This adventure may have topped all. Africa is real life … not life in a bubble.
I start this story in the middle; (in the style of Homer – the famous Greek author.)
****
I’m touring Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. My guide directs me onto a local mini-bus. The mini-bus is a Van, packed with 30+ passengers. I enter from the back door.
There is a center aisle, with seats left and right. Each row having 4-6 people. The bus is completely packed. No seats, I’m stooped over – holding my backpack….. OK, this is interesting.
My guide also climbs in, pushing me forward. He hands me a 2x4 piece of wood, about 20 inches in length … He continues to push me forward thru the center aisle.
WTF ?? I’m holding a 2x4, stooped over, squeezing between rows of packed seats. Should I hit someone with it? Hand it to someone ? I don’t understand.
About now; my guide realizes the stupid American has no idea what to do. He takes the 2x4 from me. Then he nudges the passengers to my right and left to lean forward…he then places the 2x4 across the center aisle .. the other passengers slide back and partially sit on the wood board – holding it in place.
Magic – I have a seat. A 2x4 across the center aisle.. I take my seat… Laughing at myself. Yeah, I’m not in Kansas anymore.
TIA - This is Africa. (I love that saying.)
Everything is different here. Everything is vibrant. Every moment is precious.
***
I arrive to Madagascar from Reunion. To Nosey Be; a small island off the Northwest of Madagascar’s mainland island.
My 10 days on ‘Nosey Be’ are fantastic - An isolated island, and a great start for this adventure. Safe, friendly, and beautiful.
I chose Nosey Be for scuba diving. Getting in 10 dives,,,, exploring its jungle.. adjusting to life in Africa. Eating Malagasy food. Living local.
Booking a local B&B – a bungalow. L’Anjava B&B in Andilana; the far far north of this island. I’m the only guest. The owners treat me like family. Helping with everything from my airport pickup, cooking dinners, to transfer arrangements for a jungle tour. This is authentic. Not a tourist bubble… not a resort, not a hotel… its someone’s home!!
I walk to a local dive shop. Arrange to start diving tomorrow.. and begin to understand life here.
First off is the money!!! Ariary. It’s almost worthless in US Dollars. It takes a stack of 20,000 notes to pay my B&B bill. No-one takes Credit Cards.. local cash only. Lucky for me, the ATM’s cooperate, pushing out stacks of notes. – I pay my bills, and can buy dinners ... Normally that’s the easy part of an adventure.. not here, it takes a plan.
My diving was packed with Macro life. The coral very healthy. But, with the heavy Plankton,,, viz was often very poor. Still, I have lots of great photos and great experiences diving Nosey Be. Easy diving conditions, warm waters. A 3m wetsuit was plenty for this time of year (June).
I add a jungle adventure in Nosey Be – to Lokobe Nature Reserve. Finding colorful Chameleons, Lemurs, Pythons, Gecko’s. The jungle adventure starts with a 40 minute canoe trip ,, just one guide and myself. To a remote beach and a mountain jungle hike.. Absolutely first rate, authentic and real. The road to get there is true African!!! This is definitely my best hiking jungle Safari ever !!!
Pushing on from Nosey Be, I have a domestic flight to Tana (Antananarivo)….and a pre-arranged transfer to a hotel… Radisson Blu .. I’ve made this plan so I can store my dive-gear there and rest up before an off-road Safari-tour of central Madagascar.
In Tana, I have booked a city tour – (including the mini-bus story I described above) … That day I have 4 min-bus rides, a local taxi and an afternoon of walk the city streets. Local life. I didn’t see a single tourist… It was real!! One of the highlights is a central market street.. with steps on each side of a valley – very colorful vibrant place. Madagascar’s version of the Spanish Steps 😊
My guide stops and arranges Cowboy coffee (my name for the coffee) at a tiny café. And to eat Mokary – a Madagascar bread. Such a treat !!
Scenic views and beautiful people, with local transportation. Wow, what a privilege. I’m feeling alive in Madagascar. Africa will do that to you!!
Onto the big event !! … A tour thru central Madagascar. Leaving Tana, heading south ---
First to several smaller cities, via pot-hole roads, in a 4x4 truck ..… at least the roads are paved in this portion of Madagascar. To Antsirabe and Ambatolampy - to small towns and local hotels ,,,, This is real Africa !!
Several days later; The real adventure begins. An off-road drive to the start of a 3 day canoe camping trip on the Tsiribihina River.
With visits to the Anosinampel Waterfalls and Begidro village. I am built for this adventure. Camping riverside. Lemurs, a few croc’s, village children gathering around the campfire. Madagascar at its best !!!
My canoe has 2 boatmen rowing and cooking ... I am just a passenger. A guide is with me also, making the details easy and for interpretation. Plenty a French can be found.. but many people speak Malagasy only.
It’s quiet on the river. Just the sound of paddles and the boatman speaking Malagasy. Off the grid, may favorite place.
Thru gouges, past interesting geological cliffs… the canoe experience and riverside camping are epic !!!
The boatman prepare amazing delicious food, out of thin-air. The trip starts with a live chicken on board … we eat for our final dinner. The boatman buy fish at a village along the journey ... What an amazing experience?! I can’t say enough about it.
And the village children .. I’ll never forget them. They compete to hold my hands, all wanting their picture with me… and for me to show the photo to them…. Laughing, all with amazing politeness… not begging… Just joy and pleasure from my visit. I visit their school and do math problems on their chalkboard.
I live a lifetime in those 3 days. Wow. I love these people.
Finishing the canoe adventure, its back to a 4x4 Truck. And more off-road for the next 4 days. Insanely bad roads. 4 river ferry crossings… Along the way, my truck over heats and fails .… Stranding me in Belo Sur Tsiribihina – a small village.
Unplanned. I was fortunate … they had a hotel. The following day, my tour company arranges another truck… and my adventure continues… losing just a single day. Relax - TIA
I make it to Tsingy !! Just outside the village of Bekopaka. Tsingy is a limestone rock forest. Famous. Dramatic. World unique.
The visit here is centered around a climbing adventure. I strap into a harness with carabiners… and climb. Hooking onto cables for safety. I climb and pull myself up the steep, sharp, rugged Rock Forest. This is not my comfort zone. With 90m crevasses, I cling to the mountain… somehow I make it. Scared… but I make it. A 3+ hour climb on the rocks. Another check-list adventure.
Back to my jungle lodge and to rest-up. More Madagascar off-roads to face tomorrow. 8 hours of them !!! I hold onto the roof handle almost every second of the journey… If you have a bad back…avoid this tour!! Lucky for me, my back is fine.. so I survive. Its like exercise… but for 8 hours!!
Pushing onward,, I see more and more Baobab trees. Thousands in the savannah. I’m shocked by how many. Most are in the distance as we drive… Finally, we reach the famous Avenue of Baobabs… Giant Baobabs packed together.
I spend several hours walking among them, enjoying an orange sunset.. getting spectacular photos’. There are more tourist here than anywhere I’ve been in Madagascar. Most tourists fly directly to the near-by airport.
What an honor to see these trees. Crazy big…
The day also includes a visit to the Sacred Baobab… maybe the biggest of any I see... and Baobabs in Love… a twisted tree in an embrace.
Finishing the truck portion of my adventure, I arrive in Morondava – on the Mozambique channel, the west coast of Madagascar. To a beautiful hotel on the beach… The next morning I have time for a walk along the beach; as dhow’s sail past and fish are off-loaded - Madagascar never seems to stop amazing. One adventure after another !!
I do understand how privileged I am …. comparing to the children of the villages: they live without electricity, without showers, without clean water… yet are the most polite, joyous that I’ve ever met… It seems impossible as I vividly recall my visits with them…
Well, it’s time for another Domestic flight. Back to Tana. Collect my dive gear and one last night there. One last chance to explore; I walk the area around my hotel. Finding an expresso and a more-modern shopping district – the only one I discover in all of Madagascar.
My time in Madagascar has come to a close - 25 days.. and possibly the biggest, best adventure of my life. Only a few countries I’ve explored can compare.
Madagascar and its people will hold my love forever. They will be in my prayers always.
If you ever get the chance. If you ever dare to be different. Explore this amazing place !!!
Thanks for reading my Blog. 😊
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