed the salt off of our bodies. The rain did eventually come - when we were chilling back in our room, perfect timing.
That evening we ate in the hotel restaurant and opted for the “fondue chinois” or Chinese fondue. It was a massive meal of a stock hotpot filled with veg, served with raw zebu steak that we dunked and cooked in the broth, with further frites, veg and rice on the side.
Day 4: Amber Mountain National Park 17/12/2025
Birds chirping and pecking on the window glass of the bungalow served as the wake up call this morning. At 7:30 we had breakfast of tropical fruit, crepe, strong coffee, French baguette. It was a beautiful sunny morning. Afterwards we packed our bag for the day trip to Amber Mountain reserve. We dressed for hiking, closed shoes and trousers, raincoats, expecting rain and insects. Reporting to reception at 8:30 we met up with our driver Frank and we set off on our adventure. We picked up our guide Antonio in Diego Suarez. His English was excellent and we started chatting as we hadn’t had anyone to else to talk to since we arrived in Madagascar. We stopped for diesel before setting off for Joffreville.
En route we encountered our first chameleon crossing the road. It was about 30 cm long head to tail. Antonio picked it up for us to photograph, explained it was an Oustalet. Apparently a chameleon’s tongue is twice the length of its body.
The forest was incredibly lush and green, clouds swirled above, everything was wet and the air felt damp. Tony pointed out the fern like Epiphytes growing virtually on every tree. A little further on Antonio retraced his steps and showed us a beautiful Pygmy Kingfisher right next to the road perched in a tree. We managed to get fairly close and managed to get some great photos. Antonio knew his birds well and identified the calls of a Malagasy bulbul & Pitta-like ground roller. We turned off the jeep track and onto a foot path leading into the forest.
A few meters in Antonio pointed out a well camouflaged elephant ear chameleon hanging on a plant. Having a guide was vital, there was no way we would spot anything on our own. A short while later Antonio held out his hand and showed us a tiny 2 cm chameleon on his palm and then another one about 5 cm long. The chameleons climbed over our hands before we put them safely back on the vegetation. Next we spotted a tree with what looked like berry like fruit on its branch which was a type of fig tree, Antonio broke open one of the fruit and we could see clearly see it was like a fig fruit inside. At this point it start to rain hard and we put on our ponchos to keep ourselves and our electronics dry.
We passed a group of other tourists we recognised from the hotel, they were drenched without any rain gear. We descended down some concrete steps and reached a pristine waterfall and clear water pool at its base. We spent some time admiring the waterfall and taking photos before heading back up to the path. Antonio stopped and gave us a challenge to try and spot a chameleon where he stopped. We stared blankly at the plants and eventually he showed us the small chameleon lying perfectly still, disguised as a brown leaf.
Antonio stopped and listened and then pointed out a cuckoo roller. Fortunately we had binoculars and were able to see it up close. This was apparently quite a rare sighting. Next up was a large troop of Sanford’s lemurs high above us in the trees. We could make out the white collar or mane of the males. We could also see smaller young lemurs. We stopped at another waterfall, observing it from a viewing deck.
Antonio pointed out a row of tall trees and explained these had been planted by the French. Further on he pointed out tall conifer trees next to a road, he seemed annoyed that the French had introduced these alien trees. We crossed a river and spotted another troop of Sanford’s lemurs jumping from tree to tree with great agility. Beyond the river Antonio pointed out a boa snake lying in the undergrowth next to the road. It was lying so still I wasn’t sure it if it was even alive. The boa preys on the lemurs.
A short walk on we reached the campsite & picnic site. We found a relatively dry covered bench & table and had a lunch of chicken baguette & mangoes for desert. We made pit stop and then carried on hiking to the sacred waterfall. The rain had stopped for now and we managed to take a photo at the beautiful waterfall without wearing our ponchos. Setting off again, I slipped on a muddy patch and went down like a sack of potatoes, fortunately no damage. We crossed the river and hiked up a hill. Nicki suddenly exclaimed that she had a tiny leach on her hand, she quickly pulled it off. We rejoined the jeep track and followed it downhill.
We were in luck as we spotted a pair of Malagasy ibis, apparently also rarely sighted. The ibis only breeds every 2 years. A little further on we spotted a pair of white throated rail to complete our successful day. We got back into the the 4x4 and headed back to the Lakana.
Shortly after we got back we both started to feel ill. We assumed it must have been something we ate, probably the salad from the emerald sea trip... Every sport has its injuries, and travel almost always involves getting sick. We started self medicating and skipped dinner.
Day 5: Sakalava bay 18/12/2025
We woke up still feeling somewhat unwell, but forced ourselves to eat some bread, a crepe, and drink some black tea.
Ideally our plan for the day would’ve been to hike the “trois baies” or three bays of Baie de Dunes, Baie de Pigeons and Baie de Sakalava… it is 15km one way and we knew it was a bad idea considering how we were feeling. So instead of just mooching around the hotel, we instead opted for a transfer to Sakalava bay, known for its nice lodges, long sandy beach, and kite surfing.
We arranged with the hotel and were picked up at 10:00 and drove almost 30 minutes over sandy dirt roads and through villages. We tried our best to communicate with the driver and he told us many of the lodges were closed so he dropped us at the Royal Sakalava.
We decided to go for a walk first to check out the beach, it was a long beach with white sand that had been compacted by the intermittent rain. Patches of seaweed were everywhere, but the water was warm, shallow and a lovely turquoise colour. Dark clouds punctuated the skyline, and it drizzled intermittently as we walked, but never for long. The beach was almost deserted except for a lady kite surfer who initially struggled but then impressed us with her ability to glide along the smooth water.
We returned to the Royal Sakalava and were told we needed to eat before 12:30 as a big group was expected. We ordered grilled fish, and coconut chicken, with rice. And some colas that made us feel better. We were amazed that in Madagascar (this part at least) none of the brands like Coke or Pepsi seemed to be available.
We retreated to the sun loungers to chill, and then many many ladies and kids came to the hotel, setting up to sell their sarongs for the expected tourists. They stood right in front of us, holding up their wares, their young kids chattering and playing. Then the tourists arrived, we assumed from a cruise boat, probably close to 50 of them, Germans mostly…
We ignored them all and proceeded to read and nap under the pleasant shade of the palm trees. Eventually Werner decided on a swim and we moved to the beach, followed by another walk in the opposite direction, to find two more closed lodges and some mangroves.
At 4pm our driver came back to take us back to our hotel, kindly stopping to show us the big baobab on the way. It was large indeed, very wide, but it looked like one of its branches had recently broken off so it was in a somewhat sorry state… some kids hitched a lift on the back of the pickup on the way back, and the driver stopped intermittently to greet people, he seemed to know everyone.
Back at the hotel we chilled and then found just enough appetite for a small dinner in the hotel. Soup of the day sounded good - it was pumpkin, not the most flavourful but good to aid our recovery. We spoilt ourselves to flambéed bananas for dessert, which were set alight at our table, much to the awe of the kids sitting at a table near us. Definitely feeling better, we headed for bed.
Day 6: Travel To Ankarana 19/12/2025
A pair of dogs barking shattered the peace and ushered in a new day, it was around 6:30. We slowly got up and packed our bags before heading to breakfast. Felt much better this morning and appetite restored. Ordered an omelette for breakfast along with the usual fruit and crepe, strong coffee but skipped the fruit juice as I already had enough E.coli... Settled our bill, got the last of our stuff together and at 8:30 we met up with our driver. With that our time in Ramena was sadly over but we left with fond memories.
The drive to Ankarana was uneventful and we arrived around 11:00. The receptionist could speak some English which helped a lot. We asked about transport to the park at 12:30 and they agreed to ask the boss if they could assist us. We had to settle our bill up front and the credit card wasn’t accepted contrary to previous information (this is Africa). But fortunately we had enough cash, and our room was ready for us. So on the positive side they had WiFi, AC and semi functional mozzie net, on the negative side, no drinking water included, no shelves, no hooks, no hangers, no fridge. The room also had a nice patio looking out onto the jungle but I doubted we would be able to sit there for long given the high mosquito to human ratio in this part of the world. We ordered chicken sandwiches to go for lunch & we bought some water for our trip into the park. We packed our day pack with all the important stuff and put on walking shoes and long trousers to try and stop getting bitten by mosquitoes.
From the office we walked on foot along the road into the park. There were several mango trees on the road and there was fallen fruit lying all over the ground giving the air a sweet smell. It was a lovely sunny day and seemed that it would not rain on our excursion. Butterflies fluttered about happily. Not long after we had set off Oscar pointed out the first chameleon. It was a large male Oustalet chameleon in the tree next to the road. Further on we saw our first panther chameleon, brilliant green with red stripes, crossing the road. We watched it stepping very slowly, moving along on its pincer like feet, its turret eyes watching us for any sign of danger. It moved off the road and into the bush. Nearby we spotted brilliant green and red spotted geckos we had seen a few times previously on our journey.
After walking a few more minutes Oscar pointed out two chameleons hanging on a thin tree branch, this time it was a male and female panther. The two were starkly different, the male large and colourful, the female smaller and a more subdued light grey brown colour, a textbook example of sexual dimorphism according to Oscar.
The jungle became ever more dense as we walked along the jeep track. We arrived at a security checkpoint and presented our pass to the guard before trekking further. Oscar stopped and explained that he heard the call of a Madagascar bee eater although we didn’t manage to spot the bird. Nicki spotted a large dead winged insect on the ground and Oscar identified it as a Cicada. Apparently, a few weeks earlier their high pitched buzzing was deafening they were so numerous. According to Oscar, the cicadas are eaten by the locals. We disturbed a large flock of green pigeons which took off as one from the treetops. A flash of red caught our attention and it turned out to be a Madagascar red fody indicating a male ready to mate. In the distance Oscar pointed out a crested drongo, apparently a very clever bird able to mimic calls of other birds, sometimes to warn them of danger but sometimes a false alarm to scare them away allowing the drongo to get the best food. Somehow this encounter segued into a conversation about politicians and their corruption. The conversation returned to nature the moment we spotted a flurry of movement ahead, lemurs leaping from tree limb to tree limb, disappearing before we could get closer to photograph them.
Oscar pointed to a low hanging branch covered in white fluff bits and what looked like pink petals. He explained this was actually an insect 'flatida rosea' or flatid lead bug, we had never seen anything like it before. The white fluff was the nymph stage and the pink petals were the adults.
We walked into a dip which looked like a dry river channel. On one side the rock was dark coloured, and the other side a light grey rock. Oscar told us that the light grey rock was tsingy, limestone rock, while the dark rock was volcanic. The limestone was deposited millions of years ago before Madagascar separated from Africa. The rock was rough & sharp to the touch and really hard. We hiked on over the tsingy, taking in the scenery. In places the rock was cut by deep crevices. It was surprisingly green, plants somehow managed to thrive on the solid rock. Oscar pointed out a tree with a stumpy thick trunk that tapered down into a long stem that crept up other trees to reach the light, he called this an elephant tree. We also saw a beautiful tsingy lizard as well as a centipede with red legs (apparently poisonous).
We started hearing a loud bird call which Oscar identified as grey vasa parrot and we saw this bird several times during the afternoon. We hiked around awesome tsingy rock formations, taking photos at the viewpoints and marvelling at the view.
Gradually a large overhang came into view and we started descending to reach the entrance. There was a strange odour that seemed to get stronger, bat guano. We arrived under the overhang and came to a halt near the middle. It was a vast overhang, at least 50 meters wide, there were two caves leading off at either side. Stalactites hung from the ceiling. It was now really hot, it seemed the humidity intensified at the lowest point, causing us to sweat profusely. Torches in hand we stepped into the bigger cave at the far end that had a small stagnant pool of water at its base. Not far into the cave we heard the bats chattering and then saw them all clustered together in a crevice. It was hard to make out a lot detail in the torchlight but there must have been around 50 bats or more hanging above. These were a larger type of bat that ate fruit.
We exited the first cave and walked up to the next one on the other side. This cave had a lower roof at the entrance and we had to stoop down and use handholds to climb inside but from there we could walk upright. We followed Oscar who showed us big creepy spiders with white and black legs (later identified as a zebra spider). He also pointed out the smaller bats that ate insects. Stalactites & stalagmites filled the cave, some were sparkling with tiny crystals lit up by our torches. We saw a large circular crystal with interesting channels and detail. We entered a chamber where bats were chattering excitedly, hanging as a mass of bodies. We stood watching them a while before moving to an adjacent chamber which was empty except for a sinister shape that turned out to be a black tarantula.
After this we started heading slowly out of the cave. Outside we spotted a pair of birds flying between the pool of water at the cave mouth and sandy embankment. These were Malagasy kingfisher, a most beautiful tiny bird with blue wings and head, an a reddish chest and a stripe of white behind the eye. We could not figure out what they were doing.
We climbed up to the tsingy and back to the campsite in the forest. Our driver was waiting for us and we got in the double cab, it felt good to take a break from walking in the heat. We dropped off Oscar at the entrance and arranged to meet at 8am the next morning.
At the lodge we enjoyed a refreshing swim, a cold beer & water to rehydrate. We relaxed in the safety & AC coolness of our bungalow away from insects while we waited for dinner at 18:30. Dinner was "meli melo of poulet" (chicken salad with cheese and red peppers), followed by zebu steak and potato, fish and veg, both really yummy, and finished off with caramelised pineapple which was extremely sweet. We didn’t hang around too long at dinner to avoid being dinner to the mosquitos and retreated back to our bungalow. It had been a great day of exploring and adventuring in this beautiful park.
Day 7: Ankarana National Park 20/12/2025
Sleep was a challenge for a variety of reasons, but we weren’t going to let that stop us from seeing what we came here for - Ankarana reserve. We started with breakfast at 7:00, coffee so strong it would put hair on your chest, soft warm rolls, baguettes, scrambled egg, fruit salad and mini eclairs. The family at the table next to us seemed to have had a worse night, finding a tarantula, scorpion and zebra spider in their room!
We reached the reserve entrance by 8:00 as we’d agreed with Oscar and he was waiting for us. The entry fee was again 65,000 Ar (US$15) per person, with the guiding fee being higher at 120,000 Ar (US$26), since we’d be doing the grand circuit. We had a long and thoroughly enjoyable day again and learnt so much, it would be almost impossible to write about it all…
I am going to start with a list of all the birds we saw, Madagascar is truly a “garden of Eden” filled with unique creatures and I particularly enjoyed the birds, many of them that I had never seen or heard of before, most were beautiful and their song filled the skies wherever we walked…
- Red fody
- Malagasy Paradise flycatcher
- Green pigeon
- Souimanga sunbird
- Greater Vasa parrot
- Crested drongo which caught a cicada
- Madagascar lesser cuckoo
- Madagascar Blue Vanga
- Malagasy brush-warbler
- Broad billed rollers (migratory)
- We only heard the Sickle billed Vanga but it really cries like a baby
- Magpie robin
- Crested coua
- Pygmy kingfisher
All pictures below are courtesy of eBird:
This led Oscar to explain to us that although the locals considered themselves Christian or Muslim, most were still animist at heart. They believed in ancestor spirits, nature spirits and bad spirits and consulted shamans and natural healers. It was all a bit complicated about how some people could be possessed by spirits and other special people were the only ones that could communicate with them. If someone was unwell and not getting better, they believed their enemy had put a curse on them through the bad spirits and then only a shaman could help them… Oscar seemed to have a somewhat negative view of Christianity, believing people only used it to make money.
We entered the park properly, showing our receipt and continued walking until we passed some ruins of a lodge inside the park that never came to be… we also saw our first panther chameleon of the day and continued walking through the forest. Eventually we turned off into a dry riverbed which had a number of youngish baobabs in it, Oscar opened up the fruit, it was a large nut looking thing, furry on the outside with white fleshy pips on the inside.
We reached the first viewpoint over the “perte de rivière” or lost river - it was a massive sinkhole going deep into the ground. Oscar said that three rivers met here and when it was really rainy they formed a waterfall into the sinkhole, sometimes followed by a whirlpool. It was hard to believe, since we were visiting in the rainy season, and there wasn’t a full river in sight but he showed us a video possibly taken by him, showing the waterfall. The water flowed deep underground and eventually came out into the Mozambique Channel.
Oscar showed us the pok-pok fruit which turned out to be a cape gooseberry, he said he enjoyed them as a child but now prefers whiskey or beer :D We reached the entrance of the sinkhole and took photos then continued on to the rocks surrounding it, which formed a natural amphitheatre, also seeing some fossils of shells in the ancient sedimentary rock.
Back into forest, we were shown a Flamboyant (or flame tree) and then headed through the “Tourelle de tsingy” or tsingy towers, at a point we rested in the shade of the towers and took a snack break, another small orange crab watched us from the rocks, and we saw many large snail shells, some occupied, some not.
Again in the forest, Oscar showed us wild pig droppings, these were introduced by the Europeans for hunting. We spotted a long thin grass snake, one of a total of six we saw that day!
Next we reached the Tsingy rary viewpoint, I had asked what “rary” meant, and Oscar said to braid, weave or arrange, whoever named these tsingy thought they looked like they had been put together by humans. Tsingy formed from ancient limestone deposits laid down in a shallow sea, which were uplifted and then sculpted over millions of years by slightly acidic rainwater eroding the rock through a process called karstification, creating sharp pinnacles, deep gorges, and underground caves. This combined uplift and intense chemical weathering by water carved the limestone into unique, jagged, blade-like structures, giving it the name "Tsingy," meaning "where one cannot walk barefoot".
We climbed over the tsingy again, and reached a viewpoint where Oscar took some photos of us. From here we carried on, and it got pretty hot as we had left the shade of the trees, it was also close to the middle of the day. We reached the cool suspension bridge, which I had been looking forward to, and crossed it one at a time, it was a little freaky as it swayed a lot and there was a pretty big drop below it! Across one more smaller bridge which took us to a shelter which protected us from the sun and gave us a wonderful view of all the tsingy and the valley below. We ate our packed chicken baguettes, there was a pleasant breeze, and a brief respite from the never ending mosquitoes.
We eventually headed back the way we had come, back over the bridges and tsingy and then through the forest again. We saw a baby hog nose snake, which Oscar was quite excited about as they can get very big. After a few more wonderful bird sightings we reached the parking place inside the park, where our faithful driver was waiting. In total we had walked over 10km, and had been on the go for around 6 hours. We drove back to the park entrance and gave our thanks and tip to Oscar, who had been a fantastic guide.
Back at the lodge we swam which felt wonderful to wash off the sweat of the day, it had been very hot! Then rested the rest of the afternoon.
Dinner was vegetable soup, tuna nicoise salad for starters, chicken curry and rice for mains, and coconut ice cream for dessert. Again we were impressed by the culinary skills of the chef, and appreciative of the English skills of all the staff. We spotted a scorpion in the rocks before heading to bed (and checking our room carefully!).
The amazing adventure continues in Part 2...
