Madagascar

TIA ("This is Africa") is the classic cheesy tagline for when things don't go exactly according to plan on the continent and it couldn't have been more fitting for this trip. From the start, we had to deal with airline mishaps, difficulty getting a hold of the lodge owners due to connectivity issues and then when we arrived, weather troubles. And yet, this adventure through Madagascar, couldn't have been more exciting!

Especially because we started our trip by being flown by a friend to Cape Town so we could be at his party on Friday night with a 5:45am flight back to Johannesburg in time to catch our flight out to Madagascar. By the time we arrived in the capital, Antananarivo, we were running on red bull and room service; well worth it though!

When we arrived we settled into our hostel (Madagascar Underground - a great little spot run by an Australian dude) and then set off to a nearby market. We had been warned that the area was notorious for theft and was getting worse and worse so we set off with literally nothing on us except some cash stashed in our bras. We grabbed lunch at an old train station at the end of Independence Road and picked up a couple of small items and then made our way back. We were also warned not to be out after dark so we wanted to tour around a bit of a safer area before packing it in. We went for a walk and checked out the scene but as soon as the sun started going down, it was true, some creepers came out; just guys staring, cat calling; not charming.

We were so tired and had to get up early to catch our flight up to the Northern part of the country, so we went to bed unreasonably early at about 7pm. This is when I realized, I may be getting too old to stay in hostels. The young kids partying and coming in and out of the room, leaving the door open, I was ready to give them a stern talking to about hostel etiquette.

Because Air Madagascar is a total mess, they were on strike for a few weeks, flights were constantly getting rerouted, delayed, cancelled, we ended up booking a charter to and from Maroantsetra (the closest city to the lodge we were staying at). Terribly expensive, but at least it was reliable. Our flight arrived and we were met by our guide for the week Serafhin. He ushered us onto a boat to set off to through the Indian Ocean to get to the Masoala peninsula where are lodge, called Masoala Forest Lodge, is located just outside of the National Park.

I am someone who doesn't mind being on the water and even a choppy ride I have no issues with, never been seasick, but this boat trip was pretty awful. It was pouring rain, the seas were incredibly rough and our captain kept having to reroute to avoid big swells. Our boat trip was supposed to be a one hour ride and ended up taking three hours. Needless to say, we were very happy to step onto dry land when we finally arrived.

That very damp journey through the sea would be a precursor for our stay in Masoala, where is rained every day and we never felt fully dry. But, that didn't stop us from having a great time. Rain or shine, we went hiking in the rainforest surrounding our lodge. The first night we arrived I went for a hike at night to try to find some nocturnal animals and I managed to see two types of lemurs right off the bat, as well as some birds and reptiles. The two lemurs were a woolly lemur and a mouse lemur, which is the world's smallest type of lemur, so that was an extra lucky find.

The next day we set off to visit the secondary forest, which is called that because it was clear cut about 60 years ago by the French when Madagascar was getting its independence. You can still see old railroad ties embedded in the ground where the tracks used to run to take the logs out. The forest appears quite lush and is slowly building back its wildlife, but apparently the animals wait for a red-ruffed lemur to move in, and that is their signal to start building their home in the trees. No red-ruffed lemurs yet. We took a canoe trip down a river that runs through the forest, which gave us another cool perspective of the foliage.

The lodge we stayed in was really lovely. The owners are always around to make sure you have whatever you need, there is tasty local food all throughout your stay, the entire place is solar powered, and they have lots of glass bottles with filtered water and provide canteens to take hiking. There are books and games and sometimes even okay wifi in the main lodge where everyone staying at the lodge eats. Dinner is eaten together with all the guests and owners so it's a nice time to mingle and settle in for the night.

We explored the primary forest next, which is much more filled in than the secondary forest. This is where we had the most lemur sightings. We saw the infamous red-ruffed lemur, brown lemurs jumping between trees and were able to get very close to a sportive lemur. The hike was really fun but I'm very glad I had my hiking boots because it was muddy rough terrain. We ended up with one more chance lemur sighting when another mouse lemur was found tucked into the palm leaves that had been picked for our dinner - the lodge made us a traditional Malagasy meal (delicious!! Lots of rice, cassava and zebu). The guys who had picked the leaves spotted the lemur in there when they picked them up and they brought him to show us before returning him to a little spot in the rainforest.

One day the sun was shining for the afternoon so we went for a kayak through the sea to the end of the peninsula where we pulled up to a beach for a swim before heading back. The water was so nice and warm, even though it is winter there, so we went swimming a couple of times and laid out on the beach a bit. Then when the sun wasn't shining and we had downtime, I mostly sat in one of the hammocks and read my books, which to me, is paradise.

On our final day, we set off really early, this time the waters were much calmer so it was a quick boat ride. We also stopped at another island for a quick hike before we caught our flight. On this island we saw the leaf-tailed gecko that only lives on that particular island and we saw some brown lemurs who came down from the trees and were quite close to us. This was another really lush forest and a more challenging hike, but it was great.

Luckily, the travel out was uneventful; we took our small plane from Maronsetra to Antananarivo and then switched flights and flew back home in time for dinner.

It was a bit of an expensive trip, but honestly, it was so worth it in the end. Plus, it's much easier to get to that remote area in Madagascar from Johannesburg than anywhere else in the world so it felt like now is the perfect time to do it; I'm very glad I did.