Walk this footbridge across a Tsingy de Bemaraha canyon, but don't fall, or you might get skewered. (istock/zouri)

The last time I flew over Manhattan, I looked out the airplane window down at the island of skyscrapers and thought, “Ouch. That would really hurt if you stepped on it.”

But that was before I became acquainted with the forest of knives they’ve got over in Madagascar. The forest is called the Tsingy de Bemaraha, and tsingy, according to National Geographic writer Neil Shea, means “where one cannot walk barefoot.” It’s not really a forest of gigantic knife blades (or a forest of arrowheads, though it looks like one). It’s actually a limestone formation — a really pointy one. Here’s what happened, according to NG: Two hundred million years ago, a bed of pure limestone got squeezed to the surface by tectonic shifts, while sea levels dropped. Over time, groundwater and rain dug crevasses and caves and ate away at the stone, and voila — limestone spires that look like they could make a kabob out of you.

It’s not as foreboding as it sounds, though. Within this forest of 10- to 20-foot spires and 400-foot-deep canyons live many unique species — some of them undiscovered and a lot of them really cute. Lemurs, arguably the most adorable animal on Earth, swing from one jagged spire to another as if it doesn’t hurt their adorable little hands. And I guess it doesn’t. These pure white sifaka lemurs with black faces and golden eyes are a lovely contrast to their spiky, gray habitat. 

I’d enter a forest of limestone blades to see one. Wouldn’t you?  

Hi. I'm cute as pie. (istock/GlobalP)

For more on Madagascar, watch the Coolest Stuff on the Planet video podcast.

Then read about primates…
Why do lemurs live only in Madagascar?
Primate Quiz
Are chimpanzees evolving in the wild?

Note: Special thanks to Green Science blogger and History podcaster Sarah Dowdey for giving me the heads up about the limestone forest.