Ambatoharanana
-12.983333,49.000000
Location
Co-ordinates: S 12°59’, E 049°00'. Alt. 20 m. This cave, called the Underground River of Manenjeba in the past, is located in the Ankarana mountain range, 10 km north of Ambilobe and about 75 km S of Antsiranana. The Manenjoba River traverses the cave from east to west, cutting through the isolated limestone butte on the south flank of the range. The underground river hosts crocodiles.
Description
Ambatoharanana is a maze cave in the reef limestones of the Middle Jurassic in which the main river can be followed by canoe for over 2,700 m in large passages. A huge collapsed doline in the heart of the butte can be found by following several fossil galleries. First explored for about 6 km by J.deSaint-Ours, the cave was mapped in 1972 to 2,700 m by the Association Sportive de l’Université de Madagascar (ASUM). In 1974, J.Radofilao, with Ph.Andriambololona and F.Raoelison, organised an expedition with the goal of discovering all the branches of the underground river. In three weeks, most of them were explored and mapped, bringimg the total length to 18,100 m (summary by J.Radofilao in Spelunca, 1984/13). Overview map according to Wilson (ed.) (1987), including several caves located at the Ankarana massif. Description according to Courbon et al. (1989),
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Ampandriamapanihy-Nord | 4480 | |
| 5.2 | Anjohimilaintety | 9005 | |
| 9.2 | Andrafiabe | ||
| 14.3 | Antsiroandoha | 1110 | |
| 3663.4 | ZAPA CAVE | ||
| 3896.6 | VARKALA TUNNEL | ||
| 3898.2 | VIZHINJAM CAVE | ||
| 3899.3 | TRIVANDRUM YONI (aa -) | ||
| 3907.7 | MADAVURPPARA CAVE TEMPLE |