Our adventure began in Antananarivo (Tana for short), the capital of Madagascar, after two days of flights from Colorado. At the airport we were met by Hery (short for Lantohery Andrianantenaina), our exceptional guide for nearly two weeks. After a quick night in the city we immediately set out for the countryside. Over the next 11 days we explored many national parks (Andasibe-Mantadia, Ranomafana, Isalo, Zombise, among others), visited many towns and villages, and traversed never-ending treacherous roads. We also had the truly unique opportunity to spend an afternoon with Patricia Wright the head of the Centre ValBio, a world renowned biological research center founded by Dr Wright after she discovered a new species of lemur in 1986 and helped establish Ranomafana as a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had the privilege of meeting her through fellow scientists at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which included a young intern from Madagascar who is studying for her PhD.
Madagascar is listed as one of the 5 poorest countries in the world and depends enormously on revenue from a small but vibrant tourism industry along with rice farming and raising cattle. Humans, likely from the Malay Archipelago, first visited and settled on the island somewhere between 500 BCE and 200 BCE, and at that time 95% of the island was covered in rainforests. Over the centuries, humans have cleared nearly all the forests, with only about 5% remaining, all of which are now protected as national parks or other reserves. Arab traders and African settlers arrived in the past 10,000 – 13,000 years, South Indian merchants arrived in the 11th century and introduced the Indian zebu. Around the same time rice farming was introduced. Europeans, primarily the Portuguese, arrived in the 16th century. By the 17th century rice paddies and zebu ranch land had overtaken most of the country. France invaded the country on 1883 and claimed it as a colony in 1890. Independence was finally achieved in 1956. Today the official languages are Malagasy and French.
