21st - On the road again

We got up and had breakfast as planned before leaving on schedule. We had a gentle walk of 4 km before getting picked up by the bus. On the way there we got to see several hot air balloons which apparently was a first in Madagascar.

Ahead of us was an 8-9 hours’ drive including breaks, only stopping for toilet breaks and lunch. Getting closer to the hotel we were given the offer of an evening walk around 1½ hours before arrival – nobody raised their hands. We were generally just looking forward to get to Ranomafana and showers.

Tomorrow we leave at 0730 for a morning drive, come back to the hotel for lunch before an afternoon 4 hours’ drive to the next location.

20th - Walking on sunshine

Today we were to spend the night at a homestay to which we walked to ourselves. This meant that everything we’d need for the day and night we’d have to pack into our daypacks with the rest left at the bus. I decided to leave my big lens behind as there would be no wildlife and I could use the space it took in the camera bag for a change of clothes and the like.

Breakfast seemed orderly until they tried serving our ordered menus and it was made clear they had no idea what they were doing. Jam and juice never arrived and it took several attempts for them to understand it was missing.

We left at 0845 and on the way to our drop-off we stopped by lake Andraikiba. When getting dropped off we did the 8 km walk at a gentle pace to the homestay and have lunch. The weather was clear and hot so luckily we avoided the rain.

Lake Andraikiba.

Starting the walk towards the homestay.

At 1400 we left and had a short 2-ish km walk to meet a shaman living in a local village who showed us various tools and medicinal herbs and plants. It was quite interesting and probably even more so if you believed in it (though I’ll admit that a lot of modern medicine is based on the healing abilities of certain substances found in said plants). During the start where he asked the gods & spirits for permission to start he managed to drink half a bottle (37cl bottle, though) of rum as part of the procedure. It was amazing to watch. He finished off with summoning a spirit into his assistant. That was…. theatrical. And apparently spirits are summoned by modern dance music played on an old mobile phone.

The shaman (with his assistant) describing the use of a duck's head.

By holding it's beak you can make people not talk, opening it it has the opposite result.

One of the many fruits and plants used for its healing abilities.

On the way back to the homestay we were crowded by local children; they love getting their photos taken without asking for anything in return – and some of them are surprisingly photogenic.

On return at the homestay we were treated with snacks and moonshine (which hasn’t been less than 60%, probably 70%). Then a fire was set up and a few locals came to play traditional songs with what seemed to be every child from the nearby villages who ran around dancing.

Afterwards we had dinner but not before our day’s guide sang and played us a few songs and one in the group couldn’t avoid us singing happy birthday for her on her 50^th birthday.

Tomorrow is an early departure; breakfast at 0630 and departure at 0715. We’ll walk a short 4 km walk back to the bus and then drive 8-9 hours to Ranomafana. We are all looking forward to that and showers – due to the dryness and dust here we have all acquired ourselves impressive dust tans. I feel sorry for the bed linen here.

19th - Rolling, rolling…

Not much of mention happened today. Breakfast was had at 0645 and it felt much more orderly than yesterday, probably because we put in our orders last night so the kitchen was prepared.

We left at 0730 and drove to the new destination of Antsirabe which took 9 hours. On the way we stopped at the only aluminum production in Madagascar. They have no aluminum mines themselves so they recycle as much as possible and otherwise import when necessary. It was interesting seeing the process from melting the metal, pouring it into the form and extracting the new product (mainly pots and lids). More interesting than just looking at a machine doing it all for you. A woman was filing a pot getting rid of all excess material which was done on a tarp so even the filings could be gathered and get through the process again.

Melting the aluminum before use.

Pouring it into the form...

... and a few seconds later they have a new pot.

On arrival we had dinner at a restaurant and some of us stayed a bit late with a few extra drinks before returning.

Tomorrow we meet at 0800 before breakfast and driving half an hour until we start walking app. 8 km to a homestay where we will be spending the night. It will be an interesting experience while meeting the locals and among other things seeing a local shaman/medicine man in action.

18th - Close encounters

We were to show up at the restaurant at 0700 to order and have breakfast. Those of us who showed up at 0700 got our food relatively quickly, whereas those trickling in and ordered just minutes later took more time to make; some hardly had time to finish eating before we left at 0800.

We drove a couple of minutes for a 4 hour walk where the main attraction was the different lemurs in the wild. The weather was with us and we didn’t get a drizzle until after we were on our way back to the bus.

Red-bellied lemur.

Indri.

Diademed sifaka.

On return we had lunch and at 1430 we drove 20 minutes to get to Lemur Island. On the way we visited a crocodile farm, which, despite also having a couple of chameleons and a fossa, was pretty boring. The fossa is a cat, resembling a small puma, and while it would probably be the only chance of seeing it on the trip it was in a relatively small cage which is was circling. A sad sight. Lemur Island is an island sanctuary for lemurs that have been held as pets which makes them very sociable towards humans. It’s cheesy and touristy (luckily we were the only group there at the time) but when you have two common brown lemurs crawling around on your head and shoulders you tend to forget your doubts. It was honestly really fun. There was no fence; the water around the island was enough to keep them in place. Crossing the water required a short canoe trip – one that lasted less than 30 seconds.

Lemur Island. 

Due to the lemurs' curiosity it was sometimes difficult to

get the camera into the right position.

Bamboo lemur.

Mr. Lemur has found a perch to spectate the world from.

It's so fluffy!

Black and white ruffed lemur.

Coming back we ordered dinner and then went on another evening walk. We saw a couple of spiders but otherwise nothing new.

Mouse lemur.

We will be leaving at 0730 tomorrow for another 8 hour drive to Antsirabe.

17th - What else?

After having breakfast at 0800 we left at 0830 to drive to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park where we will be spending the next 2 nights.

On the way to our destination we stopped at a refuge where we got to see several lemurs, geckos, chameleons and a couple of snakes and frogs. Basically a small variety of all the animals I came to see. First day. That was quick.

Common brown lemur.

Sifaka lemurs.

A butterfly of some sort.

A chameleon.

And another one!

And more!

Leaf-tailed gecko.

Another chameleon.

A different leaf-tailed gecko.

I love the eyes.

This is not a chameleon.

This is, though.

After a couple of hours’ tour and a lunch we continued on our way and at around 1530 we arrived at the NP.

It has been wet most of the day with relatively high temps (mid/high-20s) which made it quite hot on the bus as it didn’t have A/C. The air in the bus quickly got dense which resulted in most of us falling in and out of sleep.

At 1815 we went out on a night walk where we got to see some lemurs, though at far distances, and chameleons so small that I considered it a small miracle that the guides spotted them. We were back at around 2000 at which point we had dinner and an early night. Breakfast tomorrow at 0700.

Mandatory moon-shot.

15th - 16th - Arriving in Madagascar

I left Copenhagen as scheduled with no issues. The layover in Amsterdam was 2-3 hours which meant plenty of time to get to the next flight and still have time to relax and have a look around.

I like Kenya Airways which I flew with from Amsterdam to Nairobi; they have the entertainment system turned on all the time which means that you can start watching movies from when you are seated and don’t have to wait until we are in the air (obviously unless you are sitting at the emergency exit). I was sitting next to Mr. B. Igelbows but that wasn’t the airline’s fault. I doubt that he had been flying much as he didn’t even know how to tip his seat back.

5 hours’ layover in Nairobi.

5 hours.

For those of you who knows the airport know what a pain it is to spend any amount of time there; there is absolutely nothing to do there. At all. And it doesn’t help arriving in the early morning after a red-eye flight without much sleep.

Flight from there to Antananarivo (Tana) went fine; 3½ hours with a meal and entertainment system made things very manageable.

As usual we had a greeting meeting at around 1800 followed by a dinner together. This is a first; a guy in the group knows one of the people I travelled with on the Annapurna Circuit last year. It’s a small world.