l'Hotel Le Joffre Toamasina (Tamatave)

... and its owners have long promoted the protection of hump back whales in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, so it is the place to be if you want to watch whales.<br><br> <br><br>There is an Ecovolunteer group (www.cetamada.org) based there with volunteers who accompany the visitors on whale watching boat trips every day.They know the best places to see them and they encourage ...

... running water in any of the houses, rarely electricity, and you can easily see why there are no sealed roads. Any road or house building materials are all produced by hand - by the whole family. Men cut stone from boulders, which is then cut into even size stones by the women. Even small children contribute to the process. <br><br>Wherever ...

From Bush House we headed across Lake Ampitave then north up the pangalanes towards Tamatave. Half the staff from Bush House came too as I had been the only visitor at the Lodge. When I left they went home to the city until more visitors were due. <br><br>It was about 3 hours on the canal then I was due to fly up the coast to Ile ...

Visiting the Palmarium, http://www.bushhouse-madagascar.com/pal marium.html across the lake from Bush House, was an opportunity to see and photograph lots of different kinds of lemurs, orchids and other plants and animals.

... and I found I was the one and only visitor. I loved the tranquillity but I wonder how long Bush House can survive without customers. It was a wonderful place - the pictures tell the story. Take a look at the pix and the website - its worth a visit http://www.bushhouse-madagascar.com/bus hhouse.html

Mantadia is a much larger area of primary forest than Andasibe, wilder and more interesting in some ways, but being bigger you have less chance of seeing the lemurs. We werent particularly lucky but the mass of ferns and palms of every description were wonderful

Its welll worth taking an evening stroll after dark to see what you can see. Without a guide almost nothing. With a guide all this and more. Also worth going out just to see the night sky. There is so little light pollution there seem to be a lot more stars than there are at home

"Born Slippy" - Underworld Drive boy dog boy Dirty numb angel boy In the doorway boy She was a-lipstick boy She was a-beautiful boy And tears boy And all in your inner space boy You had hands girls boy And steel boy You had chemicals boy I've grown so close to you boy And you just groan boy She said come over come over She smiled at you boy [repeat] Let your feelings slip boy But ...

"Né quelque part" - Maxime Leforestier On choisit pas ses parents, on choisit pas sa famille On choisit pas non plus les trottoirs de Manille De Paris ou d'Alger Pour apprendre à marcher Etre né quelque part Etre né quelque part Pour celui qui est né C'est toujours un hasard Nom'inqwando yes qxag iqwahasa [2x] Y a des oiseaux de basse cour et des oiseaux de passage Ils savent ...

Matt and I have just returned to Tana after a few very relaxing days in Ile Sainte Marie, off the east coast of Madagascar. We have been far far away from the internet and I know that I have a lot of updating to do...some of it may have to wait until I get back! This morning, August 11th, we took a flight back from the island which we booked there and were very happy to find spots...I was pretty sick the whole two days of travelling, by land and then boat. It ...