Team A

Okay, so when we realized our bikes would be arriving late, if ever, we decided to buy a plane ticket to a beach for the last week of our trip. The original plan was to bike to Tamatave (Madagascar) and then go a little further north to get a ferry to Ile aux Nattes. But, given the delay that would not be possible. So we looked for plane tickets and the 30 minute domestic flight was over $500 round trip - holy cow! So we looked at other nearby destinations, Reunion and Mauritius. The cheapest flights were to Reunion and the dates and times worked out. So, click, the decision was made. We've spent just over a week here and this is what we've done: -sat on beaches -read -consumed tap water! -consumed champagne at sunset ... read more

We made it to the town of Morondava, first stop Chez Maggie to meet Gary (owner/trip coordinator for Renote River Expeditions). We had a beverage, chatted and he helped us find accommodation in town. Not only did he help us arrange our river trip, while we were on the river he did some foot work in locating our bikes. Surprise, surprise, they arrived in Madagascar on July 3rd. So a few emails later, with the help of Gary and the owner of a hotel in Antananarivo, our bikes were on our way to us! It would be a couple days, so we headed to Kirindy National Park hoping to see some wildlife. Oh man, we were so pleasantly surprised. We stayed in a bungalow right in the park and were greeted within an hour of arrival ... read more

We decided to take a trip to see some wildlife to get our minds off waiting for the bikes. It was chilly and drizzly, but the wildlife was amazing! Check out the pictures and stay tuned for the next post to see whether or not our bikes arrived. Animals seen so far: Leaf tailed gecko Parsons chameleon Brown lemur Indrindri Short horned chameleon Nose horn (rhinoceros) chameleon Wooly lemur malagasy scops owl... read more

Well, in about 75 minutes we will be heading to the airport for our 2nd bike trip. Everything is packed and ready to go! I will feel much better after we have checked our bags and cleared security as traveling with bikes is also a little extra stressful. We will try to update the blog when we can, but not sure what sort of internet we can expect. Until next time, Alyssa and Andrew... read more

Oh Mandalay, you're so hot and hectic, and we really tried to embrace you, but alas we had to leave you... The heat, the crazy busy streets we navigated on bikes dodging semis and motorbikes (no helmets), and lack of sidewalks or abundance of busted/sewer exposing sidewalks all added to the experience. We really did enjoy our time in Mandalay, but it wasn't our favorite place in Myanmar. On the first evening we arrived, we wandered around a bit and did my favorite thing, explored a huge supermarket. We decided to have a night in, our hotel room was quite nice and the market had wine that looked drinkable, convenience noodles (think giant cup of noodles one can buy in China or Chinatown), and chips! Success! The next day we rented bikes and headed to the ... read more