1158 MADAGASCAR - Les baobabs amoureux in Morondava

Once upon a time, a young man and a young woman of two nearby villages fell in love from each other. Unfortunately both had already an assigned partner and had to marry separately in their respective villages. However, the impossible couple dreamed of a common eternity life and having a child together and secretly asked help to their god. Both baobabs were born and now live they for eternity as one as the couple always wished. So says the legend that appeared the two baobabs known as Les baobabs amoureux (the Lovers baobabs), located at 7km to the northwest of the famous Avenue or Alley of the Baobabs, a prominent group of baobab trees lining the dirt road between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region in western Madagascar. Along the 260m of the avenue are 20-25 trees about 30m in height, known locally as renala (Malagasy for "mother of the forest"), a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar.

1098 MADAGASCAR - Children of the miners of Ilakaka

Not rarely, in the world turned upside down in which we live, in countries rich in terms of natural resources live the poorest people. Madagascar (which is among the world's principal suppliers of vanilla, cloves and ylang-ylang, but also provides half of the world's supply of sapphires, and holds one of the world's largest reserves of ilmenite (titanium ore), as well as important reserves of chromite, coal, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel) is one of these. In 2012, the population of Madagascar was estimated at just over 22 million, 90 percent of whom live on less than two dollars per day.