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מדגסקר - תיבת נוח האבודה Photographed impressions of a tour made by Jacob & Mazal Dafni and Zvi & Hana Naiman רשמים מצולמים מטיול פרטי במדגסקר, שערכו יעקב ומזל דפני וצבי וחנה ניימן June-July יוני - יולי 2003 |
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Madagascar is the fouth largest island in the world - 600,000
sq. km. In the Jurasic period, when the supercontinent Gondwana broke, pieces scattered away and drifted to their present
location - India, Madagascar, Antarctica, Africa and South America. As a result each island or subcontinent underwent different
evolution. Madagascar was settled by its primeval organisms and few drifters who crossed the Mozambique Channel, evolved into
endemic species. 200 out of 400 plant families of the world are endemic, and so are 80% of the animals. Endemic also are the Lemurs,
monkeys of African origin, 32 species of which live only here.
Geology. The east and central regions are made of igneous rocks, part of ancient Gondwana. The west is mainly sedimentary
- sandstone and limestones. Volcanism is prevalent in many regions. A unique formation is the Tsingy, limestone rocks, shaped by
erosion to form sharp and weired rocks.
Climate is tropic. Southern winter (July-October) is dry, and Summer (November-April) rainy. Most of the rain is in the eastern mountain ridge, were a tropical rain forest used to cover the entire landscape, now reduced to small forest reserves.
The west is semi-desert, covered by a typical spiny forest. most of the the plants are endemics, mainly of the Euphorbia family and
Didiereaceae, with tall, spiny stems. This is the home of 6 Baobab species and similar thick trunk trees, like Pachypodium and Moringa.
Madagascar's contribution to the world flora is immense - from the Flambouyant, Pointsetta, Ravenala (Traveller's palm) to the small periwinkle. In the rainforest Cythaea (tree-fern), Cycas and more.
The naturalist will find the stroll in these forest really impressive.
People are a mix of malai-origin tribes, african negros, Swahili arabs. To them add the contribution of french and british colonialism.
Each of the main tribes maintains unique patterns, the most bizarre are burial and ancestral memorial ceremonies. Typical thomb structures,
decorated with rich sculpture, comemorate the ancestors of each tribe. Deep inherited are tabu behaviours, which reigned for ages
the traditional society.
Modern madagascar, handicapped both by tribal tradition and beaurocracy, fights its way to modern standards of politics and economy. The mostly unpaved main roads makes this country very difficult to travel. The activity of global organizations, such as WWF
(World Wildlife Fund) helps to preserve Madagascar's beauty to the future generations. |
אנו ראינו רק שמץ מכל דבר, אך הרשמים המצולמים נחרתו בזכרון ובחוויה |
jdafni@gmail.com - לקשר עמנו
| pressing the picture brings you to the gallery לחץ על התמונה המתארת את הנושא המזהה ותגיע למקבץ הצילומים לנושא זה קבוצה |
| Geography and landscape |  |
גיאוגרפיה ונוף |
| Culture and people |  |
תרבות ואוכלוסיה |
| Lemurs |  |
למורים |
| Reptiles |  |
זוחלים |
| Birds |  |
עופות |
| Plants |  |
צמחים |
| Invertebrates, fish and amphibia |  |
חסרי חוליות, דגים ודו-חיים |
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