MADAGASCAR IN THE TOP 10 COUNTRIES TO VISIT ACCORDING TO FORBES MAGAZINE
Forbes, the famous American business magazine ranks Madagascar 6th out of 10 countries to visit this year. Its exceptional wealth of biodiversity has convinced several travel experts to include the Big Island in the list of Top Destinations this year.
Forbes magazine honours Madagascar as a destination. In its ranking of the top ten countries to visit this year, this leading business magazine ranks the Big Island sixth, behind Ethiopia in fifth and ahead of Mongolia in seventh. This ranking is the opinion of several travel experts, including Tour Operators. According to the magazine, the latter are conquered by the endemic fauna and flora that the fourth largest island in the world has to seduce tourists. Norman Howe, CEO of a Canadian travel company, commented in the magazine that "This wonderful country has so much biodiversity to discover, both in terms of natural beauty and unique landscapes. For flora and fauna, with more than 90% of Madagascar's endemic fauna, this is unbeatable.
Some comments following this article raise, however, the need to strengthen security measures on the Big Island. Interviewed recently by a private television channel, Jean Brunelle Razafintsiandraofa, Minister of Tourism, announced the forthcoming establishment of the "Dina" in the regions and the "andrimasom-pokonolona" or village vigilance committee to combat urban insecurity. This measure would allow tourists to travel to the places of their choice. This year promises to be an active year for the Tourism sector. During his visit to China in November 2018, the responsible minister concluded with the Chinese authorities to welcome 50,000 Chinese tourists this year. In addition to China, France and Turkey also intend to double the number of tourists who will come to Madagascar. Local actors have their work cut out for them.


In addition, there are seasons when heavy rains can occur in some areas and regions of Madagascar, so roads are barely or only slightly passable. However, these seasons are well calculable, where we always talk about the best travel time to Madagascar. In the following sections, we would like to offer you a complete overview of the climate, weather and the best travel time to Madagascar. This way, you can plan your holiday on the island in the best possible way and make sure that the weather does not bother you. If you need more information to plan your trip to Madagascar, or if we can help you with our wide range of fully planned travel services and packages, please contact us.
The general climate in Madagascar
With regard to the climate in Madagascar, it is necessary to distinguish between the different landscape areas of the island. Basically, the southern equatorial current is responsible for the tropical climate in Madagascar. From the humid tropical east to the east to the relatively dry and rain-free southwest of the island, the climate is very different. In general, a distinction is made between a dry season and a rainy season, which corresponds to the subdivision in winter and summer. The dry season generally lasts from April to October, while the rainy season lasts from November to March. As Madagascar as an island is exposed to both trade winds and monsoon rains, the rainy and dry seasons may sometimes shift.
Madagascar is an island hit by tropical cyclones every year. These violent cyclones hit Madagascar mainly in the fertile and densely populated areas of the east coast. Such a tropical cyclone is a meteorological phenomenon that originates much further east. The formation of a cyclone is caused by air masses that bring different temperatures with them and then rise, condense and descend. In addition, there is the rotation of the earth, which also puts these air masses in motion. Air masses now revolve around a centre that is often referred to as the “eye of the storm”. When temperatures and solar radiation favour it in a negative direction, these rotating air masses turn into cyclones, which not only leads to extreme wind speeds, but can also cause storm surges and heavy rainfall. Rainfall of up to 700 millimetres in a few hours is as rare as winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour. For comparison, we can perhaps use the information that, in some areas of southwest Madagascar, there is not even 500 millimetres of rainfall per year.
Several areas are particularly exposed to cyclones in Madagascar. The former pirate island of Sainte Marie is one of them. Hurricane Ivan, which struck Madagascar in 2008, caused a wave of destruction. In Sainte Marie, more than half of the buildings were destroyed, nearly a hundred people lost their lives in the storm and more than 300,000 Malagasy people lost their homes. What is particularly remarkable in this context, however, is the fact that the people of eastern Madagascar are by no means defeated by these hurricanes. On the contrary, after each storm, they rebuild their villages and cities full of energy. The idea of moving to another part of the country is an idea that very few people think about. In fact, however, researchers have already pointed out that global changes in the global climate situation could lead to an increase in the frequency of cyclones and other meteorological phenomena in the future. In this context, it could be assumed that the Malagasy areas on the east coast in particular could probably only be used on a seasonal basis, as a permanent settlement of these regions would then probably entail too great a risk.
