#wanderlust

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

 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. 

Tuesday September 5 – Perinet to ‘Tana

We started the day off with a morning trek in the reserve to spot lemurs,  including the largest lemur,  the indiri, in their natural habitat.   Trekked around the circuit in the park and saw the indiri, golden lemurs,  various chameleons,  a strange bug,  some birds and a boa constrictor lying in the grass outside the visitor centre.   Fortunately, we didn’t spot that until after the trek!   The indiri were amazing and we had a chance to stand below them and listen to them scream their loud call, which almost sounds like a whale!  Managed to get some decent photos before we headed back to the bus.  We returned to the lodge for lunch and I had the zebu wok,  which was really good!  We then got back on the bus for the bumpy and windy ride back to ‘Tana.  On the way we stopped in a local village called Perinet for a short walking tour.   Was a nice experience to check out how the local people live.  We got back on the bus and carried on to ‘Tana.  Got back when it was dark and we had some supper quickly before heading to bed to get some sleep before our early flight to Morondava.  I had the zebu and pork spaghetti,  which was good.   Set my alarm for 3:30 and headed to bed. 

Monday September 4 – ‘Tana to Andasibe

Wake up around 2:45 am this morning and had a difficult time getting back to sleep – managed to fall asleep a bit before my alarm went off and definitely could have slept longer if I hadn’t had to get up and get my luggage ready for the trip to Andasibe. Met the entire group of us at the group briefing as well as our guide, Sol (short for a much longer name that I have no chance of pronouncing as are most of the words here!).  We then set out in our mini bus on a tour of the city including the palace and some areas high in the hills overlooking the city.   The people seemed very friendly and the views were great.   The road system is very chaotic though as the city has expanded without the roads being planned for the added traffic.   Didn’t see one traffic light and the roads winding through the hills were narrow and it took quite a while to drive up to the view areas.  Afterwards,  we headed back in the bus to head on towards Andasibe.  Getting back down the hill seemed even slower and it must have taken us closer to an hour to get out of town.   Stopped briefly on the side of the road to take some photos of a family making bricks on the side of the road in a field.  We then carried on to our lunch stop,  which was at some kind of little park on the side of the road that offered zip-lining, hiking and other activities,  which we didn’t have time for.   I had a Neapolitan pizza and a local beer.   The pizza was actually pretty good and appeared to have been cooked in a charcoal oven.   The cheese was proper mozzarella unlike the ‘Laughing Cow’ pizza they served in Morocco ?.  Also had a honey crepe for dessert which was tasty.  We then continued east and stopped at a reptile “farm” where they apparently attempt to breed various threatened types of reptiles from around the island.   The chameleon pen was a great opportunity to get some good photos of some different types of chameleons that live in areas we won’t be visiting on this trip.   We also saw a giant millipeed, a big orange frog, some bats, some geckos, a snake and an amazingly large and colorful cricket.   We also got to see the smallest chameleons in the world,  which are very tiny and fit on your finger.  After the reptile farm we carried on to Andasibe, latter than the itinerary planned for so I think our driver was trying to make up time as we motored along at a pretty good clip.   Fortunately the road wasn’t as pot holed as earlier.   We did hit a chicken though as we were speeding through an area with houses along the side.   I guess someone will be having chicken tonight! Arrived at the hotel just after 5 and went to our rooms to prepare for our nocturnal walk.   The rooms were actually little huts with bathrooms,  which were quite nice.   Changed into some long pants and a long sleeved t-shirt for the walk.   We walked along a road not far from the lodge with two guides.   Spotted some chameleons,  some tiny frogs,  a few spiders,  some stick insects and a lemurs with its glowing eyes.   I managed to get a photo but it was a bit grainy.  After the walk we headed back to the lodge for dinner.   I had some vegetable soup and the vanilla chicken with vegetables.   Seemed like an odd combination but it worked.  Then headed to bed and was too sleepy to even review my photos as I kept nodding off.   Tomorrow we’re doing a bit of a hike and then returning to ‘Tana.  Posting a couple of photos but will need to add a bunch more later as I have stop many photos but not enough speed on the WiFi!

Sunday September 3, 2017 – Antananarivo

Had a good sleep and woke up at 7:00 am feeling pretty well rested. Relaxed a bit as I’m sure there won’t be very much sleeping in on this holiday. As I was finishing getting ready the power went out! Fortunately it was back on after a few minutes so it wasn’t too bad. Headed downstairs for some breakfast of a ham and cheese omelet, a fruit salad, which I will hopefully not regret eating later and some bread and cafe au lait. The restaurant looked nice and overlooked the city, which appears to be quite spread out. After breakfast we sat on the terrace, watching the people on the street below and enjoying the sun. It was a bit hazy but not too many clouds. Started to get warm when the breeze stopped so we decided to head to the shade but started talking to the couple sitting next to us, who were also on our tour. After a bit of a chat it was lunch time so we headed down to the restaurant. Tried the local beer and the gnocci with blue cheese sauce, which was subtle and tasty. After the food our waiter offered us free samples of the local flavour infused rum. I tried the coffee, which smelled of coffee but was pretty strong. Took a sip of the vanilla flavored but it was REALLY strong tasting and I almost gagged. Had another beer and relaxed in the restaurant for a bit before heading to the terrace to work on my blog. Managed to update the first blog relatively easy and it was nice and relaxing on the terrace under the tree. Noticed I was careless with my sunscreen application this morning as I have “roller” marks from the sunscreen stick I bought :(. The sun started going low around 4:45 or so and made for a nice golden glow on the terrace. Made a brief stop in the room and then headed down to dinner after it was dark around 5:30. Noticed the last bit of the sunset as we initially sat down and managed to get a nice picture with my phone. Started with a beer and then ordered the grilled zebu (cowish creature) with green peppercorn sauce and French fries. Saw 8 others from the group in the restaurant that got in this afternoon but haven’t officially met them yet. After dinner headed to the room to update the blog and get ready for bed. Have the official group meeting tomorrow at 8 am before our city tour and trip east. Feeling tired and hope to sleep well today. Was nice to relax before what will likely be a hectic tour!

Went on my second backcountry camping trip to Garibaldi Provincial Park this past weekend – this time to Elfin Lakes. We were fortunate that the smoke had cleared off the other week so the views were unobstructed.  Left a bit later than pl anned but the traffic was pretty quiet so we made good time to Squamish.  Made the turn off at the Canadian Tire and headed up the gravel road to the parking lot.  Shortly before the lot there was a ranger checking to ensure campers had permits.  Was a bit of a wait but we had no issues since we had the appropriate permit and were prepared.  Got to the parking lot and it was pretty full but, fortunately, there was a space for us at the end.

Took advantage of the toilet at the parking lot and got our gear together.  Headed up the trail to the Red Heather Hut, which was about 5 km from the parking lot.

The trail was consistently uphill but a much gentler slope than the Garibaldi Lake trail.  The hike up to the Red Heather Hut went by faster than expected.   Arrived at the red Heather Hut and went inside to make lunch. The hut is fairly small and has two tables, a wood-burning stove and a sink to drain dirty water. I made some beef and mushroom noodles on the jetboil for lunch. Was a bit of a hassle as I had to unpack most of my bag but luckily the Hut was fairly quiet when we arrived.

After lunch we packed up our bags and headed back onto the trail. The next part of the trail split into two – one path for hikers and one path for cyclists. This was only a short one km section before the paths rejoined. We carried on gradually heading uphill until we were at the top of a ridge. We walked along the ridge for a short bit with views of the mountains all around and then the trail began to descend.

Thought we were a bit further away but when we came around a corner we saw the two Elfin Lakes, about a kilometre sooner than we expected.

There were some dark clouds but and they ended up being non-threatening and soon dissipated. We headed down the hill towards the lake, the first one being for swimming, where there were a couple of rafts and a number people enjoying the cool water. The second leak which was slightly smaller is reserved for drinking and is right beside the camp. This campsite, unlike the one at Taylor Meadows, is quite open with a number of tent pads overlooking the mountains and descending down a  small hill. The views were really quite spectacular and we were excited to set up our tents. There appeared to be a number of day hikers sunning themselves and having lunch on the various tent pads so it took us a few minutes to actually find some tent pads that were free.

 Managed to set up the tent up relatively easy but ended up putting the fly on backwards and had to redo it. Didn’t have an issue finding enough rocks to hold my tent down as the tent pad I had chosen seemed to have half the rocks in the campsite including a number of very large rocks. Once the tent was set up and secured the clouds pretty much vanished and it was a nice sunny afternoon with it almost near blue sky. Enjoyed some vodka lemonade on the tent pad while sunning ourselves and enjoying the view. Unlike Taylor Meadows, the bugs didn’t seem to be very present here and it was actually quite enjoyable just lying on the tent pad.

After a few hours of relaxing in the sun we decided to head to the dinner hut to make dinner. Made some pasta primavera and we had hot dogs roasted over the jetboil, which surprisingly turned out very well. Had some red wine, which I probably didn’t need given the Vodka lemonades I had earlier. For dessert, we had a chocolate mudslide dessert topped off for some Bailey’s, again which was probably not necessary given the vodka and wine. Felt fine though so lapped up the Bailey’s topped dessert. After a leisurely dinner it was time to head to bed and I suspected that I should sleep pretty well considering the hike and the amount of alcohol I had consumed.

 Managed to sleep very well through the night and it was actually considerably warmer than it was at Taylor Meadows – not sure if that was the alcohol or the actual temperature outside! Slept in pretty late and was feeling a little bit hungover but managed to get up and get ready for breakfast. Wasn’t that hungry though and didn’t really enjoy the egg and bacon scramble that I bought – definitely preferred the other egg mix and the oatmeal. Didn’t end up eating much of the eggs but had a piece of toast for some peanut butter which seem to fill me up.

After breakfast we started to disassemble our tents and pack everything up to prepare for the hike back to the car. The weather seemed slightly more cloudy than it was yesterday afternoon but I suspect that it would probably clear up later in the day. Manage to fit everything in my bag and actually noticed a little bit of extra room this time. We headed back, this time with an uphill start until we reach the Ridge and then it was to be all downhill afterwards. Took us a little while to get back into the hike and the first few hills seem to be very challenging. Once we warmed up though it wasn’t too bad in the uphill areas were broken up with sections of flat.

The hike on the way back seem to go quicker than on the way in and in no time, we reached the Red Heather Hut. Stop for only a short lunch and had a sandwich and then headed back down the last stretch to the car. This downhill was definitely much easier than the Garibaldi Lake stretch and was actually enjoyable. Although my feet did start to get slightly tired by the end it was definitely a lot better than the last hike, partly due to me wearing the thicker hiking boots. Got to the car changed our shoes and headed out after another great overnight trip to Garibaldi Provincial Park!

Off to China!

Got to the airport a bit earlier than needed so I hung out in the Maple Leaf lounge until boarding.   On board now for the close to 11 hour flight to Beijing.  All set with my pre-flight sparkling wine and menu!  Next stop, Beijing!