Typin' this on a french keyboard with dial up, so pardon the syntax/grammar issues lol.
After our luxurious stay in South Africa, I'd be lying if I said Madagascar didn't take some getting used to.
We flew Air Madagascar from Johannesburg into the capital, Antananarivo . The plane ride itself was fun if for no other reason then that it was extroidinarily relaxed- the stewardess didn't care if you lollygagged in the aisle and I swear all of the Africaaners on the plane with us were more than slightly inebriated. The food on Air Madagascar was by far and away the best airplane food I've ever tasted- I had roast duck!
Upon arriving in Madagascar, we met with our tour guide, Angelo, who David had booked through www.rijatours.mg. After quick night catching up on sleep, we took off for Antsirabe, a lovely town that was covered in rickshaws. It was at this point in the trip that I discovered that I really do love beef of all cultures- I fell in love with the Zebu, which is basically the Madagascar cow. They're delicious.
The next day we continued to drive through the countryside, arriving at Miandrivazo in the early afternoon. It was at this point that I began to realize that the spiders of Madagascar were stalking me. First in the shower, then the bathroom, then at night, while I cowered in fear protected by a flimsy layer of mosquito netting. My relations with spiders was not improved over the course of the next several days; as we departed Miandrivazo and set off on the Tsiribihina River, I noticed spiders at every turn. In my morning tea. In my potatoes. On my legs. Swimming up to my section of the canoe. In my hair. And these are not "awww cutesy spider" sized spiders. These are the "take off your show and scream bloody murder" variety. David found it amusing, as they seem to be sexist and avoided him at all costs.
Spiders aside, the canoe trip was lovely. I felt extremely lazy as we actually didn't have to row ourselves, as Angelo had hired two boatmen. We saw many different kinds of birds, four crocodiles, and this stunning waterfall right before we arrived in Morondava, which was the end of the canoe trip. Except for the waterfall, which required a 5 minute ascent up a hillside to get to, the water on the river was pretty gross.
Madagascar is a third world country, so we did see a fair share of that on our trip. Whenever we arrived in a city, we'd be greeted by swarms of children demand "stylos, bonbons or a cadeau." We faced down a couple of scams, and I've started to really learn how much I take privacy for granted back in the U.S. During our canoe trip, as the one female, our guides did not take my, err, privacy needs into account. Each night we'd be camped on a sand bar smack in the middle of the river, with a little bit of brush, so I'd have to walk out quite a ways to make myself a blur and much less visible. Even during the day, when David asked for a bathroom break, despite the ample coverage along the riverbanks, I was traipsing the dry riverbed enviously glaring at the shrubbery across the river that could offer me the privacy I craved. Even when we did get to the banks, the local children would watch and follow David and I, so we either had to wait for them to get bored with us (10-20 minutes), or run and do our buisness in the <2 minutes we had before the descended upon us.
Along those lines did see lemurs, but the circumstances surrounding our sighting is actually quite heartwrenching. The first night, shortly after landing at our campsite, a pack of children approached us, aged between 6-13, if I had to guess. Two of them had lemurs on tight leads, and they were clearly hurting the lemurs as they dragged them behind them and occasionally yanked the lead to startle the poor creatures. David explained that animal cruelty runs rampant in third world countries- that was something I wasn't entirely prepared for.
It was frustrating because there wasn't all that much we could do- David pointed out that if we gave them money to release the lemurs, they would have profited off of capturing them and continue to do so to make more money. It was a sad situation.
On a lighter note, David had a hysterical conversation with Angelo about the different animals of Madagascar. Here's what I remember:
David: So besides crocodiles, what animals can you see in Madagascar?
Angelo: Well...there's the Ring Tailed Lemur, Aye Aye Lemur...
David: Yes, but what other animals?
Angelo: Well, you can see the Propithecus coquereli.
David: What's that?
Angelo: It's the White Lemur.
David: Yes, but what about any animals besides lemurs?
Angelo: *Blank stare*
Overall, I'd say while I enjoyed our time in Madagascar, 10 days was just enough time. The food was excellent (it was colonized by the French, after all), but the people just aren't as friendly as those in South Africa. And the humidity, heat, spiders, and smell at times can be overpowering. Still, it was great to see and made a lasting impression. On to the Comoros!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
This Time for Africa
*cue Shakira*
I have just a few minutes to write this, so please pardon my brevity!
We have just arrived at the Johannesburg airport, having just leaving Kruger Park, undoubtedly one of the most stunning places I have ever seen. The past three days have been a blur of safaris, sunsets, and tiblicious food.
The weather here is phenomenal-- it's been in the low 70s. In many ways, South Africa isn't all that different from the U.S.- David and I agree that although there seems to be a general dislike of road signs (we got lost a fair amount), the roads are just as nice as any you'd see in Texas.
It's really hard to describe South Africa because you can really see several different biomes- the range of weather, foliage, and plant spacing is massive. There was one point where we drove through a savanna and within 3 hours, we could have sworn we were in the northwest US for all of the pine trees and curvy roads.
Every single day is a sensory overload, and I simply do not have enough time to cover everything, so I will highlight a few of my favorite moments from the past week.
My favorite memory from this leg of the trip is without a doubt being smacked across the arm by an elephant's tail. Apparently he did not take kindly to our safari vehicle, and kind of charged us before turning around and hitting me in the process. This happened during a sunset safari on the second day- possibly the greatest 2 hours of my life, elephant anger aside.
The following day we drove to Blyde Dam, and later to Echo Cave, which is an out of the way cave that neighbors the questionable Museum of Man. Unfortuntely the Museum of Man was closed, much to my dismay and David's amusement. Upon our arrival, I had my very first encounter with "Bus Toilets." Bus Toilets, in this instance as I came to find out actually means "sketchy shack protecting a hole in the ground, with a toilet seat around the edges of said hole, located at the top of some very delapidated stairs." So to effectively use the toilet seat, you'd have to sit on the ground. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and my bladder was calling the shots. It was only after I had begun to utilize the Bus Toilet that I noticed I had an audience of about 20 spiders. This led to a speedy finish and run down the stairs. After my Bus Toilet trauma and the tour of Echo Cave, David pointed out the perfectly functional (with regular plumbing and seats at the regular height), spider free facilities a mere 200 yards from the "Bus Toilets."
Echo Cave also exposed David and I to the word "braaiing." Near the Bus Toilets was a sign that read, "Attention: No Picnicing and No Braaiing." David thought this could be a spelling error, while I chose to go with the zombie theory, in which zombies actually inhabited Echo Caves, and got confused while making the sign and realized that they did in fact want brains, and added a "g" so humans wouldn't drive off. There's also the donkey theory, that Echo Caves is actually an anti-donkey speak establishment, but David pointed out that that couldn't be the case because donkey braying is spelled with a "y." It turns out it's South African slang for grilling. I'm still keeping an eye out for zombies though.
Overall I have to say that I really enjoyed my time in South Africa. It's a beautiful country, the people are friendly, and Bus Toilets aside, it has most if not all of the conveniences one would find in the U.S.
Well folks, that's it! I'm in Madagascar right now, so I will try and post on my week here when we move on to the Comoros! Please pardon any spelling errors- my computer is French so I can't run spell check. Sigh.
I have just a few minutes to write this, so please pardon my brevity!
We have just arrived at the Johannesburg airport, having just leaving Kruger Park, undoubtedly one of the most stunning places I have ever seen. The past three days have been a blur of safaris, sunsets, and tiblicious food.
The weather here is phenomenal-- it's been in the low 70s. In many ways, South Africa isn't all that different from the U.S.- David and I agree that although there seems to be a general dislike of road signs (we got lost a fair amount), the roads are just as nice as any you'd see in Texas.
It's really hard to describe South Africa because you can really see several different biomes- the range of weather, foliage, and plant spacing is massive. There was one point where we drove through a savanna and within 3 hours, we could have sworn we were in the northwest US for all of the pine trees and curvy roads.
Every single day is a sensory overload, and I simply do not have enough time to cover everything, so I will highlight a few of my favorite moments from the past week.
My favorite memory from this leg of the trip is without a doubt being smacked across the arm by an elephant's tail. Apparently he did not take kindly to our safari vehicle, and kind of charged us before turning around and hitting me in the process. This happened during a sunset safari on the second day- possibly the greatest 2 hours of my life, elephant anger aside.
The following day we drove to Blyde Dam, and later to Echo Cave, which is an out of the way cave that neighbors the questionable Museum of Man. Unfortuntely the Museum of Man was closed, much to my dismay and David's amusement. Upon our arrival, I had my very first encounter with "Bus Toilets." Bus Toilets, in this instance as I came to find out actually means "sketchy shack protecting a hole in the ground, with a toilet seat around the edges of said hole, located at the top of some very delapidated stairs." So to effectively use the toilet seat, you'd have to sit on the ground. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and my bladder was calling the shots. It was only after I had begun to utilize the Bus Toilet that I noticed I had an audience of about 20 spiders. This led to a speedy finish and run down the stairs. After my Bus Toilet trauma and the tour of Echo Cave, David pointed out the perfectly functional (with regular plumbing and seats at the regular height), spider free facilities a mere 200 yards from the "Bus Toilets."
Echo Cave also exposed David and I to the word "braaiing." Near the Bus Toilets was a sign that read, "Attention: No Picnicing and No Braaiing." David thought this could be a spelling error, while I chose to go with the zombie theory, in which zombies actually inhabited Echo Caves, and got confused while making the sign and realized that they did in fact want brains, and added a "g" so humans wouldn't drive off. There's also the donkey theory, that Echo Caves is actually an anti-donkey speak establishment, but David pointed out that that couldn't be the case because donkey braying is spelled with a "y." It turns out it's South African slang for grilling. I'm still keeping an eye out for zombies though.
Overall I have to say that I really enjoyed my time in South Africa. It's a beautiful country, the people are friendly, and Bus Toilets aside, it has most if not all of the conveniences one would find in the U.S.
Well folks, that's it! I'm in Madagascar right now, so I will try and post on my week here when we move on to the Comoros! Please pardon any spelling errors- my computer is French so I can't run spell check. Sigh.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Procrastinating Like a Boss
Right, so I've never really been the journaling type, so for those of you friends and family who want to read about my Africa adventures, bear with me!
I am currently sitting in my room on the 4th floor of Old Dorm, staring at the mound of clothes and tangled cords that have to fit in my pathetically small suitcase. Yikes. Instead of trying to work through this self-inflicted chaos, I decided the best remedy was to seek refuge behind my computer and peek out occasionally with the hope that my suitcase will have magically packed itself.
So here I am, procrastinating away in the wee hours of the night, my flight a mere 12 hours from now. It's impossible for me to express how excited I am about this trip. David (learning to call him by his first name has been quite a challenge after taking his classes for so long) and I have been planning it for the better part of the school year.
We're going to South Africa, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Comoros, Oman, and Sri Lanka. While this isn't too long of a trip for David, it's the longest I will have ever traveled outside the states.
It was very difficult saying goodbye to some folks today, but as it's graduation it's already quite an emotional day.
Zut alors! My suitcase is being belligerent and refusing to pack itself. I should probably get back to work.
My next post will be from Africa! I promise it'll be a bit more coherent.
<3 Amara
I am currently sitting in my room on the 4th floor of Old Dorm, staring at the mound of clothes and tangled cords that have to fit in my pathetically small suitcase. Yikes. Instead of trying to work through this self-inflicted chaos, I decided the best remedy was to seek refuge behind my computer and peek out occasionally with the hope that my suitcase will have magically packed itself.
So here I am, procrastinating away in the wee hours of the night, my flight a mere 12 hours from now. It's impossible for me to express how excited I am about this trip. David (learning to call him by his first name has been quite a challenge after taking his classes for so long) and I have been planning it for the better part of the school year.
We're going to South Africa, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Comoros, Oman, and Sri Lanka. While this isn't too long of a trip for David, it's the longest I will have ever traveled outside the states.
It was very difficult saying goodbye to some folks today, but as it's graduation it's already quite an emotional day.
Zut alors! My suitcase is being belligerent and refusing to pack itself. I should probably get back to work.
My next post will be from Africa! I promise it'll be a bit more coherent.
<3 Amara