Anja Reserve, on the way to Isalo

The landscape changed dramatically when driving south west from Ranomafana to Isalo. This is the land of the Bara tribe and the zebu (cattle) farmer. They have a strong and ancient belief in the benefits of 'slash-and-burn' agriculture and as such the air was thick with smoke. We stopped at Anja Community Reserve in a landscape reminiscent of the Wild West. Rather than the humid rainforest of Ranomafana we were now in a dry and arid environment dominated by sandstone massifs. For botanists the areas of Isalo and Ifaty are of particular interest as, again, the plant life here has evolved to adapt to the extremes and are found nowhere else in the world.