"Razor Sharp," Madagascar

John "Razor Sharp" Benson and Luke "Fummakiller" Padget make their way through the Tsingy. © Stephen Alvarez/NGM used with permission

My Stone Forest of Madagascar story is out in this month's National Geographic (here). It is hard not to use hyperbole in describing this place, 600 square kilometers of limestone towers up to 100 meters tall. Moving in there was just about impossible.

2 passages from my journal that sum up working there for 6 weeks

May 4 2009

...I've always detested the phrase 'razor sharp' used about rocks and even here where things are terribly, horribly sharp that is not the right phrase. This place is more like climbing on huge piles of upright steak knives. The cheap serrated kind that are just sharp enough to really really **** you up. If you fell even a little way in here there are dozens of things that would cut you to the bone. It is worse than I had imagined and I imagined something pretty bad...

May 6 2009

...tonight I had a serious National Geographic Moment. I'd climbed the tsingy to photograph Luke and John across the valley as they descended some pinnacles. The sun went down and the full moon rose. I was alone on the rocks. From across the valley sounds of drums and dancing drifted in on the wind from a village 3 kilometers out on the neighboring plane. Bats and night jars were swooping about my head and the full moon was so bright that I could see everything for miles and miles. It was perfect...

The story -with much better writing by Neil Shea- is on news stands in the November issue of National Geographic.

-Stephen Alvarez

Comments

[publikaccion]

Amazing shot, and great place to be :-)

[Helga]

Great! Thank you for beeing there :)

[Stephen Alvarez]

Ira, always the brides maid never the bride. Maybe some of the foreign partners ran it on the cover. I am usually huge in Eastern Europe! Have fun in Bangkok.

[Ira Block]

Hey, you should've had the cover!!!