Blogs from Antananarivo, Madagascar, Africa - page 2

Geo: -18.9154, 47.52Had a short wait before it was time to load the plane. Not sure if meal is served so share a fried rice dish. When we had checked in they asked if we wanted to change our seats so we were sitting in a two seat section of the aircraft. Very nice, no one stepping over you or you have to step over someone else! The ride was fine and the landing fairly smooth.Disembark from plane and walk into the airport and as we enter the arrivals hall, we are scanned by a lady with a thermometer. Guess checking to see if anyone has a fever. The questionnaire you fill out does ask if you have been sick with a fever or cough. Guess do not want any outbreaks. Stand in long line to ... read more

We are off to see some more of the world. On Sunday Eurostar will take us to Paris and then on Tuesday we fly south to Madagascar. We have three weeks to explore the southern half of this tropical African island. We should get into lots of National Parks and see all manner of flora and fauna - about 80% of Madagascar's flora and fauna occurs nowhere else on earth! We have lots of day walks planned and a couple of camping expeditions to get us right off the beaten track. We will be blogging as we travel, infrastructure permitting.... read more

Troisième étape : Madagascar ! Malawané (ce qui veut dire bonjour en Malgache) Je suis bien arrivée à Madagascar, non sans une petite émotion car c'est mon pays d'origine. Nous sommes à présente le 9 Mai. Je suis restée sans nouvelles pendant 3 jours car je souhaitais découvrir bien en détail ce pays qui est cher à mon cœur et pour être au plus près de mes racines; je suis partie à la rencontre de Tananarive pour mieux la percevoir, la comprendre. Je loge actuellement chez une habitante avec qui j'avais pris contact lorsque j'ai préparé ce voyage. Elle s'appelle Boud et connait bien la culture malgache. Je n'ai donc pas eu besoin (ni vraiment l'envie) de prendre un guide touristique local car elle m'a prise sous son aile tout le temps de mon séjour ici. ... read more

I was privileged to share some evening aperitifs, with Henri Andrianarijaona. Their hospitality kept me some days at his home in Antananarivo. We used to have them before dinner, with his family - wife and two daughters-, a habit closer to French than Malagasy people, but a habit after all. Every sip we swallow we built a better world. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries on earth. Henri was an idealist, had formed at the Sorbonne and lived the May 68 heydays in Paris. Finishing his studies and doctorate, instead of thriving in France decided to return to Madagascar with his newlywed French wife and try to put their acquired skills in the ancient metropolis at the service of his country. Henri was interested, among other matters, in sports. Along the years, with his management ... read more

Let me just say it from the outset, because I know so many of you are going to ask: no, there are no singing and dancing lions, giraffes, or other such animated fauna populating Madagascar.Alas, there aren’t even any lemurs belting out “I like to move it, move it.” It’s sort of a sad fact that Madagascar really only came to be a household name after the Disney film was released. My interest in the country, however, long predates that bit of musical cinematic magic. The childhood biologist in me has longed to see this utterly unique island from the moment I encountered images of its strange and wonderful wildlife and plants in a National Geographic article. It looked like another planet, so I just had to go. It turned out Abby, my fellow history teacher ... read more