Isalo National Park

Listen first. Wind moves through tall, dry grass, and the grass makes a soft, steady hiss. Under your boots the ground is coarse sand, pale gold and gritty, worn from the rock around you. Ahead, the sandstone rises in ridges, towers and broken walls. In the low sun the stone turns orange, then rust, then deep red. This is Isalo, in the south-west of Madagascar, and for a moment it may not feel like an island at all. It may feel like a canyon country from somewhere far away.

That first impression surprises many visitors. Most people imagine Madagascar as green rainforest full of chameleons and orchids. Isalo is very different. This is a high, dry massif of eroded sandstone, cut by deep gorges and surrounded by open grassland. The rock was laid down as sediment a very long time ago, in the age of the dinosaurs. Since then, wind and water have worked on it without pause. The result is the landscape in front of you — ridges, domes, arches and narrow cracks.

Isalo became a national park in 1962, soon after Madagascar gained its independence from France. Today it is one of the most visited parks in the country. Part of the reason is simple geography. The main road of the south, Route Nationale 7, runs along the edge of the massif. Travellers moving between the highlands and the south-west coast pass right by. Many of them stop in the small town of Ranohira, the usual gateway to the park.

Walk a little further and look closely at the rock itself. The sandstone is layered, like the pages of a very thick book. Some layers are hard and stand out as ledges. Others are soft and have worn away into hollows and overhangs. Iron in the stone gives it the red and orange colours. Where water runs down the cliffs, you often see dark vertical stripes. These are stains from minerals and from thin films of algae and lichen.

Now for the second surprise. This dry country hides water. The massif works like a giant sponge. Rain soaks into the porous sandstone and then seeps out at the bottom of the canyons. So inside the gorges you find streams, ferns, palms and shaded pools. One of the best-known spots is a clear pool locals and guides call the Piscine Naturelle, the natural swimming pool. A small waterfall drops into it, and pandanus palms lean over the water. After the open grassland, the cool air there feels like a different world.

The canyons are also where you are most likely to meet lemurs. Lemurs are primates found naturally only in Madagascar. In Isalo, ring-tailed lemurs are a common sight, with their grey bodies and long black-and-white striped tails. They often travel in noisy groups and sometimes sunbathe with their arms spread wide. You may also see brown lemurs, or Verreaux's sifaka, a white lemur that moves across open ground in sideways hops. Two gorges carry names linked to these animals: the Canyon of the Monkeys and the Canyon of the Lemurs.

The plants here have adapted to heat, wind and long dry seasons. Look for a squat, silver-grey plant that grows straight out of cracks in the rock. It has a swollen base and short stems topped with leaves, and in season it carries yellow flowers. It is a pachypodium, often called the elephant's foot. Its thick trunk stores water through the dry months. Isalo also has its own species of aloe, and on the grasslands you may notice small, gnarled tapia trees. Tapia bark resists fire, which helps the tree survive on these burned plains.

That word, fire, matters for understanding the view. The wide grasslands around the massif are shaped partly by people. For a long time, herders have burned the grass to bring up fresh green shoots for their cattle. The cattle are zebu, the humped cattle you see all over Madagascar. Scientists still discuss how much of this open landscape is natural and how much is the result of fire. Either way, the black patches you sometimes see on the plains are part of a long and complicated story.

The zebu belong mainly to the Bara people, the main ethnic group of this region. The Bara are traditionally cattle herders, and zebu hold deep social and spiritual value for them. Wealth, marriage and ceremony are often measured in cattle. For the Bara, Isalo is not only a landscape. It is also sacred ground. Their ancestors are buried in the cliffs, in caves and crevices high in the rock. As you walk, your guide may point out stone walls built across openings in the cliff face. These mark tombs.

Please treat these places with care. Many Malagasy communities follow local taboos, called fady, which are rules about what is permitted in a certain place or for a certain group. Some fady in Isalo concern the burial sites, such as where you may point or walk. Your guide will explain the rules for each trail. Local guides are part of the Isalo experience, and they often come from the surrounding villages. They know the paths, the water, the animals, and the stories that belong to each canyon.

On the western side of the massif there is a famous viewpoint at sunset. It is a natural hole worn through a rock wall, and people call it the Window of Isalo. As the sun drops, it sits inside the opening and lights the stone around the frame. Another well-known landmark is a rock formation people call the Queen of Isalo. Like many shapes in sandstone country, it depends on your imagination and on the angle of the light. Ask your guide what other figures the locals see in the cliffs.

If you are here in the middle of the day, the heat can be strong and the light can be harsh. The stone reflects the sun, and shade is rare on the plateau. Early morning and late afternoon bring softer light and cooler air. They also bring more animal activity. Birds call from the canyon trees, and lemurs come down to feed. Pay attention to small things too: the clicking of insects in the grass, lizards on warm rock, and the smell of damp earth near the streams.

Before you leave, stop for a moment wherever you are standing. Look at the closest piece of rock and follow one layer with your eyes. That thin band took a very long time to form, and the wind is still shaping it now. Listen again to the grass. Somewhere behind those cliffs, water is moving through the stone toward a hidden pool. When you walk back toward the road, turn around once. Watch how the colour of the massif changes as the light moves across it.