In 2004, Fred Triep visited Madagascar for seven weeks. He found that to be an inspiring trip. He decided to go to Madagascar again in 2012, but this time for three months to study the plants and animals and create a simple flora of Madagascar. On Madagascar, he spent some time at the Zazamalala estate of his friends Simon and Jocelyne. In addition, he travels together with Simon, but also alone. In this book, he writes about his encounters with the Malagasy and this fascinating island's unique plants and animals. What was supposed to be a quiet nature vacation resulted in several adventures.

Fred Triep (1949) is a biologist. He lives in Amsterdam, and until April 2012, he worked as a teacher of biology and ICT subjects at Horizon College in Alkmaar.
His passions are travel, hiking, plants, animals and photography. For years, he has been writing non-fiction: travel stories for magazines on mountaineering and outdoor sports and articles for the Hortus newspaper. He also maintains a website about hiking (wandelwebsite.nl) and botany (botaniewebsite.nl).
In May 2011, he published the novel The Catalyst.