We have only been in Madagascar for two weeks, and most of that in national parks, so we can hardly give a complete summary. And since our transport and accommodation was arranged for us, we can’t comment on price. Here’s what we can say… Accommodation There are decent hotels in all the main cities and » » »
Archive for September, 2010
30 September 2010
Little monsters
Although the lemurs have the monopoly on cute and fuzzy, Madagascar is home to bundles of other fascinating little monsters. Related Images:
30 September 2010
Thoughtful in Tana
Madagascar is over. Two weeks is definitely not enough time to explore this nation, not even to explore the best wildlife sites. I’ve seen just enough of the people and places of the island in passing that I’d like to come back for more than just lemurs, though. There is so much here that is » » »
Tags: reflecting, travelling
29 September 2010
Safari Adventure
Itinerary updates, South Africa, Video
Here is a map of our journey around South Africa (thanks to Jane for the idea!). We were there for 7 weeks and drove ourselves in a hired VW Polo 1.4, stayed in more than 20 guest houses, self-catering places and hotels, and saw loads of wildlife. And just for fun, here’s “the next David » » »
28 September 2010
Guiding light
Written by Maureen After two weeks in Madagascar looking for wildlife, I am filled with respect for the local guides. In Ankarafantsika, there was Jacqui, a mellow guy who spoke softly and walked quietly. He showed us many birds, including the impressive Madagascar fishing eagle and the cutely named buttonquail. In Matadia, we were guided » » »
27 September 2010
Malagasy scenes
We spent all our time in national parks, so most of these pictures were taken on the looong drives in between. PS – we’re flying out tomorrow. No-one needed their pipe carrying, but everyone was friendly and the Malagasy locals we met seemed delighted (and sadly, surprised) that we took the trouble to learn a » » »
27 September 2010
Shoft and furry
Your second installment of cute. It amazes me that the Theory of Evolution can get away with this kind of silly hijinks. Related Images:
27 September 2010
Intruding
Hilary Bradt in her guidebook talks of asking their guide to stop at a local Malagasy school so they could go in and visit the kids. Predictably everyone had a wonderful experience, some of the kids having never interacted with white folks before. It’s something I would never do, and have been pondering a lot. » » »
19 September 2010
Fuzzy-wuzzy!
D’ya like fuzzy-wuzzy? Want some, huh? Well I got yer fuzzy-wuzzy right here, yessiree… Related Images:
19 September 2010
Madagascar
We saw the most awesome thing today. Snake-eating ants. Seriously. We saw a big deep hole with ants going in and out. A snake goes into the hole looking for food, but the ants blind it then kill it and devour it! We saw snakeskin scattered around the hole like discarded candy wrappers. Also rat » » »
19 September 2010
Birds of SA
Birds are important. They give us something to look at when the darned otters aren’t showing. Some are colourful, some have character, here’s a selection… Related Images:
14 September 2010
South Africa nutshell
South Africa is a stunning country for wildlife and scenery. As though there weren’t enough guidebooks already, here’s our brief lowdown on the country for travellers. For prices below, the exchange rate was about R10 to £1 when we visited. Accommodation You can get a good, comfortable, spacious room in a B&B or guesthouse for » » »
14 September 2010
Budget Update South Africa
Written by Maureen, financial director of M&M Ltd I’m happy to report that, after 50 days in South Africa, we are running at £100 under budget. In fact, we could have spent less, but our budget of £100 a day seems to be spot-on for our style of travel. Car and petrol cost us approx » » »
Tags: budget
14 September 2010
Otter book club
Written by Maureen Baedeker’s South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland We are not very impressed with this guidebook. It focuses on a few well-known tourist destinations and is not really geared for independent travellers, especially those like us who enjoy exploring beyond the Top 20 sights. The book lists places alphabetically, rather than by area, which » » »
Tags: books
12 September 2010
Antelopes
Everyone rushes past them in search of lions and cheetahs, but there are many kinds of antelope and there is something interesting to know about all most of them. We saw 21 species, so here are the best pics. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
12 September 2010
Great Escarpment
The Great Escarpment is pretty bloody amazing. You’re driving across the vast flat expanse of the low veldt and there is just this almighty wall of mountainous golden cliffs stretching from horizon to horizon, broken only by the Blyde River canyon which emerges from it. Anyone who visits the Kruger and doesn’t take a day » » »
12 September 2010
Unhelpful
Useless people make angrybird angry! Along with all the great memories of South Africa will be the abiding memory of the uselessness of helpful people. By this I mean people we met whose job is meant to be serving and helping the public; receptionists, tourist info people, etc. A couple of examples: We checked into » » »
11 September 2010
Mugging in the Kruger
The owl and the hamerkop went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat The owl mugged the hamerkop to steal his frogs And stuffed them down his throat We didn’t see lions lunching on zebras, but we did see the largest owl in Africa (a superb predator who even eats other owls) reduced to mugging » » »
Tags: wildlife
11 September 2010
Kruger – the Big Five
We’re interested in all wildlife (especially otters!) but “The Big Five” is a cliche everyone visiting the Kruger talks about, so this gallery focusses on them and their supporting cast. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
11 September 2010
Big game hunting
In the Kruger, no-one can hear you blog. Not strictly true, as a couple of the camps now have internet cafes, but we didn’t stay there. So that’s why we’ve been quiet. Expect a flurry of blog posts; this one is about the Kruger. We’ve been in three different camps over five days, and seen » » »
3 September 2010
Dragon mountains
We’ve been hiking in the Drakensberg. It’s a stunning landscape! Related Images:
1 September 2010
Dragon’s teeth
Bloody roadworks. They’re doing a lot of work on the roads in South Africa right now, which is great (though personally I find the potholes fun and challenging at 80mph) but they’ve got an annoying habit of working on 5km of road at a time, which means the traffic lights for the roadworks are typically » » »
1 September 2010
Whale of a time
Written by Maureen Firstly, apologies to everyone who tried to watch the previous video. Please try again – it should work now. Now back to the post… Hermanus is considered to be one of the best shore-based whale-watching spots in the world, and we were there at the Southern Right time (sorry!). Around August and » » »