Tsingy de Bemaraha

With an isolation of eighty million years in its geological history, and the word ‘endemic’ stamped on more than eighty per cent of its plant and animal species, the island of Madagascar is unusual enough. But there exists a refuge within this refuge that takes your breath away. The landscape of the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park and Reserve (1,575 sq km) is straight out of fantasy: an almost impenetrable forest of jagged limestone pinnacles rising several hundred metres into the sky. The sharp-edged tsingy (Malagasy for ‘where one cannot walk barefoot’) are the guardians of a unique biosphere that includes mangroves and harbours a dizzying array of species: 130 birds, eleven lemur and thirteen frogs. Unsurprisingly, the combination earned the park Unesco World Heritage status in 1990.

Fly Kenya Airways from Mumbai to Antananarivo (approx. Rs 47,000 return). Several operators run tours: see rijatours.mg (from € 740 for two) and madagascar-tour-guide.com (from € 980 for two). The park is open from April to November.