Madagascar 1994

Spirits determine life

(7,000 kilometers through Madagascar by jeep)

The large island in the western Indian Ocean with the adventurous name has long attracted us. We drove 7,000 km in a jeep over remote tracks, sailed on a dugout canoe with an outrigger through the most shark-rich waters on earth and discovered a country that is still undeveloped in many parts. An island where a hurricane can devastate a bridge, a road, houses or an entire region the very next day. Crocodiles live in its rivers and countless species of birds and butterflies exist in its primeval forests, so many that most of them are still unknown today. Madagascar is a natural reservoir in which animals and plants from ancient times have survived to this day.

We will never forget standing at the breeding site of the legendary Rock bird, which died out not so long ago – a bird whose eggs were the size of footballs. Also unforgettable: having witnessed a death cult.

Madagascar 1994

Tanja and Denis Katzer crossed the huge island off the southwest coast of Africa for 7000 km in a four-wheel drive vehicle, paddled in a dugout canoe on the Tsiribihina and sailed a pirogue across the world’s most shark-rich waters.