[Madagascar] Chapter XX: In which we come face to face with a cliff face

From Ambalavao we continued south east to Ranohira, thereby moving from the red highlands of central Madagascar to the yellow savannahs of the south. In some ways, the landscape reminded us of Africa --- hot, semi-arid, and less inhabited --- just without the big wildlife.

We came here to visit the Parc National de l'Isalo, a park known

primarily for its impressive landscape, especially sandstone rock formations, desert canyons, colourful cliffs, and natural pools. And these were indeed most impressive throughout our five-hour, ten-kilometre hike in the park (the photos don't really do justice to the views).

But, as always in Madagascar, there are also unique animals and plants to see, many not found anywhere else in the world. Lemurs, naturally, take centre stage, but other life forms are at times even more spellbinding, if at a smaller scale, as the photos below will show.

Accommodations:
- L'Orchidée de l'Isalo (2 nights; ok)

Photo captions: (a-j) views of the park; (k-l) the piscine naturelle (natural pool); (m-t) Verreaux's sifaka; (u-z) red-fronted brown lemurs; (aa-dd) ring-tailed lemurs; (ee-ff) spiny-tailed iguana; (gg-hh) a small non-poisonous snake; (ii-jj) a camouflaged stick insect hanging from a branch; (kk) an elephant's foot plant (pachypodium); (ll) a periwinkle; (mm-nn) it might look like a white flower, but it is in fact an insect