Stone Forest In Madagascar, Manambulu - Bemaraha

Climate
The combination of southeastern trade winds and northwestern monsoon winds produce a hot rainy season (November—April) with frequently destructive cyclones, and a relatively cooler dry season (May—October). Broadly speaking, the climate is tropical along the coast, temperate inland, moderately dry in the west, and arid in the south. Rain clouds originating over the Indian Ocean discharge much of their moisture over the island's eastern coast where precipitation as heavy as 3,800 mm (150 in) per year supports the area's rain forest ecosystem. The central highlands are both drier and cooler, while the west coast is drier still, with high aridity in the southwest and southern part of the island where a semi-desert climate prevails. Annual cyclones cause regular damage to infrastructure and local economies as well as loss of life. The most destructive since 1927 was Cyclone Geralda (February 2–4, 1994) which caused over 70 fatalities and left over 500,000 people homeless with the damage estimated at US$45 million.
• Ecology
As a result of the island's long isolation from neighboring continents, Madagascar is home to a vast array of plants and animals, many found nowhere else on Earth. Approximately 80% of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic, including the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa and three avian families. This distinctive ecology has led some ecologists to refer to Madagascar as the "eighth continent", and the island has been classified by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot.