Madagascar travel guide: Everything you need to know before you go

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Best time to go open image in gallery Ranomafana National Park hosts some of the island’s lush rainforests May to November brings the best, driest weather, with temperatures hovering around 20-25C by day and 10-15C by night; perfect for forest walks. Parc National d’Isalo A target for travellers overlanding from Antananarivo to Tuléar in southwest Madagascar, Isalo National Park is laced with inviting hiking trails, leading through monumental, Jurassic-era landscapes. open image in gallery Morondava’s famous avenue of baobab trees captured at sunset Allée des Baobabs and Kirindy Private Reserve Strikingly photogenic, Morondava’s famous avenue of baobab trees is an icon of Madagascar – as is the mysterious fossa, an elusive, short-haired mammal that’s related to the mongoose, but looks like a cat-dog hybrid; fans of the Madagascar movies know them as King Julien’s evil enemies. open image in gallery The lemurs, with their foxy faces and fluffy fur, may be the island’s biggest selling point Tsingy de Bemaraha The eerie but strangely beautiful expanses of grey limestone karst pinnacles, needles, crevasses and caves found in northwest Madagascar are Unesco World Heritage listed.