VISITE DU PARC
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Eight different circuits are available to visitors to Ankarafantsika National Park, including the following:
Circuit Coquerelli (maximum 5.1 km loop, 2-hour walk): lots of lemurs (including the endemic Propithecus verreauxi coquereli), birds (including the rare and endemic Vanga de Van Damne) and reptiles. Beautiful panoramic view of the forest. A shorter tour is also available.
Circuit Canyon (7.4 km round trip, 3h walking time): starts at the edge of the dry forest and winds through the savannah. It leads to the famous Ankarokaroka lavaka, the result of enormous erosion. It's an almost dreamlike, lunar landscape, offering an extraordinary view of the canyon. You'll come across lemurs, birds (including the Newton falcon) and reptiles.
Circuit Haut du Lac (7 km, approx. 3 hrs.): panoramic views over the lake, and a fine sampling of local flora and fauna: birds such as the flycatcher, dyal malagasy, bulbul de Madagascar, coua and drongo, as well as chameleons, snakes, lizards and medicinal plants such as adenia, vanilla madagascariensis and tamarind.
Baobab tour (3 km round trip, approx. 1 hr.): footbridge over rice fields, suspension bridge and Adansonia boeniensis, endemic baobabs.
Retendrika and Pachypodium circuits (6.6 km, 2 hrs. walk, and 9.2 km, 3 hrs. 30 min. respectively): a flora rich in medicinal plants, large trees and precious woods (ebony in particular), as well as terrestrial orchids. You can also spot the Assity bird and, from November to April, the brookesia, the world's smallest chameleon.
Tour of the lake by boat: Lake Ravelobe gives you the chance to get to know the Ankoay fishing eagle and the Nile crocodile. The Sakalava practice a ritual ceremony here, called Joro, to bless the ancestors (in July). It is said that the ghost of the highwayman Ravelobe still haunts the area. Women are forbidden to wash in the river. Fishing is permitted on the shores of the lake.
The park is home to two endemic species of lemur: the Eulemur mongoz (known here as Dredrika), whose tail is longer than its body (35 cm for its size, 50 cm for its tail), and the Cheirogaleus medius (or Matavirambo), a small 22 cm animal that hibernates from April to September and only comes out at night... The park also offers a fascinating cultural tour of Sakalava culture: tombs of kings (Doany) at Andranomiditra, Doany de Betsioka at Bealana, Doany d'Ambalabongo and Doany de Ravelobe.