Tsingy Rouge de Diego Suarez (the Red Tsingy) in northern Madagascar is a group of beautiful Red Tsingy, similar to the more popular Tsingy de Bemaraha, just on a much smaller and redder scale. But the tones of Tsingy Rouge definitely put the grey Tsingy de Bemaraha to shame – especially when you can enjoy the light of the afternoon.

But this beautiful rock formation is a result of domestic Violence on a grand scale. The Tsingy Rouge is nature’s response to human destruction. It is a temporary performance put up to prove that no matter how hard we beat her down, Mother Earth will fight back and survive (well, at least try to…)

The Tsingy Rouge is a geological oddity that did not exist 50 years ago. It appeared as a result of deforestation – one of those nasty human habits. The mixture of different oxides and the work of time had given birth to a set of several hundred small fairy chimneys. These turned out to be sand formations overlaid by red clay long ago. Erosion wore the clay away, exposing the tall white (with tinges of red) columns of sand formations underneath. These tsingy are made of red laterite (similar to clay) and not of limestone rock like the tsingy at l’Ankarana. The sandstone will wash away over time and so the tsingy will not exist in a few years time. However, with the continued erosion of the red soil, it is believed that other sections of the pink sandstone will be revealed.

The Tsingy Rouge is a stark reminder that our domestic violence to the most important mother in the world can cause  permanent damage to the planet, the most important home for us all. Mother nature may sometimes be able to adapt her home to work around her destructive children but sometimes, the weaker animal and plant siblings may not be so lucky to survive the wrath of humans.

The Tsingy Rouge  is 50 km south of Diego Suarez and you will need a driver and ‘quad quad’ AKA 4×4 to get there.