Isalo National Park (pronounced "eeshall") is a rugged sandstone massif in southwestern Madagascar, about 250 km from Toliara. Wind and rain have carved the plateau into a landscape of canyons, gorges, cliffs, and natural swimming pools that feels more like the American Southwest than tropical Africa.
The park covers over 80,000 hectares of eroded rock, dry grassland, and pockets of lush canyon forest where ring-tailed and brown lemurs live. Native palm trees, pachypodium (the "elephant foot" plant), and aloes cling to the rock faces. The gateway town of Ranohira sits at the park entrance and has basic accommodation. A guide is mandatory and can be arranged there. The most popular hikes lead to the Piscine Naturelle — a crystal-clear rock pool fed by a waterfall — and the dramatic Canyon des Singes.