Ankarana National Park is situated at thirty kilometers northward Ambilobe (150 km to the south of Diégo Suarez on the RN6) . It is a mountain spreading from the north to the south on about twenty kilometers parallel to the west coast including the Ankarana National Park , it is constituted of a karstic relief which surface is covered at many places by « Tsingy » ( eroded and sharp peaks) . There is a complex underground system spreading on about 120 km , some caves represent for the local population a sacred character as they contain Antakarana royal burial places with their war treasures . A ten of caves with vivid names are counted from the south to the North. The system is vast and it is indispensable to be accompanied by a guide

Tropical dry climate
Monthly average temperature of 24,5 to 28,3°C.
Annual average Pluviometery of 86 to 92 days.
Dry Season from May to December.
The most humid months : January, February.
The hottest Month : in March (36,2°C)
The coolest Month in June (13,5°C)

The deciduous forest can be seen on the deep grounds around the Great Canyon : it is a real botanical treasure with its great trees as Canarium of Madagascar and Pandanus, easily accessible despite lianas and under woods . Aerial orchids of all beauty can also be dicovered . In rocky zones, many vegetations easy to discover waits the visitors.

Specificity : Tsingy, sacred lake , botanical path, canyons and dolines of Andohalambo, caves (stalactites, stalagmites) with 100 km of passages, caves of bats , caves of crocodiles, 10 species of lemurs, 92 species of birds ...
the Special Reserve is a place of cult of Antakarana ancestors through caves and crocodiles of the sacred lake with the ritual of the Tsangatsaina or coronation of the royal mast .

A particular mention to crocodiles and bats . The first is a sacred animal for the Antakarana : according to a legend a visitor who received a poor welcome casted curse to all the residents of a village after a small deluge and turned them into saurians . Bats (13 species) that colonize the caves with rich stalactites and stalagmites , shining with thousand fires under the glows of torches, do not feel at all disturb by visitors. We will also mention the Varied Mesite (the rarest bird in the world) with 91 other species of birds, 10 species of lemurs as well as some chameleons, snakes.