THE SPLENDID BAOBAB AND THE TSINGY
The famous “Baobab Avenue” and “the Tsingy de Bemaraha” are on the must see list of Madagascar. The spectacular mineral forest of the Tsingy de Bemaraha stands on the western coast of Madagascar. Tsingy is the Malagasy word for “walking on tiptoes” and the nearly impenetrable labyrinth of limestone needles justifies this name. The whole protected area, designated a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1990, comprises a surface of 1.575 km². This remote area was not a tourist trek site until 1998, when the southern part (723 km²) was declared a National Park. The northern section is an Integral Reserve so tourists are not allowed to enter the zone. The reserve’s canyons, gorges, undisturbed forests, lakes and mangrove swamps display an astonishing richness of fauna and flora which have not been completely recorded.