If you visit the special reserve Nosy Mangabe in northeastern Madagascar, you will find some kind of graveyard halfway up to the highest point of the island. It is located in the west of the island, not far away from the campground and directly adjactent to one of the round trails. The graveyard belongs to the Betsimisaraka people who lives …

Anjozorobe-Angavo: The name Annjozorobe probably comes from the Madagascan “zozoro”, a certain kind of reed of the area. Legend has it that they were used as hiding places by the “menalamba”, who fought under the French colonial power for the liberation of Madagascar. Location: The protected area of Anjozorobe-Angavo is located 90 km northeast of the capital Antananarivo in the …

Title: The Aye-Aye and I Author: Gerald Durrell Year published: 1992 Cover: Paperback Pages: 224 Publisher: Viking Price: 10,99 € ISBN: 978-0670920686   Content description: In 1963, Gerald Durell founded Durell Wildlife Conservation Trust which is famous today far beyond England’s borders and cares for conservation of threatened animals worldwide.  This book is a travelogue from his last expedition to …

Nosy Hara: The name means “mountainous island” (hara comes from the Malagasy harana = mountains), which goes back to the characteristic needle stone rock formations. The island belongs to a small archipelago of twelve uninhabited islands surrounded by coral reefs. Location: The island of Nosy Hara is located in northern Madagascar in the Baie de Courrier, which belongs to the …

Dos Respect the local fadys. They are extremely important to Madagascans and it would be very rude to hurt them. Try to speak or learn a few words of Madagascan. Salama as an omnipresent greeting (in the north: Mbola tsara, on the islands of the east coast Akoriaby) is always welcome, and also Azafady (please, excuse me) and Misaotra (thank …

After visiting such a fantastic country as Madagascar, you surely want to take some souvenirs home from your travel. However, there are some rules you have to take care of to avoid trouble at customs. Precious woods Rose wood and palisander are precious and rare, and you can get them in Madagascar still for relatively cheap prices. Although it has …

As a traveller in Madagascar, you will hear about fadys sooner or later. Fady is the Malagasy word for taboo and probably derives from the Indonesian “pady”. But taboo is not the only meaning of this word, it is also used to call something sacred. Fadys are rules that concern situations as well as people, animals, locations or a certain …

Their songs belong to the most impressive that animal kingdom has: You can hear the Indris’ (Indri indri) voices in the forest kilometers away, and the sound a little sad. The parent couple of a family always starts the songs, thus marking its territory, communicating with other families and warning their own family members of potential hazards such as birds …

What would Madagascar be without its giant landmarks, the mighty baobabs? Over here, they might be known as monkey bread, and have been famous as photo motives and in literatures for centuries. These huge trees, whose roots seems to grow into the sky, enchant everyone, and many baobabs are told to possess magic power. Madagascar has not less than seven …

Legend tells that there was the famous pirates‘ republic of Libertalia at Madagascar’s eastcoast in 17th and 18th century, more precise at Nosy Boraha (St. Marie). Fallen over and skew, century old tombstones at the forlorn cemetery St. Pierre, near the biggest city oft he island, Ambodifotatra, bear witness at least to an adventurous time at the Malagasy island. Famous …