Madagascar

Can you hear that. It’s the sound of the ocean whispering on my sandy shores. All around me, the water sparkles a brilliant blue. My soil is a rich, red color, and my forests are filled with creatures you won’t see anywhere else. You might hear a funny little leap and a happy song from a creature with a long, striped tail. You might see a lizard that can change its colors to match a leaf. I am a giant green jewel floating in the Indian Ocean, a magical world all my own. Hello. I am the island of Madagascar.

I wasn’t always floating by myself. A very, very long time ago, around 88 million years ago, I was snuggled up right next to the land that is now India. But then, I slowly started to float away on the big blue sea, like a giant boat on a great big adventure. Because I was all alone for so long, my plants and animals became very special. This is why the funny, leaping lemurs and the colorful chameleons only live here with me. For a long time, it was just me and my animal friends. Then, about 2,000 years ago, brave people arrived in big canoes. They became the first Malagasy people, my first human family. They were amazed by my forests and all my wonderful creatures.

My new Malagasy friends built homes and villages. They created kingdoms all across my land, each with its own wonderful stories and songs. As time went on, a great king named Radama I wanted all the people to feel like one big family. In the year 1817, he began to bring many of the kingdoms together, making them stronger. Long before that, starting in the 1500s, ships from far-off Europe began to arrive, and for a while, people from another country were in charge. But the Malagasy people always dreamed of leading their own island home again. I felt so proud on June 26th, 1960, when that dream came true, and Madagascar became its own country once more.

Today, I am still a place of wonder. People come from all over the world to see my amazing sights. They visit my Avenue of the Baobabs, where giant trees look like they were planted upside down with their roots reaching for the sky. They listen for the singing of the Indri lemurs in my rainforests. I am a living treasure, and I need help to stay that way. By learning about me, you can help protect my unique animals and my precious forests for children to see in the future. I am a special place that shows just how amazing and different life on our planet Earth can be.