Madagascar

Thoroughly updated 14th edition – the leading and most detailed guidebook to this unique African island nation.

Written by two established Madagascar experts – Hilary Bradt, who first visited in 1976 and has returned roughly 35 times, and Daniel Austin, who has visited 30 times across 20 years – this comprehensive guide captures a place like nowhere else on Earth. The world's oldest and fourth-largest island, Madagascar is fascinating across every dimension: zoologically, botanically, culturally, linguistically, historically and geologically. Evolution has transformed it into an unparalleled biodiversity hotspot, with four-fifths of its flora and fauna found nowhere else on the planet. More than a fifth of the world's primate species exist only here, and Madagascar is the sole country to harbour wild lemurs.

From tropical rainforests teeming with remarkable animals and plants (including a thousand species of orchid) to otherworldly eroded limestone spires at Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, beach-fringed islands around Nosy Be, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ambohimanga, this guide covers itineraries to suit all interests and budgets. Discover the renowned Avenue des Baobabs, explore the best birdwatching spots (the "eighth continent" hosts almost 300 avian species), and find detailed information on national parks, protected areas, around a thousand hotels and restaurants, and a host of adventuring possibilities including surfing, rock climbing, caving, mountain biking and hiking.

Celebrating Madagascar's cultural richness, this guide explores the world's only truly Afro-Asian nation – geographically African yet with an indigenous population primarily from present-day Indonesia, having emerged from French colonial rule as recently as 1960. Madagascar truly is 'a world apart'.