Cap Sainte Marie

Cap Sainte Marie is where Madagascar ends, a headland of low cliffs above the meeting of the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel, permanently raked by wind that has pruned the vegetation into a dense mat rarely more than knee high. The reserve protects one of the densest populations of radiated tortoises left, though poaching for the pet trade has hit them hard, and the ground in places is scattered with fragments of eggshell from the elephant bird, the flightless giant thought to have died out around a thousand years ago. A lighthouse marks the point and whales pass offshore in season. There is nothing built beyond a ranger post and a simple camp. The landscape is bleak in a way that is unlike anywhere else in the country, and the wind is relentless.

The landscape

• The southern tip - cliffs where two seas meet.
• Radiated tortoises - one of the last dense populations.
• Elephant-bird eggshell - fragments scattered in the sand.
• Wind-pruned vegetation - a dense mat of dwarf plants over the headland.

When to go

April to November for the tracks. Whales pass between July and September. Wind blows hard year round and is strongest in the middle of the day. Nights are surprisingly cold for the latitude.

Before you go

Getting here is a long rough drive through the deep south, one of the poorest regions of the country, and the journey rather than the site takes the day. Accommodation is basic camping. There is no shelter from the wind. Tortoises are the target of active poaching, so their locations should not be shared or photographed with identifying detail.

Nearby

Tsihombe is the access town; Fort Dauphin lies far to the east.

Key facts