Living in MADAGASCAR | How people and lemurs survive on the world's most unique island | documentary

[00:00:03]There's an island in the Indian Ocean almost the size of Texas, but it's not on any map of Africa you were shown in school.

[00:00:15]It broke away from the mainland 160 million years ago. Then 88 million years later, it broke away from India too. And then it sat there alone for another 80 million years.

[00:00:35]No people, no lions, nothing. [music] And then something strange happened.

[00:00:44][music] While the rest of the world evolved together. Lions with zebras, wolves with deer. This island evolved alone. And what it created, nobody outside had ever seen.

[00:01:01]A tree you won't believe is real. An animal that looks half finishedish. A kind of people whose DNA is half Southeast Asian, half African, speaking a language closer to Indonesian than to Swahili. [music] Scientists call this place the eighth continent. The people who live here just call it [music] one word Madagascar.

[00:01:36]Picture this. It's just before dawn on the eastern [music] coast of Madagascar.

[00:01:41]The air smells like wet earth and eucalyptus. And in the distance, you hear a sound. Something between a whale and a wolf. That's an injury lemur waking up. And it means you've arrived somewhere completely different.

[00:01:57]Madagascar is the fourth biggest island on Earth. It's about the size of Texas, but tilted sideways off the eastern coast of Africa, 250 mi across the Mosmbique Channel. Its coastline runs 3,000 m. That's longer than the entire east coast of the United States from Maine to Florida. But here's what makes it wild. Madagascar isn't one landscape.

[00:02:27]It's five. Head east. Tropical rainforest, thick, wet, alive with sound. Climb into the middle. The central highlands 4,500 ft up cooler than Denver. Red roofed houses and rice terraces carved into every hillside.

[00:02:46][music] Drive west dry savannah. Go south semi- desert. The famous spiny forest [music] which looks like Dr. Seuss designed it on a bad day. And way up in the north, an old volcano called Maramakotro [music] standing at 9,436 ft taller than Mount St. Helens. Off the southwestern coast, the Tiara reef, third largest coral reef on Earth, right behind Australia's Great Barrier and Bise. The weather has two seasons, dry from April to October, cool and clear, wet from November to March. February brings cyclones. So that's the month to skip. But when the timing works, magic.

[00:03:35]Between July and September, humpback whales migrate past Il Marie. Between October and December, 40-foot whale sharks show up near Nosy Be. And every single morning, deep in the rainforest, those injuries start singing. One island, five worlds. And we haven't even talked about the people yet. Before we continue our wonderful journey to Madagascar, let me know what time it is, [music] where you're watching, and which country you're in. Drop it in the comments below. Now, sit back, relax, and let's enjoy this journey together.

[00:04:17]Here's a country you probably don't think about enough because the people of Madagascar are genuinely one of the most surprising groups of humans on the planet. 30 million Malagazi, 18 official ethnic groups. And when scientists looked at their DNA, they got confused because Madagascar sits right next to Africa. But the Marina people who live in the highlands, their DNA is 45% closer to Indonesians than to their African neighbors. You look at faces here and you see everything. The sacalava on the coast, African features.

[00:04:59]The anti mororrow in the east Arab [music] lineage. The marina in the center high cheekbones, straight hair, armond eyes, one island, four continents in one face. And the language proves it.

[00:05:13]Malagazi is spoken by 92% of the population. And linguists have tracked it. It's not African at all. It's Aranesian. the closest living relative, a language called Ma Onion, spoken on the island of Borneo, which means sometime around 1,500 years ago, a group of people got in canoes and sailed 4,000 mi across the Indian Ocean to find this island. Nobody knows exactly why. Now, here's a word will change how you think about this culture. Fihavana. It doesn't translate but it means something like kinship, solidarity, mutual support.

[00:05:59]Your neighbor is your Havana, your relative. Fihavanana is bigger than family. It runs the country. It runs business politics, everyday life. If Ubuntu is South Africa's soul, Ikiguai is Japan's Fihavanana is Madagascar's.

[00:06:20]Speaking of running the country, meet Ranavalona I. She ruled Madagascar for 33 years from 1828 to 1861.

[00:06:32]While the rest of Africa was carved up by European empires, she held Madagascar independent, alone, a woman in a world that didn't want her to succeed. And here's what ties everything together.

[00:06:48]The Malagasi don't believe their ancestors are dead. They believe they're still here watching. Every village has its own fi, its own taboos. Some forbid whistling. Some forbid twins. Break the rule [music] and you insult the Rosanna, the ancestral spirits. This becomes very important later because there's one ceremony where you actually meet them.

[00:07:14]You've made it through the first part of our journey. If you're loving Madagascar so far, drop a one in the comments below because what's coming next are the incredible things you don't want to miss. Stay with me, [music] my friend.

[00:07:36]Before we go wild, let's meet the two sides of Madagascar you're going to fall in love with. Because this island lives at two speeds and both are beautiful.

[00:07:47]First, the city. It's called Antana Narivo. Locals just say Tana. And Tana is built on 12 hills at over 4,000 ft elevation.

[00:08:00]Higher than Denver, my friend. [music] So when you land, the air is thin, the light is soft, and every morning, mist rolls between red tiled rooftops like something out of a painting. Down in Anelaci Market, the whole city eats breakfast for pennies. Rice with greens, $1. Fresh rice, flour cake, called mofo gassi, 20 cents. Up the hill in Isaraka, colonial French balconies [music] drip with bugan villia and cafes serve coffee grown 200 m away. [music] Right in the center, Lake Anosi shaped like a heart ringed with jackaranda trees that turn purple [music] every October.

[00:08:45]Tana runs on improvisation and stubborn routine. No strict schedules, just a rhythm you learn by watching. Now the other Madagascar. 68% of Malagasi live in the countryside and that's where the soul is. Head south to Betileo country.

[00:09:02]Endless rice terraces cascading down mountain sides. The ones in Bali get famous. But the Malagasi have been cutting these since long before Instagram.

[00:09:14]In villages like Betafo Manandona, Ephescina, the day starts at 500 a.m.

[00:09:20]with cattle herders [music] and rice planters. Dinner is family. There's no electricity in many places. Just conversation, Valha music, and stars.

[00:09:32]And they have a phrase, [music] mora, moora. Slowly, slowly. It's a lifestyle.

[00:09:38]But there are locals here that make even malagy people stop in awe. and they're not human at all.

[00:09:52]Speaking of locals, meet the real superstars of Madagascar. There are 107 species and every single one lives only here. Layer one, meet them. The smallest Madame Berta's mouse lemur, 1 ounce, smaller than a chicken egg, tiniest primate on Earth. The largest the injury 20 lb 2 ft tall calls that carry a mile and a half. In between ring-tailed lemurs, the striped tail ones that inspired King Julenne from the movie, Sifaka's dancing lemurs, they hop sideways on two legs like tiny ballerinas. and the eye nocturnal big yellow eyes and a middle finger twice as long as the others used to tap on trees listening for grubs inside. Layer two, how do they survive? They eat fruit leaves, flowers. Some eat insects. Every morning, the injury sings for 90 seconds to mark its territory.

[00:10:52]One group starts, another answers from a mile away. A third joins in until the entire forest is a chorus. British naturalists call it the whale song of the forest. But here's the hard truth.

[00:11:08]94% of lemur species are threatened with extinction. Madagascar has lost 90% of its original forest. Layer three, why they matter. Lemurs are on Madagascar's money, on its stamps, on its flag of identity. And when DreamWorks made the movie Madagascar in 2005, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, it grossed [music] $890 million and put King Julian in living rooms from Boston to Bangkok.

[00:11:43]But more importantly, ecoourism built around lemurs feeds hundreds of villages. Locals now protect what they used to hunt. That's real transformation. But lemurs aren't the only shape shifters here.

[00:12:03]You know what I love about Madagascar?

[00:12:05]The music makes no sense until you realize where these [music] people came from. Meet the Valha, Madagascar's national instrument. It's a zither made from a single stalk of bamboo with strings running down its length. When you pluck it, the sound is haunting metallic and I swear genuinely calming like windchimes with a soul. And here's the wild part. The Valia didn't come from Africa. It came from Southeast Asia. Its cousins are still played in Calimantan and the Philippines.

[00:12:41]When you hear it today in a small cafe in Antonarivo, you're hearing 1,500 years of history. The sound those first sailors brought with them. Now travel to the coast. Everything changes. The music of the Sakalava is called saly. Fast 128 rhythm, electric guitar, accordion, drums like heartbeats. The first time you hear salagy in a bar in Diego Suarez, you're going to dance until sunrise.

[00:13:13]Cuban Roomba grew up on a tropical island. Up in the highlands here, Malagasi folk opera. 15 to 20 performers singing, joking, roasting local politicians in poetic verse. Locals show up with picnic blankets. Outdoor theater for the whole village. Three sounds, one country. Impossible to fake anywhere else. And when this music gets you hungry, wait until you taste.

[00:13:46]Malagasi food is one of Africa's bestkept secrets. Simple, comforting, made for sharing. If you only eat one thing in Madagascar, make it Romaava.

[00:13:59]National dish. Historically cooked for the Marina Kings. A slow stew of zeu mixed with [music] local greens called bread plus ginger tomato onion over hot white rice. Nothing fancy just deeply satisfying. Then ravatoto cassava leaves pounded down cooked with pork. Earthy, hearty, every kid grows up on it. On the coast, try Ako Civoanio chicken.

[00:14:28]Slowcooked in coconut [music] milk with ginger and garlic. Nosy Bee and Sant Marie make it best. And for breakfast, 20 cents gets you Mofo gassy sweet [music] rice cake still warm from the iron mold. 50 cents gets you Cobra Rava banana peanut cake in banana leaves. $2 gets you grilled Zebu skewers over coals. Now, get ready because up next is the shot you've seen on every Madagascar postcard.

[00:15:06]It's late afternoon in August. You're standing on a red dirt road just outside a town called Morandava. The air is warm. There are no cars, no tourists, and in front of you stand 25 trees that have been growing here for 800 years.

[00:15:28]They're baobobs. Addonia grandidieri, almost 100 ft tall, trunks so thick five adults [music] can barely wrap their arms around one. A single tree can hold 32,000 gallons of water. a full backyard swimming [music] pool. The oldest ones here are pushing 2,000 years.

[00:15:54]Here's the fact that stopped me cold.

[00:15:57]There are nine species of bioab on Earth. All of Africa has one. Madagascar has six. 2/3 of the world's baobobs live on this island. trees so strange European botonists refused to believe they were real when the first sketches arrived in Paris.

[00:16:20]The Malagacy call Baobab's Renala mother of the forest near a town called Antsinana.

[00:16:27]There's a sacred baobab. In some villages when a baby dies before the age of 5 months the family brings them here instead of a cemetery. The tiny remains are gently placed inside the hollow. The baobab watches over the child until the ancestors welcome them home.

[00:16:50]A short drive away, two Beaabs have twisted around each other, the Baabab Amaro.

[00:16:57]Local legend says they were once two lovers whose families refused to let them marry. They ran into the forest and became trees. The best time to be here. Sunset. The sun [music] drops between the two largest trees. The sky goes orange and a black parrot flies overhead like a shadow puppet. Nobody speaks. There's nothing to say. That's what Madagascar does to you. And this is only the beginning.

[00:17:32]13 mi northeast of Tana, there's a hill Malagasi people still call the sacred blue mountain, Ambo Himanga. Here's why it matters. This is the only cultural UNESCO site in all of Madagascar. And it's alive, not ruins, not a museum, a living monument.

[00:17:54]The hill is protected by seven massive stone gates. The main gate has a rolling stone door. 12 tons of solid rock pushed shut every night by dozens of men.

[00:18:07]Behind those walls in 1788, a young king named Andrean Ampo Marina began unifying every clan across the highlands. His palace, Tranova, still stands. Small, [music] wooden, modest, and out of this modest house, one man built the kingdom that [music] became modern Madagascar.

[00:18:31]But the reason this place stays sacred, pilgrims still come every day. You might see a grandmother in white lambber pouring rum into the roots of a sacred fig tree. That's not tourism. [music] That's real prayer. And speaking of sacred forests, 4 hours drive east of Tana, it's 6:00 a.m. [music] There's cold mist hanging in the rainforest of Andesbe Mantadia National Park. Then you hear the first sound, an injury singing. Its call carries a mile and a half through the trees. Then another answers from far away, then a third, then a fourth, until the whole forest is singing together for 90 seconds.

[00:19:28]British naturalists have a name for it, the whale song of the forest. And for those 90 seconds, you're not going to move. You're not going to speak. You're just going to feel very small and very lucky.

[00:19:44]And a sebay holds more than indras.

[00:19:47]Diademided safakas leap through the canopy on two legs. Black and white roughed lemurs watch you from higher branches. And camouflaged on a leaf inches from your face, a Parson's chameleon. [music] Heaviest chameleon in the world. Over a pound and a half. Now let me take you where the land ends. And the humpback whales sing.

[00:20:15]There are two islands off Madagascar's coast that feel like a completely different country. Off the northwest Nosy Bee, locals call it the perfumed island because it grows ilang, the flower used in Chanel number five. The beaches are turquoise, the sand is white, and Andelana Beach makes every top 10 list in the Indian Ocean. Between October and December, whale sharks show up in the shallows here. 40-foot animals that let you swim next to them like they're just curious neighbors.

[00:20:52]Off the east coast, eel s Marie, also called Nosy Boraha. And this one has a history most people don't know.

[00:21:04]In the 1600s and 1700s, this was one of the biggest pirate havens on Earth. Captain William Kidd is buried here. There's still a pirate cemetery on the island, real tombstones, crossbones, and all, but that's the past. Between July and September, humpback whales come to breed in the warm water. You go out in a small boat and they breach next to you. 40 tons of animal rising up out of the sea like a mountain. But even the whales here aren't the strangest creatures. That title goes to something much smaller and much more colorful.

[00:21:51]Madagascar has 2/3 of the world's chameleon species. Two thirds.

[00:21:59]Meet the panther chameleon. Eight regional color patterns like Pokémon in real life. Blues in Nosy Bee, reds in Amberlobe. And here's what most people get wrong. Chameleons don't mainly change color to hide. They change color to communicate. Their mood, their body temperature, its language. Their tongue shoots out nearly twice the length of their body, snapping up an insect in 7 hundredths of a second. Their eyes rotate 360° independently.

[00:22:34]One watching a beetle, the other watching you.

[00:22:40]>> Then the extremes. Parson's chameleon 27 in over a pound and a half. And Brochesia micro 1 in long. Smaller than a match head. smallest chameleon on Earth.

[00:22:54]>> Now, Madagascar's top predator, it's called a fossa, and it looks like nature couldn't decide between a cat and a mongoose, so it made both. 3 to 6 ft long with the tail, 20 lb, climbs down tree trunks, head first, its tail wrapping around branches like a fifth hand. There are maybe 2,500 left in the wild. In the movie Madagascar, the fossa was drawn as the villain. In reality, it's the balance keeper of an entire ecosystem. Speaking of what grows here, one plant made Madagascar famous worldwide.

[00:23:43]Every time you eat vanilla ice cream, chances are you're eating Madagascar because this one country produces 75 to 80% of the world's vanilla.

[00:23:55]Most of it comes from the northeast, the Sava region, Sambava, Antala, Vhimar, and Dapa. And here's the wild part. The vanilla flower opens for one day per year. If a farmer doesn't handpollinate it with a tiny wooden stick within that window, he gets nothing. Not one bean.

[00:24:17]In 2019, a kilo of Madagascar vanilla hit $600, making it the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron. Vanilla built entire villages.

[00:24:31]It also broke them [music] when prices crashed.

[00:24:36]>> Down on Nosy B, they grow ilang. Small white flowers with an intense sweet scent. It [music] takes tons of them to make a single ounce of perfume oil. But this oil, it's one of the 82 ingredients that make Chanel number five the most iconic perfume in history.

[00:25:00]Oh, and don't skip baobob fruit. The pulp inside those ancient trees is powder dry tart and packed with six times the vitamin C of an orange. Locals mix it into juice and smoothies.

[00:25:14]Superfood thousand years before anyone had that word. Now, let me show you where Earth looks like Mars.

[00:25:26]In southern Madagascar, there's a park that looks like a chunk of Utah landed in Africa. It's called Isalo, and they call it the Grand Canyon of Madagascar.

[00:25:37]Massive sandstone cliffs sculpted by wind into orange spires. Deep canyons cut down through them. And at the bottom of one of those canyons, Pine Naturel, natural swimming pools of crystal blue water. You hike 2 hours through desert to reach them. And when you dive in, the water is cold. Perfect. Ring-tailed lemurs live here. Brown lemurs. Sephacas leaping between boulders. A shorter drive south. Anja Community Reserve.

[00:26:10]Small, not famous. But this is where you'll want to spend a morning because Anja is owned and run by the local village. All revenue goes back to them.

[00:26:22]The density of ring-tailed lemurs here is the highest in Madagascar, you'll spot a h 100red in a single hour. And every lemur you see puts food on a village family's table. That's ecoourism done right. But everything we've seen so far, the trees, the animals, the villages, leads to one ceremony that will change how you think about death forever.

[00:26:55]All right, I promised you something you've never seen. Here it is. It's called Faradihana.

[00:27:02]It means [music] the turning of the bones. Every 5 to seven years in villages across the highlands from June to September, an entire Malagasi family gathers from Antonarivo, from Fiana Ransoa, sometimes from Paris or New Jersey. They meet at the family tomb and then they open it. They gently lift the wrapped remains of their ancestors [music] out into the sunlight. Old cloths are removed. New silk shrouds, bright red, [music] called lambe mana, are wrapped around the bones. Names rewritten so the ancestors won't be forgotten. And then they dance. Family members lift the wrapped [music] ancestors onto their shoulders. Live Valha music starts up. Drums singing.

[00:27:54]The whole village walks seven times around the tomb laughing, [music] crying, calling out old memories. Then everyone sits down to a feast grilled zebu rice tuaka gassy rum stories that go back generations. Here's what took me a while to understand. For the Malagasi, the ancestors haven't left. They joined the bigger family. Famadihana isn't sad.

[00:28:22]It's a party. The living need to remember. The dead need to know they're still loved. It's how fihavana, that word for family, survives even death itself. Real talk. If a Malagasi family invites you to a famana, that's one of the highest honors on earth. They're not inviting you as a spectator. They're inviting you because they believe their ancestors will be glad to have you there, too. Now, you might be wondering, how do I actually get to Madagascar?

[00:29:00]Before we wrap up, here's everything you need to know to actually go to Madagascar. Best time to visit. April to October, the dry season. That's when everything works. Roads are open.

[00:29:14]National parks are accessible. Skies are clear. Within that window, July to September is peak season for whale watching around Marie. October to December is when whale sharks arrive near Nosy B. August to October the baobabs are at their greenest and sunset at Morand Dava is unforgettable. June to September is Famadahana season in the highlands. What you want to avoid is January to March. That's cyclone season [music] and roads to major sites get washed out. Now, money. Madagascar is one of the most affordable, amazing destinations left on Earth. Budget travelers can live on $40 to $60 a day.

[00:29:59]Mid-range $80 to $150.

[00:30:02]Luxury lodges in the national parks $250 and up per night, but once in a lifetime. Flights from the US run $1,200 to $1,800 round trip, usually through Paris or Adisabar. Domestic flights Tana to Morandava about $200. Tana to Nosi B about $250. Book early. Visa is simple.

[00:30:31]Americans get Visa on arrival. Up to 30 days is free. Under [music] 15 days, you only pay an $11 tourist tax. Bring a passport valid 6 months out, plus a yellow fever certificate if you're coming from a yellow fever zone. A few tips. Always ask before photographing people. Every village has its own fa.

[00:30:56]Let a local guide [music] walk you through them. Bring cash in dollars or euros. ATMs are limited [music] outside the capital. Don't walk alone in downtown Tanner after dark. and talk to your doctor about malaria prophylaxis for lowland areas. So that's Madagascar.

[00:31:15]Ready for the last thing I want to tell you.

[00:31:20]Madagascar, 107 species of lemur, six species of baobob, 18 ethnic groups, one word for family that includes your neighbor. It's an island where time forgot to move at the same speed [music] as the rest of the world. Where women dance with their ancestors bones. [music] Where men wrestle bulls with their bare hands.

[00:31:45]Where a tree can be a mother, a hut can be a shrine, and a stranger will offer you dinner before asking your name. If you ever set foot here, you'll leave with something you can't quite name.

[00:31:58]Because Madagascar isn't just a place.

[00:32:01]It's evidence that Earth is more creative than we ever imagined. If Madagascar just made your bucket list drop Salomar in the comments below. If you enjoyed this journey, hit like, subscribe, and ring the bell so you don't miss the next country we visit together. Where should we go next?

[00:32:19]Japan, Morocco, Bhutan, Peru. Drop your guess below and share this video with the friend you want to travel to Madagascar with. Until next time, my friend Vol. Voloma from Madagascar.