Besides sharks, huge rays, and African skates as well as Orcas, there are many humpback whales in surrounding seas of Madagascar. In southern winter, they move from the Antarctic sea into the warmer water of subtropics to give birth to their calves. They need the warmer water to prevent a shock of hypothermia that could […]
Kategorie: landscape
Toliara (Tuléar)
Toliara (Tuléar) is the biggest and most important city in southwestern Madagascar. Once in the past, rebels had blown up a bridge on the way from the capital Antananarivo to it´s most significant port Toamasina (Tamatave) at the east coast. That was when the government bought Toliara a deepwater port as well as a 1.000-kilometre-long […]
Isalo
Deep in Madagascar´s south Isalo Mountains are located, a jagged ridge of soft sandstone just like the similar Makay Mountains northwest of Isalo. It comes with it´s distinctive rock formations, deep gorges as well as oases, where Parrots, Lemurs and the famous Fossa viverrid are living in dry deciduous forest and the palm trees of […]
Horombe
Horombe plateau between Ihosy and Isalo mountains in southwestern Madagascar is set on an altitude of approximately 800 m above sea level. It is the land of the Bara, an ethnicity of herdsmen crossing the vast plains of the plateau with their zebu cattle. Cattle theft is also an issue not to be underestimated in […]
The Andringitra massif – Das Andringitra-Massiv
Andringitra Mountains in south-eastern Madagascar, south of Finarantsoa at the drop to the east coast, are a granite massif. It is home to 2.657 m high Pic Boby, the second highest summit on the island. The climate is the same as in central highland with temperatures that are sometimes likely to drop below zero at […]
Ranomafana
Along Madagascar´s eastcoast are the remainders of rainforests that used to cover the whole east flank of the island´s central highlands. The humid clouds coming from the Indian Ocean supply the steep slopes with huge amounts of rain along with devastating Cyclones, which are regularily making a havoc of parts of the island in the […]
Andasibe
Because of its proximity to Tana and the good accessibility near the Route National to Toamasina (Tamatave), Andasibe National Park is the most visited in Madagascar. It is home to the famous Indris, the Eastern lesser bamboo lemur and other lemurs like the diadem sifakas that got translocated from nearby Mantadia National Park as well […]
Mitsinjo
The forest of Mitsinjo is part of the Andasibe area a 4 to 5-hours-drive east of Tana. Besides the eponymous Andasibe National Park and Mitsinjo forest, there are several other protected areas such as VOIMMA, a small community-based park, Mantadia National Park, Torotorofotsy Reserve, Maromizaha Reserve and Vohimana Reserve, all trying to protect chunks of […]
Brickmaking – Die Ziegelherstellung
As one travels the island of Madagascar, it gets quite clear that wood is somehow out of reach as construction material, because it is needed as combustible and there is not much left of it – in general. Where people at the south tend to live in huts made of palm leaves, bamboo, and some […]
Transport Malagasy
Transport facilities in Madagascar are quite quixotic, because there ain´t that many roads worthy of that name. Travelling Madagascar is a fascinating thing to do, but it´s also tough and time-consuming. Infrastructure would be too strong a word for the possibilities on the island. It´s mainly three so-called National Roads linking Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez) in the […]