Rainforest in the South : Ranomafana National Park
“Mafana” is a word you will hear quite quick after arriving in Madagascar, and it means hot. “Rano” means water, so Ranomafana actually means “water hot”, and is a perfect example on how the Malagasy language is build up. In Madagascar many places are named after natural phenomenons in the area. And Ranomafana is named after the natural hot springs in the nearby village.
Ranomafana is located in the south east of Madagascar, in the Tandavanala rain forest corridor.
As a rain forest, Ranomafana National Park has a rich fauna and flora, and is not to be missed on a tour heading south in Madagascar. 12 species of Lemurs lives here, including woolly lemur, red bellied lemur, eastern grey bamboo lemur, greater bamboo lemur, red-fronted brown lemur, black-and-white ruffed lemur, Milne-Edward´s sifaka, Small-toothed sportive lemur, greater dwarf lemur and brown mouse lemur and the nocturnal aye-aye.
Birds also can be found in a huge number inside this park, there are at least 115 species (30 are local endemic to this part of madagascar), among them is the Rufous-headed ground-roller, Henst’s goshawk, velvet asity, mesites or the threatened crested ibis.
Apart from that, the impressive wildlife is completed by reptiles ( chameleons, snakes and fringed and satanic leaf-tailed geckos are pretty common), frogs, butterflies,spiders and several fishes and crayfishes.
Before your visit, be sure to bring raincoat due to some rain shower that may fall in some time of the day. Then wear slip-resistant shoes due to some slippery section inside the park.
If you are interested in more about rainforests in Madagascar, you may also like to discover Andasibe National park in the east.
To learn more about the south of Madagascar, feel free to visit our website.
