Joffreville (Ambohitra) in the Montagne d´Ambre had been built by the French colonial rulers for strategic as well as climatic reasons. Today, the small town offers not much more than picturesquely decaying colonial architecture and the opportunity to go hiking in the nearby Montagne d´Ambre National Park. Around 5.000 people are living in Joffreville today, […]
Schlagwort: Africa
Tsingy rouge
Just like the Cirque rouge near Mahajanga as well as La Vallée at Ankarafantsika National Park, the Tsingy rouge south of Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez) are a product of deforestation and the following erosion. Only recently discovered, this rock formation is changing its looks with every rainy season, and it is very likely that it will be […]
Ankarana
The Tsingy limestone formations cover areas along Madagascars west coast, from the Tsingy de Bemaraha north of Morondava and the Tsingy de Namoroka south of Mahajanga all the way up to the Ankarana massif south of Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez), where the Tsingy finally meet the ocean. 182 square kilometres of the Ankarana massif are protected as […]
Cirque Rouge
For obvious reasons, that sediment formation north of port town Mahajanga in north-western Madagascar is called Cirque Rouge. Elements keep working on the colourful cliffs, which are holy to some locals. A well is pushing out the water just through the coloured sand in the middle of the valley. People use to pray there, and […]
Mahajanga (Majunga)
Once I dreamt of a town at a turquoise sea with sailing vessels on it, of which I have learned that they have been invented in the Arabic world and are called Dhows. The air was warm and slightly salty, the palm trees along the seaside promenade were murmuring unheard words in the warm wind, […]
Tsingy de Bemaraha
After a tropical night that had us soaked in sweat, we faced the fact that our car was still standing on the other side of the river with its hood wide open. So, we got on a pirogue and headed upstream Manombolo for the Petit Tsingy, which is the southern end of the karst scenery. […]
From Morondava to Tsingy de Bemaraha – Von Morondava zu den Tsingy de Bemaraha
We´ve almost made it – but only just! We´ve already managed to finish 200 Kilometres of something that is used to be called a dirt road, but in Madagascar it´s often no more than a swath in the forest and the landscape in general. That very swath had lead us from Morondava along Madagascar´s west […]
Vezo – Struggling with the sea – Die mit dem Meer ringen
Just like ghosts, the wraithlike figures are moving through the fog that dampens or fully absorbs few shouts and the noises of the nearby town. The beach, the sea, everything is grey, and the boats that are moving in and out the belt of fog are of dark grey. Such fog is very common along […]
Village des Tortues & Arboretum Reniala
The fishing village Ifaty-Mangily north of Toliara (Tuléar) at Madagascar’s south-western coast is a remote and uninspiring place – at first sight. It is linked to Toliara by a rough and sandy dirt road, which takes you a good hour of a bone crushing drive in a minibus or a Camion brousse. But if you […]
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 […]
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