PERFECT ISLANDS
MADAGASCAR
OPOPULATION 24 million
OSIZE 224,534 square miles
For all the high drama of the
African savannah – from roaring
lions to thundering wildebeest
migrations – there is no African
destination with weirder, more
consistently wondrous wildlife
than Madagascar. The island
detached from the mainland
some 160 million years ago
and ever since has set about
perfecting some of the planet’s
most distinct and sublime
natural spectacles, from
strangely bulbous baobab trees
to chameleons the size of your
fingernail. The headline
attraction, however, is of course
the lemurs. For an easyintroduction to this
extraordinary family of
primates, make for Andasibe-
Mantadia National Park: two
swathes of rainforest 60 miles
east of the capital Antananarivo.
Keep your eyes peeled to spot
sifakas (pictured) – lemurs that
skip sideways along the forest
floor – while simultaneously
keeping your ears tuned to catch
the call of the indri, a lemur
close to extinction, whose song
sounds like a police siren.
OGETTING THERE It's best to start
your journey in Singapore to fly on
Singapore Airlines to Johannesberg
before flying South African Airways
to Antananarivo (from US$314;
flysaa.com).Best for Nature