Blogs from Antsirabe, Madagascar, Africa

Tuesday 27 February – drive from Andasibe Park to Antsirabe The direction we were heading today was South-West, bypassing Tana. It was a 360 km trip on a variety of standard of roads which were narrow in places and loaded with trucks which we could not pass easily on the single lane roads. As we were going up the mountain range we came across 2 trucks that had broken down. The only problem was that one truck was going up the hill and the other broken down truck was going down the hill so the road was completely blocked, that was for all other trucks. We drove half on and half off the road to get past the trucks. The ‘half off’ was on the edge of the steep hill!! Once past the blockage, the ... read more

Lots and lots of lemurs - but first - wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!! Madagascar – As I am writing this, I can hear the lemur cry, such an eiry, almost human like sound. We are now Day #7 in country and quickly becoming quite the lemur experts, if only we could remember their names! It is amazing to see so many of them! It is the eyes, that are so mesmerizing! We landed in Tana, the capital which is an amazing combination of cultures – African, Indonesian, French, Indian. Built on the hills with beautiful terraced rice fields in the valleys. The food has been fantastic with the same combination of countries. Plus, they appear not to be having any issues with their rains, as the country appears fertile and lush with the markets ... read more

On our journey North we spend a night in Ambositra. We visit the restaurant with the supposedly 'best' pizza in Madagascar, awful! We are also subjected to a Nigerian evangelical TV programme too, where the women scream as the devil takes over their body and they attack another woman! The weather has turned to rain so we don't do much in this town. It is famous for crafts so I buy a silk scarf but then we continue North. We visit Lake Tritriva, this is supposed to be naturally the shape of Madagascar. There is a Malaasy legend that two love crossed lovers drowned themselves in the lake and many people come to perform sacrifices. While we are there we see a sacrifice where a couple are praying for their newborn baby, they have a live ... read more

Geo: -19.8571, 47.0338... read more

Geo: -20.4687, 47.3671This must be the ricksaw capital of the world! It's a wonderful and colourful place and the ricksaws create a fantastically relaxed and old-worldy pace of life. We had a go of course! Definitely felt rather strange and quite cruel especially as I'm three times the size of the average Madagascan passenger but sure I could get used to it! We visited the beautiful Lake Trivatia where 2 lovers whose parents forbade them to marry jumped together to their deaths. Madagascar's very own Romeo and Juliet! The lake is a stunning emerald blue, surrounded by fur trees. We walked around it follwed by a tribe of children trying to sell us rocks. Definitely showed how unfit British people are! We had our picnic by the larger lake next door. Just the first of our ... read more