In this short film for NatGeo & Lonely Planet TV, I’m searching for remnants of the French Foreign Legion in Madagascar, exploring the island’s wind-whipped northeastern coastline via ATV. My destination: an abandoned lighthouse and military base, lately colonized by goats and a charming young goatherd.

On assignment in Madagascar for National Geographic and Lonely Planet, I made a detour to investigate Ilakaka, the gem capital of Madagascar, a boomtown gone bust, where Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law got shot to death. The place gave me the creeps. I didn’t stick around.