In the late 19th century, French colonialists embarked on a madcap project to dig a channel eight times longer than the Panama Canal. These days it’s a wild and weird home for the birds During this strange, cloistered year, I’ve been finishing off a book on Madagascar. With no view and no space, my mind has often wandered back to that island’s gigantic landscapes.At nearly 1,000 miles long, the island has left me with a rich cache of memories: cactus deserts, long pale beaches, vast cathedral-like limestone formations (tsingys in Malagasy), and forests that plunge from 1,000 metres down to the sea. Continue reading...