Take a rare flower, add a unique primate and throw in a touch of the island life and what have you got? Madagascar. With its hundreds of rare orchids, including the six-point one called the comet orchid of Madagascar, the lemur, and unforgettable beaches, this country just off the coast of Mozambique, sits like an island gem in the middle of the Indian Ocean�rough around the edges yet unspoiled.

Breaking away from the African continent 150 million years ago to form the Mozambique channel, Madagascar took a significant percentage of plants and animals that now, only call Madagascar home. Almost ninety-eight percent of the land mammals, ninety-two of the reptiles, sixty-eight percent of the plants, and forty-one percent of the birds have only one home: Madagascar.

But the country is more than just facts and figures. Its uniqueness is terrestrial and celestial. Move from the flurry of the capital, Tana, to the serene coastal cities of Tulear and Diego Suarez to the isles of the north.