Nature places in Africa

If there is one national park you should not miss in Madagascar it's Ankarana. Since the North of the country doesn't get a lot of tourism (except for Nosy Be, that is) you won't encounter any large crowd here.
In Ankarana, you get a bit of everything. The national park is mainly known for its extensive caves and its tsingy. There are great and small caves, filled with bats and creepy creatures or with beautiful stalactites. By exploring the caves, you can end up in narrow canyons where the only way in is through the caves.
The tsingy is a kind of stony forest. The limestone rocks have been eroded into a vast area with spikes as sharp as needles. There are trails going over and through them. Just don't fall on them if you don't want to be a human strainer.
Then, as pretty much everywhere in Madagascar, there are plenty of typical plants and animals. Easiest seen are the crowned lemur and the Northern Sportive Lemur, a nocturnal species that your guide will easily spot in holes in tree trunks. Also lots of different kinds of geckos can easily be seen.

Although they are not unique to Madagascar, you can spot these beautiful but a bit odd creatures all over the country. In Madagascar alone, there are over half of the world's 150 or so species. They are relatively easily spotted and since they move very slowly you can approach them well. Contrary to general belief, chameleons don't just change their colour for camouflage but rather to show emotion, for example when they are angry or when they are trying to pick up a partner. Other typical skills of chameleons are that they can move each eye separately and that they have a tongue that can shoot out crazily fast to catch insects.

This national park is on everyone's itinerary when travelling down the Route Nationale 7 - the classic route in Madagascar. Out of the plains of Western Madagascar rises the Isalo massif. This arid plateau of mainly sandstone formations is home to several unique plants such as the Pachypodium. There are many deep canyons where you can find oases that bring with them a lush vegetation and pools with or without waterfalls that are great for swimming, especially after hiking in the hot climate. You can do day hikes of all lengths or explore Isalo more in depth on a longer camping trip. In and around some of the forests at the canyons there are also several species of lemurs such as ring tailed lemur, Verreaux's Sifaka and the Red-fronted Lemur.

Sometimes it can be difficult to see lemurs up close since they of course are 'wild' animals and most species tend to live high up in the trees. At Anja park, a small park close to Ambalavao, some families of ring tailed lemurs have been living around a local village for a long time. A fady (Madagascar taboo, which can be any kind of local rule) forbidding them to be hunted has protected them here and the villagers have now turned the area into a local visitor park protecting the animals even more and creating a good income for the village. Since the lemurs live close to the people in this forest, they are used to you roaming around and taking photos. It is a great chance to observe them for a longer time, eating and lounging in the trees and if your are lucky, sunbathing on the ground.

Madagascar's largest and probably most inaccessible national park combines 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest with three marine parks off the coast, all part of a larger UNESCO World Heritage site. Getting access to the park includes a flight to Maroantsetra where the main park office, that organises guides and porters, is located. Getting there over land requires an adventures two-or-three-day journey from Antananarivo. Visitors who make it are rewarded with pristine rainforest and an abundance of wildlife, mostly undisturbed by human activities. Motorised vehicles are banned in the park, which have no roads, limiting any travel to treks, bicycling or boating around the peninsula. Travelling along Madagascar's east coasts requires a five-day trek between Maroantsetra and Antalaha. The shortest treks are three days long, with the longest being a few weeks, sleeping in basic conditions in villages or tents throughout the park.

Only about 40 kilometres from Antsiranana (Diego Suarez), this national park makes a good day trip and also a good place to cool down from the heat of the city. At "Amber mountain", there is a microclimate with temperatures quite a bit lower and a high chance of rain, especially in the afternoon. There are several easy trails to beautiful waterfalls. The dense tropical (rain)forest harbours several species of lemurs. It is mandatory to have a guide as in all parks in Madagascar, which is a good thing because they are experts at finding the animals for you, which you probably wouldn't be able to do on your own. If you get a guide who drives with you to the park you'll probably be able to spot several chameleons on the way there.

The National park of Perinet, also called Andasibe Mantadia, is only a few hours away from the capital Antananarivo. It's a pocket of rainforest where the indri still lives. The indri is the largest species of lemur still existing. All larger lemurs have been extinct.
The indri (called Babako by the locals) spends most of its time in the treetops and jumps from tree to tree. The animal produces a very high-pitched sound that reaches for miles and is sure to wake you up in the morning if you sleep close to the park.
Apart from the indri and some other types of lemurs, you can also see crazy insects, chameleons, orchids and many plants.

Liwonde may not offer the wildlife abundance of South Luangwa in Zambia or the Masai Mara in Kenya, but nevertheless offers some of the best wildlife viewing in Malawi. The park is long, thin and (other than during the rainy season) very dusty. The park follows the Shire River, which contains a huge number of hippos and crocodiles. The river is also the best way to experience the park - it is possible to get within a few metres of hippos and elephants when travelling by boat. There is only a single tour operator providing accommodation inside the park itself (from camping to all-inclusive luxury tents), but it is also possible to camp just outside the gate. There is also a (black) rhino sanctuary inside the park - rhino tracking by vehicle or on foot can be organised through the camp or the national parks office. The roads in the park are fairly rough, but a 2WD should be sufficient for most of the year. The closest town is Liwonde, only a few kilometres from the main gate, where fuel and food can be purchased.

Home to more than 200 species of birds, including pelican and thousands of flamingos, the Parc National du Banc d’Arguin can be enjoyed by both ornithologists and laypersons alike. Adventurous souls will appreciate the fact that the park is accessible by 4WD only and the many dunes that dominate the park's interior offer an excellent opportunity to test one's skills in the soft sand. At places, these dunes of the Sahara rolls directly out into the Atlantic Ocean at high tides. A majestic symbol of the meeting between two of nature's great forces. Nature buffs will also enjoy the superb camping possibilities at Cape Tafarit and Cape Tagabit. Good maps, with GPS-locations, are available at the park offices at both Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and essential for anyone, wishing to drive into the park without a guide – which can also be arranged at the offices.

Gorongosa National Park is a true wilderness - only about one quarter of the park is accessible by road, so much of it is largely unexplored. The park has so much to offer, and its recovery from the heavy poaching of the civil war has been spectacular. There are mountains (the highest of which is the 1863 m Mt Gorongosa), rivers, floodplains, savannahs, acacias, baobabs, rainforests, palm trees, montane forests and limestone gorges. The park lost 95% of its large mammals during the civil war, but these animals are making a come-back thanks to an incredible international conservation effort. There are huge numbers of waterbuck, reedbuck and warthogs, and plenty of buffalo, wildebeest, crocodiles, lions, elephants, sable antelope and much more. There are also more than 500 species of birds present in the park. It has been called the "Serengeti of the South", and while that may not be entirely accurate, it is certainly an astonishingly beautiful place and a highlight of any trip to southern Africa.