Red Tsingy

The Red Tsingy, known locally as the Tsingy Rouge, is a valley of slender red spires in the far north of Madagascar, about 60 kilometres south of the port of Antsiranana near the village of Sadjoavato. The word "tsingy" usually refers to the razor-edged grey limestone pinnacles of western Madagascar, and the name is said to mean a place where one cannot walk barefoot. These formations are quite different: not limestone at all, but soft sediment and red laterite, an iron-rich soil whose oxides give the whole scene its colours, from deep rust to orange, pink and cream.

They are the work of the Irodo River and of the rain. As the river cut down into the soft ground, the slopes above it began to collapse and wash away, and gullies widened into a small canyon. Columns were left standing where the ground resisted while everything around them was carried off, producing a crowd of fluted pinnacles and fins like fairy chimneys. Clearing of the forest in the region has sped the process up, and the formations are said to have been exposed only from the mid-twentieth century, after landslides opened the ground.

That speed is what makes the place remarkable. Most rock landscapes change over many lifetimes; the Red Tsingy changes from one rainy season to the next, as heavy downpours undercut some spires and carve out new ones, so the view seen on one visit will never be quite the same again. The colours are at their richest in low morning or evening light, when the slanting sun brings out the stripes and the contrast between the red columns, the pale sand at their feet and the green of the surrounding scrub.

Getting there

The formations lie about 42 kilometres in a straight line from Antsiranana (Diego Suarez), the main city of northern Madagascar, and about 39 kilometres from its Arrachart Airport (DIE). The site is usually visited on a day trip by road from Antsiranana, a drive of around two hours, often with a local driver or guide.