Located 250 miles off the east coast of Africa, the island nation of Madagascar is one of the world's most extraordinary nations. With a chain of mountains dividing the land into distinct regions of rainforest, coastal plain, savannah, and mountains, each ecosystem is a destination in its own right. The Malagasy people belong to 18 main clans, which are based on old kingdoms, rather than ethnic groupings. Each of the cultural groups have been influenced by a wide range of cultures: Arab, African, Asian, and European. The Malagasy language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian linguistic group, belying the country's early Asian cultural influences. While Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are found on the island, the majority of the people follow various forms of ancestor worship. Malagasy funerary rituals are complex, dramatic events that lie at the heart of the culture. Several of the island's ethnic groups practice symbolic entombments, and carve elaborate stiles in honor of their dead. At the heart of Malagasy culture lie fady - a complex web of social restrictions and responsibilities. Many fady benefit conservation, with restrictions of killing certain animals, cutting trees, and clearing vegetation in certain regions.

Madagascar's climate is generally tropical, with a wet season from November to March, and a dry season from April to October. Within these periods, there is great climactic variation, with high rainfall in the northeast, and a dry southwestern region. The west coast is increasingly dry as one travels south. Madagascar's mountainous highlands can be surprisingly cool. This wide climactic variety, coupled with Madagascar's geological history, is the source of Madagascar's incredible flora and fauna, which is the primary attraction for most visitors. Madagascar has been an island since the break-up of Gondwanaland, making it an isolated realm of evolution, and subsequently the home of a tremendous range of rare plants and animals. Throughout the country, an overwhelming array of endemic species can be found: 1,000 orchid species, over 300 species of frog, 270 types of reptile, over 100 types of mammal, and, of course, the famous lemurs, found nowhere else on earth.