Madagascar & Comoros: travel books to read before you go

Oct 1, 2010 11:50:57 AM

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This excerpt from Lonely Planet’s Madagascar & Comoros guide provides a selection of travel literature to get you in the mood for your trip.

Maverick in Madagascar, by Mark Eveleigh, is a quirky tale of the author’s travels on foot down Madagascar’s northwest coast and the infamous western ‘Zone Rouge’.

Zoo Quest to Madagascar, by David Attenborough, is a marvellously dated account of the intrepid TV presenter’s trip to Madagascar in the 1960s.

The Aye-Aye and I, by Gerald Durrell, is another golden oldie – the irrepressible Durrell took his team of long-suffering naturalists and filmmakers to Madagascar to capture the island’s rarest lemur.

A Fish Caught in Time, by Samantha Weinberg, is a fascinating account of a quest to find the prehistoric coelacanth and has lots of good background material on the Comoros.

The Eighth Continent: Life, Death, and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar, by Peter Tyson, is a blend of scientific journalism, conservation politics and travelogue. The author accompanied four scientists on their journeys through Madagascar.

Muddling Through in Madagascar, by Dervla Murphy, is the eccentric travel writer’s account of an accident-prone trip to Madagascar with her 14-year-old daughter.