2012 Madagascar

This was an interesting trip as it was one of the poorest countries that I have been to and had the most internal flights (5) with an airline that had a reputation of  being unreliable.  I travel with an open mind and changes to itineraries do not bother me, and I had confidence that if anything did go wrong, or side-wards, I was travelling with a tour company that would and could make it right.

Food quality turned out to much more of an issue than I expected as everyone (except one person) got sick at one point during the trip, so make sure you bring your Cipro and learn to uhmm, go with the flow. 🙂

Antananarivo

In preparing for this trip I tried to find out as much as I could about the country and what I read painted a pretty bleak picture about the people and countries infrastructure. What I found was a huge city that had a good basic infrastructure and even the basic tourist needs and some nice restaurants.

Marontsetra

Our first flight took us up here and then a short drive out to Marontsetra for the night.

Masoala National Park

A short boat ride and we came to this brand new tourist jungle/beach resort. Nice cabins on the side of a hill overlooking the bay. They really had a great location and great service however supplies were an issue. I think the day we left they were out of bottled water and I think we were drinking the last of their orange Fanta to stay hydrated. I expected issues like this so I wasn’t too worried.

It was very humid and my camera lens would keep fogging up.  🙁

Nosy Mangabe

A little boat ride to this cove to explore the unique animals and then back to Marontsetra for a flight back to Antananarivo. The Marontsetra airport is so quaint, the arrivals/departures screen is a chalk board on the wall.

 Antananarivo

This time we had a little more time in the capital and had a tour of the town and I bought one of my best souvenirs ever. I haggled with the two girls on the price for about 5 minutes going back and forth, the whole time making them laugh without knowing what the other one was saying. It was probably the most fun they had with a sale in a while and I got this wonderful wall hanging for around $25US, once they got mothers approval on the price.  🙂

Tulear to Isalo

Our third flight, which was rescheduled, took us down to Tulear where we took a small bus down to Isalo. During the trip, we saw some beautiful scenery but also got to see some of the hardships that the people endure. The main highways are nicely paved, thanks to Chinese investment, but some caution that is only so that they can get the natural resources out of the country easier. However, we saw many instances of kids pushing huge drums along the road, we were told that not all villages had drinking water so they had to push these barrels to a town that had fresh water and then push it back, sometimes this was up to 10 miles each way.

Isalo National Park

A great hike through the park today but unfortunately our guide decided to cut our hike short due to the physical limitations of some of our group. This meant we missed out on our one chance to see ring-tailed lemurs, when that was discovered some of the group started to rebel. Not a good sign.

Morondava to Tsingy de Bemaraha

Leaving the Isalo area on flight number four from what I didn’t even realize was an airstrip (Aerodrome de Ranohira) to Morondava airport, then get in our 4x4s for a very long drive with a brief stop at the Avenue of the Baobabs. Given some weather delays we didn’t arrive until late in the evening.

Tsingy de Bemaraha (Little Tsingy)

A little boat ride a jungle walk and visit to a local school. Lots of animals today.

Tsingy de Bemaraha (Grand Tsingy)

This was a good day to test out the 4x4s as there had been rain and lots of mud on the road to the park. I had never seen anything like this before Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve is so unique with it’s limestone formations and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We actually had to wear a harness for this hike and be tethered to lines in many places. It was so unique but few tourist companies come out this way as it is so hard to get to.

Leaving Tsingy de Bemaraha

It took us 12 hours to go about 100 miles. The road was in very bad shape and even our 4x4s were getting stuck, then our car ferry broke down and floated down the river for an hour before we hit a sand bank and then they could work on repairs and get us back on track.

Morondava to Mantadia

Our last internal flight and then driving though Antananarivo en route to get to Mantadia. Today the skies around the capital were very smokey due to all the slash and burning that was going on.  🙁

Mantadia National Park

A great couple of walks through the park looking for more lemurs.

Lemur Island & Mantadia National Park

Lemur Island is a reserve for many types of lemurs that have become habituated to humans. Not exactly a natural setting for the lemurs as they learn that guides will feed them, but it was also nice to see the lemurs up close after trying to spot them in the wild for the last couple of weeks.

Antananarivo

Back in the capital for one more night before the long flights home. It was a good trip, I learned a lot about the country and maybe a bit about my self, which is what travelling is all about.

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