olafman

OCTOBER 2010: MAHAJANGA, MADAGASCAR

“I like to move it, move it!” We had finally arrived at Corbin’s choice for our year-long adventure. My only connection with Madagascar is that it arrives out my window just as Cathay Pacific is serving me dinner on the JNB-HKG flight. With a lovely glass of Krug champagne in hand, I have often stared out the window at its vastness. It’s pretty spectacular from 39,000 ft. But what would the experience be like this time without the comfortable surroundings of CX First Class as a buffer? I never had to take Larium when “visiting” Madagascar with Cathay Pacific!

Once I again, I dropped off the boys at the check-in with the bags and drove off to return the car. This method works well for us.

FLIGHT#13
South African Airlink #8252
Johannesburg (JNB) – Antananarivo, Madagascar (TNR)
Date: Oct 2, 2010
Departure: 10:00
Arrival: 14:10
Length: 03:15
Miles flown since start: 25,657 mi.
Aircraft: Avro RJ85
Seats: BUSINESS 4ACD (sort of)

Our little 3 hour hop from JNB to Madagascar was a bit expensive at $900 each in economy. Ouch. Supply and demand bit us in the butt. It was Corbin’s choice and we were going to do whatever was needed to make it happen.

Airlink is a subsidiary of South African Airways. This means that they aren’t part of the Star Alliance and don’t offer any of those benefits. I was able to check us in at the SAA website though. I snagged the first row of economy for us.

It’s a sad day when we don’t have a lounge to use before a flight. With elite status on on both Oneworld and Star Alliance, we’re usually covered. Airlink, or Bob’s Airline, as I began to call it, enabled us to experience the airport like everyone else! Luckily we arrived with enough time to have a great breakfast at the News Café. I had Eggs Benedict, Terry a great omelet and Corbin a big stack of pancakes! It was a better spread than any lounge would offer at that time of day. I hadn’t eaten Eggs Benedict since the Mandarin Orient Munich on our last day in Germany.

Flying Airlink means taking the obligatory bus to the aircraft. For our flight they only used ONE bus. So once we boarded the bus, we waited 25 minutes on it for all the passengers to board and then we traveled together to the waiting plane.

Once on board we noticed something very interesting, the Business Class curtain was placed in the row AFTER our seats. Were we in Business Class? Once boarding was completed, we were four in row 4 and three in row 2. The back of the bus looked very full. Hmm.

Finally a flight attendant came by asking “Do you have a Business Class ticket or Economy?” Her manifest told her that she only had three people in C that day. I confessed that we had booked “Y” but possibly had been upgraded? She suggested a more plausible possibility that the movable curtain had not be placed on the correct row. For the rest of the flight we received Y service in spite of being in front of the curtain.

We had downloaded the Brittany episode of Glee recently and decided that this flight would be the time that we all watched it together. Since I was on the other side of the aisle, we did a simultaneous viewing on separate laptops. We’re such Glee’ks. In Germany we used to have bi-weekly Glee Club parties and watch two episodes with a group of our friends. Now it was just the three of us on a flight to Madagascar.

Free drinks and a nice hot meal once again helped make the flight pass quickly. Soon enough, we were preparing to land in the exotic lands of Madagascar.

I’m a big fan of the Lonely Planet guides from way back. I remember backpacking through China for three weeks in 1987 with the LP guide in my pack. It served me well then and through many other countries since. After Expedia.com failed to offer me anything reasonable, I decided to seek the advice of Lonely Planet. Their “our pick” in the moderate priced hotels was the Hotel Sakamanga. They had decent website and responded quickly to my queries. The best part is that they would send a drive to fetch us at the airport.

As we deplaned at TNR, I noticed that we were the only aircraft at the airport. This reminded me of my days in Malawi with departures at Lilongwe International Airport. We used to joke that the air traffic controllers probably freaked out when they had three aircraft on the ground. TOO much to coordinate.

The arrival cards were printed as part of a nice tourist booklet with advertisements of all the local hotels and tour operators. Our hotel even had an ad in the booklet. Somehow this felt reassuring in this foreign land. I knew that the line for tourists without a visa would be long so I ushered my family over to the correct queue quickly.

As we began the customs/visa formalities, our officer asked us for a copy of our outbound ticket. Often countries want to be sure that you are leaving. Not a problem. Then his supervisor who was standing near walked away to handle a nearby problem. As soon as he left, the officer asked me if I had a “gift” for him. Ugh.

I played dumb but was extremely uncomfortable. He kept repeating the word “gift”. Do I pay him something and risk being seen bribing an official? Or do I just do nothing and risk having more problems?

In the end, I chose to play dumb and nothing bad happened. But it was a wake up call on how much of the world works. After collecting our bags, we were greeted by a man from our hotel holding a sign with our name. It was a welcome sight.

None of our ATM cards worked so we left the airport with no money. Our driver said there was a bank on the way. He stopped about 15 minutes later, parked off the main road and we ran down to try our luck with another bank. Unfortunately, neither card worked there and so far we haven't been able to get any money in Madagascar. It's a bit of a pain but "TIA": This is Africa.

When we got back to the car on the main road, it was surround by police with large guns and rifles. We stayed back to not get involved. We assumed that he wasn’t supposed to park off the road. Well, it turned out that he was parked directly across the street from US Embassy! The police were called by the embassy. After the bombing of the embassy in Kenya, I think US embassies are on high alert all around the world. He didn’t get a ticket or anything but he was visibly shaken by the whole ordeal.

Tana is a modern African city set on rolling hills. The streets are vibrant and everyone is well dressed and wearing shoes. I remember arriving in Johannesburg for the first time on a flight from Malawi in 1988. I couldn’t believe how well dressed the black people were. They all had shoes! This was a huge improvement over the average Malawian.

We stayed in the Hotel Sakamanga, a 32 room funky little place half full of French tourists and the other half mostly Europeans and some Asians. We have encountered very few Americans here. Our room had a fun loft for Corbin.

After dropping off our bags, we set out to try to get some money. The hotel didn’t have any money to swap for our dollars/euros. As soon as we set foot on the street, several men offered us “change money” in soft, hushed tones. Having just arrived we weren’t quite ready to go to the black market. We tried our ATM cards in several more banks with no luck. Finally we found a bank open and was able to change 100 euros. Interestingly, they would not except US bills $100 or greater. Some other place only want $100 bills newer than 2008. It will make me get new bills in the future before I leave.

Once we had some local Ariary in our pocket, we continued to explore the local markets and streets. Fresh produce was abundant: tomatoes, onions, garlic, pineapples, mangos, oranges, avos,.. It was going to be easy to eat local in this country.

The Lonely Planet guide also recommended the restaurant at the hotel. We had booked a table but were the only customers when we arrived at 6:30pm. I was beginning to rethink this decision. My parents taught me that you should be wary of an empty restaurant. But by the time we left, every single table was full. This Saturday night crowd just ate later.

The meal was incredible. Terry and I both had crayfish and avo starters and then swordfish and a local beef/chicken curry. Corbin had an amazing crab au gratin. With beers and drinks, the bill was just over $20. I love dining in the developing world.

The next day we woke up early and set out for a patisserie that was recommended. The French have left a legacy of wonderful baguettes and croissants in this country. We walked for about 10 minutes before finding the Patisserie Colbert. It offered wonderful French bread products and pastries. With our chocolate au lait and café, it was a great start to the day.

We spent a few hours doing a walking tour outlined in Lonely Planet. It began at the highest point in Tana, the Rovo royal place. It was closed for renovation but was interesting to see from the exterior. We visited a museum that housed relics of previous kings and queens which was basic but interesting. Madagascar had a crazy queen in the mid 19th century that kicked out all the Christians or threw them off cliffs. We stood on the famous cliffs and thought about flying off.

We stopped at a public park for over an hour where Corbin built a mini fort and then began playing with some local kids. They invented a game of using plastic bottles and plastic bags to slide down a banister. Who needs Nintendo?

By this point we were all a bit tired so we made our way back to the hotel where they had a nice Sunday lunch buffet on offer that was hard to turn down. Everything was incredibly fresh and delicious. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my blog while Terry and Corbin went out to the crazy, big market.

Unfortunately, Terry had his wallet taken amongst the crowd. Luckily it just had about $30 worth of local money. The big loss was his German driver’s license. We’ll figure out how to get another.

That evening we ate at the hotel restaurant again because it was so good the night before. Once again, we loved everything we ate: bouillabaisse, grilled calamari, and a Zebu steak (an animal similar to a cow). It’s sad when you don’t have room for dessert. The restaurant is famous for their dark chocolate fondue dessert. We just couldn’t fit anymore.

Although our stay in Tana was brief, we walked around and got a good sense of the city. We look forward to another two night stay there on our departure from Madagascar.

We booked a private car and driver to take us from the capital city out to the coast where we had rented a house. The drive was about 350 miles and took 10 hours. The two and sometimes one lane road is the biggest and best road in the country. Its windy path made us all a bit car sick for most of the journey. We did see spectacular countryside. We only made one real stop which was for lunch. I think on the way back we will remind ourselves to stop more so that it breaks up the journey. The highlight came at about 8 hours into the trip when we drove through a national park and spotted our first LEMUR!!

Instead of singing and dancing, they were all hanging out in trees eating leaves. Even still, it was very exciting. We will be spending the night in a bungalow there next week.

We arrived at our house on the coast near Mahajanga around 7pm feeling relieved and tired. We all think this place is wonderful. It’s right on the beach and constantly has a nice breeze to cool things down. A covered veranda is our home during the day for school and meals. Each bedroom has an A/C unit and mosquito nets over the beds making sleep very comfortable. The cook, Lolo, had prepared a wonderful meal for us and the gardener/guard, Mafali, grilled two huge fish over a fire. It was all delicious and hit the spot.

In the morning we met the housekeeper Yvette who would be cleaning and doing laundry. The final addition to “our staff” was Zimbo, our driver. He had an older 4x4 that will be taking us to town and around the area. Have I mentioned yet this place is close to paradise?

Zimbo drove us and the cook into town to get money and do some shopping. I thought that I might have to get money wired here via Western Union since our ATM cards weren’t working. Luckily I remembered that in the olden days, I could get a “cash advance” on a credit card. This worked flawlessly and we left with ONE MILLION Ariary ($500). Corbin was impressed that I was holding one million of ANYTHING.

We picked up local SIM cards for our mobile phones. It’s the easiest way to stay in touch for emergencies. Our next stop was the supermarket. I was amazed because 95% of the products there were imported from France. Of course the difference in price between the local and imported products was HUGE. But it’s nice to have some mustard and mayo! We ended spending $100 on “the basics”. It was getting warm so the Haleys hung out at an internet café while the cook and driver did the shopping at the outdoor market for veggies and meat. The internet is cheap but VERY SLOW. Terry doesn’t think it’s worth it.

Once back at home, Corbin worked on school for three hours and then made some friends out on our beach and didn’t come in until sunset. It was fun to seeing him playing so hard. He doesn’t do that with us!

The highlight of the evening was cooking up two lobsters that appeared on our Home Shopping Network. Don’t think we have the TV on all day here. Instead our HSN is a series of people who come by the house selling a variety of things from lobster, prawns, shrimp, mangos, papayas, nuts... They walk down the driveway and present us with their goods. Our cook let us know that if she bargains, the price is lower. Also Terry and I have trouble saying no. This morning I turned down $0.25 cent mangos thinking it was too much. Jaded after only two days here.

The lobster was wonderful and a perfect ending to our first full day in Mahajunga.

One of Corbin’s classes is the language of the Malagasy also called Malagasy. In 200AD a group of Indonesians and Malaysians arrived on this uninhabited island. So interestingly enough, the closest relative to the Malagasy language is in Borneo! It has also had influences from Arabic and African Bantu languages. People have responded very well to our speaking to them in Malagasy. It also gets big smiles.

After I finished working with Corbin this morning on math and Malagasy/French, I took a long jog down the beach to the north. It seems like this area has lots of expat homes. It’s a pretty idyllic place.

As we drove out to the coast from the capital city of Antananarivo, we passed through a national park and saw our first lemurs high up in a tree. They were far away but it was very exciting. Little did we know how much more we would be experiencing just a couple days later.

We have a driver Zimbo here who has a tiny four-wheel drive car. It is the smallest 4x4 I’ve ever seen. It is about 20 years old but it gets us around! Once we arrived, we sat down with Zimbo and made a plan of activities for each day. At $50 a day, we didn’t feel we could afford to use the car everyday but three or four days a week will get us out and about.

We speak to everyone here in French. It was a French colony for about a hundred years and Madagascar gained its independence in the early sixties. Not surprisingly, the French influence remains today. Most people our age speak Malagasy and French fluently if they have been to school. Also they have a working knowledge of English but it’s nowhere near as good as their French. So we end up speaking French most of the time. It works pretty well but sometimes difficulties arise since we are all communicating in a second language.

Our first week here was a mix of getting to know the town of Mahajunga and adventures into the wild. It was the latter that gave us memories that we will never forget.

One activity that Zimbo proposed was a visit to Lac Sacré (Sacred Lake). In his explanation, we really weren’t too sure what we were going to see but off we went. After a forty-five minute drive from our house on a pot-holed dirt road, we arrived at le Lac Sacré. It was this dammed up manmade fresh water reservoir that contained many fish and huge eels! The Malagasy come here to make wishes. Then once they come true, they return to bring food and coins to the fish as thanks. Zimbo had purchased some raw meat and bread that we offered to the lake animals. Corbin loved feeding the eels that would pop out of the water up to six inches to retrieve the meat! He made a great iReport all about it. Watch for it on YouTube.

As we walked back to the car, Zimbo told us that now we would drive five minutes and see lemurs up close! How had we missed that this was going to happen today!??!

We arrived at a lightly forested area with a tiny village nearby. One of the villagers began making a high pitched yelp to call the lemurs. His two very young sons also helped in our lemur search. Within minutes, a group of lemurs were in the trees near where we parked our car.

They descended when they saw we had brought bananas and baguettes. They allowed us to feed them from our hands. It was INCREDIBLE. Corbin was all smiles as he gained confidence in being near them. We spent thirty minutes hanging out with this group of five lemurs including a one month old baby. After a while, they even let Corbin pet their backs while they were eating. We had to remind ourselves that these lemurs lived in the wild and we weren’t at a zoo!

Mango season is just starting here and Zimbo told us that once they are ripe, the lemurs stuff themselves with the delicious mangos and they don’t have any use for our bananas and bread. So we were lucky that they wanted our food.

After our visit we realized that we really hadn’t seen them walk. They jumped around a bit from tree to tree but we didn’t see the reason they are famously called “dancing lemurs”. That would come the next day.

Early Friday morning at 5:45am, Zimbo picked us up and drove to the port in Mahajunga where we queued for the ferry to take us across the Madagascar bay. Once the car was in the queue, we took a walk to find a nice place for some chocolat et croissants for breakfast. Can I repeat that we LOVE that this used to be a French colony!

It was a 90-minute journey to traverse the bay to Katsepy. On the boat, we were the only foreigners. Walking the streets of Mahajanga, we occasionally see other Europeans, mostly French. Corbin had noticed that we were THE white guys on the boat.

Katsepy is a tiny dot of a town that is the port for a sugar refinery built by the Chinese. We drove only about twenty minutes before reaching the lighthouse at the tip of the coast. Once again, we were greeted by a local who helped us search out the lemurs in nearby trees. Almost immediately, we found a different variety than the previous day. This group of six lemurs were noticeably more timid around us. They took a while to be comfortable to eat a banana that we were holding. We thought it was interesting that lemurs prefer that you place the banana in their month instead of them grabbing it with their hands. After they had full bellies, they walked off showing us their bouncing walk that makes it look like they are dancing. Corbin managed to record a great iReport on the lemur experience.

After 45 minutes, Corbin spotted two smaller lemurs of a different variety still. They never descended from the heights of the trees.

After the lemur experience, our local guide took us to the top of the solar powered lighthouse. From the top, we had a spectacular view of the coastline and the Malagasy savanna.

We made it back to Katsepy by 11am but there was no ferry in sight. It runs two or three times a day normally. So we found a deserted restaurant and had a relaxed lunch of white fish and cow-like zebu. Zimbo who was waiting in the queue with the car finally called to say that he had heard the boat would be back soon. By this point we had reached the hottest point of the day and the sun beat down upon us as we walked back to the port. Corbin asked that we carry him and my response was “I need YOU to push me in a wheelchair. “ Then Terry and I invented the double wheelchair. The double stroller exists for babies. So why not the double wheelchair for a son to push his dads around!

By the time we reached Zimbo, he let us know that the ferry had not even left Mahajunga yet and it would be another one and a half or two hours! So we walked back to the restaurant that was shaded, had a nice breeze and cool drinks. A game of Scrabble filled our time nicely.

The ferry finally made it back to Katsepy around 3pm and we boarded without problems. Zimbo had been worried that we might not get on this ferry and be forced to spend the night in Katsepy! It’s all a part of the adventure of traveling in Africa. Luckily, we made it home by 6pm after a long, fun day.

As we ate our dinner, we all talked about our two amazing experiences with lemurs. I would never have guessed that we would be interacting with them so closely. They are beautiful animals with many human like traits.

After we finished, we all three crawled into our big bed, pulled down the mosquito net, and watched the animated film, Madagascar. I hadn’t seen it since it was released. While the animated version of lemurs can sing and dance, the real ones gave us memories that we’ll never forget.

We spent the next few days just enjoying living at the beach without any big excursions. We would go into town to sit at the Internet Café to catch up on emails and post pictures to the blog. We had purchased local SIM cards for our iPhone but it took some configuration to get the Internet working. It’s amazing that we can sit here on our porch and read Facebook on our phones!

We also bought local SIM cards in South Africa and Scotland. It makes sending texts and placing local calls much simpler. The mobile company O2 in the UK had an amazing deal which gave us free Internet on the phone if we purchased $15 worth of calls! In South Africa, we could buy 250MB of data for $30 and in Madagascar the data is $50 for 250MB.

During our first days here when we didn’t have access to the Internet, we were surprised how many times we said “Oh, I’ll just look that up on the Internet.” Then we’d realize that WE HAD NO INTERNET. The horrors!!

Normally we really enjoy going out to dinner. It’s a way to sample local flavors and have new experiences. The problem is that we have Lolo. She’s our cook and is outstanding. The couple of times we’ve been forced to eat in a restaurant, the quality of food is no where near what Lolo makes for us. This has turned us into homebodies! We taught Corbin the card game Oh Hell and he’s very good at it. We also play lots of Scrabble and Rummikub.

Our next big adventure was to the Ankarafantsika National Park about two hours from our house. We spent two days exploring this wonderful area with our guide Olga. Zimbo had recommended her because she spoke very good English. All of the other guides only spoke Malagasy and French. She turned out to be very experienced and interesting and we booked five tours with her.

We arrived at the park around 10:30 and Olga showed us to the room that Zimbo had booked for us. It turned out to be about the size of the double bed it contained. The three Haley boys would have a hard time sleeping together in THAT! We asked if they had something bigger and we ended up with a wonderful bungalow that had three beds, en suite toilet and shower and screens on all the windows! It cost $40 a night instead of the $7 for the tiny room but he advantage was that I wouldn’t go crazy and kill my family.

We left almost immediately to visit a beautiful canyon about a 20 minute drive from the main ranger station. Over the years, the sandstone has eroded leaving a jagged landscape of incredible colors. It was really spectacular. Even though it was only around 11:30 am at this point, the heat was very strong. We sure missed the coastal breezes of Mahajanga.

The main restaurant of the camp was beautifully situated next to a grove of trees frequented by lemurs. As we ate our lunch we saw lemurs, chameleons, zebu and lots of birds. Corbin finally took his plate and sat at the banister. All the animals were more interesting than talking to his dads.

Because it was so hot at this point, the guide said we should rest until 3:00 pm. We went back to our bungalow to read and rest. Corbin spent the time in a “hide” that was located just a few steps from our front door. It overlooked the lake which at this time of year was more a meadow. He saw lots of animals but mostly birds. I read in several places that lots of Americans and Brits come to Madagascar because of the vast number of birds. I’m not much of a bird watcher but they were impressive.

Our afternoon activity with Olga was a 1.5 hour walk through a forest looking for lemurs. We walked a long way before seeing any but enjoyed her explanation of other animals and plants. She was especially good with Corbin knowing how to keep his interest along the way. We saw three different varieties of lemurs including a mouse lemur that was sleeping a hole of a tree.

Our next little break meant a game of Scrabble on our front porch. The setting was peaceful and enjoyable. The heat also made us lazy and relaxed. We decided to have a cool beer before rejoining Olga for our night hike!

The sun has been setting well before 6:00 pm so it was already very dark as we began. Olga had a headlamp and a bright flashlight that she used to guide us along. In the pitch black darkness she was aptly skilled at spotting the smallest of creatures. This hour long walk was the highlight of our two days in the park. We really felt like we were discovering a hidden world of nocturnal creatures. The many mouse lemurs never got too close to us preferring to keep some distance unlike their larger cousins. Corbin’s favorite part was seeing a lime green chameleon that he was able to pet! I’m not sure the chameleon was getting much out of his backrub but it thrilled Corbin.

For dinner we ended up at the smaller restaurant in the park. We ordered zebu (local beef) and chicken. Unfortunately both were almost inedible because they were so tough. These chickens weren’t just free range but must have been Olympic athletes. Their toned muscles DID NOT want to leave the bones. It was our second disappointing restaurant meal of the day and really made us miss our Lolo.

After dinner, we returned to our bungalow and tucked ourselves into our mosquito nets. It was still quite warm but we had a little fan that kept the air moving. I had lots of trouble sleeping so I kept getting up, showering and letting it dry off in bed.

In the morning we started out with a hike out to the tallest baobob tree in Madagascar. Along the way we walked through a forest and over a stream. It was really fun but the temperature was rising quickly.

Our final activity was a boat ride on the nearby lake. Since it was the end of the dry season, the lake was half its possible size. We still managed to see lots of birds, herons and crocodiles. My favorite bird was one that would create an umbrella with its wings to shade its vision to see fish in the water. I took some great photos of this bird in action. As we tolled around the perimeter of the lake, we saw lots of locals fishing. Only the residents of villiages inside the national park’s perimeter were allowed to fish there.

Our two days at the park cost about $200 plus another $100 for the transport to the park. After exsisting on barely nothing it was an extravagant adventure but well worth it.

Our next big adventure was to a local primary school. We met a lovely French lady Daniele who retired to Madagascar last year. Two days a week she volunteers at a school to help teach French. Her bubbly enthusiasm is enjoyed by all her students. We accompanied her one morning to experience school in Madagascar. First off we met the principal who seemed very busy dealing with students and parents. In spite of this, she brought us to a classroom of students around Corbin’s age. She introduced us and then each student stood up and introduced themselves. It was really fun. While we were there, they worked on French and Mathematics. Most of the instruction was given in French. They also have a course in Malagasy. Corbin was placed in a free seat near the front next to another student. He was able to do all the math but the French was beyond his abilities. The class had 39 students that day who were all very well behaved throughout the lessons.

Next we went to the library where Daniele’s French classes took place. That day, she was teaching them a tongue-twisting song. Corbin managed to get through it in front of the class! Bien fait!

Some of the friends that he had met on the beach in front of our house attended this school. Corbin liked seeing them there. Overall we enjoyed the visit and look forward to seeing the school on Koh Pu island in Thailand where we will be living next month.

As part of Corbin’s home schooling, he has been studying Malagasy along with me. His culminating project was to create a video of him talking to our cook Lolo. Then he edited the video adding subtitles to explain what was being said. It turned out wonderfully and can be seen on the website.

Our big adventure of our final week was a trip to Les Grottes d’Anjohibe where we would see some amazing underground grottos that extended for over 3.5 miles. We had read in Lonely Planet that the road to get there was 40 miles of bumpy, potholed dirt road. It would take 3.5 hours to get there. We really questioned this journey because the thought of 7 hours on a bumpy dirt road just didn’t sound to appealing.

In the end, we decided we had to die trying so we set off at 7:00 am. After one hour on this unbelievable road, Terry and I were ready to kill each other. Terry’s head kept hitting the handle next to his head as our car rocked back and forth over all the bumps. The quoted 3.5 hour marker came and went and we STILL weren’t there. In the end, it took 4.5 hours to get there and might win the prize for most uncomfortable car ride EVER.

Besides the driver, a guide came along with us from Mahajanga who knew the caves very well. He also gave us flashlight which were necessary because at times it was pitch black. For over an hour, we explored these amazing caves. At one point we discovered a hippo skeleton, a remnant of the days when the caves where filled with ocean water. Openings to the outside would illuminate the grottos with beautiful light. Corbin really enjoyed swinging like Tarzan on some roots that had grown into the caves.

By this point is was after 1 pm and we were starving. Lolo had made us a delicious lunch of BBQ’ed lamb and rice salad. Our guide took us to a nice swimming hole where we ate and refreshed in the water. It felt wonderful on such a warm day.

The highlight of the entire journey was another up-close-and-personal lemur experience. In some trees next to the lake were a fun group of lemurs who enjoyed some of our bread. It was a magical moment with them that we will never forget.

At dinner that night back home, both Terry and I thanked Corbin for choosing Madagascar. We would never have come here if it wasn’t for him. The experiences that we’ve had are unlike anything we’ve ever done.

Our final excursion was to the nearby Cirque Rouge. All we knew was that it was a nice canyon that was only thirty minutes away. We arrived forty five minutes before sunset and the sun projected amazing colors on this Grand Canyon like mountain range. We enjoyed watching the colors change as the sun approached the horizon.

Since we arrived here, Corbin had been eyeing the quad bikes. He had heard me tell of Robert and I quad biking in the sand dunes of Namibia and wanted a similar experience. Terry seemed up for it but I was much more apprehensive. Was his too young? Would this just encourage more risky behavior that might lead to, God forbid, motorcycle riding?

In the end, we rented a quad for 4 hours and all enjoyed riding it up and down our strip of beach. At first we drove. Then Corbin drove with us sitting behind him. Soon he was ready to try driving by himself. The latter was only done briefly but of course, he thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

Since he’s been able to talk, Corbin has understood some basic rules of our family. He can get a tattoo and/or ride a motorcycle anytime he wants. BUT once he does either of these activities, he is telling us that he no longer wants any financial assistance from his parents and is fully prepared to be totally financially independent. The quad bike is a bit of a loophole because it’s not a motorcycle (which he quickly pointed out when trying to convince us to rent one.) Damn, these kids are smart.

So now as I sit here and write this, we are about to have our final dinner here. The sun is quickly setting marking the end of our time in Mahajanga. Tomorrow, we have the ten hour drive back to the capital Tana. After that horrible road the other day, the paved two lane road will be entirely appreciated. We will try our best not to get car sick like on the way here.

Late in the afternoon, our cook Lolo and housekeeper Yvette said their goodbyes. Both Lolo and I teared up. A lovely friend had been made. She taught me how to cook and I taught all three workers basic English that they could use with future clients. I also taught Lolo how to make Mango Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Quesadillas. She learned well how to make tortillas by hand. We enjoyed our time together and I posted three of the recipes on our website. We would love to return one day to enjoy the wonderful location and warm hospitality.

The ride back to Tana was filled with listening to Harry Potter book four. Jim Dale does an amazing job reading the book. It’s a must have for anyone who takes long trips. We left the house around 7:30 am and pulled up in front of the Hotel Sakamanga in Tana around 6:00 pm. It had been a long day but we were happy to finally have arrived. We unpacked a bit and then had dinner in the hotel’s excellent restaurant. It wasn’t as good as Lolo’s food but delicious.

This time we got a room that didn’t receive wifi. Sadness. The next morning we asked if we could change rooms and got a cute upstairs room with great wifi signal. We had been missing our GLEEs the whole month and were anxious to get a couple of episodes.

We popped into the Indian Embassy that happened to be near our hotel to inquire about getting a visa. The consul advised us that we should wait until nearer our arrival date. Fine. We’ll get it in Ho Chi Minh City in December. Next we explored the zoo that had been recommended by one of our guides, Olga. One of the first animals that we saw was the elusive fosa, the predator of the lemurs. They had an errie look to them. I wouldn’t want them hunting me. We did see lots of lemurs but seeing them in cages was just not the same as the incredible experiences we had had in the wild. Corbin really enjoyed going around seeing all the frog, turtles, snakes and many other local animals.

Unfortunately, my first bout of “funny tummy” hit as we were looking at the warthogs. I desperately looked for a WC. I will refrain from giving more details of this developing nation bathroom experience. BUT OH MY GOD. Let’s just say I showered immediately when we returned to the hotel after the zoo.

We schooled Corbin for the rest of the day and had quiet evening which included watching the “Grilled Cheesus” episode of GLEE. The three of us curled up on our bed was a far cry from the huge GLEE parties we used to have in Germany.

We spent the morning schooling Corbin. One of his classes for the past couple of days has been learning Mandarin Chinese from Rosetta Stone in preparation for our visit to Hong Kong next week. I realize that they speak mostly Cantonese there but Mandarin is becoming more popular. For some reason he really wanted to learn Mandarin over Cantonese. How he forms these opinions is beyond me at times. With Rosetta Stone, he wears headphones so all we could hear was him speaking Mandarin. It was really funny. Soon it was noon and it was time to head to the airport.

FLIGHT#14
South African Airlink #8253
Antananarivo, Madagascar (TNR) - Johannesburg (JNB)
Date: Oct 27, 2010
Departure: 15:00
Arrival: 17:40
Length: 03:10
Miles flown since start: 26,993 mi.
Aircraft: Avro RJ85
Seats: ECONOMY 17ADF

We had booked a taxi through our hotel for $15. First it was 15 minutes late and then we hit gridlock traffic. I always like to leave plenty of time at the airport and my comfort zone was being pushed. Fortunately, things got better and we arrived at the airport with two hours to spare.

To say that the Antananarivo airport is small is an understatement. Air Madagascar had three check-in desks open for Economy and one for Business. Unfortunately, SA Airlink is handled by Air Madagascar so we were forced to join their passengers in a long queue. To get around the 20K per person we had packed a 17kg “carry-on” wheelie suitcase that helped us get around the limitation.

The check-in agent was friendly and professional. I had tried to check-in online like on the outbound but had no success. I knew that all of our bags were slightly over the limit but he didn’t seem to care. What’s one or two or three kgs per person extra?

The uncomfortable moment came when he asked to weigh our carry-ons. GULP. I started with two light, small backpacks before hoisting up the 17kg wheelie. He was a bit surprised when he saw how much the little suitcase weighed. He asked me what was inside and if I needed to carry it on. I quickly just said it was my son’s school books (not mentioning the additional bags of Lego) and that we didn’t want to loose it.

He asked if we really didn’t want to check it in. So was he asking if I wanted to pay excess baggage fees? Or was he simply allowing us to check in addition bags free of charge? I finally responded with a noncommittal “Whatever you think is best!” No mention of charges was expressed. I hate flying economy. Luckily this would be the last economy flight until January. The next seven flights would be in business where I’ve never been hassled about luggage. The agent offered us two aisle and a middle seat saying that it was the best that he could do since it was a full flight. Somehow I was skeptical but didn’t fight it.

Passport control reminded us of a Mel Brooks movie; the policeman must have stamped five pieces of paper for each of us. What was all this paperwork? The highlight of the airport experience was passing security.

Corbin instinctually removed his iPad and asked about his shoes. I didn’t think it was necessary since there were no signs and it seemed very low key. I just through my backpack (with my laptop, iPod, iPhone, iTouch, Kindle…) on the belt and hoped for the best.

Once I got to the other side, I saw that the scanner monitor was completely unmanned and the only “TSA” guy was playing with his mobile phone ignoring us completely. The thin blue line of safety was VERY THIN at this airport.

I usually keep about $20 dollar of local currency to do some final shopping or in this case get something to drink because we didn’t have a lounge on offer to us. Surprisingly, the snack shop only accepted euros and dollars. Then everywhere else refused our Ariary. Terry went back out to the front of the airport just to change the useless currency into something they would accept. I wondered if Madagascar had any rules about entering the country twice in the same day but figured Terry would sort it out.

Back at security, the TSA guy looked up from his phone long enough to understand what he was trying to do. He got the wave through. The passport guy took a bit longer but in the end suggested that a “petit cadeaux”, small gift, when he returned might help him through. These guys at the airport sure know how to supplement their income. Needless to say, Terry avoided that passport guy and made it through without having to give any bribes.

Once the Air Austral flight departed, it looked like just a few of us were awaiting the flight to Johannesburg. This flight didn’t look full at all. I intentionally had us board last and glanced at the gate agent’s screen and so 44 PAX. With ninety seats, I would hardly call the flight “full”.

I chose the rear stairs and, as excepted, the back few rows were empty so we chose 17ADF with lots of space to stretch out. I did check with our friendly flight attendant before plopping ourselves down. After the door were shut, she approached Terry and me about our responsibilities of opening the emergency exit door at the back since we were the closest to them. My favorite part was when she explained that if she was incapacitated, we needed to unbuckle her and push her FEET FIRST down the slide. I’ve never been given instructions on saving the flight attendant before. We assured her that her safety was our primary concern stealing a line I have often heard on US carriers. She smiled and walked off.

We left on time and soon were in the air. The pilot said that we had a strong headwind the entire way which would add a few minutes to the flight. I didn’t care because we’d be hitting the typical Joburg traffic if we got in too early.

The service began quickly and two cold entrees were on offer: meatballs with pasta salad or a veggie pasta salad. By the time the FA got back to us, all that was left were meatballs. I read an interesting Letter to the Editor in one of the African flights we took last month. It was suggesting that they load more non-beef options as the average Africa always questions “beef” and would rather have chicken. This is because “beef” could be beef, lamb, goat, mutton or venison but chicken was much harder to fake. The writer had noticed that the chicken is always the first to run out on his African flights. Our flight today was no exception even if the non-beef option was vegetarian. This definitely falls under the business advice “Know your customer.”

Immediately after the meal was served, they offered soft drinks, beer and wine. The FA ran out of apple juice when Corbin’s glass was only half full. Five minutes later she brought another whole glass for him with an apology. Lovely service.

Arrival at Johannesburg was simple and the bags popped right out. For the third time in a row, Thrifty gave me a car whose fuel tank wasn’t quite full. This time I remembered to check BEFORE I left and they noted it on the contract. It’s such a pain to return a car 7/8 full. I actually think it’s some sort of scam since it’s happened three rentals in a row at that location. Upon our return, I went back to the office and spoke to the manager. I let her know that they lost a customer because of it.

On Thursday, we spent the day doing stuff that people normally do when they’re not on vacation. We went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned, got our prescriptions refilled and bought some toiletries. On Friday we got up early and left to go on safari in Kruger National Park. We were able to bring Corbin’s “cousins”, Cameron and Kyle with us. It was the first safari for all the kids. All of them took a daily dose of malarone against the malaria that is found in the Eastern Transvaal. It’s over $300 week but very effective and far fewer side effects than larium.

I had booked us into a game lodge, Mopani, in the northern part of the park. It’s two hours further from Joburg but we had heard that it was the best inside the park. Several times, we have visited the private game reserves that border Kruger. These are all lovely but very expensive, often over $500/day/person. Our three bedroom, 2 bath bungalow cost only $200/night. It was a great deal and a perfect introduction to the African wildlife for the boys. We lucked out and they gave us bungalow #48 which overlooks the dammed lake. Throughout the weekend we saw lots of hippos, vultures, water buffalo and elephant all from our veranda!

The drive from Joburg too about eight hours including an unfortunate stop at KFC. It had been over tens years since my last “meal” there and let’s hope it’s ten more! We listened to Jim Dale reading Harry Potter Goblet of Fire for the whole journey which kept the boys entertained. We were concerned about making it into the park because they lock the park gates before sunset and also the gate to the game lodge. Luckily we made good time and arrived at the main gate with several hours to spare.

On the two hour drive to from the gate to our lodge, we saw elephants, turtles, impala, giraffes, a baboon and zebra. The disadvantage of going on safari inside Kruger is that you are required to stay on the roads. In the private game reserves next door, they can drive anywhere they want. Fortunately, this did not deter seeing lots of animals.

Each of the bungalow had a full kitchen plus a BBQ outside. Back in Joburg I had a craving for Mexican food so I brought all the trimmings for tacos. All three of us really miss good Mexican food from California. The boys all had several and then we enjoyed the rest of the evening by the campfire making s’mores. Life really doesn’t get any better than that!

The next morning everyone but me was up at sunrise for a morning game viewing drive. After living in Malawi and visiting South Africa often, I’ve been on safari over twenty times. The thought of a quiet house for three hours sounded like a nice option! They returned with lots of stories of their experiences in the wild.

Midday was filled with resting, swimming in the beautiful pool and playing Scrabble. At one point a herd of over twenty elephants came to the dammed lake in front of our bungalow. It was spectacular. We sure weren’t at Animal Kingdom at Disneyworld.

That evening we grilled burgers and roasted marshmallows. At 8:00pm we had booked a guided night safari. It was lots of fun and we saw a lion, leopards and many other animals. The boys were all very excited about the sightings.

We woke up on Sunday and I made a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. We packed up quickly and slowly made our way out of the park. Our visit was just under forty-eight hours but we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

The ride back to Johannesburg once again was filled with listening to Harry Potter book four. It’s the best was to pass the time during a long car trip.

That evening, we packed our bags in preparation for our departure from Africa. It’s been an amazing two months filled with tears, loss, laughter, friendship and adventure. Our next stop would be living three countries in Asia.

I have decided to post the trip report on our Cathay Pacific flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong in a separate report. It can be viewed here:
FLIGHT #15: CX748 JNB-HKG Biz Class with photos