Roughly 200 km away from Tulear driving on the RN7 the impressive cliffs of Isalo (pronounce Ichal) are showing up. Seen from the south side, this massif looks like a gigantic fortress raised from a grassy savannah, until then, rather monotonous. Declared national park in 1962, this jurassic massif of sandstone stretches over an approximately 180 km long and 25 km wide surface. Beyond the southern wall, vast plateaux reveal strange rock formations, colored of ochre, green, of red by a more or less regular layer of lichens. Very few trees can offer a natural refuge to the blazing sun which literally cooks its immense area. In the crevasses and canyons on the contrary, a luxuriant vegetation flourished, benefiting from the relative freshness of the place. Some species - such as the pachypodium rosulatum, kind of baby baobab - is even endemic to the place. Not far from the Isalo massif was discovered sapphire deposits in 1998, start of a "blue" gold rush which is attracting people of all the country, despite the danger - no day without a fatal accident -, as well as Pakistanis and Thailandese merchants. The closest city, Ranohira, until then a quiet village at the foot of the Isalo, has gained the nickname "Texas city", so much the atmosphere here reminds of the far west. In the middle of nowhere, shops sell modern items, sport bags, hifi stereos, to the fortune makers. The high cliffs of the Isalo massif, seen from the south side, dug with canyons Erosion carved strange forms in the sandstone After a long walk, there's nothing like bathing in the fresh water of this natural "swimming pool". Just was there