8th Continent Expeditions

26/04/2024

Scaly Ground-Roller is an elusive and uncommon bird found at lower and middle elevations in Madagascar's eastern rainforest. It is one of the most spectacular of all Malagasy birds. Photo by Ken Behrens

22/04/2024

Zombitse sportive lemur is, according to its name, found in Zombitse forest in the South of Madagascar. Sportive lemurs are nocturnal lemurs, so most of the time they are found sleeping in tree cavities or tree forks or tangles.
Just to say, birding tours in Madagascar are not exclusively about birds. You can't unsee lemurs.

18/04/2024

Long-tailed Ground-roller is only found in a small portion of the spiny forest along the southwest coast of Madagascar, North of Toliara. Elusive and shy, you have to work hard to find it.

17/04/2024

If you are not really a birder but you have heard about how much fun it is - or how strange, and if you have a few hours in Antananarivo, you can go to Alarobia Lake. We will introduce you to the fun world of birding. Like watching them, trying to identify them, see how they behave... It's really a lot of fun!

Red-billed Teal, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Black Heron

11/04/2024

One thing that is quite amazing about Madagascar is that scientists keep finding new species of all sorts of wildlife species. This new species, actually genus, of chameleon was discovered in a small portion of the Eastern rainforest of Madagascar, and therefore making it already classified as critically endangered.

I give you Furcilumma maroloko (maroloko meaning “many colors” or colorful in malagasy). I wonder if anybody will notice.🤔 😊

Quoting the post owner. Thanks for their work!
New species discovered! A new species of chameleon has been described on the east coast of Madagascar. The new species has characteristics of the previous genera Furcifer and Calumma, but cannot be attributed to any of the existing genera. A separate genus has therefore been described for this unique chameleon: Furcilumma. Furcilumma maroloko (maroloko is Malagasy for many colours) only occurs in a small forest area near Anosibe An'Ala, which is why it was proposed that the species be classified as critically endangered.

🇩🇪 Neue Art entdeckt! An der Ostküste Madagaskars wurde eine neue Chamäleonart beschrieben. Die neue Art weist Merkmale der bisherigen Gattungen Furcifer und Calumma auf, kann aber keiner der bisher existenten Gattungen zugeschrieben werden. Deshalb wurde für dieses einzigartige Chamäleon eine eigene Gattung beschrieben: Furcilumma. Furcilumma maroloko (maroloko ist madagassisch für viele Farben) kommt nur in einem kleinen Waldgebiet nahe Anosibe An'Ala vor, weshalb vorgeschlagen wurde, die Art als critically endangered einzustufen.

🇬🇧 New species discovered! A new species of chameleon has been described on the east coast of Madagascar. The new species has characteristics of the previous genera Furcifer and Calumma, but cannot be attributed to any of the existing genera. A separate genus has therefore been described for this unique chameleon: Furcilumma. Furcilumma maroloko (maroloko is Malagasy for many colours) only occurs in a small forest area near Anosibe An'Ala, which is why it was proposed that the species be classified as critically endangered.

🇫🇷 Une nouvelle espèce découverte ! Une nouvelle espèce de caméléon a été décrite sur la côte est de Madagascar. La nouvelle espèce présente des caractéristiques des genres précédents Furcifer et Calumma, mais ne peut être attribuée à aucun des genres existants. C'est pourquoi un genre spécifique a été décrit pour ce caméléon unique : Furcilumma. Furcilumma maroloko (maroloko signifie plusieurs couleurs en malgache) ne se trouve que dans une petite zone forestière près d'Anosibe An'Ala, c'est pourquoi il a été proposé de classer l'espèce dans la catégorie "en danger critique d'extinction".



TANALAHORIZON - Madagaskar Reisen / Madagascar Travel Thorsten Negro Martin Knauf

16/08/2023

A good reminder that there are still a lot of unidentified wildlife species in Madagascar and they are already threatened by their habitat loss.

One way to help conservation is visiting Madagascar and try to get to the National parks and other small private reserves.

In the 15th of August issue of the journal Salamandra, my colleagues and I published a new species of leaf-tailed gecko from northern Madagascar, Uroplatus garamaso! You can get the PDF of the desc…

13/07/2023

This is me behind the binoculars. 😊

I enjoy watching birders watch birds.
For anyone who has been in Andasibe NP, they will also remember those indri lemurs watching tourists watching them. 😃

By the way, since the Malagasy skies opened, we are now happy to share the news that South African Airlink are now flying here and their J’burg to Nosy Be flight has been restored!!

20/01/2023

This is great news!!! 🎉🎊🥳🥳🥳
The best gift for the new year.

The country has been open for about a year now and most air companies have been flying to Madagascar, except for Airlink. 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦✈️🛬🛫

Until next 30 January 2023. 🥳🥳🤩🤩

🔴 La compagnie aérienne 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 reprendra ses vols commerciaux reliant Johannesbourg et Antananarivo à compter du 30 Janvier 2023 après 3 années de suspension.

Un vol hebdomadaire sera opéré le lundi dans un premier temps, passant à trois vols par semaine à partir du 14 février 2023.

C’est une nouvelle rassurante qui s’inscrit pleinement dans le cadre de la relance du Tourisme à Madagascar.

31/10/2022

We celebrated World Lemurs' Day a few days ago.

When we are asked what people from abroad can do to help, our answer is simple: just talk about it and if you can, come and visit, then talk about Madagascar and its unique wildlife to the world.

Sending money is not the solution. Raising awareness is.

If you can just contribute a little by talking, meeting, exchanging with people here about how important forests are, it helps. We have a Malagasy saying that says "Many drops of rain can create a flood". So you can bring your drop by dropping in!

Thank you to all of those who already came and especially who travelled with us.

(Design: Dominik Schussler)
Post from JonahRatsimbazafy

19/09/2022

For less than 15 days visit in Madagascar, you do not need to pay for a visa to enter Madagascar, but only 10 euros at the airport for paperwork.

As a reminder, no PCR or TDR tests are required anymore. Only your Covid vaccination may be required by flight companies.

Une autre bonne nouvelle qui stimule davantage la reprise du secteur touristique !
Désormais, pour les séjours de 15 jours ou moins, les passagers vers Madagascar n'ont plus à payer le droit de visa. Toutefois, un frais de 10 euros pour les formalités de contrôle aux frontières demeure à payer.

19/08/2022

It is almost this season now! I have always enjoyed watching the Malagasy people watching the birders watching birds.

For anyone who has been here, maybe you have noticed the shy looks and smiles of the people in the highlands, the bold looks and laughter of the people in the north and west, the strong and stoic looks from the people in the south. This is just a short attempt to describe the diversity in people in Madagascar and to say that there is more to bird diversity here :)

See you in a few weeks!

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19/07/2022

So it is cold now in Tana, at least for us tropical people used to warmer climate. I wish I could sunbathe like this Verreaux's sifaka on an Octopus Tree branch in Berenty Reserve.

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18/05/2022

Wonderful to be in the forest again. Local guides are as good with our natural history and birding tours as with families. As you can see they made sure that even the little ones see the lemurs. These were brown lemurs in Andasibe National Park.

05/04/2022

The news from Madagascar is good! The country is now open to all, WITHOUT quarantine requirements or need for a PCR test upon arrival. Tonga soa (welcome)! Come see the wonders of the 8th Continent, such as the crazy leaf-tailed geckos.

26/02/2022

The forest is calling!
The Malagasy government declared that the country is now open to international travellers. Any flight company complying with the conditions can operate flights again. This will be effective from March 5, however we are still waiting to hear about the conditions in relation to covid19 restrictions for passengers.

For the moment, any passenger intending to come to Madagascar has to take a PCR test upon arrival, and stay quarantined in a hotel for 48h until test results come out.

We hope to see you all very soon!!

24/11/2021

An endemic bird often seen on our trips that visit the eastern rainforest: Red-fronted Coua. This one was in Marojejy National Park, in northeast Madagascar.

27/10/2021

Latest big news ... Madagascar borders are open🛩!

We waited today to share the news because we needed to see that the flights did actually arrive!! And they did!!

🛩 First flight from Mauritius since Covid19 landed in Antananarivo on 23 oct, and flight from Reunion Island on 26 oct.
Regular flights from Europe will resume from 6 november on Air France and Air Madagascar. 🛩

Just make sure you have a negative PCR test. 😉
Find out more about the conditions in the link below.

https://madagascar-tourisme.com/fr/reouverture-des-frontieres/?fbclid=IwAR3_tZ8q3qAsDPvpW7QtLvNqfJQyp-IPTQxr5QkkvzZElLoI16gig9fffME

La réalisation d’un test Rt-PCR à l’arrivée à Madagascar, à la charge du voyageur (25 Euros / 30 USD / 115.000 MGA)

03/08/2021

We added a few sunset photos to our sunset album and would like to thank our friends who share their photos with us.

The borders of Madagascar are unfortunately still closed for tourists, but if you have had your vaccine, there are chances that you will be among the lucky ones to be able to get in. Adventure is awaiting! 🐸🦉🦋🦎🛩🏖🇲🇬

photo by Francky Do-van

Ifaty, SouthWestwen Madagascar. Thanks to Francky Do-van for this amazing shot.

22/02/2021

Lemurs, like this Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur, are Madagascar's top natural history attraction. Now there is a WHOLE lot more to see on the island, but with that said, it's easy to see why people gravitate towards these charismatic furry creatures! Ranomafana National Park.

19/02/2021

Hook-billed Vanga in a new private forest reserve in northeast Madagascar. Amazingly, this generally scarce vanga is one of the most common and conspicuous birds in this reserve! We love customizing trips for our clients, and recommending special places that are way off the beaten path. And there are plenty of places like that in Madagascar!

03/02/2021

"About the size of a sunflower seed, the newly described creature from Madagascar may already be critically endangered."

A child once asked me "how come everything in Madagascar is so small!?"

In fact, a new species of mouse lemur has just recently been discovered. Mouse lemurs are among the smallest mammals on Earth. So on the 8th continent, we have among the smallest mammals and reptiles on Earth and we are proud. But deforestation is tragically threatening them so we invite you to come visit as soon as you can because any kind of exposure to the world helps conservation.

About the size of a sunflower seed, the newly described creature from Madagascar may already be critically endangered.