Antipode: Seasons with the Extraordinary Wildlife and Culture of Madagascar

by Heather E. Heying

By definition, "antipode" is a point on the earth diametrically opposite from another. As a field biologist specializing in reptiles and amphibians, Heather Heying has been to some of the most remote places on the globe. Her career consists of trekking through dense rainforests, sitting for hours at a time observing elusive creatures, and spending weeks on end in remote, sometimes inhospitable locales. But nothing she previously experienced quite prepared her for the three seasons she spent studying the tiny, bright, poisonous frogs found only at what is the antipode of her world, both geographically and figuratively - the island-nation of Madagascar.

The majority of Madagascar's wildlife is endemic -- found nowhere else. Lemurs rule the forest canopy, while on the ground, snakes and lizards search for evening meals of frogs and bugs, all against a gorgeous backdrop of rainforest. It's a biologist's paradise - but at times can also be a foreigner's worst nightmare. Madagascar in no way resembles what most Westerners know as normal existence. Technologically, it is laps behind the first world. Time shuffles by at a slow gait. Poverty is rampant - people pride themselves on how many pots of rice a day they eat. Language and culture barriers, combined with bureaucratic red tape, can make travel virtually impossible.

In stories that are in turns moving, insightful, hilarious, and beautiful, Heather recounts her experiences -- from run-ins with naked sailors and unusually hostile lemurs to tropical hurricanes and greedy tourist entrepreneurs. As she carefully navigates an obstacle-strewn path, she gradually uncovers the hidden lives of the beautiful yellow and blue poison frogs she studies. And all the while, she is coming to understand her role as a female Westerner in a foreign society, and her intense love for and fascination with the stunning cultures and wildlife of Madagascar.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Travel, Science, Madagascar, Natural History, Biology

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Heather E. Heying (Heying, rhymes with "flying") is an American evolutionary biologist and author. She co-hosts the DarkHorse Podcast with her husband and fellow evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein and writes a newsletter called Natural Selections on Substack.

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

really interesting insight into malagasy culture as well as its natural world. The author comes off bit self-righteous, but tries to get around that with personal anecdotes and philosophical commentaries, which read a bit disingenuous. Otherwise, a good read, and has re-inspired me to add Madagascar to my "places to see before I die" list.

[Kayla Tornello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offered a glimpse into Madagascar that the author experienced while doing research on poisonous frogs. I like that she explained the environment, the animals, and the way of life for the inhabitants of Madagascar. It was interesting to learn about how scientists operate on research trips.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book that felt like taking a little vacation without leaving my couch.

Thanks for the recommendation, Dr. L!

[Luggage]

This was a good book for learning about the daily slog and isolation of fieldwork in Madagascar prior to cell phones, as well as a little bit about the methods. As far as culture goes, the author is really a fish out of water and an observer who often does not understand what she is seeing / experiencing. Part of this is due to her culture being very different from malagasy culture, but it could have been bridged a bit I think if she had made more of an effort to learn rudimentary Malagasy. Since she was set on returning to Madagascar and said that the cultural experience was just as much a reason for doing so as studying the frogs, it's unclear to me why she didn't study malagasy between her second and third trips. Perhaps there was no way to do so in the United States prior to the internet being widespread; I really don't know.

It should be noted that this book is not really about Madagascar as a whole. Most of the book is about living on Nosy Mangabe, one small island in a very large country.

That said, it is useful for learning about how some westerners experience malagasy culture. It doesn't explain much about malagasy culture itself, though.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. Was not as helpful in learning about Madagascar as I would have hoped. More of a travelogue limited to small areas of Madagascar.

[TessTalarico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an excellent book to see what it's like to do biological field work in a Third World country.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather Heying is a frog researcher who studied mantella frogs on the island of Nosy Mangabe. She tells the story of her time in Madagascar on this island, living in a tent. While she did her studies in the 1990's, the island has changed a lot since she was there, largely due to increased tourism.

Her description of the place, the people, and the odd things she discovered about Madagascar was fun to read. This was the only book I read about Madagascar that made me actually want to go there, and I thought she was very honest in her descriptions of both the good and the bad she encountered. If you have any interest in Madagascar at all, I highly recommend this as a good read. It was my favorite in a series of books I read before visiting the country, and the island she did research on.

[colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when Meg was in Madagascar. I felt like it connected me to her somehow, and I love reading about Africa in all its forms!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. Heather is a poison arrow frog biologist who goes to Madagascar for her research. She gets bitten by a lemur and finds the same good soap I did in Tanzania, finally!

[Megs]

Heather taught one of my classes at TESC and I am really looking forward to reading this one!