Madagascar's forests are a shimmering, seething mass of a trillion stems and dripping leaves and slithering, jumping, quirky creatures out of nature's bag of tricks: lemurs, periwinkles and baobabs, aloes, geckoes, sifakas and octopus trees. Sadly, they are threatened by aggressive deforestation. An island which takes you back to pro-simians - more than 80% of all species are endemic, the highest rate of endemicity in the World. It is an incredible place - one of the most interesting countries I have ever visited. Apart from the bizarre, the people are a blend of Asian and African and everywhere we went we felt welcomed.