The evening program was a night walk in search of nocturnal wildlife around Ranomafana. The itinerary promised an encounter with the rainforest’s overwhelming soundscape and the chance to spot mouse lemurs and other nocturnal animals. Sounds promising enough.

The reality, however, was somewhat different: the walk took place justoutside the national park boundary, along the RN25 – the main road leading to Ranomafana. And we weren’t alone, either – several other tourist buses were unloading their passengers nearby, while traffic continued flowing in both directions. Nothing quite captures the atmosphere of a nocturnal rainforest walk like the headlights of passing vehicles and the chatter of several groups of tourists searching for the same animals – at least the paved road was convenient enough.

To be fair, we did spot the promised mouse makis, plus some birds and chameleons along the way. But between the traffic, the tour buses and the general commotion, the whole experience was rather surreal. The promised jungle soundscape was perhaps there somewhere – just somewhat drowned out by the sounds of civilization.

For me, this was easily the lowlight of the entire trip. Not a magical encounter with the nocturnal world of Madagascar, but rather a roadside wildlife exhibition, with free access and plenty of passing traffic.