In 2014, author Geigert and her family flew to Madagascar for a family vacation of exploration and enjoyment. They soon learned that the Malagasy people and places "have the longest names in the world." For example, the capital city is Antananarivo, and their guide and driver was the very helpful Hery Andrianartenaina. The family interacted with local artisans, school children, and fishermen and stayed in various picturesque inns and cottages. Their happy faces are displayed in the large collection of color photos taken by the author. One great charm of Madagascar is its wildlife. It boasts over sixty species of lemurs, so tame that photographing them was easy, as these delightfully furry, sleek little creatures would take food from the family's hands and contentedly perch on shoulders. The family also interacted with moths, frogs, butterflies, starfish, elephants, fossa, cheetahs, kudus, elephants, and the very rare pangolin. Most species there are endangered owing to agriculture and logging, so seeing them in their habitat was a rare, memorable, and much-appreciated privilege.

Geigert is a photographer and travel writer whose work has appeared in galleries and Fodor's travel guides. While focusing on family, this book provides a fascinating text that includes the history of the country's colonization, missionary contact, and strong, enduring tribal cultures and rituals. These facts are given in company with photographs that range from intimate moments cuddling adorable lemurs and petting cheetahs to panoramas of the capital city and tea plantations, antique architecture, rickshaws, sailboats, and one especially breathtaking shot of a majestic row of baobab trees mirrored in a small pond at sunset. Geigert's book should be required reading and gazing for anyone planning a trip to the same locales. It will also engage armchair travelers with its vibrant photography and its amusing, informative, and sometimes credibly frustrating travelers' tales.

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