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Madagascar is an island country situated in the Indian Ocean, near the eastern coast of Africa. Filled with picturesque locales and breathtaking natural beauty, Madagascar is quite a great place from the tourism point of view. In the central portions of Madagascar, highlands dominate the landscape. The spiny desert of Madagascar, found in these regions, is one of the greatest spectacles of nature found in all of Madagascar.
The spiny desert of Madagascar is found in the southern and south western regions of Madagascar. It is part of a very dry area, and receives a minimal amount of rainfall per year. Limestone and red sandstone are the rocks which dominate the terrain of the area, and the vegetation is varied, although mostly having plants of spiny structure.
The spiny desert of Madagascar is a rare natural phenomenon. The desert is actually a thicket of spiny, deciduous plants, which are peculiar to this region. Most of the plant life found here is not found elsewhere on earth, a fact which makes the desert even more striking. The spiny desert is mainly dominated by plans of the Didiereaceae family. These have basic similarities with the cacti in terms of their spiny structure, but the similarities end there. The cacti have spines that are fleshy and inwardly soft, while the spines of these plants are harder and more woody.
The spiny desert of Madagascar also plays host to a variety of animals, some of them also being unique to the country of Madagascar. Among these are the ring-tailed lemur, the radiated tortoise of Madagascar, and the Grandidier's mongoose. These exotic animals roam these lands at will, and the region is unspoilt from outside infiltration of man.
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