Qualla: Madagascar https://qualla.com/madagascar en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:02 GMT Qualla episodic false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Madagascar https://qualla.com/madagascar Fenambosy Chevron https://qualla.com/fenambosy-chevron/ Photo credit Diliff, Papa Lima Whiskey (edit), CC BY-SA 3.0. A vast arrowhead of sediment on Madagascar's tip that some scientists read as the scar of an ancient ocean-spanning wave, and others read as nothing more dramatic than wind.

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Image: Diliff, Papa Lima Whiskey (edit) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/x/3/fenambosy-chevron-wp/kgx3-fenambosy-chevron-combined.mp3 4:12 full Madagascar Spiny Forests https://qualla.com/madagascar-spiny-forests/ Photo credit Ghislain Vieilledent, Clovis Grinand, Fety A. Rakotomalala, RijaRanaivosoa, Jean-Roger Rakotoarijaona, Thomas F. Allnutt and Frédéric Achard, CC BY-SA 4.0. A thorned, alien-looking wilderness in Madagascar's parched southwest where almost every plant grows nowhere else on Earth, and the trees only pretend to be cacti.

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Image: Ghislain Vieilledent, Clovis Grinand, Fety A. Rakotomalala, RijaRanaivosoa, Jean-Roger Rakotoarijaona, Thomas F. Allnutt and Frédéric Achard | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/x/6/madagascar-spiny-forests-wp/kgx6-madagascar-spiny-forests-combined.mp3 4:24 full Mikea Forest https://qualla.com/mikea-forest/ One of Madagascar's last great unbroken forests, home to the Mikea people, who learned to draw drinking water from a yam, and to creatures found nowhere else.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/y/z/mikea-forest-wp/kgyz-mikea-forest-combined.mp3 4:26 full Saint Augustin, Madagascar https://qualla.com/saint-augustin-madagascar/ Photo credit JM Lebigre, CC BY-SA 3.0. A sheltered bay at the mouth of the Onilahy River where a 1645 English colony starved within a year, then became a pirate haven, and today survives on fishing and outrigger canoes.

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Image: JM Lebigre | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/4/saint-augustin-madagascar-wp/kgz4-saint-augustin-madagascar-combined.mp3 4:32 full Ifaty https://qualla.com/ifaty/ Photo credit ZcarstvnzAuthor of original photo: Smiley.toerist, CC BY-SA 4.0. A pair of former fishing villages on Madagascar's Baie de Ranobe, where octopus trees and squat baobabs crowd a spiny forest behind beaches that front one of the longest coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean.

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Image: ZcarstvnzAuthor of original photo: Smiley.toerist | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/h/ifaty-wk/kgzh-ifaty-combined.mp3 4:36 full Analavelona https://qualla.com/analavelona/ A green island of cloud-fed forest rising from the arid plains of southwestern Madagascar, held sacred by the Bara people and home to lemurs, endemic plants, and a bird found almost nowhere else.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/q/analavelona-wp/kgzq-analavelona-combined.mp3 4:38 full Aloalo https://qualla.com/aloalo/ Photo credit Lemurbaby, CC BY-SA 3.0. The carved funerary posts of the Mahafaly people of southwestern Madagascar, where the word for the sculpture means 'messenger' - a wooden intermediary meant to carry the dead into the community of ancestors.

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Image: Lemurbaby | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/s/aloalo-wp/kgzs-aloalo-combined.mp3 4:25 full Tsiribihina River https://qualla.com/tsiribihina-river/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. Western Madagascar's classic three-day river journey, where dugout pirogues drift past limestone gorges, Sakalava villages, and one of the island's last great congregations of waterbirds.

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/u/r/w/tsiribihina-river-wp/kurw-tsiribihina-river-combined.mp3 4:28 full Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park https://qualla.com/tsingy-de-bemaraha-national-park/ Photo credit Jesse Allen, Public domain. A forest of razor-sharp limestone needles in western Madagascar so impassable its name means 'where one cannot walk barefoot' - a UNESCO World Heritage maze where lemurs leap between blades of stone.

Read more: Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park on Qualla

Image: Jesse Allen | Public domain

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/u/x/u/tsingy-de-bemaraha-national-park-wp/kuxu-tsingy-de-bemaraha-national-park-combined.mp3 4:53 full Mandena Mine https://qualla.com/mandena-mine/ Photo credit John McConnell (flag designer)NASA (Earth photograph)SiBr4 (flag image), Public domain. A Rio Tinto ilmenite mine carved into one of Earth's rarest forests near Fort Dauphin, where promises of protection gave way to contaminated water and years of dispute with the Antanosy who live downstream.

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Image: John McConnell (flag designer)NASA (Earth photograph)SiBr4 (flag image) | Public domain

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/9/3/mandena-mine-wp/m593-mandena-mine-combined.mp3 4:59 full Taolagnaro https://qualla.com/taolagnaro/ France's oldest foothold in Madagascar, where a doomed 17th-century fort gave way to a remote modern town hemmed by mountains, lemur reserves, and an ilmenite mine.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/9/3/taolagnaro-wk/m593-taolagnaro-combined.mp3 4:33 full Andohahela National Park https://qualla.com/andohahela-national-park/ Photo credit Masindrano, CC BY-SA 3.0. A UNESCO-listed park in Madagascar's deep south where dripping rainforest, transitional woodland, and bizarre spiny desert collide within a single mountain range, sheltering ring-tailed lemurs and the last wild triangle palms.

Read more: Andohahela National Park on Qualla

Image: Masindrano | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/9/5/andohahela-national-park-wp/m595-andohahela-national-park-combined.mp3 4:31 full Tsitongambarika https://qualla.com/tsitongambarika/ Photo credit TheentomologistSYW, CC BY-SA 4.0. The last great low-altitude rainforest in southern Madagascar, a ridge of ridges north of Fort-Dauphin where species new to science still turn up and where the forest and the people who depend on it are running out of time.

Read more: Tsitongambarika on Qualla

Image: TheentomologistSYW | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/9/7/tsitongambarika-wp/m597-tsitongambarika-combined.mp3 4:35 full Sainte Luce Reserve https://qualla.com/sainte-luce-reserve/ Photo credit Maky (Alex Dunkel), CC BY-SA 3.0. A sliver of intact coastal rainforest in Madagascar's far southeast, where a lemur found nowhere else clings on between the Indian Ocean and the bulldozers of a titanium mine.

Read more: Sainte Luce Reserve on Qualla

Image: Maky (Alex Dunkel) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/9/d/sainte-luce-reserve-wp/m59d-sainte-luce-reserve-combined.mp3 4:13 full Canal des Pangalanes https://qualla.com/canal-des-pangalanes/ Photo credit Olivier Lejade, CC BY-SA 2.0. A 654-kilometer ribbon of stitched-together lagoons, rivers, and hand-dug channels running the length of Madagascar's east coast - a colonial engineering scheme that became a living waterway.

Read more: Canal des Pangalanes on Qualla

Image: Olivier Lejade | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/f/n/canal-des-pangalanes-wp/m5fn-canal-des-pangalanes-combined.mp3 4:07 full Isalo National Park https://qualla.com/isalo-national-park/ Photo credit Karen Coppock, CC BY 3.0. Madagascar's Colorado - a Jurassic sandstone massif eroded into canyons, ruin-like pinnacles, and hidden palm oases, where ring-tailed lemurs lounge beside cold natural pools.

Read more: Isalo National Park on Qualla

Image: Karen Coppock | CC BY 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/0/0/isalo-national-park-wp/mh00-isalo-national-park-combined.mp3 4:34 full Teniky https://qualla.com/teniky/ Photo credit Zanahary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Deep in the Isalo massif lie precise stone walls, terraces, and cliff niches unlike anything else in Madagascar - and a 2024 study argues their closest cousins are a thousand-year-old Zoroastrian tombs in Iran.

Read more: Teniky on Qualla

Image: Zanahary | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/0/1/teniky-wp/mh01-teniky-combined.mp3 4:38 full Makay Massif https://qualla.com/makay-massif/ A 4,000-square-kilometer labyrinth of Jurassic sandstone canyons in western Madagascar so impassable and unexplored that scientists call it a lost world - and keep finding species new to science inside it.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/0/n/makay-massif-wp/mh0n-makay-massif-combined.mp3 4:39 full Andringitra National Park https://qualla.com/andringitra-national-park/ Photo credit Chris, CC BY-SA 2.0. A granite massif in southern Madagascar where snow occasionally falls, the country's coldest temperatures are recorded, and the island's second-highest peak rewards a three-day climb.

Read more: Andringitra National Park on Qualla

Image: Chris | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/1/3/andringitra-national-park-wp/mh13-andringitra-national-park-combined.mp3 4:24 full Ambalavao https://qualla.com/ambalavao/ Photo credit Paolo Crosetto from Roma - Torino, Italia, CC BY-SA 2.0. A highland market town where thousands of zebu cattle change hands each week and paper has been pressed from tree bark with embedded flowers for centuries.

Read more: Ambalavao on Qualla

Image: Paolo Crosetto from Roma - Torino, Italia | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/1/7/ambalavao-wk/mh17-ambalavao-combined.mp3 4:14 full Anja Community Reserve https://qualla.com/anja-community-reserve/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. A tiny forest among giant boulders where villagers reversed a wildlife collapse and now protect Madagascar's densest gathering of ring-tailed lemurs.

Read more: Anja Community Reserve on Qualla

Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/1/7/anja-community-reserve-wp/mh17-anja-community-reserve-combined.mp3 4:18 full Fianarantsoa https://qualla.com/fianarantsoa/ A highland city whose name means "good education," built as a colonial capital over a conquered kingdom and now the cultural and wine heart of southern Madagascar.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/1/q/fianarantsoa-wp/mh1q-fianarantsoa-combined.mp3 4:21 full Ranomafana National Park https://qualla.com/ranomafana-national-park/ Photo credit Gripso banana prune, CC BY 3.0. A misty rainforest in eastern Madagascar where the discovery of a new lemur in 1986 sparked the creation of a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Read more: Ranomafana National Park on Qualla

Image: Gripso banana prune | CC BY 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/1/x/ranomafana-national-park-wk/mh1x-ranomafana-national-park-combined.mp3 4:18 full Ambositra https://qualla.com/ambositra/ Photo credit Lemurbaby, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the woodcarving capital of Madagascar's highlands, Zafimaniry artisans turn endemic timber into geometric patterns that UNESCO recognizes as a living heritage of humanity.

Read more: Ambositra on Qualla

Image: Lemurbaby | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/3/e/ambositra-wp/mh3e-ambositra-combined.mp3 4:57 full Antsirabe https://qualla.com/antsirabe/ Photo credit M worm, Public domain. Norwegian missionaries founded a spa town on Madagascar's high plateau, drawn by volcanic thermal springs; today it is the island's rickshaw capital, where thousands of hand-pulled pousse-pousse glide through cool mountain air.

Read more: Antsirabe on Qualla

Image: M worm | Public domain

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/3/q/antsirabe-wk/mh3q-antsirabe-combined.mp3 4:37 full Moramanga https://qualla.com/moramanga/ Photo credit Jonathan Talbot, World Resources Institute. WRI Staff, CC BY 2.0. A railway town between the highlands and the coast, Moramanga is where the 1947 Malagasy Uprising against French rule began, and where colonial soldiers later machine-gunned detainees locked in railway wagons.

Read more: Moramanga on Qualla

Image: Jonathan Talbot, World Resources Institute. WRI Staff | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/d/2/moramanga-wp/mhd2-moramanga-combined.mp3 5:15 full Mantasoa https://qualla.com/mantasoa/ A shipwrecked Frenchman built Madagascar's first industrial complex on this highland lakeshore for Queen Ranavalona I, using thousands of forced Malagasy laborers to forge cannons, glass, and silk.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/d/5/mantasoa-wp/mhd5-mantasoa-combined.mp3 5:00 full Ambatovy mine https://qualla.com/ambatovy-mine/ Madagascar's largest mine and biggest-ever foreign investment, Ambatovy pulls nickel and cobalt from a lateritic deposit carved out of one of the island's richest rainforests, an experiment in whether a mine can offset what it destroys.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/d/k/ambatovy-mine-wp/mhdk-ambatovy-mine-combined.mp3 5:04 full Andasibe-Mantadia National Park https://qualla.com/andasibe-mantadia-national-park/ Photo credit Smiley.toerist, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the misted rainforest east of Antananarivo, the indri sings a wail that carries for miles, and the forest answers back.

Read more: Andasibe-Mantadia National Park on Qualla

Image: Smiley.toerist | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/d/k/andasibe-mantadia-national-park-wp/mhdk-andasibe-mantadia-national-park-combined.mp3 4:30 full Zahamena National Park https://qualla.com/zahamena-national-park/ Photo credit P. Henne, CC BY-SA 3.0. A roadless World Heritage rainforest on Madagascar's eastern escarpment, where some of the rarest raptors on Earth still hunt unseen.

Read more: Zahamena National Park on Qualla

Image: P. Henne | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/f/e/zahamena-national-park-wp/mhfe-zahamena-national-park-combined.mp3 4:35 full Lake Alaotra https://qualla.com/lake-alaotra/ Photo credit NASA, Public domain. Madagascar's largest lake feeds the nation's rice bowl - and shelters a lemur found nowhere else, living its whole life among the reeds.

Read more: Lake Alaotra on Qualla

Image: NASA | Public domain

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/f/k/lake-alaotra-wp/mhfk-lake-alaotra-combined.mp3 4:35 full Toamasina https://qualla.com/toamasina/ Photo credit Dominiquemichaud, CC BY-SA 3.0. Madagascar's great Indian Ocean port, built on a coral reef and a sandy spit, where nearly everything the island trades with the world passes through.

Read more: Toamasina on Qualla

Image: Dominiquemichaud | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/g/0/toamasina-wp/mhg0-toamasina-combined.mp3 4:33 full HMS Serapis (1779) https://qualla.com/hms-serapis-1779/ The warship John Paul Jones captured in his most famous battle met its end two years later, blown apart by a careless candle in a Madagascar harbour.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/g/r/hms-serapis-1779-wp/mhgr-hms-serapis-1779-combined.mp3 5:01 full Baie de Baly National Park https://qualla.com/baie-de-baly-national-park/ Photo credit Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0. A remote stretch of Madagascar's northwest coast that is the last wild home of the ploughshare tortoise - widely considered the rarest tortoise on Earth.

Read more: Baie de Baly National Park on Qualla

Image: Hans Hillewaert | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/0/h/baie-de-baly-national-park-wp/mj0h-baie-de-baly-national-park-combined.mp3 4:21 full Bombetoka Bay https://qualla.com/bombetoka-bay/ Photo credit Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 4.0. Where a great Madagascar river spills blood-red soil into the sea, building a maze of islands so vivid that astronauts photograph it from orbit.

Read more: Bombetoka Bay on Qualla

Image: Brocken Inaglory | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/0/y/bombetoka-bay-wp/mj0y-bombetoka-bay-combined.mp3 4:16 full Maevarano Formation https://qualla.com/maevarano-formation/ Photo credit Murray, Alison M.; Brinkman, Donald B.; Gottfried, Michael D.; Krause, David W., CC BY 4.0. A band of rust-colored sandstone in northwestern Madagascar holds the densest record of latest-Cretaceous life in the southern world - including a dinosaur that ate its own kind and a frog the size of a beach ball.

Read more: Maevarano Formation on Qualla

Image: Murray, Alison M.; Brinkman, Donald B.; Gottfried, Michael D.; Krause, David W. | CC BY 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/1/j/maevarano-formation-wp/mj1j-maevarano-formation-combined.mp3 4:33 full Ankarafantsika National Park https://qualla.com/ankarafantsika-national-park/ Photo credit Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0. One of Madagascar's last great stands of dry deciduous forest, where one of the rarest eagles on Earth fishes a crater lake and more than 800 plant species cling to the sandy soil between two rivers.

Read more: Ankarafantsika National Park on Qualla

Image: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/1/k/ankarafantsika-national-park-wp/mj1k-ankarafantsika-national-park-combined.mp3 3:49 full Antongil Bay https://qualla.com/antongil-bay/ Photo credit Zoran204, CC BY-SA 4.0. Madagascar's largest bay is a winter nursery for thousands of humpback whales - and the place where a Hungarian-born adventurer once convinced an island to crown him king.

Read more: Antongil Bay on Qualla

Image: Zoran204 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/5/q/antongil-bay-wp/mj5q-antongil-bay-combined.mp3 3:56 full James Plaintain https://qualla.com/james-plaintain/ A Jamaican-born pirate spent his plunder building a private kingdom on the northeast coast of Madagascar - then crowned himself its king and went to war with his neighbors.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/5/q/james-plaintain-wp/mj5q-james-plaintain-combined.mp3 3:57 full Nosy Mangabe https://qualla.com/nosy-mangabe/ Photo credit Masindrano, CC BY-SA 3.0. A tiny rainforest island in Antongil Bay became a last refuge for the aye-aye - the lemur many feared as an omen of death - and keeps four centuries of Dutch sailors' graffiti carved into its shoreline rocks.

Read more: Nosy Mangabe on Qualla

Image: Masindrano | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/5/r/nosy-mangabe-wp/mj5r-nosy-mangabe-combined.mp3 3:48 full Makira Natural Park https://qualla.com/makira-natural-park/ Photo credit Masindrano, CC BY-SA 3.0. Madagascar's largest remaining block of rainforest, where seventeen kinds of lemur live in a canopy that holds half the island's plant life.

Read more: Makira Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Masindrano | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/7/0/makira-natural-park-wp/mj70-makira-natural-park-combined.mp3 5:01 full Marojejy National Park https://qualla.com/marojejy-national-park/ A cloud-wreathed massif in northeastern Madagascar, home to the silky sifaka, the snow-white lemur locals call the angel of the forest.

Read more: Marojejy National Park on Qualla

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/7/m/marojejy-national-park-wk/mj7m-marojejy-national-park-combined.mp3 4:39 full Sambava https://qualla.com/sambava/ Photo credit WRI Staff, CC BY 2.0. On Madagascar's northeast coast, a beach town where much of the world's vanilla is cured by hand, bean by fragrant bean.

Read more: Sambava on Qualla

Image: WRI Staff | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/7/w/sambava-wp/mj7w-sambava-combined.mp3 4:32 full Sunny South (clipper) https://qualla.com/sunny-south-clipper/ Photo credit Arthur H. Clark, Public domain. One of the most beautiful clippers ever built, sold into the illegal slave trade and chased down by the Royal Navy with 846 captive Africans aboard.

Read more: Sunny South (clipper) on Qualla

Image: Arthur H. Clark | Public domain

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/8/j/sunny-south-clipper-wp/mj8j-sunny-south-clipper-combined.mp3 4:51 full Mamoudzou https://qualla.com/mamoudzou/ Photo credit Tomas mbaba, CC BY-SA 4.0. The bustling capital of Mayotte, a fragment of France in the Indian Ocean, rebuilding after one of the worst cyclones in its history.

Read more: Mamoudzou on Qualla

Image: Tomas mbaba | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/8/p/mamoudzou-wk/mj8p-mamoudzou-combined.mp3 4:37 full Mayotte Marine Natural Park https://qualla.com/mayotte-marine-natural-park/ Photo credit Frédéric Ducarme, CC BY-SA 4.0. A double ring of coral wraps an entire French island in the Mozambique Channel, enclosing one of the largest lagoons in the western Indian Ocean.

Read more: Mayotte Marine Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Frédéric Ducarme | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/8/q/mayotte-marine-natural-park-wp/mj8q-mayotte-marine-natural-park-combined.mp3 3:53 full Vohemar https://qualla.com/vohemar/ Photo credit Sadalmelik, CC BY-SA 4.0. On Madagascar's northeast coast, a quiet fishing town sits atop a vanished trading civilization whose tombs once held Chinese porcelain, carved stone, and gold.

Read more: Vohemar on Qualla

Image: Sadalmelik | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/e/e/vohemar-wp/mjee-vohemar-combined.mp3 3:39 full Montagne d'Ambre National Park https://qualla.com/montagne-d-ambre-national-park/ Photo credit Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0. A cloud-wrapped volcano rises green out of Madagascar's dry north, sheltering crater lakes, waterfalls, and a chameleon small enough to perch on a thumbnail.

Read more: Montagne d'Ambre National Park on Qualla

Image: Charles J. Sharp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/f/b/montagne-d-ambre-national-park-wp/mjfb-montagne-d-ambre-national-park-combined.mp3 3:49 full Antsiranana https://qualla.com/antsiranana/ Photo credit Chirocca77, CC BY 4.0. At Madagascar's northern tip lies one of the finest natural harbours on Earth, a vast sheltered bay said to be second only to Rio de Janeiro.

Read more: Antsiranana on Qualla

Image: Chirocca77 | CC BY 4.0

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/g/1/antsiranana-wk/mjg1-antsiranana-combined.mp3 3:34 full Tsimanampetsotsa National Park https://qualla.com/tsimanampetsotsa-national-park/ Photo credit SurreyJohn, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 432-square-kilometre park on Madagascar's parched southwest coast where blind cave fish swim in underground pools, elephant bird fossils lie scattered in grottos, and 95% of the plant species grow nowhere else on Earth.

Read more: Tsimanampetsotsa National Park on Qualla

Image: SurreyJohn | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/x/n/tsimanampetsotsa-national-park-wp/kgxn-tsimanampetsotsa-national-park-combined.mp3 5:03 full Arboretum d'Antsokay https://qualla.com/arboretum-d-antsokay/ Photo credit Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 40-hectare botanical garden near Toliara where a Swiss conservationist spent decades rescuing Madagascar's most threatened plants from slash-and-burn deforestation, and where an elephant bird egg sits in a small museum surrounded by 900 species found almost nowhere else.

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Image: Charles J. Sharp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/4/arboretum-d-antsokay-wp/kgz4-arboretum-d-antsokay-combined.mp3 5:04 full Toliara https://qualla.com/toliara/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. Madagascar's sun-scorched southwestern port city, where pousse-pousse rickshaws outnumber cars, Route Nationale 7 ends at the Mozambique Channel, and the surrounding spiny desert harbours species found nowhere else on Earth.

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/5/toliara-wk/kgz5-toliara-combined.mp3 4:56 full Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park https://qualla.com/zombitse-vohibasia-national-park/ Photo credit LoJallen, CC BY-SA 4.0. A fragmented national park straddling Madagascar's Route Nationale 7 where the island's western and southern ecological domains collide, harbouring a lemur that exists in no other protected area on Earth and an orchid found only within its boundaries.

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Image: LoJallen | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/g/z/y/zombitse-vohibasia-national-park-wp/kgzy-zombitse-vohibasia-national-park-combined.mp3 5:09 full Velondriake https://qualla.com/velondriake/ A 64,000-hectare marine area in southwest Madagascar where Vezo fishing communities proved that letting octopus grounds rest for a few months could boost catches by 700 percent -- and built a conservation model that spread to ten countries.

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]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/u/n/d/velondriake-wp/kund-velondriake-combined.mp3 6:27 full Avenue of the Baobabs https://qualla.com/avenue-of-the-baobabs/ Photo credit Gavinevans, CC BY-SA 3.0. A grove of ancient Grandidier's baobabs lining an unpaved road in western Madagascar -- the last survivors of a dense tropical forest, now towering alone over rice paddies in one of the island's most iconic landscapes.

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Image: Gavinevans | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/u/r/s/avenue-of-the-baobabs-wp/kurs-avenue-of-the-baobabs-combined.mp3 4:37 full Morondava https://qualla.com/morondava/ Photo credit Esculapio, CC BY-SA 3.0. A dusty, unhurried coastal town in western Madagascar that serves as the gateway to the Avenue of the Baobabs and the wildlife-rich Kirindy Forest, where lemurs outnumber tourists by a comfortable margin.

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Image: Esculapio | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/u/r/s/morondava-wk/kurs-morondava-combined.mp3 4:21 full Kirindy Forest https://qualla.com/kirindy-forest/ Photo credit Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.0. A private nature reserve in western Madagascar's vanishing dry deciduous forest, where the fossa stalks lemurs through baobab groves and more than 30 percent of the surrounding spiny forest has disappeared since 1970.

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Image: Frank Vassen | CC BY 2.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/u/r/t/kirindy-forest-wp/kurt-kirindy-forest-combined.mp3 5:12 full Latimeria https://qualla.com/latimeria/ Photo credit JaffaFalcon, CC BY-SA 4.0. A genus of fish thought extinct for 66 million years, rediscovered off the coast of South Africa in 1938, with its largest known population living in the volcanic caves of the Comoros Islands.

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Image: JaffaFalcon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/v/y/u/latimeria-wp/kvyu-latimeria-combined.mp3 5:36 full Moheli https://qualla.com/moheli/ Photo credit Nrg800, CC BY-SA 4.0. The smallest and least visited island in the Comoros archipelago, where fewer than 400 tourists arrive per year, humpback whales cross the Mozambique Channel, and villages run their own tourism cooperatives.

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Image: Nrg800 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/v/z/1/moheli-wk/kvz1-moheli-combined.mp3 5:32 full Comoros https://qualla.com/comoros/ Photo credit Haryamouji, CC BY-SA 3.0. An Indian Ocean archipelago between Mozambique and Madagascar, where Omani sailors once sang of ylang-ylang-scented breezes and where more than 20 coups have followed independence from France.

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Image: Haryamouji | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/v/z/4/comoros-wk/kvz4-comoros-combined.mp3 6:11 full 2008 Invasion of Anjouan https://qualla.com/2008-invasion-of-anjouan/ An African Union amphibious assault on the Comoran island of Anjouan to depose a renegade colonel who declared independence after a disputed election -- dubbed the strangest invasion in history.

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]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/v/z/d/2008-invasion-of-anjouan-wp/kvzd-2008-invasion-of-anjouan-combined.mp3 5:56 full Anjouan https://qualla.com/anjouan/ Photo credit David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0. A volcanic island in the Comoros archipelago where ylang-ylang perfume, pirate history, and over twenty coups have shaped a fiercely independent culture in the Mozambique Channel.

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Image: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada | CC BY 2.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/v/z/d/anjouan-wp/kvzd-anjouan-combined.mp3 5:55 full Androy https://qualla.com/androy/ Photo credit Kevin Gepford, CC BY-SA 4.0. Madagascar's driest, southernmost region, where the Tandroy people have endured recurring famine for centuries in a thorny landscape shaped by wind, water scarcity, and a resilience that outsiders have often underestimated.

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Image: Kevin Gepford | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/8/4/androy-wp/m584-androy-combined.mp3 7:28 full Berenty Reserve https://qualla.com/berenty-reserve/ Photo credit Alex Dunkel (Maky), CC BY-SA 3.0. A private nature reserve in southern Madagascar where ring-tailed lemurs roam freely among visitors, protected by the same family since 1936.

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Image: Alex Dunkel (Maky) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/8/c/berenty-reserve-wk/m58c-berenty-reserve-combined.mp3 4:42 full Anosy https://qualla.com/anosy/ Photo credit Diorit, CC BY-SA 3.0. A southeastern Madagascar region whose name means 'islands' in Malagasy, where Portuguese shipwrecks, French colonial ambitions, uranium mining, and extraordinary biodiversity have collided for five centuries.

Read more: Anosy on Qualla

Image: Diorit | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/8/y/anosy-wp/m58y-anosy-combined.mp3 6:47 full Ilakaka https://qualla.com/ilakaka/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. A village of 40 people that exploded to 60,000 after the discovery of one of Earth's largest sapphire deposits, becoming Madagascar's Wild West overnight.

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/5/b/n/ilakaka-wp/m5bn-ilakaka-combined.mp3 4:33 full Madagascar https://qualla.com/madagascar/ Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Moongateclimber assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0. The world's fourth-largest island, separated from India 88 million years ago, where over 90% of wildlife exists nowhere else on Earth and Austronesian settlers built a culture unlike anything on the African mainland.

Read more: Madagascar on Qualla

Image: No machine-readable author provided. Moongateclimber assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/3/q/madagascar-wk/mh3q-madagascar-combined.mp3 6:23 full Lemurs' Park https://qualla.com/lemurs-park/ Photo credit SurreyJohn, CC BY-SA 4.0. A small botanical garden and lemur sanctuary near Antananarivo where confiscated pet lemurs are rehabilitated for return to the wild, founded by the grandson of Madagascar's first zoo director.

Read more: Lemurs' Park on Qualla

Image: SurreyJohn | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/9/s/lemurs-park-wp/mh9s-lemurs-park-combined.mp3 4:49 full Antananarivo https://qualla.com/antananarivo/ Photo credit Lemurbaby, CC BY-SA 3.0. Madagascar's highland capital, the City of a Thousand, sprawls across terraced ridges at 1,280 meters where rice paddies glow green between pastel terracotta buildings.

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Image: Lemurbaby | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/9/u/antananarivo-wk/mh9u-antananarivo-combined.mp3 5:36 full French Madagascar https://qualla.com/french-madagascar/ Photo credit Central Intelligence Agency, Public domain. For six decades, France ruled Madagascar as a colony, suppressing a sovereignty that the Merina monarchy had maintained for centuries -- and provoking resistance that cost tens of thousands of Malagasy lives.

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Image: Central Intelligence Agency | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/9/u/french-madagascar-wp/mh9u-french-madagascar-combined.mp3 5:05 full Merina Kingdom https://qualla.com/merina-kingdom/ Photo credit Capitaine Humbert (d. 1921), CC BY-SA 3.0. From fortified hilltops on Madagascar's central plateau, the Merina dynasty built a kingdom that unified most of the world's fourth-largest island -- before European ambitions tore it apart.

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Image: Capitaine Humbert (d. 1921) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/9/u/merina-kingdom-wp/mh9u-merina-kingdom-combined.mp3 5:29 full Rova of Antananarivo https://qualla.com/rova-of-antananarivo/ Photo credit Hery Zo Rakotondramanana, CC BY-SA 2.0. The royal palace complex that crowned Antananarivo's highest hill for nearly three centuries burned in a single night in 1995 -- and the question of who set the fire has never been answered.

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Image: Hery Zo Rakotondramanana | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/9/u/rova-of-antananarivo-wp/mh9u-rova-of-antananarivo-combined.mp3 5:25 full Ambohimanga https://qualla.com/ambohimanga/ Photo credit Olivier Lejade, CC BY-SA 2.0. Madagascar's only UNESCO cultural World Heritage Site, the sacred Blue Hill served as the spiritual capital of the Merina Kingdom for over four hundred years -- and pilgrims still come.

Read more: Ambohimanga on Qualla

Image: Olivier Lejade | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/9/v/ambohimanga-wp/mh9v-ambohimanga-combined.mp3 5:37 full Battle of Tamatave https://qualla.com/battle-of-tamatave/ Photo credit John Opie, Public domain. The last naval engagement of the Mauritius campaign played out off the coast of Madagascar on 20 May 1811, when a French commodore sacrificed his life and his flagship to shield his squadron from a pursuing British force that had already claimed the island he was sent to reinforce.

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Image: John Opie | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/g/0/battle-of-tamatave-wp/mhg0-battle-of-tamatave-combined.mp3 5:52 full Nosy Boraha https://qualla.com/nosy-boraha/ Photo credit M worm, Public domain. A narrow island off Madagascar's east coast where pirate captains once anchored between raids on East Indies treasure ships, and where humpback whales now breach in the warm channel waters each winter.

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Image: M worm | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/h/g/r/nosy-boraha-wp/mhgr-nosy-boraha-combined.mp3 5:39 full Mahajanga: Madagascar's Sunlit Gateway https://qualla.com/mahajanga/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. On Madagascar's drier western coast along the Mozambique Channel, Mahajanga draws visitors with its easy-going atmosphere, red-earth landscapes, and access to some of the island's most remarkable nature reserves.

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/0/y/mahajanga-wk/mj0y-mahajanga-combined.mp3 3:48 full Anjajavy Forest: Where Stone Forests Meet Living Ones https://qualla.com/anjajavy-forest/ Photo credit C. Michael Hogan, Public domain. On a remote peninsula in northwest Madagascar, a protected area of dry deciduous forest grows from razor-sharp limestone tsingy formations, sheltering eight lemur species, the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle, and baobab trees that may be 2,000 years old.

Read more: Anjajavy Forest on Qualla

Image: C. Michael Hogan | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/3/d/anjajavy-forest-wp/mj3d-anjajavy-forest-combined.mp3 5:41 full Masoala National Park: Madagascar's Largest Wild Shore https://qualla.com/masoala-national-park/ Photo credit Sisyphos23, CC BY-SA 3.0. Madagascar's largest protected area blankets 2,300 square kilometers of rainforest on the remote Masoala Peninsula, where ten lemur species, humpback whales, and the rarest moth on Earth share a landscape accessible only by a three-hour boat journey.

Read more: Masoala National Park on Qualla

Image: Sisyphos23 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/5/w/masoala-national-park-wp/mj5w-masoala-national-park-combined.mp3 5:16 full Mayotte https://qualla.com/mayotte/ Photo credit mwanasimba from La Réunion, CC BY-SA 2.0. A French archipelago in the Mozambique Channel where a sultan sold sovereignty for 5,000 francs, and where the population has twice voted to remain part of France while its Comoran neighbors chose independence.

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Image: mwanasimba from La Réunion | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/8/n/mayotte-wk/mj8n-mayotte-combined.mp3 5:27 full Glorioso Islands https://qualla.com/glorioso-islands/ Photo credit Lionel Rich, CC BY-SA 2.5. Five square kilometers of coral, coconut palms, and contested sovereignty in the northern Mozambique Channel, garrisoned by the French Foreign Legion and claimed by two nations.

Read more: Glorioso Islands on Qualla

Image: Lionel Rich | CC BY-SA 2.5

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/c/w/glorioso-islands-wp/mjcw-glorioso-islands-combined.mp3 4:02 full Nosy Komba https://qualla.com/nosy-komba/ Photo credit tatogra, CC BY-SA 2.0. A volcanic island off Madagascar's northwest coast where black lemurs are protected by villagers, a colonial sanatorium once treated malaria-stricken troops, and shade-grown coffee plantations have accidentally become wildlife refuges.

Read more: Nosy Komba on Qualla

Image: tatogra | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/d/7/nosy-komba-wp/mjd7-nosy-komba-combined.mp3 6:07 full Nosy Tanikely https://qualla.com/nosy-tanikely/ Photo credit tato grasso, CC BY 3.0. A tiny uninhabited island off Madagascar's northwest coast where a marine sanctuary protects some of the Indian Ocean's healthiest coral reefs, and where sea turtles swim close enough to touch.

Read more: Nosy Tanikely on Qualla

Image: tato grasso | CC BY 3.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/d/7/nosy-tanikely-wk/mjd7-nosy-tanikely-combined.mp3 4:02 full Nosy Be https://qualla.com/nosy-be/ Photo credit Fox-Talbot at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Madagascar's premier resort island, where chameleons outnumber tourists, the main town is named Hell-Ville, and a constellation of satellite islands offers everything from lemur encounters to world-class diving.

Read more: Nosy Be on Qualla

Image: Fox-Talbot at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/d/k/nosy-be-wk/mjdk-nosy-be-combined.mp3 5:30 full Ankarana Special Reserve: Madagascar's Limestone Labyrinth https://qualla.com/ankarana-special-reserve/ Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Stooof assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY 2.5. A 150-million-year-old limestone massif in northern Madagascar where razor-sharp tsingy formations guard over 100 kilometers of caves, a dozen lemur species, and blind fish that have never seen daylight.

Read more: Ankarana Special Reserve on Qualla

Image: No machine-readable author provided. Stooof assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY 2.5

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/d/v/ankarana-special-reserve-wp/mjdv-ankarana-special-reserve-combined.mp3 4:59 full Montagne des Francais: Where Baobabs Guard a Colonial Ruin https://qualla.com/montagne-des-francais/ A karst mountain overlooking Diego Suarez Bay in northern Madagascar, where some of the world's rarest trees grow among French colonial fortifications and an extraordinary density of endemic species found nowhere else on Earth.

Read more: Montagne des Francais on Qualla

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/g/1/montagne-des-francais-wp/mjg1-montagne-des-francais-combined.mp3 4:56 full Battle of Madagascar: When Allies Fought Allies in the Indian Ocean https://qualla.com/battle-of-madagascar/ Photo credit Photographer: Oulds, D C (Lt) Royal Navy, Public domain. In 1942, Britain invaded a French-controlled island to keep it from Japan - a six-month campaign that became the Allies' first large-scale combined sea, land, and air operation of World War II.

Read more: Battle of Madagascar on Qualla

Image: Photographer: Oulds, D C (Lt) Royal Navy | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/m/j/g/4/battle-of-madagascar-wp/mjg4-battle-of-madagascar-combined.mp3 7:02 full