Landscapes of Madagascar

Unrivaled diversity in one single country.
Madagascar combines quite different climatic zones on one island: in the highlands, it is rather Mediterranean, the east coast hosts evergreen rainforest and the south and west are hot and dry. Accordingly, completely different images characterize the landscape. While baobabs are the lonely rulers of the savannahs and thorn forests in the south, the east coast is blooming and green. Mighty rainforests with ancient trees and an abundance of fascinating plants cast a spell over us, bubbling waterfalls and streams ensure ever-moist soil and constant plant growth. The north holds dream islands with white sandy beaches under palm trees. East and west are separated by a mountain massif, where old volcanic craters filled with lakes can be found, reaching heights of up to 2876 meters. In the central highlands of Madagascar, the endless rice terraces dominate the landscape. A special feature of Madagascar is the Tsingys, needle-pointed rock seas, which exist in various corners of the country. Madagascar thus offers in a single country such a wide variety of landscapes that hardly any other country on earth can keep up.

Intense colors, untouched natural paradises, and a unique rainforest panorama – this is what we love about Madagascar, what inspires us, and what we want to show our guests on the red island.

Madagascar’s people

Diversity of cultures and traditions.
Madagascar has about 27 million inhabitants. They belong to 18 ethnic tribes that speak as many dialects of Malagasy. One thing they all have in common is a great fondness for rice. With 120 kg per person per year, Madagascar is the world leader in rice consumption – only Vietnam is ahead of it. And there is another thing that the majority of the Malagasy population shares: poverty. On average, people here live on less than one Euro a day, and many lack the most basic necessities. Nevertheless, hospitality and cordiality are very important in Madagascar. Wherever you go, you are greeted with a smile.

The life mantra of the Madagascans is Mora mora, which means as much as “Take it easy”. One is never in a hurry, time rarely plays a role. Here the clocks still go quite differently in the truest sense of the word. Traditional fady (taboos) and ancestor worship play a major role in Malagasy society. They are good luck charms, fate enforcers, and guideposts in life, which is often not easy on the island.

On our trips we dive into the Malagasy culture, get to know the different tribes and their peculiarities and experience the country and its people up close. It is very important to us to offer you as our guest no show tourism reminiscent of colonial times but to experience the real Madagascar with you. Get involved with the island in the Indian Ocean and you can be sure that everything you give, you will get back a hundredfold. And forget comparisons with Botswana, Zambia, and Tanzania – Madagascar is “the other Africa”.

Madagascar’s reptiles

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Diversity that is unique in the world.
Madagascar is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, not least because of its variety of reptiles found only here. The most famous among them are the chameleons, of which almost half of all known species worldwide exist only on Madagascar. Incidentally, they cannot match their color to the background, but use color change to communicate. A female can use it to signal to a male ready to mate that she is already pregnant. Males use their colors to impress opponents. Chameleons aren’t just little color wonders, though. Their slinging tongue can shoot out of their mouths at an acceleration of 500 m/sec, and their eyes provide a field of vision of an impressive 342 degrees. In addition to chameleons, however, Madagascar is home to many other unique reptiles. The island is home to the rarest turtle in the world, the beaked-breasted turtle or Angonoka. Only fewer than 200 sexually mature turtles of this species remain in the wild. For comparison, giant pandas are still around 1600 in Asia, of the Bengal tiger still over 2300 animals.

Slightly less rare, but no less threatened are Radiated, flat-tailed and spider tortoises. Even in hotels and bungalows, on the other hand, you can find many species of day geckos. With their little lamellar feet, the mostly neon green animals can move along trees and house walls or walk upside down on the ceiling. Nocturnal representatives of the geckos are the leaf-tailed geckos, which camouflage themselves during the day flat against thin tree trunks or pressed into leaves. Their colors are perfectly adapted to their environment, and in some species, the body outline is optically almost completely dissolved by skin appendages. This makes it all the more difficult to find these small camouflage artists in the forest. Also at home in the forest, but much more curious and diurnal are the plated lizards. They are easily confused with skinks, of which Madagascar is home to a number of species. In terms of iguanas, Madagascar has a few species that remain small and even form their own family, the Madagascar iguanas.

There are no dangerous poisonous snakes on Madagascar. Instead, harmless but all the more beautiful Malagasy Tree Boas and the up to three meters long Madagascar boas cavort on the island. They feed mainly on small mammals. Some snake species, such as the ubiquitous hognose snake, prefer eggs and still others even birds and small lemurs. The leaf-nosed snake is known for its whimsical nasal process, which is lance-shaped in males and leaf-shaped in females. Unfortunately, snakes still cause fear and discomfort in many people – but on our travels, everyone has succumbed to their fascination so far. We are sure that we can inspire you for the small and big reptiles of Madagascar.

Madagascar’s amphibians

Diversity in an amphibian mecca.
Madagascar is the amphibian paradise par excellence. In particular, the rainforests along the east coast offer a wealth of different frog species to observe and discover. Nearly 4% of the world’s amphibian fauna is found on the island. During the rainy season, the croaking, chirping, and chirping of mating males can be heard far and wide, forming the typical evening soundscape of the rainforest. The largest frog family on the island are the so-called Madagascar frogs. They include the golden frog and other colorful representatives of the Mantella. They look very similar to the poison dart frogs of South America, but are not related to them and are completely harmless to humans. Also included in the Madagascar frogs is the genus Boophis, with an enormous variety of species representatives both large and small. Also worth mentioning are the masterfully camouflaged narrow-mouthed frogs and the very small but brightly colored Heterixalus species. The tomato frog, known through keeping in terrariums and many zoos, also originally lives only on Madagascar.

In recent years alone, over a hundred new species of frogs have been described in Madagascar and many more are still waiting to be discovered. With our team of experts and specialists, we will find almost every frog on the island and bring you closer to the exciting world of amphibians with a lot of fun. And who knows, maybe you will discover a new species on your journey?

Madagascar’s lemurs

The world’s most diverse monkeys.
Lemurs belong to the wet-nosed monkeys and are found only in Madagascar. According to legend, the souls of deceased people live on in many lemurs, which is where their name comes from. Lemures is Latin and means something like “spirits of the ancestors”. The different species of lemurs are as diverse as the ancestors: about one hundred are currently described. They range from the smallest primate in the world, Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, with barely 30 grams live weight, to the largest and most impressive lemur on the island, the Indri, weighing up to 10 kg, with its magical songs that can be heard for miles. Lemurs have conquered a wide variety of habitats on Madagascar and can be found in spiny forests among baobabs and prickly cacti as well as in evergreen rainforests. However, all lemurs, as different as they may be, have one thing in common: the females always set the tone in the group. Many species have a sophisticated diet consisting of tens of different types of leaves and fruits.

There are diurnal species like bamboo lemurs and nocturnal species like the Aye-Aye, which uses its extended middle finger to tap tree trunks for insect treats. As cute as lemurs are, they are endangered in their own homeland. Many species, including all sifakas, are threatened with extinction and are found only in tiny areas with scattered populations. People keep these cute animals illegally as pets, although this is strictly prohibited. Others make a living from bushmeat, which remains popular in many areas of Madagascar. The biggest threat to the lemurs, however, is their dwindling habitat.

Nature-friendly, gentle ecotourism is the last chance for Madagascar’s lemurs. This is exactly where we would like to start and not visit zoos with you, but look for and observe the animals in their real, natural habitat. Become an ambassador for the protection of species on Madagascar and get to know the many wild lemurs of the red island with Tanalahorizon. We are looking forward to it!

Madagascar’s Flora

Endemic, lush, diverse.
Madagascar is not only a paradise for animal lovers, but plant lovers will not miss out on the eighth continent. The country is home to an estimated 14,000 or so different plant species. Around 1000 of these are orchids, which include the famous Darwin’s Orchid. Their large, star-shaped flowers with the spur up to 45 cm long puzzled researchers for centuries. Darwin himself was the first to suggest that there must be a butterfly with a suitably long proboscis to go with this orchid. Colleagues at the time mocked him, but in fact, there is exactly this insect, photographed for the first time in 1997.

Madagascar is home to seven of the world’s eight baobab species. The mighty trees are found throughout the island. Six of the seven baobab species are found on Madagascar and are threatened with extinction. Also famous even outside the island is the traveler’s tree or ravenala. It provides shelter from the rain with leaves, its trunks and leaves can be used to build huts and roofs, the thirsty can quench his thirst on it and the seeds can eat the hungry.

Especially in the south and west of Madagascar, quite different plants have adapted to their particular habitat: A variety of Didiereaceae, aloes, and Pachypodiums provide whimsical growth, bizarre plant shapes, and a wide variety of water storage, which is vital in the south. Madagascar’s plant diversity is so enormous that it is probably impossible to experience it all comprehensively even on several trips.

About Madagascar

More about the country, people and culture

Since 2014, our MadaMagazine exists, a platform for all kinds of articles around Madagascar, its people, its animals, landscapes and sights worth seeing. Naturally, you also get informations there concerning your journey there, flights and tips about health care on the big island. On a regular basis, we add new articles. By and by, we hope that MadaMagazine will develop to the largest free online encyclopedia for Madagascar travelers. An ambitious goal, but we indeed hope to awake the desire to travel to one of the most beautiful and diversest country of the Earth in as much people as possible. MadaMagazine is responsive and can be viewed by any devices, by Android smartphone as well as by iMac, without any problems.


Curious now? Then let’s visit MadaMagazine!