Greetings from the Seychelles!
Time certainly flies by when you're in paradise!
Already on my last day, I am writing from Victoria, Mahe - the capital of the 115 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean that form the Seychelles. In just a week's time, I have been very lucky in having just the time to make a visit to each of the main big islands: Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. No wonder everything has gone by so quickly with such a packed up itinerary!
The Seychelles is everything that the image of a paradise island brings to mind; plenty of sun, soft white sand and tall coconut trees fringing perfectly turquoise seas. In a word, amazing!
You must see for yourself when I finally have the time to organize some of the pictures up that have been taken along the way.
Until then, "baybay", as they say in seychellois creole and until the next time!
lauantai 16. kesäkuuta 2012
keskiviikko 13. kesäkuuta 2012
Final adventure in Saint Marie: lazy days by the lagoon
A true Robinson Crusoe style finale was in store for the last part of our adventure in Madagascar first upon the minuscule island of Ile aux Nattes and the very last part on Ile Sainte Marie.
Little Ile aux Nattes was easily one the best highlights of the whole trip just purely out of the fact that it was the first time we were able to truly relax and live out the malagasy motto "mora mora" which in english means "slowly, slowly". Not to mention that the small island is in itself and absolute gem; the true definition of paradise from all what I have seen so far on my travels.
The cherry on top of the blissful cake was that not only were we completely surrounded by natural beauty, but our accommodation was by far the craziest; a spacious treehouse just above the beach with our own bathroom (with most importantly, hot water for just about the first time in Madagascar!) and balcony with hammocks facing the beautiful blue lagoon - we could have easily stayed there for longer!
After three days of complete relaxation we headed over to Ile Sainte Marie in a pirogue, just a few metres throw over to the otherside of the lagoon. Although we were quite unlucky with the weather on the final two days, with cloudy skies, storms and continuos little showers of rain, it was lucky enough that we made the trip over the lagoon just in time before the bad weather! Had we been a bit less lucky we might have experienced the true Crusoe adventure with the risk of being stranded over on Ile aux Nattes while our flight home left from the airport just across in Saint Marie...
But all was good in the end, and considering Madagascar's reputation for being a bit slow and unreliable when it comes to traveling around, our trip went surprisingly according to plan and we were able to do everything we had wanted to do in a month's time, and more. Quite unbelievable!
Now with more relaxation at hand in the Seychelles islands, stay tuned everyone for updates on the next adventure!
Little Ile aux Nattes was easily one the best highlights of the whole trip just purely out of the fact that it was the first time we were able to truly relax and live out the malagasy motto "mora mora" which in english means "slowly, slowly". Not to mention that the small island is in itself and absolute gem; the true definition of paradise from all what I have seen so far on my travels.
The cherry on top of the blissful cake was that not only were we completely surrounded by natural beauty, but our accommodation was by far the craziest; a spacious treehouse just above the beach with our own bathroom (with most importantly, hot water for just about the first time in Madagascar!) and balcony with hammocks facing the beautiful blue lagoon - we could have easily stayed there for longer!
After three days of complete relaxation we headed over to Ile Sainte Marie in a pirogue, just a few metres throw over to the otherside of the lagoon. Although we were quite unlucky with the weather on the final two days, with cloudy skies, storms and continuos little showers of rain, it was lucky enough that we made the trip over the lagoon just in time before the bad weather! Had we been a bit less lucky we might have experienced the true Crusoe adventure with the risk of being stranded over on Ile aux Nattes while our flight home left from the airport just across in Saint Marie...
But all was good in the end, and considering Madagascar's reputation for being a bit slow and unreliable when it comes to traveling around, our trip went surprisingly according to plan and we were able to do everything we had wanted to do in a month's time, and more. Quite unbelievable!
Now with more relaxation at hand in the Seychelles islands, stay tuned everyone for updates on the next adventure!
perjantai 8. kesäkuuta 2012
Destination East Coast
The final part of our adventure in Madagascar was set in the east of Madagascar, all along the coastline from Tamatave or Toamasina (which in malgache means "it tastes salty", in reference to the seaside location of the eastern capital and the taste of the ocean water) to the pirate islands of St Marie and Ile aux Nattes - Nosy Boraha and Nosy Nato as they are known in malagasy.
On our way we were lucky enough to make a new addition to our collection lemur sightings with the very famous indri indri lemur which we spotted in the rainforest of Andasibe-Mantadia. Irresistible, with it's teddybear-like features, fluffy black and white fur and eerie wail, it has definitely climbed up the list of favourite lemurs to my personal top!
We were also able to take part in a nocturnal visit of the park, kitted with torches, raincoats and plenty of anti-mosquito. It was a huge success as we managed to see many interesting species that would have missed the eye during the daytime, including the tiniest of lemurs, the 'mouse lemur', of which we caught a glimpse of scampering in the trees and a glint of its eyes shining in the torchlight. Literally as tiny as a mouse, it beats me how our guide was able to spot it for us in the first place! We also managed to spot the famous 'Parson's chameleon' hiding itself amongst the leaves, a rare find as the one we saw was the third sighting since the beginning of the year according to our guide!
After our stop-off at the park and it's surrounding village, we were in for our very last journey in taxi-brousse and from there on it was nothing but easy living in a Robinson Crusoe-style beach shack on the minuscule island of Nosy Nato - the perfect idylle by my standards.
More details on this in the next post, and perhaps even some pictures finally as now safely back on Reunion island, the existence of a proper internet connection is a welcome luxury :)
On our way we were lucky enough to make a new addition to our collection lemur sightings with the very famous indri indri lemur which we spotted in the rainforest of Andasibe-Mantadia. Irresistible, with it's teddybear-like features, fluffy black and white fur and eerie wail, it has definitely climbed up the list of favourite lemurs to my personal top!
We were also able to take part in a nocturnal visit of the park, kitted with torches, raincoats and plenty of anti-mosquito. It was a huge success as we managed to see many interesting species that would have missed the eye during the daytime, including the tiniest of lemurs, the 'mouse lemur', of which we caught a glimpse of scampering in the trees and a glint of its eyes shining in the torchlight. Literally as tiny as a mouse, it beats me how our guide was able to spot it for us in the first place! We also managed to spot the famous 'Parson's chameleon' hiding itself amongst the leaves, a rare find as the one we saw was the third sighting since the beginning of the year according to our guide!
After our stop-off at the park and it's surrounding village, we were in for our very last journey in taxi-brousse and from there on it was nothing but easy living in a Robinson Crusoe-style beach shack on the minuscule island of Nosy Nato - the perfect idylle by my standards.
More details on this in the next post, and perhaps even some pictures finally as now safely back on Reunion island, the existence of a proper internet connection is a welcome luxury :)
torstai 31. toukokuuta 2012
North to South: en route towards the heart of Madagascar
Travelling down from north to south the scenery is changing, revealing another type of Madagascar; little wooden shacks turn into tall, red huts made out of mud and brick houses and the landscape transforms from forests and lush vegetation to dry and hilly savannah with rice paddies dotted all over. Most noticeaby, the climate has changed as we descend towards the centre part - it is getting colder and colder and I wonder whether I have brought enough warm things to wear! You can even tell that we are in a new area with the greetings we hear switching from 'balatsara' to 'salame', and the cuisine in the local 'gargotes' seems heartier and simpler with the coconut rice, prawns and exotic fruit that we became accustomed to in the north giving way to soups, beans and meat with little fried cakes as a dessert. So it seems there is a whole new Madagascar and style of malagasy living to be discovered as the trip progresses, and I am eager to embrace it all!
keskiviikko 23. toukokuuta 2012
Madagasikara
Balatsara! I vo vo!
These are the greetings you hear while visiting the biggest, and most likely the most fascinating island in the Indian Ocean. It is actually an immense island-continent filled with a rich variety of different landscapes, cultural diversity and a great amount of natural beauty.
So far a whole two weeks has flown past in the north of the country sailing the paradise islands of Nosy Be, visiting the 'capital' of the North, Diego Suarez, and travelling down the entire length of the northern mainland in local style - taxi-brousses.
Nature-wise, the most famous in Madagascar is no doubt the lemur. Endemic to the country, there are dozens of different types of lemurs to be found on the island. That said, it is hard to choose one's favourite as even after just two weeks there have been quite a few candidates to pick from; is it the lively Maki Macao found on Nosy Be's sister island Nosy Komba, tame enough to climb on top of your shoulder in search of a treat? Or is it the tiny and big-eyed lepilemur that almost undetectable, camouflages inside the hollow of a tree to sleep during the daytime? Perhaps so far, the favourite of the trip might have been the fluffy white Sifaka lemurs, also known as the "dancing lemur" which were spotted leaping high above from treetop to treetop at the Ankarafantsika National Park this morning.
As of for now, no pictures can unfortunately be shared with you since the access to good computers has been minimal on the trip! But the verdict is yours to decide, once you can take a look at the wonderful creatures for yourselves as well!
Until then, wish me a safe trip as the adventure continues southwards early in the morning, once again in taxi-brousse... More on that later!
Veluma!
(Au revoir!)
These are the greetings you hear while visiting the biggest, and most likely the most fascinating island in the Indian Ocean. It is actually an immense island-continent filled with a rich variety of different landscapes, cultural diversity and a great amount of natural beauty.
So far a whole two weeks has flown past in the north of the country sailing the paradise islands of Nosy Be, visiting the 'capital' of the North, Diego Suarez, and travelling down the entire length of the northern mainland in local style - taxi-brousses.
Nature-wise, the most famous in Madagascar is no doubt the lemur. Endemic to the country, there are dozens of different types of lemurs to be found on the island. That said, it is hard to choose one's favourite as even after just two weeks there have been quite a few candidates to pick from; is it the lively Maki Macao found on Nosy Be's sister island Nosy Komba, tame enough to climb on top of your shoulder in search of a treat? Or is it the tiny and big-eyed lepilemur that almost undetectable, camouflages inside the hollow of a tree to sleep during the daytime? Perhaps so far, the favourite of the trip might have been the fluffy white Sifaka lemurs, also known as the "dancing lemur" which were spotted leaping high above from treetop to treetop at the Ankarafantsika National Park this morning.
As of for now, no pictures can unfortunately be shared with you since the access to good computers has been minimal on the trip! But the verdict is yours to decide, once you can take a look at the wonderful creatures for yourselves as well!
Until then, wish me a safe trip as the adventure continues southwards early in the morning, once again in taxi-brousse... More on that later!
Veluma!
(Au revoir!)
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