The friendly Ringtailed Lemur.
Say the word “Madagascar” and images of exotic mammals and surreal landscapes probably come to mind.
The country does not disappoint. The sheer number of unique plant and animal species is mind-boggling as Jeff learned on a stop as part of a 13-month around the world trip in 2003.
You step into the jungle, and the sorrowful whoops of Indri lemurs greet you. On the roadside next to a carnivorous plant, a six-foot boa constrictor is there for the picking up. On your bathroom windowsill, a chameleon wanders past a stick insect without seeming to notice it.
The Grand Tsingy
Unfortunately, you also can’t talk about Madagascar without telling about the terrible deforestation that’s ravaging the nation. Preservation is a concept that’s almost non-existent (in fact, one of their currency bills features a guy on a tractor knocking down rainforest (Woo-hoo! Progress!). From the air, the island looks like a patchwork quilt of dark green forest and red earth from all the clear-cut.
But pockets of protected regions still exist, as Jeff’s Uncle Jerry found during a recent organized tour. His photos are a good representation of the amazing creatures and landscapes you will encounter – at least for now.
If you want to visit a place in 2014 that feels truly exotic (and you can speak a little French) it’s a destination worth visiting. But you’d better to go sooner rather than later, as Madagascar is chopping down its forest at an alarming rate, making it one of the most threatened places on the planet.
Sunset at the Avenue of the Baobabs
The Idri Lemur
A strange little animal called an Aye Aye Lemur
The Verreaux Sifaka Lemur
A dancing Sifaka Lemur
Avenue of the Baobabs on the way to the Kirindy Forrest and the Tsingy de Bemaraha
Tsingy Landscape