Magic in Madagascar.

Magic in Madagascar

Antananarivo, Madagascar.

August 16^th 2013

Frolicking with Lemurs, Madagascar is truly Magical!

A couple weeks ago, when the airport in Kenya burnt down, I had doubts that I would ever get to experience this portion of my journey, but despite the trip being cut down from 12 days to 7, this was one week I will never forget.

Easy to see the French Influence.

It all started with a flight into Antananarivo, the famed capital of Madagascar. I arrived from a cold Nairobi to a warm blue skied day on the tarmac of Tana, grabbed a taxi into town and marvelled at my surroundings.

The city has a distinct French feel to it, cobble stone streets, cafes, baguette stands, old colonial buildings and a mellow pace about it. I have to say, my first impressions of Tana were outstanding. After checking into my hotel, they informed me all the rooms were full except the executive suite, I inquired into how much it was, a whopping 21 dollars for my own balcony, large bathroom that featured hot water, beautiful art, and a view that cannot be beat.

Panorama of Tana.

 I realized right then and there that Madagascar is a place I could get used to liking.

I discovered that there is no VISA fee for people only staying in Madagascar for one month, this saved me approximately 80 USD, and so I felt that I needed to celebrate all this fine early success by taking in some Tana’s night life. My neighbor at the hotel, Abby Wills, a British conservationist who had been working in Madagascar for the last few months and I set about conquering Antananarivo, and with her knowledge of the wildlife in the country, and my enthusiasm for adventure, it turned out to be quite the night.

Provincial Madagascar.

The next day, I set about running around Tana, taking in some of the incredible views, the old castle, the slums, and the lazy streets on a Sunday morning. I then hopped on a Taxi-brousse, headed east, as Abby had suggested, if I wanted to see Lemurs I needed to go to Andisabe national park. The Taxi-Brousse experience is one I have not had since I left Cote- D’Iviore three years ago, and they are a staple of travel across all former French colonies.

Cruising in the Taxi-Brousse.

Tha land of Lemurs.

 They are slow, often break down, at times can be quite treacherous, but hey, they can also be fun as hell. It took me almost five hours to cross just over 120km to the national park from Tana. I realized that distances in Madagascar may not be as easy to reach as they appear on a map.

Now that is one friendly Lemur.

I eventually did reach Andisabe, and it is from here that I set about having the time of my life. I trekked in the jungle to see the rare Indris, did a canopy climb, zip lined across the jungle, visited an Island teeming with Lemurs of all kinds and met some extremely cool British school teachers in the process. This park has to be one of the biggest highlights from the entire trip, and it fulfilled my main purpose for visiting Madagascar.

Having seen plenty of Lemurs, lizards, Geckos and beautiful birds I felt that I needed to check out of the coast of Madagascar. I had originally planned to visit Isle Sainte Marie off the east coast, but with the trip cut short because of the fire, I had to seek out some alternative plans.

The ladies teaching English in the small village on the edge of the park.

I headed east for Brickaville, a canal town built by the French 100 years ago as a transport hub along the east coast. 12 miles from Brickaville lies a beautiful lagoon village, which requires you to walk 4 miles in the jungle from the side of the high way in order to reach it. But the walk was definitely worth it, and the small village town of Manambato was one of the most beautiful seaside experiences I have had.

Brickaville, a lovely little town.

I, along with a French couple that made the journey with me were the only tourists in this entire town. Not a person to be seen, even with a beach so pristine, food so good, and rum so strong. This is one of those rare places in the world, where you wake up in the morning to have your petite dejeuner and watch the locals wash their clothes in the lagoons fresh water, and fish for their lunch right in front of you, where the children of the village play games on the beach, and come to say hello, with nothing to sell, and wanting nothing but to make your acquaintance.

I have not seen a place like this for years, not since the beach side village of Busua in Western Ghana.

Trekking to the beach.

I left the village, on foot heading for the highway to hopefully catch some transit back to Tana. I managed a hail a construction truck along the way that took me to Brickaville, from where I hitched on to another Taxi-brousse, and after leaving the beach at 10 am, I arrived in Tana 10 hours later at 8pm.

An amazing place in the world, the East Coast of Madagascar.

I spent my final night in Tana catching up with the outside world at a web-bar down the street from my hotel, had my final “Three Horses Beer”, the local staple and pondered my short, but incredible experience here in Madagascar.

What a time it was! And I cannot wait for the time in the future when I can go back and explore it further.

As for now, I am South Africa bound!

Vive le Madagascar!

William Delaney