Ranomafana National Park Travel Guide: Top Sights in Madagascar,

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Ranomafana National Park- Travel Tips What to See, How to Plan & Tours: Natural Scenery; Madagascar; 5 Reviews

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Suggested Duration: 48 hours

Ranomafana National Park, located in southeastern Madagascar, is a vibrant living museum of biodiversity, renowned for its mist-covered mountains and dense rainforests that offer a unique experience for nature enthusiasts and scientists alike. Established in 1991, this 161-square-mile sanctuary serves as a crucial habitat for numerous endemic species, including the elusive golden bamboo lemur, once thought extinct. With over 12 species of lemurs, 115 bird species, and a rich variety of reptiles and amphibians, the park showcases nature's intricate design through its diverse ecosystems, adorned with exotic orchids and lush vegetation. Beyond wildlife watching, Ranomafana invites visitors to explore its complex terrain of rolling hills and serene rivers, enhanced by thermal springs, while local guides provide insights into the traditional Malagasy way of life, enriching the experience with the region's cultural heritage.

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Reviews of Ranomafana National Park

violee leivaa

5
Reviewed: 2024-07-31

Beautiful experience! Really worth visiting. Totally recommended. Specially the long tour; to see all different lemurs.
Njaka Andrianavalonome

5
Reviewed: 2024-07-21

Ranomafana National Park is Awsome... I can see God's Creation at the highest ♥️♥️📸
Will T

5
Reviewed: 2024-05-14

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 actual graves.
Irene Bonet

5
Reviewed: 2024-04-10

An incredible experience. We had Célestin guiding us and we could see all the Lemur species + other animals we got to see. He was super helpful and explained everything we could come up with. We got there by shared van from Fianaratsoa and it took around 2h to get there. We paid 7.000 each. Entrance + guide + taxes was 112.500 mga
John

5
Reviewed: 2023-06-28

Absolute gem of a national park. Please go visit now and support them as the park is under threat from loggers! The ticket office is well organized, they'll hook you up with a guide with whom you can organize your hikes.