| A winding 1½-mile trail through native forest will introduce you to the unbelievable wealth and diversity of northern Madagascar's flora. At the foot of French Mountain, just behind King's Lodge Hotel, we've created a 64-acre botanical park with the assistance of the GTZ (German donor). Here you will discover the variety of vegetation that characterizes Madagascar's north, including many rare and unusual plants that grow nowhere else in the world. |
| The park is perfect for solitary walks, or for small groups. The path is laid out starting with a pontoon bridge through mangroves fringing the bay. It then continues on through the nearby savannah and dry forest of the foothills. You will reach higher rocky slopes later that offer an unrestricted view of our very scenic, 2 nd largest natural bay in the world. Five rest areas exist along the way in areas of specific plant assemblages spotlighting the unique floras of French Mountain, Ankarana, the island of Nosy Hara, Windsor Castle and Sakalava Bay. Information panels on botany, geology, and the history/culture of the north of Madagascar are installed around the rest areas.
Besides its obvious value to tourists, the park doubles as our privately conceived and funded conservation effort to preserve and reproduce rare baobabs, pachypodiums and of other disappearing plants. |
