try2seeitall

As I said in the last post, things got a little messy in Amber Mountain. When things don’t go perfectly, I tend to remember the lessons and in this case how well everyone did to make things have the best outcome possible. I thank my friends, Jacques and our drivers, as well as the nun who allowed us to stay at their facility for making it possible to safely weather the storm. Though Cyclone Chido was a powerful storm and it was tragic for many thousands of people in the path of the storm to the west of where we were, it seemed to be business as usual in the city of Diego Suarez. On the drive all the way from Amber mountain to Diego and back to Ambilobe, there was less evidence of the storm than we saw on the mountain. Kozobe Hotel was in good shape and our stay was relaxing. It was good that we stayed there, because it made our last drive as a group go better than expected. The two bridges that were destroyed by Cyclone Gamane had been replaced with temporary rock bridges. They were in fine shape for our vehicles to cross the river. There was no need for porters or boats to get by the rivers and we made it to the Port of Ankify much faster than we thought we would. We thanked our drivers and Jacques arranged for porters to carry our gear to the boat that was waiting for us to ferry us back to Nosy Be. He came with us to make sure everything worked out in Nosy Be. 

It was a beautiful sunny day. There was quite a bit more debris in the water from the storm that the captain had to be sure to avoid, but it was a safe crossing and I remembered to take some photos. We arrived at the nicest hotel of the trip, The Exora Beach Hotel for our last night together. I was the only one who was staying longer. I booked more days at a nearby B & B called Villa Tongasoa as an insurance policy, in case we hadn’t seen a whale shark on the first attempt with the group. It turned out there were many other things to do and my host, Bernard, at Villa Tongasoa had lots of connections to make good things happen and his wife Nadia was an excellent cook.

It was another outstanding adventure in Madagascar, but I still haven’t seen it all!  

For photos and some commentary through the end of my time in Nosy Be in 2024, click here. The one above is from the Marine Reserve at Nosy Tanikely. You might remember from an earlier post, I didn’t bring my GoPro there to take photos on the first visit at the beginning of the trip.

When we were in Ambilobe our rooms had televisions that worked. Most of the programming was not in English, but I did hear on a British News program that a Tropical Cyclone was headed in our direction. Devin knew about it too. Fortunately, while we were in Ankarana there were evening showers but nothing really alarming. It was still early in the cyclone season this year and the previous two trips with Devin also were during that time of the year. If you want to see frogs, it is the best time to be in Madagascar. We were taking a chance and we knew the risk. They weren’t predicting the storm would be very strong, but we were heading to the far north as it was approaching Madagascar for the last part of our trip. 

The storm already had a name. We were headed all the way to Antsiranana, (The city is also called Diego Suarez, or just Diego for short.) and so was Cyclone Chido. Our route had been changed from the original itinerary. I am not sure if it was because of the cyclone or other logistical reasons. Anyway, our last stop wasn’t Diego. as originally stated on the itinerary. Instead, we made a quick dash for supplies in Diego and an abbreviated visit to a place called Montagne des Francais nearby. Devin had been there before, but didn’t have any luck finding the mantella frog he was looking for then. Jacques is from Diego and he had new information from a relative on where to look. When we arrived, with the storm coming the frogs, who probably can sense the change in barometric pressure, were chirping (mantellas sound more like crickets than like frogs) all around the small stream. It wasn’t long before the first frogs were found and we got our photos and then we headed on to Amber Mountain National Park. We didn’t feel threatened by the storm yet. There were clouds but not much rain…until we got to Amber mountain. 

Driving into camp was a challenge. The road was blocked with a rope and a sign that I think said do not enter, but it wasn’t in English. No one seemed to be able to say why it was blocked. Jacques knew the park authorities were expecting us. Eventually, He was able to negotiate his way into the park. The facilities there were pretty good. The tent pads were made of sand and covered with a relatively sturdy thatch roof. There was at least one working flush toilet and a sink with running water to wash your hands. As it was at the first campsite, we didn’t even have to set up our own tent and once again the bedding was provided. It wasn’t exactly glamping, but not bad at all. The only bad part was that there were lots of tall trees near the tents. 

The winds were picking up. It rained hard but I was staying dry in my tent.  They also had a large covered table for meals. Our drivers even rigged a tarp on the side the wind was primarily coming from, so we didn’t suffer much there either. We had gotten word that the storm was going to be stronger than originally predicted. We tried to stay put, but that only lasted until a big tree snapped and fell very near one of the tents and that caused us to decide it wasn’t going to be safe. Fortunately for us there was a monastery not too far from the park that Jacques knew had empty rooms and arranged for us to go stay in their concrete building. As we were in a hurry, we left most of our stuff up at the camp. The next morning, after a good night’s sleep in a room with a mattress and a shower with hot water, we returned to find that we couldn’t drive all the way back to where our tents were because a large tree had fallen completely across the road. (pictured above) It was not far from camp and we could easily walk around the tree. Park workers were already hard at work with axes trying to clear the way. We didn’t know then, but they didn’t do it so much for us, but rather because a cruise ship was in port and visiting the park was on their scheduled itinerary. When we arrived at our campsites we were lucky to find all of our stuff was still in our tents and for the most part pretty dry. 

It was just after I finished checking my stuff in my tent that I noticed a rather large creature moving near one of the other tents. It was pretty far away from my tent, so I grabbed my cell phone (It would take too long to get my camera gear unpacked.) and I headed closer to investigate. I had a pretty good idea of what it had to be though I had never seen one before. I was hoping I was right, but it certainly wasn’t on the list of critters we were hoping to see. I told Aly, who hadn’t noticed or heard the animal which was close to her tent, and a local guide, who I think was there watching our stuff while we were away. They both were near enough to me that I could get their attention without scaring the animal. I said to them, I think there’s a Fossa over there,” as I tried to move closer. The guide, who seemed as surprised as me, said, “You are right and you are so lucky. We never see them. They are very shy.” I took a few photos with my phone and a short video. Then Aly and I went to try to find the others to let them know, hoping they would get a chance to see it before it went away. A few people had their cameras in hand as they were getting ready to start photographing whatever they could find in the aftermath of the storm. I said they should come quickly, because I had seen a fossa. I think it was Brad who said something like, sure you did. I assured him I had and we found the critter was still very near the spot I first saw it. He had the right lens and probably must have gotten some good photos. Shawn, Grace and Lonny made it there too, but I haven’t seen any of their photos yet. I did see some video taken on their cell phones and it was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, Devin and Mike were not close by, so they missed their chance. Devin said he’s been coming to Madagascar for more than 15 years and he has never seen a fossa. 

I didn’t lead with the fossa photo this time. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. When we arrived back at camp I had no idea what I would find. I was thankful that we had been able to see some cool stuff already and tropical cyclone Chido passed over our camp without hurting any of us or damaging our personal property. We heard later it was the worst cyclone in 90 years to hit the French overseas territory of Mayotte, a volcanic island in the Comoros archipelago between the eastern coast of Africa and the northern tip of Madagascar less than 300 miles from the monastery where we stayed. It was a devastating category 4 storm when it hit. It killed at least 35 people there and went on to kill even more in mainland Africa. No doubt, we were lucky!

We got up the next day without having heard the sound of any falling trees. During breakfast lots of empty four-wheel drive vehicles, who must have dropped their passengers off on the walking path near where the tree had fallen during the storm, started to park near our tent sites. Our drivers were packing our tents and putting all the camping gear on top of our vehicles. I asked a woman who looked to be in charge, what was going on and that’s how I learned that they were there to take care of a bunch of people from a cruise ship. She had been contracted to be there to direct the setup and preparation of lunch for the cruise ship passengers who were walking some of the trails we had already walked.

We returned to Diego to unload our camping gear and instead of staying there, we all agreed we were up for driving all the way to Ambilobe; paying for another day at Kozobe Hotel. That would make our journey back to Nosy Be much shorter and less worrisome. We still had no word on the progress fixing the bridges that were wiped out by Cyclone Gamane. How long would it take to make our return trip to Nosy Be? Would we have to use boats to cross rivers this time too?

To see photos of what we saw in the northernmost parks we visited on this adventure, click here. I promise I did see a fossa and have evidence.    

The reserve turned out to be pretty special for several reasons. You might guess that I really like Madagascar because I have travelled there three times already. The number one reason is that I enjoy the company of the group with whom I have been able to travel on these trips. The conversations we have are deep and everyone has a passion for critters that are rare and endangered. Although it isn’t an especially easy country to travel in, I feel comfortable because I trust Devin. He does a good job planning and he has tremendous knowledge of the wildlife of Madagascar. He never over-promises and then under-delivers. At most sites, it is usually just the opposite. He tries to set realistic expectations, but there are usually some surprises.

One of the surprises was the place we stayed on the way from Andapa to Ankarana. It was a long drive, so he planned an evening of rest at a modern hotel called Kozobe, in Ambilobe. The place had air conditioning (a rarity in Madagascar), a modern swimming pool and a nice restaurant. We were served a family style meal that was very good. It was more than anyone expected. The next morning the breakfast was good too. 

Devin may have known that the next place wasn’t going to be fancy. Ankarana is known for its Tsingy (A Malagasy word meaning “where one cannot walk barefoot.”), which is limestone eroded by water forming unique geological features found only in Madagascar. It is a difficult habitat for humans to travel through and that makes it an ideal place of refuge for rare wildlife that has evolved to cope with the sharp-edged formations. Devin wanted us to see the Tsingy. I was interested because I had seen nature documentaries like Planet Earth, where lemurs were jumping from one pinnacle to the other; a sight which put the thought in my mind that I should try to see it for myself, before I got too old. I may even have asked him at the end of the last adventure to consider making it a priority for the itinerary on the next adventure to Madagascar. Ankarana is not the only park with tsingy in Madagascar, but it may be the only place in the world, you can see the frog in the photo above! (Again, I used one of Lonny’s photos, but there are more of my own later.)

I don’t think Devin was realistically thinking we would see the frog. He showed me (and probably others) a rare photo in a book he was traveling with, but he didn’t bother to put it on the list of species we were likely to see. I could tell that he really was interested in seeing it for himself, and if he did, it might be the highlight of the trip for him. Devin is a very modest person and he probably wouldn’t tell you he was an expert in mantella frogs, but my guess is there are probably only a dozen or two people on the planet that know as much as he does about the biology of the family of Mantellidae. The attractive, black, green and blue frog above is not a typical member of the family. That might be one of the things that has Devin so curious about it. As it is classified now, it is the only frog (so far) in the genus that researchers have tagged it with, and the experts are uncertain if it is properly classified. That uncertainty is the kind of thing that gets people like Devin and his peers motivated to do more research. But how can you do research, if the frog is nearly impossible to find.

When we arrived at Ankarana, there was evidence of rain, which is a good thing if you are looking for frogs. That might have gotten Devin’s hopes up, but we didn’t see the little nocturnal frog on our first night hike just outside the park. The frog’s scientific name is Tsingymantis antitra and Wikipedia (at the time of this writing) doesn’t even have a photo of it. Judging by the genus name Tsingymantis, you might guess where it lives. Because the Tsingy can be dangerous, and probably even more so because the park isn’t open to visitors at night – even visitors with a scientific background unless they have a special permit – Devin told us at dinner we were probably not going to be able to see it. In the scientific literature it was described in 2006, and then only a few animals were found. He wasn’t sure how many photographs exist of the frog taken in its natural habitat, but it wasn’t many.  

It seemed obvious to me that night, he was a little disappointed. It should be obvious to you that on the next day, the only day that Devin had left on this adventure to see Tsingymantis antitra, that we actually did. Again, I kind of spoiled the surprise by using the image above as the lead photo, but it was what made the trip to Ankarana pretty amazing! There was joy all around. I was happy for Devin.

It went like this. After a long walk on spongy trails in the shade of the forest, we entered a different landscape of rocks and pools of water. Some of the pools had tadpoles in them of different sizes. We came up to a huge sinkhole in the limestone where there where hundreds of butterlies. After passing around the sinkhole, we reached a narrow path between cliffs of tsingy, it became overcast and the clouds misted a bit of rain. Brad, a veterinarian who works with exotic animals, who was in the front of the group, yelled back to Devin and the rest of the group, “I may have seen the Tsingymantis jump across the path.” Some of us thought he was teasing, because Brad likes to do that from time to time. He assured us that he wasn’t kidding and pointed to a narrow gap in the gray jagged rock. With the aid of a flashlight, they were able to see it and identify that it was what Brad thought he saw. Within a few minutes, they were able to coax the frog out of its hiding place and those that were interested took photos, lots of them. Though we kept looking for more, it was the only one we were able to find. 

Just around the corner Grace and Aly found (maybe with one of the local guides help) a brightly colored Madagascan Land Crab, Madagapotamon humberti, climbing on the tsingy. I knew from a discussion a few days earlier, it was an animal Lonny wanted to photograph, so I told him. He thought, this time, I was teasing him. Click here to see more from Ankarana. The park delivered more than expected!

Before leaving for Madagascar, I was looking at some information Devin put together on the Andapa District and the Antanetiambo Private Reserve. Devin linked a website called the Lemur Conservation Network (LCN) and I was able to read about a man named Desiré Rabary. He was so concerned for what he was seeing happen in his area that he started his own reserve to help Lemurs and other endemic animals, by purchasing and protecting land and restoring habitat. In 2010, He received an international conservation award called the Seacology Prize, which included a $10,000 cash award. Instead of spending the cash on himself, he bought more land to expand the Antanetambo Private Reserve which he had started with his own money made by guiding people to visit Silky Sifakas in Marojejy National Park. In 2022 we visited the park. I saw and was able to get photos of the Sifakas on two different occasions then. We saw many other animals that you can read about on this website by clicking here. I didn’t know about Mr. Rabary in 2022, but I was very impressed by the post and the linked video presentation on LCN’s website, which you can read about and watch by clicking here. I highly recommend you watch the video.  I was eager to meet him (pictured above at his reserve) and hear more about his inspiring story. He guided us through the bamboo forest and we photographed many animals and plants, which you can see by clicking here. He has demonstrated that one person can make a difference and inspire meaningful change.  

Well it won’t be a surprise to you, but it was to us! The photo above was taken by Lonny Pace of the (some would say) ugly Aye-aye, which we weren’t thinking we were going to see at the first campsite. In fact, it wasn’t on Devin’s list of animals we would be looking for this time. We went out of our way to see them in 2022. I didn’t get any great photos then and I didn’t this time either. Fortunately, some of my friends did get better photos.

For now, let’s address the “ON TO” part of the story. We started this adventure on the island of Nosy Be. It is a touristy place or as Devin would say, “not real Madagascar,” when compared with the “Grande Terre,” as the locals call the rest of Madagascar. It is the world’s fourth largest island; so big, some like to call it the eighth continent. Though Nosy Be is not far from the coast of western Madagascar, there are no bridges. We had to get to the road where we would continue our adventure by boat.

I believe it was at dinner on the rainy night before we left Nosy be, our lead local guide, Jacques explained to us that the journey might be difficult. To get to the camp site, we would be taking multiple forms of transportation. The journey was made more challenging because a cyclone had wiped out two of the three major bridges on the route from the small port on the mainland coast to our destination. Both bridges were intact until Cyclone Gamane hit in late March 2024. Jacques said, when the trip was being planned the journey was going to be long, but not too bad. After the destructive flooding, driving even four-wheel drive vehicles was impossible, but he was still hopeful that at least temporary bridges would be constructed by the time we arrived in Madagascar. Unfortunately, he told us that night, it was unlikely the temporary bridges would be completed and we would have to be prepared for the worst. Therefore, it would be necessary to get an early start, in case we needed to adjust to the situation as it played out. Getting local help was essential. If the weather was bad, it would not be safe to cross the rivers and we would have to make alternative plans. It wasn’t going to be an easy day and Jacques wasn’t making any promises. If we were very lucky and we made it to camp before dark, he might have a surprise for us. You already know from the photo above that we made it, but I want to tell the story anyway. So, please read on!

Early the next morning, we loaded up our gear in a few vehicles and drove to Hell-ville (not named for the place of perpetual torment, but rather a French Admiral) where the Port of Nosy Be is located. Jacques organized a group of porters to haul our stuff to a boat he had waiting for us. Though it had rained hard the night before, we had beautiful weather and relatively calm seas for the crossing. We arrived at the Port of Ankify about an hour later. Again Jacques organized porters to bring everything to the vehicles that were waiting to drive us to the first river crossing. When we arrived at the Ifasy River, the banks were crowded on both sides with people and trucks with goods waiting to be ferried across. It looked like we would be waiting for a very long while, but somehow Jacques was able to negotiate a suitable boat to transfer us and all our baggage safely across the fast-flowing river and we were only delayed for a little more than half an hour. 

On the other side, after a short walk, we got into an old taxi-brousse and we were on our way to the next river crossing. We didn’t make it all the way there before the vehicle started to make a sound like the rear axle was beginning to fail, but fortunately it was only that the wheel was starting to loosen. After a quick inspection, one lug nut was missing; but nothing was broken. We had stopped before the wheel fell off. With a little help from another local, the driver had the minibus on a jack; the existing lug nuts were tightened, and off we went. It wasn’t long before Jacques was doing his magic again, negotiating another river crossing; this time across the Mahavavy River. 

It was on the other side of the river that we were finally met by our drivers for the duration of the trip in the three four-wheel drive vehicles Devin had hired. The tents and most of the other provisions for the trip, were already loaded on top of the vehicle. What seemed like an impossible journey in the morning, thanks to Jacques negotiating skills; looked to be on schedule now to make it to camp before dark.

Without any further discussion we all found our way into a seat in one of the vehicles and we were off in the direction of Loky Manambato. Our driver was good and he was careful. He always slowed when there were children or Zebu near the side of the road, and he never hit any small animals. He did straddle a few chameleons at high speed though. We began to refer to our driver as Mario Andretti (the only race car driver in history to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, and the Formula One World Championship), because of his skillful driving and because we definitely traveled in a wheeled vehicle faster than few in Madagascar ever had. For short, we called him Mario, but it didn’t matter what we called him, because he only knew a few words of English. I appreciated that he was always smiling and keeping his eyes on the road; looking like he had the best job in Madagascar.

True to form with Mario driving, we arrived first at the turnoff from the main road to the bumpy dirt road leading to Tattersall’s Camp. We had to wait for half an hour before both other vehicles arrived. Devin had warned us that in Madagascar, sometimes you have to be patient, wait…then be patient some more. Devin was in one of the vehicles and Jacques was in the third. Our driver couldn’t explain to us what the delay was, but we did understand from the few words he said, they were coming. Eventually both arrived, but one of the two Toyotas was smoking and sounding pretty rough. When they got out of the car we asked why it took them so long and they explained that the one that was smoking had overheated and it required some time before they could add water to the radiator.  

The camp was in pretty bad shape when we arrived, but it was obvious they were expecting us. People were there to greet us and local park guides were ready to take us to see the reserve at Loky Manambato as soon as we finished dinner and it got dark. It wasn’t a reserve that was often visited and with the bridges out there wasn’t money or the will to maintain the camp. Most people who come to visit the reserve, come to see the Golden-Crowned Sifaka; not Aye-ayes. That was the rare mammal Devin had in mind when he put it on the itinerary.

I saw that another visitor to the camp posted a picture a few years back on Trip Advisor, showing the camp in much better shape and equipped with at least one flush toilet. The pictures posted were certainly of the same place , but from a different time! We stayed in tents and there weren’t any bathrooms with running water or toilets of any kind. There was a bucket to wash your hands and plenty of trees near camp to hide behind to go to the “bathroom.” Despite this, I think the people in our group had a good time. (Most of us anyway. Mike picked up an intestinal ailment that laid him low and had us worried.) We ate tasty fire-cooked food prepared by locals that was plentiful and fresh mangoes and pineapples. Our drivers set the tents up and made them comfortable with clean bedding. Not wanting to disturb others who might be light sleepers, I picked a tent in what I predicted would be the snoring section and organized my stuff inside for the two night stay.

The night hike was productive and not too long. The park guides had scouted and found the sleeping nests of a pair of Aye-ayes and were able to take us to see the surprise that Jacques was hoping we would see. We spent a long while marveling at the antics as they woke up and left the the temporary nest. We spent a little time searching for other nocturnal animals before we headed back to our tents.

The main reason for telling this story the way I did was to highlight the effort of our hosts while letting readers know how much we appreciated that there are people like Jacques, our drivers, and park guides who are good at what they do and willing to show us the real Madagascar. Without them, the trip would not have been a success. This was obvious and we were only a few days into the trip. They treated us well at this camp and in the rest of northern Madagascar. I hope adventurous people who are interested in going beyond zoo-like experiences will continue to support their efforts, so that the local people can benefit from conserving the habitat that the unique flora and fauna need to survive. The animals are fantastic, but not the stars. Sure, it would be nice if they could afford to keep Tattersall’s Camp in better condition, but I was satisfied with what was on offer.

To see if we saw anything else worth photographing click here. I am not making any promises. At the start of this post, you got to see a pretty awesome photo of a strange but wonderful wild lemur that is very hard to find and photograph in its natural setting. 

On the first night together with the whole group on the 2024 trip we stayed and had dinner at the Nosy Lodge, where we met Jacques, our Malagasy guide for the rest of the trip. Jacques is a friendly and experienced tour guide from northern Madagascar who turned out to be invaluable on this trip. On the other two previous adventures, we travelled in a tour bus that carried the whole group. This time, for the majority of the trip, we had three four-wheel drive vehicles, and none of our drivers spoke much English. On the past two trips, we could count on Devin, who speaks fluent Malagasy, being in the vehicle with us. Devin speaks a dialect from central Madagascar, but all our drivers were from the northern region, which Devin said made communication a little tricky. Having Jacques along (being fluent in English, possessing a kind and gentle manner, as well as a sense of humor), made things go as smoothly as you can expect for things to go in Madagascar – especially considering we were traveling in the tropical cyclone season. The rains that come along with the season are what bring out the critters that all of us on this adventure were here to see. They aren’t all cute and cuddly, furry and fuzzy. 

That last line stuck with me when I heard a scientist from the Smithsonian Institution (an expert on bats, but I can’t recall his name) speak to an auditorium full of high school students about conservation many years ago. He then explained that those creatures that are all of those things are lumped together and referred to as “the charismatic megafauna” and are used by conservation organizations as poster animals like the Panda is for the World Wildlife Fund. I grew up at a time when the first two Pandas were loaned to the National Zoo, less than a dozen miles from my childhood home. They are terrific ambassador animals, no doubt; but getting people to accept that conserving natural ecosystems, no matter what the creatures look like, is paramount. We need to protect as much intact habitat as we possibly can, or we humans will suffer the consequences of our own doing. At least that seems clear to me. To this I say, tourism may be one possible solution to getting people to understand the value of biodiversity and profit from it. 

This year, the first place Devin put on the itinerary was a place called Lokobe Strict Nature Reserve. Viewed from above, while flying into the airport and from the sea while boating to “Lemur Island,” I could see that a substantial portion of Nosy Be has been set aside to let the forest remain wild. Even from a distance, it looks much different than most of the island of Nosy Be. It is true that a majority of the island has been transformed for commercial purposes like growing Ylang-ylang (a flower that is used to make Chanel No. 5 perfume), growing rice and other food crops in order to feed the people, as well as development of prime land for tourism and other uses. I wish that Lokobe was larger, but it is still an important refuge for many native animals and plants, both small and large; cute and grotesque. 

People complain on reviews available online, that the parts of Lokobe they saw were not as wild as they should be or that they are too touristy, but I suspect that we are only allowed to see a small part of the strict reserve. The park we see might not be ideal, but you must visit with a trained local guide (albeit one that may be a little too eager to please their guests) which helps to increase the employment in the region. Additionally, you have to be willing to travel by a traditional outrigger to get there, again adding another occupation, while keeping the park itself roadless. Without a “buy in” from the local people, the strict reserve wouldn’t stand a chance. It would quickly be converted to short term profitable pursuits that benefit only a few. Our group had fun and appreciated it for what it was, a place with precious and unique wildlife. It was far less zoo-like than the experience we had on “Lemur Island.” 

The photo above is of a Dumeril’s Boa (Acrantophis dumerili) in Lokobe being eyed by Lonny, one of the first timers to Madagascar who happens to be one of two veterinarians on the trip.

For a few more photos from our visit click here . Thanks again to Lonny Pace, who allowed me to use seven of his photos from Lokobe in the photo gallery.

And by the way, I am not against zoos. Not everyone can afford the time or money it takes to visit the remarkable animals of the planet in their natural habitat. Modern zoos, especially those accredited by The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), serve a valuable educational function and likely make people more inclined to want to conserve natural habitat. Not everyone is physically able to try and get out there and see it all either; zoos can help those who are not able or willing to travel to exotic places.

It is December 2024 as I write this post in Madagascar. When I retired from teaching in 2018 I was determined to travel around the world. The first destination was Madagascar which I wrote about then. The trip was exotic, as well as affordable and educational. Many of us from the group that took the first tour encouraged Devin Edmonds (now a PhD student at the University of Illinois in the process of writing his dissertation) and Michael Wallitis (a business owner with experience in running trips for small groups of intrepid travelers) to design a tour with the focus on a different region of Madagascar. Round two happened in 2022 (when the country reopened to tourism after the covid pandemic), this time focusing on Eastern Madagascar; with mostly the same people and the same strong emphasis on critters and photography of the rare and unusual. I wrote about that trip too. This is round three: Rainforest Adventure Tours Northern Madagascar. Including Devin, Michael and myself, there are seven veterans of all three trips and three first timers on this adventure. I will only mention the names of those three joining us for the first time. First, the youngest member of the group, Grace, is the daughter of one of our travel veterans. She is a graduate student at Florida Institute of Technology studying to get her Master’s in Conservation Technology. Second, Alyssa, a nurse from Wichita, who was excellent at spotting the little critters that most of us were interested in photographing. Last but not least, Lonny, a veterinarian who also lives most of the time in Kansas and is partners with Alyssa in a ten pin bowling alley business, Lonny is one of the best photographers on the trip. This is fortunate for me because I am struggling on this adventure with my new camera (which I bought a couple of weeks ago to fulfill my last New Year’s resolution of 2024) and he has promised to share a few of his best shots for me to use. Lonny is only five years younger than me. He is very bright, likes to think big and is no stranger to adventure travel. I am sure there won’t be a boring moment on this journey. All three new members were perfect additions to our group.

Madagascar is not an easy country to travel in because by some metrics it ranks among the top ten poorest countries in the world. While I won’t debate the validity of the metrics, for me Madagascar ranks very high in interesting wildlife and friendly people. My experience has been wonderful on the last two trips, and I am hoping for this adventure to be just as successful. No one can see it all in one trip. I may not see enough in three to declare I have been there and done that, with no intentions on coming back. Maybe a fourth trip to Madagascar will be in my future. I can say with certainty that it helps to have people who know the lay of the land and do their research in advance. This trip would not have a chance at success without Devin’s experience. This year he and Michael have added a local guide named Jacques, who will be another valuable asset to the tour.

This trip started at the end of the whale shark season in this part of the Indian Ocean. Our group met after flying to an island on the northwest coast of Madagascar called Nosy Be. Last April, I suggested we (at least those of us who were able to get there ahead of the scheduled itinerary) give swimming with whale sharks a try. Michael arranged the tour, along with a visit to a smaller island off the coast of Nosy Be called Nosy Ambariovato, more commonly known as Nosy Komba, which I understand in Malagasy means “Island of Lemurs.” It was an unexpected treat added after we arrived for the day following the majority of the group’s arrival. It included snorkeling at the small island and marine reserve called Nosy Tanikely. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this was included in the tour and I didn’t come prepared to take underwater photographs. But on the following day, as you can see from the photo above we were successful at seeing at least one whale shark (some in our group may have seen as many as three). It was a thrill! If the trip had ended there for me, it would have been a success. If you read my post from earlier this year where my granddaughter got to see two whale sharks at he the Georgia Aquarium, you know she wishes she was here to see these guys in the wild with Popops.

For more of the story and to see more photos from the days before Devin arrived click here.

This year I tasked Kim, my travel advisor at Extraordinary Journeys, to find a place that my wife, Debbie, and I had never been, and where it would be warm enough to swim and have clear water with healthy coral reefs where I could try to get some underwater photos. Kim, who specializes in African destinations, suggested Manta Resort on Pemba Island. It looked good online. My wife would be able to walk on idyllic white sand beaches and kayak over the reefs in a clear kayak designed to showcase the marine life in the electric blue water, as I did my thing. The food was supposed to be fresh and excellent (Kim jokingly advised me that we might get tired of eating lobster.) and we would both be able to enjoy the experience which included daily spa treatments. 

Pemba is an island in the Indian Ocean off the mainland of Tanzania. Pemba and the Island of Unguja are the two main islands that make up the archipelago which was formerly called the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The place has a long and complicated history which includes trade in exotic spices, ivory and slaves. Zanzibar was suggested as a place to go as an add-on to our first East African trip we took in 2016, before I started this website. (You can see photos from that trip by navigating to the Africa heading in the Menu above, but try to resist the temptation until you have finished with this post.) We didn’t do it then. I have been hoping to get there ever since. 

So after researching if available international flights were reasonably priced, and after conferring with my wife, we decided to go. I was a bit worried, because hurricanes can cause delays and that can be problematic on trips that have to start on schedule. So, I built in an extra day, just in case we had trouble. 

The weather was good on departure day and we boarded on time. The doors were shut, The captain came on and instead of saying we were pushing away from the gate, he gave us a bit of bad news. He announced that our flight would be delayed because of a problem with the water-holding tank for the toilets. He said an inexpensive, but hopefully readily available part that any hardware store should have, failed and caused the water to leak out of the plane and onto the ground. He asked us to be patient as he assured us it wasn’t a specialty part and that it could easily be swapped out by their mechanic. The only challenge was getting an American part delivered through a busy airport to a French owned airplane. After three hours sitting on the plane, the part was finally delivered. Two minutes later the tank was fixed (the pilot was right about that) and we were told, being filled again. We now had to wait for our chance to join the takeoff queue. We took off knowing that our connection flight in Paris would be tight. The captain said he would do his best to make up some of the lost time in the air. The overnight flight was good, but when we finally touched down, it was nearly time for the second flight to close its doors. We did not check any bags, so we were hopeful that the plane would get to the gate quickly and we would be able to rush to our connecting flight gate and still be able to board.  

Up until then, I had only missed a connection once before. On that occasion, I was leading a group of high school students to Costa Rica for a tropical rainforest experience. Engine trouble caused the pilot to shut down one of the two engines. He came on the intercom and told us that we would be making an emergency landing at the nearest airport, which happened to be Tampa, Florida. When we landed, there were emergency vehicles ready near the runway and there were news teams at the airport terminal who wanted to interview passengers about the experience as we deplaned. At least, this wasn’t going to be as bad. I was thinking that it was a good thing I had built in an extra day in Stone Town. Sure, it was looking unlikely we would make it to our connection. When we finally arrived at the gate, we grabbed our stuff out of the overhead storage and got off the airplane as fast as possible. We hurried through Charles de Gaul airport to our new departure gate, just in case the flight to Zanzibar had been delayed. As we approached the terminal, the plane was still at the gate, but there was no one checking passengers in anymore.. Moments later, the plane backed away from the passenger boarding bridge. We would have to be satisfied with a different arrival time for our international flight to Zanzibar.

This trip, which was planned to allow me to create new content for this website, for relaxation, and to lift the spirits of my wife, didn’t start off well. You, the reader, are probably not feeling too sorry for us, but it got worse.

We went to the Air France customer service desk only to find there wouldn’t be a direct flight for two days to Stone Town, and that would put us there after our domestic flight in a small plane to Pemba. I knew we had a good team at Extraordinary Journeys and they would make any arrangements possible on their end to get us to where we needed to go. That relieved some of the stress, but there was still disappointment. We would not have much time to explore the World Heritage site of Stone Town. I asked the Air France agent if there was any way to make it to Zanzibar earlier. She looked at other possibilities and found a flight to Dubai, where we could hop on a connecting flight with a partner airline to Zanzibar. That would allow us to make it to Stone Town for one night of our two night reservation and in plenty of time to make our Pemba flight. I asked if she was certain there would be sufficient time in Dubai to make it to our connection. She confirmed that there should be plenty of time. I looked to my wife to get her opinion. Though it meant more time in the air and transit through an unfamiliar airport, we both agreed we would prefer the Dubai option. She ticketed us for those two flights.

Again the flight boarded on time in Paris. It looked like we were going to depart on time. As we taxied out to the runway, the captain of this plane said that a passenger in the back of the plane was experiencing a medical emergency and we were going to have to return to the terminal. Someone else was having more trouble than us. We had been and now were being inconvenienced again, but they were in a life-and-death situation. It put things into perspective for us. Again we wound up waiting three hours on the plane for takeoff. We never saw the guy because the ambulance was able to drive directly to the airplane where they opened a rear door to rescue him. We were told that it was a good thing that we had not yet taken off. Medical personnel had relayed to the captain, who relayed to us, the young man probably would not have survived had the incident happened mid-flight. 

The flight to Dubai was longer than the transatlantic flight. The ordeal wound up putting us in danger of missing our next connection. Dubai was a difficult airport for us to navigate through, but we made it just in time for our 2:00 am departure time for our connecting flight to Stone Town. Five and a half hours later, we touched down and found warm weather and the sun breaking through the morning clouds. We arrived at the historic Tembo Hotel in time for an excellent breakfast and we still had time for our guided walking tour of Stone Town. It was a great history lesson. We stood on the spot of the shortest war recorded in history, the Anglo-Zanzibar War, which lasted between 38 and 45 minutes in 1896. We learned that Zanzibar merged with Tanganika to become an autonomous region of the country we now call Tanzania in the 1960’s.  We learned about cultural and architectural influences too. We ended our day at 6 Degrees South Grill and Wine Bar which was excellent. The trip to getting there wasn’t easy. Things were looking better, or so we thought. For photos from our short time in Stone Town click here. It was well worth the time. 

The next morning after another great breakfast, as I waited with our bags for our transfer driver in the lobby; my wife said she wanted to see the beautiful beach one more time. Sadly, she didn’t get to see it. Instead, as she slowed to negotiate a rather large step onto a tile floor, two young ladies who were unaware that she had slowed down, accidentally knocked her down. I didn’t see it happen. In fact, she didn’t tell me about it until we got to the airport and I noticed she seemed to be having trouble walking. Immediately after the fall, I guess she didn’t realize the extent of the injury to her hip. By the time we landed in Pemba she was really struggling. She then had to endure a 3 hour ride on bumpy roads to the Manta Resort. 

When we arrived at the resort we were welcomed and treated very well. The staff was amazing. The food was fresh and delicious at every meal. The room was large, well-decorated, modern, and comfortable. They made every attempt to make things as good as they could be for Debbie. The owner of the resort even had a craftsman from the village make a walking stick for her. It helped, but even after a week she wasn’t showing any signs of improvement. Though she loved the view from the room and from the tables at dinner, and enjoyed talking to all the people; she was never able to walk on the beach or swim or kayak in the ocean. She did get plenty of time to read and was able to make her way to daily spa treatments, which seemed to help her relax.

Debbie encouraged me to have fun. While I was there, I met some very interesting people. I respect what the resort is doing to provide good jobs to the local people and what they are doing to promote sustainable fishing. They are supporting and providing leadership in conservation  and protection of coral ecosystem. Coral reefs in all the places I have visited throughout the world are not doing great. Manta Resort is trying hard to make a difference. I was able to meet and talk to Angelique Brathwaite, a PhD scientist who is an expert in Coral Ecosystems and Arnaud Gotanegre, who is an expert in managing protected areas and natural resources in tropical zones. He is an enthusiastic champion of biodiversity in marine ecosystems. They are both key people in a group called Blue Alliance that works with local people and governments to establish Marine Protected Areas, MPA’s. There is much work to be done. Angelique is engaged in monitoring the coral in the area surrounding Manta Resort, as well as other tropical areas around the world.  She told me they have had some success in seeding areas with coral to reestablish live reefs in areas where it has been compromised by climate change and destructive fishing practices such as dynamite fishing. The work isn’t easy but they are trying to be a part of the solution. I applaud the work they are doing and hope someday my grandchildren can say things are improving.

Although I didn’t get any great photos of marine life, I got a few good photos of wildlife on Pemba, mostly right around the resort which you can view by clicking here. 

Understandably, Debbie was very apprehensive about the long flight home, but she was a trouper and to my surprise, when we returned home, she said she would like to go back to Manta Resort someday. I consider it high praise. Hopefully, she will recover quickly.

The seasons passed by too quickly. Spring and summer are my favorite seasons in Virginia. Hummingbirds were late to arrive this year, but as you can see from the photo above they did arrive. We only have one species that visits our feeder, the Ruby-throated hummingbird. It is the only one known to breed in the state. My wife is quite fond of the colorful little birds and she starts trying to attract them in early April, but this year there weren’t very many until the end of May. The one in the photo is a female. Only the males have the ruby iridescent throat patch

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows but we had a fair amount of both. My wife had plenty of opportunities to kayak, I grew and gave away plenty of tomatoes and we both experienced many exceptional sunsets and even a few sunrises. Of course the sun rose every morning, but I was seldom up to see it. We especially enjoyed entertaining guests and welcoming grandchildren. I played a lot of golf (though I am not good) and thanks to terrific teammates, I was part of the team that won the Men’s Opening Day tournament at the local club. 

For a few photos that sum up the seasons click here. There are other photos of hummingbirds as well as some other colorful photos.

In the last post I mentioned my son, Reed’s family and their road trip. I wanted to “crash” their party for a little bit, but didn’t want to spend too much time on the road with them. Besides there wasn’t enough room for his whole family and me in his truck. So, I flew to San Diego and stayed with a buddy named Daniel, whom I have known since kindergarten. He has a beautiful place where he lives with his lovely wife, Rita, on Coronado Island. The photo above is one I took of the beach near their house. They were very kind to host me for a few days and I was able to secure some good seats to a game at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. We watched them play the Washington Nationals. I am trying to get to all 30 of the Major League Baseball stadiums and before this trip, I had not yet checked San Diego off the list. It was number 16 for me. We had a good time and had perfect San Diego weather. The only sad thing was that my Nats lost to Daniel’s Padres. 

When we were kids growing up inside the beltway of the Washington Metropolitan area, Daniel’s house backed-up to the local Little League fields, and the local MLB team then was the Senators. They played in what came to be known as RFK Stadium and they were not a very good team. In fact, the saying about the city and the team at the time went something like, “Washington: first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League.” Even though they didn’t come close to winning any championships, I still have fond memories of those days. By the time I had children of my own the closest MLB team was the Baltimore Orioles. I took my oldest son to Baltimore to see the team play when he was young and playing Little League baseball. To this day, my son Reed is an O’s fan, and like me, he is trying to get to all the MLB stadiums. Some we have been to together.

The morning after the game, I rented a car and went for a scenic, solo drive on Interstate 8 through the coastal mountains of southern California, then through the desert close enough at some points that I could see the border wall with Mexico off in the distance to my right. At times the temperature outside exceeded 110 degrees. Fortunately the rental car air conditioning was working well. After a gas stop in El Centro, where a guy tried to sell me a few bunches of freshly dug onions out of the back of his pickup truck, I continued eastward; crossing the Colorado River at the border of California and Arizona. Due to agriculture and other uses by humans, the river only has about 10 percent of the water that flows into it by the time it reaches Yuma, Arizona. Traveling on towards Phoenix, but before getting to the city, I exited the interstate heading north; gaining elevation and rapidly leaving 100 degree temperatures behind. I had to make a pitstop in Prescott, Arizona to pick up supplies at my favorite store, Trader Joe’s. The stop was made essential because my cell phone was running out of charge and it was my only source of information to navigate to Sedona, Arizona. After I explained that I didn’t have the right cord to charge the phone in the rental car, the kind manager of the store charged it as I shopped. The detour took me through Prescott National Forest land and Coconino National Forest land onto winding, scenic roads with drastically different views than I had been seeing on the interstate. I should have allowed more time to stop for photos, but at this point I was eager to see the grandchildren and the place I had “won” for them for the week. I knew they were having fun, because my son had been supplying me with videos of their adventure. Nevertheless, I still wanted to get there before dark and before the grandkids were in bed. We were going to have only one day together in Sedona before driving to Phoenix to see Chase Field, another MLB park (number 17 for me); this time with grandkids to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play the Athletics. It was a dreadfully hot walk from our hotel to the stadium, but once we arrived we found the roof was closed and the place was comfortably air conditioned inside. It was a fun family event. 

The next morning they headed eastward on their long return drive home to Virginia. I headed back towards San Diego to spend a couple more nights with my friends. In typical try to see it all fashion, with little advanced research, I added a few stops along the way. I had flown over the Salton Sea on my way west. I had never seen it up close before and since childhood I wondered what the big blue spot on the map in the middle of the southern California desert would be like. I knew that Phoenix is a Capital City and I am also on a mission to get to all the State Capitols. Most of the buildings are worth the visit. (Put the word Capitol in the search box to see more of what I have written on the topic, if you are interested, after you finish reading this post.) I put those two destinations into my phone and followed Google’s directions. 

The first stop that morning for me was the State Capital grounds. It is unusual among the capitals that I have personally visited (Though I have visited all 50 states and been in most of the capital cities, I have only actually visited 37 Capitol buildings and some of those including Arizona were not open for me to go into and take photos.) in that the building, at least the photogenic one, is older than the State. The history of the state is an interesting one which regretfully I haven’t explored in any detail. The Old State Capitol Building is now the State Capitol Museum. Unfortunately it was not open at the time I was there. I am sure it would be worth a visit. It was first opened in 1901 as the Territorial Capitol Building and after Arizona became a state in 1912 the needs of the legislature grew so that additional buildings had to be added to the Capitol Complex. Most of the buildings are less impressive to look at than the original building. I tried to photograph enough to show that I saw it, though it would be untrue to say I saw it all. Phoenix is a sprawling city and the Capitol Complex is west of the modern downtown.

After my brief visit to the Capitol, I headed west following a different route than I used going to Sedona. I followed Interstate 10 until Google instructed me to exit to get to my next destination, the Salton Sea State Recreation Area. The drive there was hot, but there were places that seemed like they would have been inviting and interesting (especially the area at the border of California, where again the Colorado River forms the boundary), if it was cooler. After exiting the interstate I was on a stretch of road that had signs warning that I might lose cell service. I was the only one on the road for miles. The geology was interesting and again I was thankful that I was in a new car with good air conditioning. It was hot as I drove through the box canyons on the two lane road with subtle tones of gray and brown. Eventually, I came out of the desert colors into a valley of green agricultural land made so with irrigation. It was such a surprise. It was still hot, but instead of a rocky desert landscape, there were perfect rows of citrus trees and what I suspect were date palms and nut trees. It was interesting to say the least. I didn’t expect this in the eastern Coachella Valley.

Finally, I got to an expanse of blue that was the Salton Sea. I pulled into the recreation area; paid the park entrance fee and asked the attendant what I should see. He recommended starting with the visitor center and pointed me in the right direction. The visitors center didn’t look like much and the parking lot was completely empty. It turned out to be great advice. I spent over an hour with an enthusiastic California State Park employee who sincerely seemed happy to see me and was able to answer all my curious and challenging questions with expertise. It was in a comfortable air conditioned room with good exhibits. He was my kind of guy. I gave him my name and this website address and told him it would be a while before I had time to finish the story, but I hoped he would see what I had to say and take a look at my photos. My final question for him before I left the center was– what route should I take to get back to Coronado? It was too hot outside to really enjoy myself in the intense sun. I did take a few photos around the visitors center, before taking his advice to go to the mountain town of Julian. The quaint town was at altitude and therefore much cooler. The drive was pretty and I had an opportunity to buy a delicious pie to bring back to my friends in Coronado.

Thank you to Rita and Daniel for showing me a great time. Coronado is lovely! I really enjoyed my time catching up and seeing the sites of San Diego and the beach. Watching Daniel surfing with his nephew was pretty special too!

To view some photos from the trip click here.