Madagascar & East Africa

Three weeks in Madagascar on my own, covering mainly National Parks driving south from Tana along the RN7 main highway, followed by 4 weeks on another Tucan trip in East Africa - "Gorillas and Zanzibar": http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/overview/gorillas-and-zanzibar/fgz/?wl= Some background info on Madagascar: Madagascar was once part of the Gondwana supercontinent that covered much of the southern hemisphere. This began to break up about 200 million years ago when dinosaurs still ruled the earth, eventually breaking up into the current continents over the next 100 million years and leaving Madagascar isolated off the coast of Africa. This isolation allowed the fauna and flora to develop in complete isolation and now, over 80% of its plant and animal species are found nowhere else on Earth, most famously its lemurs. Most of this wildlife arrived from Africa on floating rafts of vegetation after Madagascar became isolated; much probably did not survive the crossing and many of Africa's most common land mammals are absent in Madagascar - the are no herds of grazing animals, no large carnivores like cats or dogs, and no great apes or monkeys. It is also said that if Charles Darwin visited Madagascar instead of the Galapagos Islands, he still would have arrived at his theory of evolution. Man first arrived in Madagascar about 2,000 years ago. Since that time, over 90% of the original forest cover has been destroyed and numerous animal species have become extinct - only recently, the island has inhabited by lemurs as large as gorillas and a 3m tall flightless elephant bird that was the largest bird that ever lived. Until the late 18th century, Madagascar was populated by various tribal groups. However, beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of nobles (Andriana) of the Merina ethnic group. The monarchy collapsed when the island was conquered and absorbed into the French colonial empire in 1896, from which the island gained independence in 1960. Under the previous government of former President Marc Ravalomanana, large-scale conservation measures tied to ecotourism were implemented. However, since a military coup in 2009, the rape of Madagascar's resources began again - a major increase in illegal logging, eg. rosewood for the Chinese market, mineral extraction, eg. sapphires to Asia, and the poaching of endangered species for the illegal pet trade or bushmeat. The coup and current government is not recognised by the international community and all international aid has been stopped. Madagascar is about two and a half times the area of the UK. There are pcokets of protected National Parks and Reserves dotted around the country, I would be visiting some of the main ones during my three weeks here. In 2010, the population was estimated at around 20 million, 85% of whom live on less than $2 a day. The people are referred to as Malagasy. Malagasy is the national language and is spoken in various forms by the vast majority of the population. The other official language is French.

Planned Dates

Sep 23, 2011 to Nov 10, 2011

Countries

4