I cannot wait to get back to Madagascar! It is an island of wonderful and unique natural history and wildlife and it should be on any nature lover’s priority travel list. Its isolation for eons has allowed for its flora and fauna to develop into a great diversity of unique forms.
Among its natural treasures are the emblematic lemurs – a fascinating group of diverse primates that may all descend from a single ancestral species that colonized the island over 40 million years ago. Ranging in size from the tiny members of the mouse lemur family through to the larger ambling sifakas and singing Indri, I can guarantee that the lemurs will captivate you when we encounter them as we explore their habitats.
Chameleons are also characteristic of Madagascar and have developed into a wide array of species as well, varying from thumb-sized members of the dwarf chameleon family up to those that are half a metre in size. Many of these reptiles are cryptic and others boldly coloured. You will be absorbed while watching their measured movements as they plod along and marvel at their methods of deception as their colours transform, sometimes before your very eyes.
The bird life has many unique and enigmatic members as well. Some of my favourites from my last trip are members of the island’s endemic families, including the peculiarly diverse vangas, such as the Sickle-billed Vanga, the distinctive ground-rollers, including the “road-runner’s doppelganger” – the Long-tailed Ground-roller – and the unique fleshy-faced asities (pronounced “assitees”), such as colourful Yellow-bellied Sunbird-Asity.
As we explore many wonderful habitats looking for all these creatures, we discover exciting locations with unique vegetation such as the dry spiny forests with its bulging baobab trees, moist tropical rainforest with elegant tree ferns and even stark desert terrain with the feathery and fire-resistant Madagascar Palm.
The exceptional and scenic landforms we encounter will also enthrall you. We will visit pristine beaches, plateaus with rolling foothills below and rocky upland terrain.
Madagascar is truly a world apart and I would love to share a “Mad” adventure with you! Click here to read about the upcoming tour, see more photos and request a detailed itinerary.
