Ranomafana National Park is a stand of rainforest covering more than 200 square kilometres, sitting on the eastern edge of an escarpment that runs like a spine down Madagascar. It is a relatively short (3 hour) winding and potholed drive from Fianarantsoa. Even for this country, one of the world’s top five “megadiversity” countries according to Conservational International, it is extraordinarily species rich, It boasts 12 species of lemurs, 265 bird species, chameleons, geckoes, frogs and eight species of carnivores, including the elusive fossa.

We stayed in a nice bungalow at Manja Hotel overlooking the river about 8km further on from the National Park in Ranomafana town http://hotelmanja.com/. Most hotels are in this area, unless you can afford the more expensive hotels near the park. We engaged an excellent guide, Theo (he is in the Lonely Planet, but his number has changed) +261 33 04 244 02. He even has a species of frog named after him. The first morning we started at 7am and walked until about 2pm. We were both exhausted. We saw many weird and wonderful creatures, including some cheeky sifakas playing right at our feet and some lovely primary and secondary forest. One leaf tailed gecko completely looks like a piece of bark, I mean completely.

After hitching a ride back to town with some local university students (Theo had taken them on a night tour then night before), we walked to the local swimming pool, which is fed by an underground spring. It was hot, good for the muscles, but HOT! We also indulged in a 30 min massage for about $4.50. After that is was back on the road for a night walk. Our guide spread banana on a branch and several mouse lemurs came to snap it up, sooo cute! Then we were off to find some chameleons, and we were not disappointed. Theo has an uncanny eye for finding the most camouflaged of creatures. The next day we ventured out to an arboretum that was set up by an Englishman almost twenty five years ago. It was a lovely place, with many native and exotic species. We would recommend going early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the sun and heat.