deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

The Republic of Madagascar, previously known as The Malagasy Republic. It is an island country off of the bottom coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It is the second largest island country in the world.

There has been human activity on Madagascar for thousands of years. Various European ‘explorers’ bumped into Madagascar with the French finally ‘absorbing’ it into the French Colonial Empire in 1897. They continued to rule the country until 1960 when it was given it’s independence.

The flag is a simple presentation of history and tradition. The red and white colors were on the flag of the Marina Kingdom – before the French arrived. The color green represents Hova, a city where the lowest peasant commoners live. It’s the history of who the people were then, who they are now and an inclusive symbol of the country. The flag is simple and profound. Overall a good flag.

One of the reasons I have been fascinated with Madagascar is because 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else in the world. In my Docenting days at the Denver Zoo a favorite exhibit to stop by and entertain, especially middle school groups, was the Ring-tailed Lemurs.

The male Lemurs have ‘stink glands’ at the base of their tails. In order to determine who would mate, the males would wave their tails at each other and have ‘stink fights’ to get the female’s attention. “Now girls, doesn’t that sound like something boys would do?” (I was never hesitant to stoop to get a cheap laugh.)

Another subspecies of Lemurs are known as Sifakas. We didn’t have them at the Denver Zoo, so I have only witnessed them on film. When a Sifaka needs to get somewhere fast and doesn’t have a tree to sail through, it stands on it’s back two legs and runs.