Madagascar Travel Blogs, page 12

Africa » Madagascar September 2nd 2014

Geo: -23.3549, 43.6761You could probably spend months/years wandering the wilds of Madagascar and not see all of the unique species on offer here (90 percent of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic). As part of the world's loudest bus tour, we never did get to see the Giraffe Weevil, the Comet Moth (largest in the world), the Tomato Frog, Aye-Aye Lemurs, Flat-Tailed Geckos (impossible to spot since they look like a dead leaf), Streaked or Aquatic Tenrecs, Madagascan Land Crab, and a whole lot more star attractions. We did manage to track down the Hissing Cockroaches, King Crickets (much like DH, they go into a Kung Fu stance when threatened), a Hedgehog Tenrec, a Radiated Tortoise, a Wolf Spider and more. Even the trees and forests are unique. The Baobab Tree is ... read more

Lord Of The Rings

Africa » Madagascar August 30th 2014

Ring Tails

tdv95

Geo: -22.4123, 46.1137If lemurs are the stars of Madagascar, then Ring Tails are the stars of the lemur family. Part of that is very likely due to their staring role in the Madagascar cartoon movie series (not having had the pleasure of a tantrum that persists until a tiny human is allowed to watch their cartoon for the 70th time, we haven't seen this movie yet), but a bigger part is their patience with the Lemur Paparazzi that visit from all corners of the planet. Unlike most other lemurs that are far more comfortable in the trees (making photos more challenging), the Ring Tailed Lemur spends about a third of its time on the ground in wide open spaces. And just in case you miss the first sighting, the troops average about 15 members so another ... read more

Homestay "Or Something Like That"

Africa » Madagascar August 27th 2014

Tiny Citizen

tdv95

Geo: -21.25, 47.45We're still cleaning the Lemur footprints off of our clothing and getting ready for our next encounters, but, as a form of personal stress relief, I need to address the trials and tribulations of bus touring. As with most of these off-the-beaten path trips, many of our fellow travelers are hardcore- there's The Gang Of Six (far flung friends who frequently get together for trips like this in order to sing Top 10 songs from the seventies and pose for jumping photos), a Dude from Salt Lake City (didn't know you were allowed to be a dude in Utah), a couple from Regina (who picked up a stomach bug on the second day and gave new meaning to the word perseverance on a bus tour although they missed out on many of the trip ... read more

Lemur Land

Africa » Madagascar August 25th 2014

Antananarivo

tdv95

Geo: -18.9427, 48.4085The country of Madagascar (or as Deb P might say "why are they mad at Gascar?"), is another of those countries that remains somewhat off the beaten path. This is something of a surprise given the success of the cartoon Madagascar movies and the latest IMAX Island of Lemurs release- things like that normally provide a jolt to any countries tourism. Just the opposite has happened in Madagascar as the French Government has put in place a travel ban because a vigilante mob in Nosy Be burned two tourists alive that they suspected were pedophiles involved in the killing of a local 8 year old boy (the Police have since stated that there was no evidence that the pair were involved in the boys death and that the boy may have simply drowned- two ... read more