Things to Do in Madagascar

Quick facts: Some baobabs are over 800 years old and have enormous trunks that can hold up to 120,000 liters of water. Most of these giants grow up to 30 meters tall, and during the dry season they shed their leaves and look as if they are growing with their roots pointing upward.

Highlights: At sunset the trees turn into silhouettes against the orange sky, creating a scene as if painted by Salvador Dali himself. During the full moon, honey lemurs come out of the forest to feed on the baobab flowers, a rare and magical sight.

Quick facts: This 81,500-hectare park in southern Madagascar was formed about 200 million years ago, when the sandstones took on their present shape. Each year it is visited by around 50,000 travelers, who are attracted by the breathtaking canyons, natural pools, and endemic plant species.

Highlights: The park is home to the ring-tailed lemur, which in the wild is found only in Madagascar, and you often encounter its groups while walking through the canyons. In the heart of the park lies a natural pool named Piscine Naturelle, where you can refresh yourself in crystal-clear water in the middle of the dry savanna landscape.

Quick facts: It lies off the northwestern coast of Madagascar and is known for its ylang-ylang plantations, which give the island a sweet scent of tropical roses. Every year it attracts more than 120,000 visitors, who come for the lemurs, humpback whales, and breathtaking beaches.

Highlights: In the bay of the Nosy Be island, more than 7,000 humpback whales gather between June and September, one of the largest concentrations on the planet. Local fishermen can bring a boat among them almost silently, so you hear the breathing of a 15-meter giant barely ten meters away.

Quick facts: The largest lemur in the world lives here, the indri, whose deafening morning songs can be heard more than three kilometers away. The park protects one of the last patches of lowland rainforest in Madagascar, where more than 100 species of orchids have been discovered.

Highlights: Before sunrise, a surreal choir of indris echoes through the forest, which locals describe as the songs of ancestral spirits. Scientists have discovered that these lemur songs serve to mark territory and have been passed down among families for many generations.

Quick facts: The park covers 157,000 hectares of limestone rock formations shaped by underground rivers over millions of years. Eleven species of lemurs live here, including the rare white lemur, which you can find only in this area.

Highlights: In the park there are conical limestone needles up to 120 meters high, between which hang suspension bridges that sway as much as 60 meters above the ground. Beneath the surface hides a network of caves and underground rivers where the blind fish Typhleotris madagascariensis lives.

Quick facts: More than 60 lemurs of seven different species live here, freely jumping around the 5 hectares of forest. The founders opened the park in 2000 with the aim of protecting these endangered animals from the loss of their natural habitat.

Highlights: Visitors can feed the lemurs right from their hand, as the animals are completely accustomed to human presence. A special feeling is when a black-and-white ruffed lemur jumps onto your shoulder while you feed it a piece of banana.

Quick facts: Every day more than 10,000 sellers and buyers meet here, creating a lively trading hub in the middle of Antananarivo. The market has been operating since 1932 and offers everything from fresh spices to handcrafted wooden masks.

Highlights: Under huge canvas canopies stretched right across the main street, sellers display felted textiles and unique items made from zebu horn. Climb the nearby steps of Place de l'Indépendance, from where the whole market is visible as a colorful mosaic of bright roofs and bustling people.

Quick facts: In Ifaty Bay lies one of the largest coral reefs in the southwestern Indian Ocean, stretching more than 20 kilometers along the coast. More than 130 species of coral and almost 500 species of fish live in the surrounding waters, and humpback whales also linger here during the season.

Highlights: When you walk along the beach at low tide, you can observe colorful sea stars and small octopuses in the shallows, hiding among the rocky pools. Right here, among the mangroves and dunes, lives the rare Verreaux's sifaka, a species of lemur found only in Madagascar.

Quick facts: This rainforest in southeastern Madagascar is home to more than 12 species of lemurs, including the rare bamboo lemur. In 1990 it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, as it hides incredible biodiversity with over a hundred endemic species of plants and animals.

Highlights: In 1986 scientists discovered here a completely new species of mammal, the golden bamboo lemur, which nobody had known until then. Its main diet contains enough cyanide to kill most other animals, and the lemur digests it without difficulty.