Ankarana is famous for its beautiful tsingy, which is unique in the world and only occurs in 2 places in Madagascar. For the rest, you can explore other sights and possibilities to see some lemur species and maybe other wildlife. The hiking is good, and the park is pretty quiet. This is a great place to spend some time and discover amazing natural phenomena. There are 2 areas far from each other, but I only talk about the eastern part of the park. If you want to know more about this park, keep reading!

Price: 70,000 park entrance per person, and, depending on the hike, a compulsory guide fee for the group.

Tourist occurrence: Very low

How to get here: Around a 2.5-hour drive from Diego Suarez (Antsiranana) or 4 hours from Ankify.

How much time needed:  1 Full day.

What to do in Ankarana

Tsingy

The Tsingy is the absolute highlight of Ankarana National Park. You can hike through the fantastic stones and see the uniqueness of the rock formations. There are also 2 hanging bridges you have to take, which can be a bit cheeky, but with my vertigo, I passed it pretty easily. Take in the several places to see Tsingy and enjoy the fantastic moments. This should be the number one thing to do here.

Bat cave

The bat cave is another great place to visit. The hike to the place is pretty tough, but the view and experience are worth it. There are 2 caves here: a big one and a small one. The big one (see picture) is high, and you will see very big bats flying in and out of the place. Here you can't walk far, so you head to the small cave, which can be a bit smaller, but the walk is further. Here you see many smaller bats flying, and there are a lot, and I mean a lot. In these caves are 11 species of bats (I can't identify them), and besides bats we saw big spiders, and other cool insects. In the small one, there are also stalactites and stalagmites. This is a fantastic place, but it can be a bit scary in the smaller cave, but not really. Bring your torch.

Water hole

This is a very deep hole in the dry season, and it is very cool to stand next to it. In the rainy season, it is filled with water, making it impossible to get here. This is a nice stop, but not the highlight in comparison to the other 2 places. 

Hiking

There are several hiking routes, and depending on the hike, the price for the group is determined. The hike is mostly between 2-6 hours, depending on what you want to see. Besides the Tsingy, the hiking trails are pretty easy and very nice to do. The trails will pass the highlights above, but that  depends on the hike you choose with your guide. 

Lemurs and other wildlife

As in almost every national park in Madagascar, lemurs are the main reason to go. Maybe in Ankarana it is a bit different as the Tsingy is the big eye-catcher of the park, but lemurs are always fantastic to find. The species you can find during the day are mostly Sanford's brown lemurs and crowned lemurs. We did not find the brown lemurs, but we saw crowned lemurs (see picture below). There are also some nocturnal lemurs you can find resting in a tree, such as the Ankarana sportive lemur and the Northern sportive lemur (see picture above). Besides, you can also see fantastic reptiles and birds like vangas and parrots. Furthermore, you have one of the better chances of finding ring-tailed mongoose. 

When to visit

Although it can be hot and humid in the wet season from January to March, Ankarana can be visited throughout the year. In the wet season, the water hole cannot be visited, even though that may not be the best part of the park.

How many days + itinerary

The perfect amount to see the eastern part of the park is 2 nights, whereby you have one full day in the beautiful park. 

The perfect day for me should look like this: Breakfast, 4-5 hour hike with Tsingy, the water hole and chances of lemurs, lunch, 1 hour bat cave, dinner.

Where to sleep

Close to the entrance of the national park, there is a very small village with mostly tourist accommodations. You can go to one of these hotels. We were in the Soa Lodge, which was a bit basic but had the best people, and everything was present. The lady of the restaurant was extremely friendly, as were the other people as well. We were even invited to play a game of petanque, and that was an amazing experience. This is a great stay.

Flies and mosquitos

There is a big disadvantage when we were there, and during 1 or 2 months a year (we were here during the end of November), there can be a lot of flies and mosquitoes that come around your ears. It is not nice, but that should not be a reason not to visit this park. 

In combination with

Ankarana is perfect on the route between Nosy Be and Diego Suarez, where you can find more highlights like Amber Mountain National Park and the Red Tsingy. There are some great things to do in combination with Ankarana on a northern Madagascar trip.

Final thoughts

Ankarana National Park is the most important park to visit in northern Madagascar, and it should be on your list in Madagascar. Seeing the Tsingy in combination with some fantastic wildlife is a combination difficult to forget. This is one of the most important parks to see in this beautiful country, and there are no reasons to skip this park, especially when in the North.

If you want to know more about Madagascar, check out: