The world's fourth largest island Madagascar is any nature lovers dream come true. Apart from having un-crowded beaches, beautiful scenery and tropical islands, Madagascar also has a host of exotic species, flora and fauna that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Although Madagascar has so much to offer a tourist, it is comparatively a poor country and has a very unstable government. The infrastructure is not so developed and a traveler can experience problems in getting quality accommodations, food etc.
Species found at Madagascar
Madagascar has the world's most exotic creatures and what's more, scientists claim to discover newer species every year! Madagascar has more than 500 different kinds of frogs and above 45 different kinds of Lemurs. Some species that can be found at Madagascar are Land crab, Giant Landsnails, Three-eyed lizard, Northern Banded Mongooses, Paradise Flycatcher, Scops Owl, Panther Chameleon, Leaf-tail Gecko, Day Gecko, Crowned Lemur, Pushmi Pullu, Lepilemur great bamboo lemur, dwarf MICROCEBUS, lemur CATTA, lemur SIFAKA, INDRI, and AYE AYE.
Apart from this Madagascar has more than 10,000 different varieties of flora and fauna.
When to Visit Madagascar?
The best months to visit Madagascar would be from April to October. Madagascar is quite hot during the summer months of November to March and experiences some wide climatic changes.
Popular Tourist attractions
Some of the most popular Madagascar tourist attractions are as follows.
Antananarivo
Antananarivo is Madagascar's capital city and sits in a slanting valley near the Island center. This city also has colorful flower market and botanical as well as zoological gardens that feature rare and exotic plant and animal species. Some of the popular hotels in Antananarivo include Hilton Madagascar, Hotel Colbert, Ibis Antananarivo and the De France Hotel.
Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
This National Park is the home of Indris which is the largest species in the Lemur family. The park also features some beautiful birds, orchids and other species.
Antsirabe
Antsirabe has some old volcanic carter lakes and old thermal spas that are well worth seeing. This place also has some stone cutting facilities known as lapidaries.
Canal Des Pangalanes
The Canal Des Pangalanes was constructed by the French colonists and connects a number of lakes and rivers along the eastern shore of Madagascar. The Canal site also features lush vegetation that include vanilla plants, coconut and cinnamon trees. Some luxurious beachhuts are also available for tourists in this area.
Masoala Peninsula
The Masoala peninsula features unaltered exotic rain forests. Most parts of this peninsula are now protected by the Masoala National Park
Tulear
Tulear is a port town and offers the tourists with some excellent diving and snorkeling opportunities. There is also a small cultural museum here.
Toamasina
Toamasina is another port town that has some old colonial buildings and old ruins. This region was a former enclave for pirates.
Nosy Be
Nosy Be is Madagascar's only resort area that has relatively un-crowded sandy beaches and exotic scenery. This place also offers some great diving and snorkeling opportunities.
Apart from these other Madagascar tourist attractions include, Taolagnaro, Antsiranana, Nosy Boraha, Nosy Mangabe, Fianarantsoa, Ihosy and Mahajanga If you are planning to visit Madagascar, the best thing to do would be to take advice from a travel agency and plan your trip accordingly.
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