Daraina & Loky Manambato

When we finally reached the edge of the dry deciduous forest, Amidou, our guide and somehow lonesome manager of Loky Manambato Protected Area, and his two friends, the Aye-Aye trackers, had already spotted the first group of Golden-crowned sifakas or Tattersall’s sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli) up in the branches of a grove of trees. We followed […]

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 […]

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 […]

My heart is in the highland

The central highlands are Madagascar’s backbone, stretching along the eastern part of the island from the Massif du Tsaratanana – south of Ambilobe – all the way down south to the Andringitra Massif west of Manakara. In the southeast it is linked to the Massiv d´Antaivondro, a mountain range almost reaching Taolagnaro (Fort Dauphin) at […]

Lasta highland (A pilgrim’s journey to Lalibela) – Das Lasta-Bergland (Pilgerfahrt nach Lalibela)

Lasta is an ancient district in the northern parts of Ethiopia’s central highland. The highland surrounds Lalibela and reaches more than 4.000 m in altitude. In lower altitudes, the people grow Teff, maize and vegetables, but the barren plateaus are dominated by barley and livestock. They breed everything up there, from goats to cattle, from […]