Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Orchidée du Bemaraha
(13 bungalows)
m
032 07 596 58/032 50 898 79/032 05 714
14;
e
orchideedubemaraha@gmail.com
;
www.orchideedubemaraha.com
.
En-suite dbl,
twin & family rooms. Superb food. €€€€
Tsingy Lodge
(5 bungalows)
m
033 11 507 56;
e
tsingy-lodge@yahoo.fr
;
www.tsingy-lodge.com
.
A recommended Malagasy-run lodge near the park office.
Simple, clean bungalows. Run by an ex-guide. €€€€
Relais de Tsingy
(6 bungalows)
m
032 02 049 48;
e
relais.tsingy@yahoo.fr
or
ren-
ala.sabledor@moov.mg
.
A beautifully situated set of bungalows with en-suite bathrooms,
overlooking the lake. €€€€
Olympe du Bemaraha
(20 bungalows) 95 920 15/935 86;
m
032 05 216 05;
e
olympedubemaraha@yahoo.fr
;
www.olympedubemaraha.com
.
On a hill overlooking
Manambolo River & new rooms at the bottom of the hill. En-suite family bungalows with
solar-heated shower & veranda. Restaurant with bar & panoramic view. €€€-€€€€
Camp Croco
22 630 86;
f
22 344 20;
e
madcam@moov.mg
;
www.madcameleon.com
.
South side of the river. Safari-style tents with beds. Clean,
shared toilets & showers. Bar & restaurant. Recommended. €€€
PLANTS OF THE TSINGY
Dr Gavin Hart
Tsingy
is the Madagascar term for the razor sharp pinnacles produced by the surface
erosion of limestone massifs by acidic rain. Over a prolonged period, caves have de-
veloped beneath the surface, and narrow canyons have been created by the cracking
of the rock mass. There are numerous areas of
tsingy
in Madagascar but the Ankarana
and Bemaraha national parks are most readily accessible to tourists.
Pandanus
and
Dracaena
species are encountered in
tsingy
areas and are superfi-
ciallysimilar,withtallthinstemsandlongthindarkgreenleaves.However,
Pandanus
tendtohavethicker trunks,largerleaves, spikesonthetrunkandserrated edgestothe
leaves compared with the slender smooth leaves of
Dracaena. Pandanus
often fea-
tures a 'tripod-effect' produced by aerial roots.
Pachypodium lamerei
, common throughout Bemaraha, is a spiny columnar plant
when young but has a pale (almost white) smooth surface and bulbous base when
older. Towering trees of
P. rutenbergianum
and
P. decaryi
, a small plant with a
smooth globular base, are common in Ankarana.
P. ambongense
has a very localised
habitat on the
tsingy
of Namoroka.
Euphorbia viguieri
, thick green stems of up to 50cm tall with long whitish thorns
and prominent red and green top-knots of floral parts, and numerous tree-like euphor-
bias with narrow green cylindrical stems, are common in both areas; whereas
E. ank-
arensis
,shortstickswithattractive palegreenconesofcyathophylls atthetop,iscon-
