Madagascar lies off the South East coast of Africa, an island
that broke away from the mainland 160 million years ago. Its
isolation created a unique biodiversity with thousands of plants
and animals that are endemic. The recently discovered Tahina
Spectabilis palm, a previously unknown genus entirely new to
science, flowers once in its life with an inflorescence so
spectacular that it can be seen from space by Google Earth.
Seven of the world’s eight species of Baobabs are found in
Madagascar; over one thousand species of orchids; some of the
world’s rarest birds; eighty six species of lemurs including the
Aye-Aye and the Indri with its haunting cry in the early morning
and evening as its marks its territory in the forest canopy.
Madagascar is also home to rare Ploughshare tortoises, five
species of sea turtles, giant jumping rats, the Madagascar
flying fox, the long tailed shrew Tenrec which looks and behaves
like a small arboreal mouse; the Fossa, which in appearance and
behaviour resembles a cat, 138 spec