Back to the start (Tana)... don't collect 200$
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2006
1
9
24
Trip End
Nov 20, 2006
Antananarivo,
Madagascar
Thursday, August 31, 2006
S 21°27'28.9"
E 047°04'30.8"
Temperature: 36.5°C
Humidity: 24.7 %
Pressure: 89.2 kPa
Altitude: 1115 m
NB: By the way, most of these figures in past entries are taken at night after we arrive at the hotels. This one is obviously during the day.
Drive back through Fiaranantsoa:
Typical brick house
Ambalavoa Meat Market
This town was established by a Danish missionary and to this date remains very religious. At 5:15 AM, I was woken up by a muslim call to prayer then 15 min. after the church bells and then the roosters and dogs... The malagasy people get up at the crack of dawn, not particularly my lifestyle let's say...!Final leg back to Antananarivo:
Ricky B in Tana?
Rock Hard Buns
Saw the men equivalent of the colorful women attire. Ricky B my travelling buddy decided to show up again. By this time me and my driver are starting to see things (i.e. giraffes and lions in the plains and unusual rock formations (see pic)); of course the fact that Didi was taking medication for a cold didn't help!By the way if ever you are interested in visiting Madagascar in a little easier fashion than the unreliable taxi-brousse, you can directly call / e-mail Didi my driver / facilitator a few weeks in advance with what you want to see and he'll arrange all of it for you! Here is his coordinates (he speaks french and OK english):
e-mail: andry505@yahoo.fr ; home #: (011 261) 20 24 570 67 ; cell#: (011 261) 33 14 650 77 .
The tall "zinzin" (Here's to you Didi!) vaza says veloma one last time!
Arriving in Tana I rest for a flight to the African mainland (Jo'Berg) the next day. A friend is picking me up and driving to Pretoria (now officially called Tshwane) where I am going to stay with his family for a day or two (I am very lucky to have such hospitable hosts) and organize the continuation of this amazing journey!
Next step: Driving around and exploring South Africa...!
Stay tuned...
Martin
Comments
WOW! madagascar looks fantastic
Hello Mart.
Isabelle says Hi and she is jealous to see such hard buns and a lady shaking her rug at you from the window!
You seem to be having the time of your life...Isabelle and the kids are sking if you saw lemurs?
Carefull, Steve...the crocodile guy from Australia died today...got stung in the heart by a stingray...must have pissed it off somewhat. Don't step on annything pointy, the creatures over there are not forgiving.
We love you...take care,
Yanick
Re: WOW! madagascar looks fantastic
Salut! Yan's Family,
Like I said earlier in an e-mail to you, I did see lemurs... (See pics from my travelogue!)
By the way, I knew about Steve Irwin. Just for everybody's info, I saw a spitting cobra or a black mamba today *(not sure because they are somewhat similar in color, THEY ARE VERY VENOMOUS!) and I resisted the urge to take it by the tail like Steve would have done... I'm such a sissy!
Sorry Mom! no need to worry...!
Mart
;-)
hello to zinzin (Steve in Madagascar)
Plan on going to Madagascar the first of Jan. Would like to have some tips on what to take (as little as possible). Traveled the world over but never to this place. Will take a friend with me that gets car sick and altitude sickness when treking at Mt. Everest. I am in good physical shape but would not want to do the heavy park trekking. My friend is difficult but the only one that wants to go to Madagascar. What flights did you take? How much did you spend. Real name is Joanne.
Re: hello to zinzin (Steve in Madagascar)
Salama! Steve or Joanne,
Sorry for the delay in my response.
First off, I was pleasantly surprised by Madagascar, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, which I guess is always good. Yes it is somewhat poor and dirty but it has it's charms that are different than the rest of the African continent. The 'Malgaches' speak Malagasy and French but a little bit of English, and since I am a french Canadian it was easy for me to organize myself.
Apart from your personal specialized gear / stuff you can find most consumables (e.g. especially beer HA! HA!) almost anywhere in Mada (i.e. especially in the capital Tana) and if you say you traveled the World over, then I'm sure you are used to it and you'll do just fine. I wasn't a seasoned traveller and still managed to 'survive' pretty well with my well thought of backpack. There was no bugs to concern myself about when I was there and the weather was very temperate even getting quite cool at night (and that's something coming from a Canadian!). Normal quantity of backpacking places and hotels to stay at. Always a good thing to bring a travel guide I guess.
There is no real altitude difference to be concerned about but distances in Mada are vast and the only way to really get around is by vehicle. Unfortunately, the roads are winding up-down-left-right so tell your carsick prone friend to pack some Gravol!; but the scenery is breathtaking and well worth it. In my opinion, the bus system seemed developed OK but I didn't take it so I could not confirm this to you. If I may recommend you contacting the driver / guide I had, of which his contact info is in one of my Madagascar entries. I'm sure DIDI could set you up with what you want to see / explore I'm sure and even suggest / help you out in deciding where to go.
There is plenty to see and do / explore in Mada that do not require heavy trekking. Even stuff that I didn't do, like the beaches, apparently they are very nice. Nonetheless, seeing lemurs in Madagascar is a must and will require a little bit of legwork (i.e. trekking) to take advantage of.
I took a roundtrip flight on South African Airways from Johannesburg and it cost me around 650$ US This was fairly expensive I guess and I'm sure you probably could get a better deal. Things are relatively cheap in Mada so your money goes a long way. I unfortunately don't remember what the exchange rate was at the time.
Hope this little bit will help?
Take care and drop me a comment later to give 'your' impressions of Madagascar.
Martin