Tsingy de Bemaraha

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Hardly a vacation spot for the kiddies, Tsingy de Bemaraha is a karst topology of jagged limestone formations, undercut with sinkholes and caves, on the island of Madagascar. Together with the adjoining Strict Nature Reserve (a lot of animals make their home among the intermixed spires and forests, including eleven species of lemurs), it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990 AD. The labyrinth of vertical rocks – in places 300-foot high and all razor sharp – is hardly easy to reach (a five-day journey from Madagascar’s capital city) and not for the faint-hearted. Naturalists that have ventured into Tsingy de Bemaraha have had to crawl out seeking medical aid. It’s only to be expected when tsingy is the Malagasy word meaning “where one cannot walk barefoot.”