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Madagascar 2017

Sunday September 17 – Ifaty – Antananarivo 

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Another relaxing morning as we wouldn’t be flying out of Ifaty to Antananarivo until the late afternoon. Had time to relax in the morning and sit on the beach a bit. Definitely a warm day out!

Had some fish sticks with fries for lunch and then prepared to drive to the Tulear airport for our flight to Tana. The Tulear airport was very basic and the “security” consisted of a man at the entrance to the security asking certain passengers, me included, if we had any guns or knives as he pointed at the sign. He didn’t ask me about liquids, just the guns and knives. You then head to a desk where the two staff take a peak in your carry on luggage – just a peak, so I’m guessing they are relying on the passengers to honestly answer the “no guns, no knives” question at the door!

Once you’re in the secured area there was some windows open onto the tarmac, which they did close once it got dark – likely more to keep out the mosquitos than to keep people in or out. The boarding process was pretty quick as they managed to unload and load up the 737 in probably about 15 minutes. There was another “Security check” on the tarmac beside the plane, in the dark – no sure how effective that was!
Landed in Tana and had a final group dinner at a restaurant near the airport, which was surprisingly good. I had a zebu steak with some cheese sauce and rice. We then headed back to the airport to change money and get our flights – half of us to Paris and the others to Nairobi and then London. Was a very long day and I could barely stay awake for the 1:30 am flight! Pretty much fell asleep as soon as we took off!

Madagascar 2017

Saturday September 16 – Ifaty 

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Slept in this morning for the first time! Woke up though with the first mosquito bites of the trip as the bungalow was not completely sealed and the bed had the worst mosquito net on the trip in the only place where it was needed. Heard some other creature making noise around the roof in the night and according to our guide it might have been a mouse lemur. Didn’t see it though – just saw the gecko that I startled with the lights when I got back from dinner last night!

Met the others for breakfast and had a leisurely meal given we had no activities. There was an option for snorkeling that a couple of people went on but it turned out to be pretty boring, apart from the ride out on a craft that looked to be very unseaworthy!

Relaxed on the beach for a bit and went in the ocean, which was very warm. Then headed up for lunch before coming back down for some more time on the beach.

Had a nice dinner with the group and sat around talking for a bit; although was still falling asleep by 9:30 so not an overly late night. Had a startle by the “security” when we headed back to our bungalows in the dark. They wore plain clothes, sometimes a hoodie and carried sticks around and like to hang out in the dark. I hadn’t notice the guy the previous night until I reached my bungalow door and then I was frantically trying to get the key in and open the door! ? I think the hotel should maybe consider a security vest for the guys to avoid any future heart attacks by guests!

Madagascar 2017

Thursday September 14 – Isalo

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Today we would be doing our final nature hike and have our last chance to see lemurs in Isalo National Park.  This area is desert like and very warm and there was an opportunity to see 4 different types of lemur.  The park was close to the hotel but required a few kilometre ride in the bus on a very bumpy road. 

Once we got to the park we set out up a hill, spotting some birds, a frog and a large stick insect along the way.   At the top our guide pointed out the two types of tombs, which were caves in the cliffs with the lower cave being the initial “drying cave” and the higher ones up the cliff being the permanent tombs, which required rock climbing skills for the family to place the coffins and bones!

We saw a plant called the elephant foot which is a plant endemic to Madagascar.  It has a big bulbous bottom in the shape of an elephant foot with yellow flowers.

We hiked up to a viewpoint where we got a good view of the rocks and the canyon.   We also saw a grass snake,  which was super fast, and a scorpion,  which our guide found under a rock.  We carried on to the natural pool,  which was a little blue lagoon and waterfall in the canyon.   There was a family of lemurs beside the pool,  chasing each other around.   Some of the group went for a quick swim while others relaxed in the shade. 

We carried on in the heat through the grassland along the edge of the canyon (wondered how many snakes were slithering around in there!).  Finally we descended down the canyon to a campsite area where we had a bbq zebu lunch. 

After lunch we walked through the canyon to two more natural pools,  where some of the group did some more swimming.  I was tempted to go in until two lemurs approached with the intention of liberating some bananas from some of our packs.   One was extremely persistent and would not give up even when I had my camera in his face!  His efforts paid off though as he managed to open the zippers of someone’s pack, poke his head in and grab a banana!

As we walked back through the canyon we saw a massive spider,  which was apparently still a “baby” in a web alongside the path.  

When we got back to the camp we spotted a sifaka, who lived alone.   As we approached it “danced” across the ground and went up a tree,  topping off the visit for everyone!

Hiked back to the car after a long hot day out and took a swim in the hotel swimming pool when we got back before dinner.  An amazing day with other closest encounter with the lemurs. 

Madagascar 2017

Sunday September 10 – Morondava to Antsirabe

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 An early morning today as we had a long drive to Antsirabe – about 11 hours including stops.  En route we stopped at a view point to take some photos of the countryside and heard our guide explain about the increase in “zebu gangsters”, which are essentially cattle rustlers but the term zebu gangsters sounded much more humorous and made some of us laugh despite the fact that it appeared to be a real problem given the corruption in the government and the fact that they did little to catch or punish the thieves.

For lunch we stopped at a place where I had the zebu masala, which appeared to have been made with a very old and tough zebu as it was the chewiest meat I’d had so far. 

We then carried on driving and did a brief stop in a village to walk down the street to see the local village life and take a few photos.   We carried on driving until we came to a one lane bridge where the guide decided it would be good for us to get out and take some photos – on the bridge.   We piled out and the bus drove up a ways leaving us to walk part way across the bridge on foot and giving us time to take some photos of the river.  They do not seem to have the same level of traffic standards in Madagascar as back home!  In fact,  we haven’t seen a traffic light or stop sign since we’ve been here,  including in the capital!

We carried on again, passing a procession for when they remove the corpse from the tomb after 2 or 3 years to clean the bones and wrap it in a new shroud.  Apparently the party involves a lot of drinking for a few days and the group seemed pretty rowdy so we stayed in the bus. 

Arrived in Antsirabe, which was cooler than Morondava, after a long day of driving.   Had a “Greek” salad for dinner,  which was not your traditional version but was fine all the same followed by some fish with sauce. 

Madagascar 2017

Friday September 8 – Grand Tsingy 

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Woke up early this morning to prepare for our hike in the Grand Tsingy.  The frog family “checked out” around 5:30 am as I was finishing getting ready.  Had breakfast and then got in our jeeps for the bumpy ride of an hour and a half or so to the park. 

The roads are very bumpy and the drive is slow but it appeared that they were doing some roadwork to repair damaged sections of the road.  We arrived at the parking lot and prepared for the morning’s hike.  The preparations included putting on harnesses for the climbing amongst the “tsingy”, which are the main feature of the park and which are limestone pinnacles that have been eroded into sharp and jagged edges. The weather was hot and it was good that we were doing the hike in the morning. 

We climbed up the rocks using ladders,  stones and cables and made it to a viewing platform where you could see along the tops of the rocks.  The viewing platform was small so we didn’t linger up there too long as we had to let more people go up.   I went up another platform in a different area which was completely deserted as no one else from our group went up to it.   We then descended into a gorge amongst the rocks for our lunch, which involved crawling through some small tunnels in the rocks. 

We had our packed lunches in the gorge.  Mine consisted of some rabbit pate, olives and crackers plus a squished donut for dessert.   The rabbit pate was actually pretty good despite the fact that it looked and smelled like cat food!

After lunch we carried on,  hiking down and out of the tsingy and to the forest and savannah areas and then back to our jeeps.   The temperature was heating up so it was nice to get back to the air conditioned jeep. 

We then drove back to the hotel over the slow and bumpy road.  We had some free time before dinner so I relaxed by the pool before dinner.  Another tiring day so fell asleep pretty quickly. 

Madagascar 2017

Wednesday September 6 – ‘Tana to Kirindy Dry Forest via Morondava

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 Managed to wake up in time for breakfast and had a few bites but wasn’t overly hungry given the time.   We left for the airport around 4:45 with the plan to arrive around 5:30.  It was amazing how many people were up at that time and appeared to be starting their day. 
The airline we were using was apparently a private airline,  which operated out of a hangar.   We walked in and “checked in” and went through “security”, which consisted of stepping up to the two desks inside the hangar.   Showed my passport and put my bag on the scale.   It was a few kilos over the 18 kg limit but they didn’t seem to care.   I then proceeded to the security desk, where a guy looked through my bags; although he seemed to get tired after looking through a few pockets and just had me pass. 

We then watched as they started up the planes and load the luggage.   Looked like they left the door opened!  Given the hangar and the security I was surprised that the seats were assigned given there were only about 24 or 30 seats on the plane.   They finally started the boarding,  which seemed to be boarding by group,  with our group going last.   As we walked up the stairs I was even more shocked to see a flight attendant!  Got on and there was another one!
We took off for the 1 hour flight and they actually came around with snacks, which included a bunch of little snacks including a quiche and a muffin.   Flight landed safely in Morondava, where our jeeps picked us up.   Went to the hotel we would be staying at in a few days time and did a walk along the beach.   Was a really nice beach with no one but fisherman and a few locals. 

We had lunch at the restaurant where I had some garlic shrimp and fries,  which were also tasty.   We then headed out to see the baobobs at Baobob Alley before heading on to the Kirindy Dry Forest.  The road was bumpy and a bit slow but now at bad as we were expecting.  On the way we stopped to pick up our “road snacks” for our lunch in Grand Tsingy in a few days. 

After getting to our camp we prepared for a night walk.   The camp is located in the middle of a very dry forest and is home to a few species of lemur.   The rooms are tents,  which are covered by a bamboo structure, with a bathroom in the back,  which did not include a door so the view from the toilet was into the forest!  The toilet seemed to be a swimming pool used by ants and every time I opened it there seemed to be a few hanging around the bowl!

The nocturnal walk was in the forest around the camp and we were able to spot a few mouse lemurs,  which were hiding in the tree.   We also spotted a furry white lemur in the trees above my tent and a few brown ones hanging around the dinner area.  After the walk we headed to the diner hut for some food.  I had the vegetable soup to start,  which was probably a poor choice given the heat and the fish as the main.   It was tasty but given the early flight,  I had a difficult time staying awake.   Headed back to the tent and fell asleep quickly.