Madagascar

Madagascar is a large Indian Ocean island off south-east Africa, across the Mozambique Channel. Evolving apart for millions of years, it has nature found nowhere else: lemurs and chameleons, baobabs, the spiny forest of the dry south and the rainforest of the east. Guided walks reveal the sandstone canyons of Isalo National Park, the stone forest of razor-sharp limestone pinnacles in the Tsingy de Bemaraha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and, near Morondava, the Avenue of the Baobabs along a red dirt road.

In the north-west, the islands around Nosy Be and the Mitsio archipelago offer coral reefs, sailing, diving and snorkelling, and from roughly July to October humpback whales pass offshore. The most remote stays are on private islands and at river camps, reached by small plane, helicopter or boat.

Food is simple and filling: rice is at the heart of every meal, served with zebu beef, seafood or romazava, a leafy meat stew, while vanilla, cocoa and coffee are grown on the island itself. The dry season, roughly April or May to November, is the best time for most of Madagascar; the hot, wet months run roughly December to March, and the north-west islands are milder. Madagascar suits nature and wildlife lovers, divers and couples after a remote island, and pairs well with Mauritius or Réunion.