Know Before You Go: Madagascar Tours

People think of Africa, the land of big animal. But when you are in Madagascar, forget all of those things. Madagascar is a land of small creature. From the Yindri to Sifaka, the brown lemur, the bamboo lemurs, and all those small creatures active at night. This weird looking insect like giraffe necked weevil, and so many different things. The reason people come here is because we have such a high level of endemic spaces. Nowhere else on earth you can see it. And what I like the most is showing the people the uniqueness of the biodiversity. Those are the great moments for me, like watching the lemurs with a baby going a little bit away from man and then exploring the surrounding area and back to man. Guests go crazy. We're unable to watch some of the chameleon. You struggle to find it because they stay still, they pick up the color of the leaves, and then you show the guests, look at this chameleon, and the guests say like, where? This? That's a great moment also. But just walking in the forest is my favorite part. Walking in the forest has really given me a time of a release. My dad used to be a guide. The rainforest is like coming back to in my child time, wandering around in the forest with my dad. In the forest, I feel peaceful. I feel free. Empty. Having an empty mind walking in the forest and forget all the problem of life. The main threat for the animal for the biodiversity in Madagascar is the habitat loss. Ninety percent of our forest has gone due to slash and burn. The slash and burn agriculture is still one of our traditional way of growing rice. I wish that we could bring back all of the things like it used to be. But now we have hope. The best way for Madagascar, we can base part of our economy in tourism because everything we have is unique. Our guests, they come to Madagascar because we have such a high level of endemicism. Biodiversity is so amazing here. We have in Madagascar so many variety of landscape as well. In all the place where you go, there are still a big block of forest. That area is protected and the government open for tourists. The local people, they are conscious of because of this forest, we make money, so let's preserve this area. To be a guide is actually a privilege. As being a guide, you also act as ambassador of the country. It means something big for me being wild. Seeing the green world is something very important. Like me being in the forest is kind of like building up the energy, building up the law. I say it all the time, my office is the forest. I think I'm already living my dream.