Afrinkong
Nature & Landscapes
Six Ecosystems on One Island
Rainforest east, highlands centre, spiny forest south, dry deciduous west, and reef all round.
Islands · Afrinkong
Madagascar
An island that evolved alone.
Separated from Africa 160 million years ago, with ninety per cent of its wildlife found nowhere else — lemurs, baobabs, the spiny forest of the south, and rainforest along the eastern escarpment.
Where it is
Africa · Islands · Madagascar
The land in brief
- Spans
- 800 km E–W, 1,510 km N–S
- Latitude
- 12°S to 26°S
- Borders
- None — it is an island
- Nearest land
- about 390 km
- Best time
- After the cyclone season, April to November, with whales in July and August.
Also in the islands
Cabo VerdeTen islands, and the mornaComorosAn active volcano, and the fish that came back from the deadMauritiusReef, sugar and the volcanic interiorSao Tome and PrincipeTwo volcanic islands and a lot of cocoaSeychellesGranite islands in the Indian Ocean
Compare Madagascar with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
After the cyclone season, April to November, with whales in July and August.
01Highlights
What Madagascar is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Nature & Landscapes
Wildlife
A Hundred Kinds of Lemur
A hundred and seven species and subspecies of lemur, every one of them endemic.
The Highlands and Maromokotro
The central highlands run to two thousand metres; Maromokotro reaches 2,876 in the Tsaratanana.
Nosy Be and the East Coast
Reef, whale sharks and humpbacks off Nosy Be, and long empty sand on the east coast.
Rainforest and Spiny Forest
Andasibe and Ranomafana in the east, and the spiny forest of the south which is like nowhere.
Malagasy, and Eighteen Peoples
One language across the island, of Austronesian origin, and eighteen distinct peoples speaking it.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Madagascar with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- Six Ecosystems on One IslandRainforest east, highlands centre, spiny forest south, dry deciduous west, and reef all round.
- The Highlands and MaromokotroThe central highlands run to two thousand metres; Maromokotro reaches 2,876 in the Tsaratanana.
- The Eastern EscarpmentShort, steep rivers off the escarpment, and waterfalls through the rainforest at Andasibe.
- The TsiribihinaThree days downriver by pirogue through country with no road in it.
- Nosy Be and the East CoastReef, whale sharks and humpbacks off Nosy Be, and long empty sand on the east coast.
- Rainforest and Spiny ForestAndasibe and Ranomafana in the east, and the spiny forest of the south which is like nowhere.
Wildlife
- A Hundred Kinds of LemurA hundred and seven species and subspecies of lemur, every one of them endemic.
- Not a Safari IslandNo lions and no elephant — the wildlife here is small, nocturnal, and worth the torchlight.
- The Reason to Come CarefullyDeforestation is the country's crisis, and the parks that work are the ones the villages run.
- Trek, Paddle, DiveRainforest trekking, the Tsiribihina by pirogue, and reef diving off Nosy Be.
People and culture
- Malagasy, and Eighteen PeoplesOne language across the island, of Austronesian origin, and eighteen distinct peoples speaking it.
- Famadihana and the AncestorsThe ancestors are present here in a way that shapes the calendar and the architecture.
- Hira Gasy and DoniaHira gasy troupes in the highlands, and the Donia festival on Nosy Be in June.
- Silk, Raffia and ZafimaniryWild silk lambas, raffia work, and the Zafimaniry woodcarving of the south-east.
- Romazava and RiceRice three times a day, and romazava — beef and greens — with it.
- Slow, and Worth ItRoads are slow and distances are long — but the children will hold a chameleon.
- The Zebu MarketZebu cattle are wealth here, and the markets that trade them are the real calendar.
Places
- AntananarivoA capital built up twelve hills, with stairs instead of streets in half of it.
- Highland BrickTwo-storey red brick with a wooden balcony, and nothing else in Africa looks like it.
- The Rova and the Royal HillsAmbohimanga, the royal hill of the Merina kings above Antananarivo.
- Pirates and KingdomsÎle Sainte-Marie's pirate cemetery, and the Merina kingdom that unified the island.
Ways to travel
- The RN7 and the TsingyThe road south through the highlands, and the limestone tsingy you cross on via ferrata.
- Small LodgesOwner-run lodges at the park gates, and beach places on Nosy Be with a dozen rooms.
- Baobabs at SixThe avenue at Morondava for twenty minutes at either end of the day, and nothing else like it.
- MasoalaThe largest protected rainforest in the country, reached by boat, with whales in the bay.
03Why go
The case for Madagascar.
Why Visit This Country
Nowhere Else
Lemurs, baobabs, tsingy, spiny forest — none of it exists anywhere else on earth.
Hidden Gems
Masoala
The largest protected rainforest in the country, reached by boat, with whales in the bay.
Eco Tourism
The Reason to Come Carefully
Deforestation is the country's crisis, and the parks that work are the ones the villages run.
Heritage
Pirates and Kingdoms
Île Sainte-Marie's pirate cemetery, and the Merina kingdom that unified the island.
04Go deeper
All of Madagascar, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Madagascar starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.