Day Eleven

We wake up super early at around 6 in the morning. We take a car to the Ambanja docks so we could take a boat to the island of Nosy Be. When we arrived at the Ambanja docks, wait for the boat to take us to the island. When the boat arrives, we pay for our ticket and get on the boat. About 10 minutes later when all the things were checked and ready to leave for the island, we started our relaxing boat ride to Nosy Be. There was a nice breeze, the scenery was lovely, and the ride was peaceful. It was great to just sit down and absorb our surroundings. We arrive at the islands of Nosy Komba and saw black lemurs. After that we went to the island of Nosy Tanikely. There we went snorkeling. It was amazing; the underwater life was magnificent and gorgeous. The water was a pure, bright blue. We went to a nice barbeque restaurant and that had fantastic barbeque food. We walked along the beach to the Hotel Vanille and checked in for a night. We had dinner at the hotel and relaxed on the balcony facing the water.

Day Nine and Ten

This is a picture that I also took of the Tsingy pinnacles.

We wake up extremely early for our early departure to Ankarana. We eat a fast breakfast and take a local bus to Ankarana since it is only about one hour drive away. The bus ride was very bumpy from the roads but it was a great ride because the view of the beach was magnificent. When we arrived at Ankarana about an hour later, we got off the bus and went to look at limestone pinnacles, summits, called “Tsingy”. We walked around and looked at the Tsingy. It was amazing, interesting, and very remarkable. We took many pictures of the Tsingy. After we visited caves and saw a crown lemur in the forest. They were very cute and energetic. They are called the crown lemur because on top of their heads they have a black patch of fur that looks like they have a crown on. They stay up in the trees and jump from branch to branch. They have long brown tails that help keep their balance and big hind legs for helping them push off the branches. We set up camp for the night and sleep in sleeping bags. It rained a little that night, but in the morning the sun was up and shining. At about 1 P.M., we went to a local school and visited the classrooms and red to the children. After we went to the Hotel Baobab, checked in for a day and went to eat dinner at a restaurant nearby. When we finished our dinner, we still had a couple hours of daylight, so we walked around and when the sun was almost out, we went back to the hotel to get ready for sleep.

Day Seven and Eight

This is a picture I took of the beautiful scenery of Diego-Suarez.
Megan, Anna and I wake up at around 7 in the morning to get ready for breakfast before our flight to Diego. Our flight to Diego is at 11 so we had to eat early so we could make it on time. We went to a restaurant at the Hotel Colbert and after we took a taxi to the airport. We went through customs and got on the plane. The plane ride was about four hours from Antananarivo to Diego because Antananarivo is in the middle of the island and Diego-Suarez is at the north point of the island. When we arrived to Diego and got off the plane, the view of the beach was breath-taking. We got on a bus that took us to Montagne Francais and the Montagne D’Ambre National Park. They are beautiful parks of nature. At the Montagne Francais, one can see gorgeous forests and at the Montagne D’Ambre National Park, one can see stunning flowers. Those two parks are the must-see places in Madagascar. After the parks, we visit one of the hospitals near buy. At around 7 P.M., we head toward the Kings Lodge for dinner and check-in for a night stay.

Day Six

This is the beautiful lambo cloth we bought. It was pretty expensive but worth every penny. It is extremely soft and skillfully woven.

We wake up at around 9 in the morning, have breakfast at the Relais du Masoala, and start on our visit to the marketplace of Maroantsetra. The marketplace is famous for their straw hats and bags, and the beautiful, colorful lamba cloths. The marketplace was extremely crowded with people shopping. There was lots of things there including food, clothing, and cultural things. We buy a couple souvenirs and browse around the marketplace, looking at unique, gorgeous keepsakes. After at about 12, we take a taxi to go back to the airport for a flight to Tana or Antananarivo, the capital. After our three hour plane ride from Maroantsetra to Antananarivo, we took a taxi back to the Hotel Colbert. We checked in for a one night stay, went up to our room and freshened up and got ready for our dinner at the famous Ville Vanille. The Ville Vanille is a local restaurant at Antananarivo that is great for tourists. They serve a mixed platter of traditional dishes, so that people could taste a little bit of everything. The food was amazing and different. The entertainment there was also very nice. There were a group of musicians that played string instruments and sang traditional Malagasy singing. I highly recommend going to the Ville Vanille if you are ever in Antananarivo, Madagascar. After a great night dinner, we peacefully and walked around the city and went into local stores to buy more souvenirs. We walked back to our hotel and relaxed from another full day of touring.

Day Four and Five

We wake up at 8 in the morning to catch our flight to Maroantsetra at 2 P.M. and be able to stop by a place in Tamatave. We have breakfast, check out of the Hotel Neptune, and get into a car to go to the Parc Ivoloina. Pac Ivoloina is a unique animal rehabilitation center and zoo. They help endangered, hurt animals get healthy and release them back into the wild. If the animals cannot be released into the wild for some reason, they keep them in their zoo and take care of them. At about 12 P.M., we leave the Pac Ivoloina and drive to the airport where we can catch our flight to Maroantsetra. We go through customs and everything and get ready to go to Maroantsetra. On the plane, we catch up on some sleep and by the time we wake up, we are just about to arrive to Maroantsetra (about a 2 hour flight). We get off the flight, go through customs again, and go to the Masoala Peninsula. The Masoala Peninsula is a great rain forest. There are a lot of naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts there. When we get there, we get to go on an afternoon river trip through the private reserve of Androfita, which was very relaxing and fascinating. We check in for two nights at the Relais du Masoala. It is beautiful there because the hotel overlooks the Bay of Antongil. The next day after breakfast, we get a full day trip to the tiny island of Mangabe. Nosy Mangabe is a natural reserve and sanctuary to the world’s rarest lemur, the Aye Aye. After the trip to Mangabe, we go back to the hotel, eat dinner, and go to sleep.

Day Two and Three

<-- This is a cuckoo roller. It can be found in the Perinet Reserve.

Anna, Megan, and I wake up at 7 in the morning to be ready to get a car ride from the Hotel Colbert to the reserve of Perinet. There Perinet reserve is located in the Eastern part of Madagascar. It is about 145 kilometers from Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital. Perinet is a rain forest that tourist can go to, to see the wildlife of Madagascar including many different kinds of birds like the blue coua, red-fronted coua, blue vanga, red-tailed vanga, velvet asity, sunbird asity, brown mesite, and the cuckoo roller. There are also many types of animals at the reserve, but the main animal that can only be found in Madagascar is the lemurs. There are many types of lemurs including the brown lemur, gray bamboo lemur, eastern woolly lemur, brown mouse lemur, greater dwarf lemur, streaked tenrec lemur, black-and-white ruffed lemur (which usually hides), and the famous Indri. The Indri is the largest kind of lemur and can be seen easily at the reserve. After visiting the reserve, we take another stop to the La Mandraka Nature Farm. La Mandraka Nature Farm is another place to view wildlife. We did not stay there very long because we left the Perinet reserve later than was planned and by the time we got to La Mandraka Nature Farm, we could only spend a few hours before they had to close. After, we went to the Vakona Forest Lodge and checked in for the night so that we could get an early start in the morning and explore the rest of the area. We ate dinner at the Vakona Forest Lodge. It was amazing. After dinner, we went to sleep in our room to get a fresh start the next day. We wake up early the next day, have breakfast at the Vakona Forest Lodge and get ready to go back to the Perinet Reserve to see the Indri Indris and to hear their haunting “singing” call. They were fascinating. We spent a couple hours there and when it was about 1 P.M., we drove to Tamatave (also known as Toamasina), one of the main seaports in Madagascar. We check into Hotel Neptune and have dinner there and stay the night.

Day One

Madagascar is located on the southeastern part of Africa.

Anna, Megan, and I wake up at 3 A.M. to get ready with last minute packing and preparations for our trip. We get our three suit cases, one in pink for Anna, one lime green for Megan, and one red for mine, and weigh them on the scale to make sure that they are all under50 pounds. After, we call the taxi number to get a taxi to drive us to the airport with our luggage. We put the luggage in the taxi with our other carry-on bags and the taxi driver drives to the airport and drops us off. We arrived at the airport by 4 A.M. and unload the luggage and get everything checked in. We go through customs and everything and finally get settled in on our plane. At exactly 6 A.M. the plane takes off and we’re on our way to Madagascar! We arrived at Antananarivo, Madagascar at 3 P.M. We go through customs again and get our bags and meet the Cortez representative. There is a van that takes us to the hotel and we arrive at Hotel Colbert. We check into the Hotel and get freshened up in our room. About two hours later, the tour visits the Tsimbazaza Zoo and Cultural Museum. At the zoo, there are exotic birds, lemurs, and plants. We go back to the Hotel Colbert at around 9 at night for dinner. After dinner, we go back to our room and have a good night sleep for our adventures the next day.