One returning fan I ran into in the cocktail bar was a Mr James Bond (who, incidentally, likes his white rum shaken, not stirred, with crushed ice, lime and cane sugar). His day job is heading the World Bank in Madagascar, and this was his third holiday on the island.

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, Bond told me, but its Government has only recently welcomed foreign investment, particularly for tourism. In an effort to capitalise on the country’s unique wildlife (half of the country’s birds and most of its mammals and plants are unique to the island), President Marc Ravalomanana has pledged to triple the size of Madagascar’s national parks and reserves from 1.7 million hectares to six million hectares by 2010. This programme, known as the Durban Vision, was recently given the Globe Award by the British Guild of Travel Writers in recognition of its commitment to developing local economic and community benefits through responsible tourism.

The potential to develop ecotourism in Madagascar struck home on the final leg of my trip when I went to the island of Nosy Komba, a 15-minute boat ride from Nosy Be. I stayed at Tsara Komba, a small hillside hotel owned by two Frenchmen who have designed and built three open-plan villas overlooking the sea. I spent a full day trekking through dense forest with a guide who took me to a black lemur park on the other side of the island. En route, I saw a dozen snakes, lots of beautiful birds and a huge variety of weird and wonderful tropical plants, before returning to the hotel along the coast in a dugout canoe in time to watch the sun set over the mainland and enjoy Tsara Komba’s fabulous French cuisine.

As James Bond explained: “Madagascar is so unusual; you feel as if you’ve come to a weird sci-fi fantasy that’s unlike anywhere else in the world. And that’s its greatest hope.”

Need to know

Getting there: Richard Hammond travelled with Rainbow Tours (020-7226 1004, www.rainbowtours. co.uk) and Air Madagascar (www.airmadagascar.com). An 11-day trip costs from £2,150pp, including flights to Antananarivo, transfers, city tour, three nights at Tsara Komba on half board, three nights at Tsarabanjina on full board, and four nights at Anjajavy on full board. Blue Ventures (020-8341 9819, www.blueventures.org), which organises trips to assist on conservation projects in Madagascar, was highly commended in the best voluntary programme category in the 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards. Reading: Madagascar (Bradt, £14.95).

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