Just 500 or 1000 years ago – in the history of the earth, that’s just the blink of an eye – countless giant animals lived on Madagascar. Among them were the famous elephant birds, a giant tortoise, and a creature you would never expect to find in Africa: a giant sloth. Sloths, as we know them today, are only found …

Before the arrival of humans, Madagascar was home to animal giants that went extinct by and by with the existence of humans on the island: A giant lemur has lived in Madagascar, besides him a gigantic eagle, an oversized Fossa and of course, one of the largest birds that have ever existed on Earth. Actually, there was not only one …

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 …

It will surely frighten you when you discover it for the first time: Megaloremmius leo, one of the few large spiders in Madagascar. Eight long legs, a thick, clumsy body, bright red hair on a black ground. Although it looks like a tarantula, it is not even related to them. Megaloremmius leo belongs to a family of spiders that are …

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 …

The electricity grid in Madagascar is poorly developed. Only larger cities have electricity connections. The major suppliers are JIRAMA, HydElec, HFF (Henri Fraise fils & Cie) and QMM (Rio Tinto QMM), the latter two being only available in Antananarivo and Tolagnaro (Fort Daupin). There are also smaller suppliers that operate small waterworks or individual solar panels, for example. JIRAMA is …

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 …

As a traveller, you will rarely see, but surely recognize it once seen in Madagascar: The Karenyi. A bulky car, reminiscent of some kind of mixture between a kubelwagen and a colourful soapbox. It could even be part of the ideas of someone producing Lego toys normally. But behind this bizarre vehicle hides a true Malagasy story. In 1984, the …

Klein, aber oho! Der Madagaskar-Paradiesschnäpper (Terpsiphone mutata) ist sicherlich einer der schönsten Vögel der Insel, obwohl das Fliegengewicht gerade mal 12 g schwer wird – das ist gerade mal so viel wie ein Esslöffel voll Reis. Er gehört zur Familie der Monarchen und ist ein Singvogel. Ihn kann man überall auf der Insel beobachten, von Dornwäldern bis Regenwälder besiedelt er …