When discovering a new country, most travelers are inclined to take the path well-trodden: a train ride, a road trip, perhaps a bike tour. French explorer and writer Alexandre Poussin, 49, and his wife, Sonia Poussin, 47, are not those people. The couple and their two children recently completed a four-year journey around Madagascar on foot and by oxcart.
The couple is no stranger to long walking expeditions. Between 2001 and 2004 they traversed the African continent from Cape Town in South Africa to the Sea of Galilee in Israel, covering almost 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles). Their Madagascar trip, dubbed Madatrek, was different: this time they brought along their daughter, Philae, now 15, and son, Ulysse, now 12.