Twenty Twenty-Five

  July - Christchurch and The Arctic

  July 2 - Christchurch. After a really nice couple of days with Jill and Lesley on beautiful Miami Beach on the Gold Coast I had a much delayed connection to Christchurch, arriving home at 3am. I was so, so glad to have my new villa, as it would have been an uncomfortable arrival to the campervan.

  Use these links for the Asian Odyssey triplog and slideshow - and to see a fun little video of the journey from Kyoto to home created by the Find Penguins app (which I recommend) use this link.

  July 26 - Longyearbyen. I had 2 weeks at home catching up with a few people before heading off to Longyearbyen, Svalbard for my Arctic guiding contract. This entailed 48+ hours door-to-door, of which 29+ hours in a little metal tube including 17+ hours on a single hop (the 9th longest commercial flight - Auckland -> Doha). the only bonus was a long stopover in Oslo with a day room at a nice hotel at the airport.

  As ever, the expedition team had some old faces, and some new ones, which quickly gelled and got to work. The first voyage was a charter by a German tramping group. The language issue, combined with a bug acquired on the way, had me somewhat left out and under-energized. My birthday happened to be on the voyage BBQ/dance night - which was fun, but, overall, the voyage was unlucky with wildlife (no bears and not much else), thus quite "pedestrian".

  Only a very few images from this period: Voyage 1: Lillihookbreen, trappers cabin, a vigilant guard (photo credit: guest, Marc), walrus ashore

         

         

  August - The Arctic and the USA

   August 2 - Longyearbyen. On another changeover day after a very short Voyage 2 - only 5 full days to circumnavigate Spitsbergen. This was a Chinese charter, as is Voyage 3 which will have the same itinerary. Happily, Voyage 2 was very full of wildlife. The language barrier is always an impediment, but, with the help of our Mandarin speaking guides, we manage to give the PAX a good experience.

  Some scenes from Voyage 2: Morning in the sea ice at 81 North, Brunnich's Guillemot at Alkefjellet, the always amazing Zodiac cruise at Alkefjellet, Polar Bear (badly backlit) hassling a group of Walrus, on the water with Walrus, sky/cloud/sea ripples, the whitest Arctic Fox I have ever seen, Barnacle Geese, Svalbard Reindeer, Reindeer fur shed on the tundra, Zodiac cruise along the glacier front, Arctic Skua

         

    

    

         
    
         

         

         

  Use these links for the Voyage 2 slideshow and triplog

  August 9 - Lisbon. Where I am kicking myself and spending a second night after having missed my flight to Boston. Bugger. I blame myself - but also Lisbon airport. I arrived at my posted gate 1 hour early and was sitting in the gate lounge watching it fill, and being a bit distracted. 15 minutes before flight time I got up to see why were were delayed, only to find that the gate had changed without any announcements. Not even the usual call to a late passenger to say that the flight was waiting for them. Apparently their policy is no announcements. Who knew. So, an expensive (1200 Euro) lesson, and my perfect record for never missing a flight broken.
  Anyway, Voyage 3 was a Chinese charter with the same itinerary - this time with 140 high school students and their 30 minders. Their English was good, as was their enthusiasm, once you got through the shyness, so it was a fun trip.

   Some scenes from Voyage 3: My cabin-mate Jacob hard at work; Walrus; Skyscape

         

    
    
   August 25 - Las Vegas. I had a wonderful stay in New England visiting with family and friends, including a trip to Millbrook for Ricketts mates and a dinner with a few Men Of Xavier. The visits continued on the West Coast until I was diverted to Las Vegas by Kathy's illness. I was able to get a good deal on Cirque du Soleil Mystere, The Sphere, and accommodation so enjoyed the diversion.

  Some scenes from this period:  Millbrook lunch; Brothers walk; Men of Xavier; Manhattan Beach; Ricketts lounge and stairs to LD alley; Exterior light show at The Sphere
    
         
    
         
    
         

    

  For a few clips from the film shown inside The Sphere use this link Postcard from Earth.

September - The USA, Madagascar, New Zealand

  September 23 - Dubal - The remainder of my Ricketts tour of Southern and Northern California was delightful. I caught up with so many old friends and was hosted generously by all - with a special mention to Candy and John.

  Some scenes from this period: Backyard gathering; My driverless Waymo taxi, a walk in the redwoods, a visit to the mission and a the #7 taco at Taqueria Super Rica in Santa Barbara, my car dashboard at the return (I was not driverless but had good audiobooks).

         

         

         

  My connection to Madagascar via Paris and Addis Ababa went mostly smoothly. I was met at the Antananarivo airport by the tour operator (use this link for my tour) and transported to my hotel. Right from the start the congestion and activity of "Tana" told me that I was in the third-world. There would be a period of adjustment. At dinner I met Jan, and were were briefed, learning that we would be together for 2 days, then go our own ways. So, for the most part, this would be a solo tour for me. Days 2 and 3 were spent in the vicinity of Andasibe visiting national and private parks in pursuit of wildlife. This was a huge success. We were able to have close, controlled, encounters with several lemur and chameleon species in the private parks, and more distant, wild, encounters in the national parks. The private parks are not quite zoos - especially for lemurs. They house and protect animals - sometime ex-pets - and foster captive breeding. The lemurs roam free, but are very accustomed to humans, and fed when needed. The chameleons are in big open cages (ala aviaries) where they can roam and breed. They are captured from the wild, and the eggs returned to the wild. The other lizard and amphibian species are, unfortunately, in smaller cages. So, feeling sorry for the frogs and geckos, I found the lemur and chameleon encounters wonderful, and the cost to the individual animals acceptable. Not everyone would agree. We had a great guide (Claudia) for the national park walks and saw several lemur and other species in the wild. We saw and heard the largest lemur - Indri - but I was unable to record their song - which can be found here.

  Some scenes from this period: Coquerel's sifaka x 4 (sifaka are a group of lemurs named for their alarm call) plus a video of the young testing his jumps; deal
d leaf chameleon, panther chameleon turning color to match the bricks, well camouflaged gecko, panther chameleon, Parson's chameleon eye? to eye, Madagascar giant chameleon, Parson's chameleon x 3, video of Madagascar giant chameleon being fed by the guide - in normal speed and slow motion (slo-mo photo credit Jan Cobb); Diademed sifaka x 3; Red duffed lemur; Indri; Black and white ruffed lemur x 3, brown lemur; bamboo lemur; mouse lemur (photo credit Jan Cobb

         
    
         
    
    

         

           
    
         
    
         
    
    

          
    
         
    
         

         

         

  It was then was back to Tana to farewell Jan, and spend the next 3 days in the central highlands. These days were mostly travel days with 6+/- hours in the car, and 2+/- hours seeing local sights. Honestly, none of the sights were "Madagascar Highlights", so the activity of these days was seeing the day-to-day life of the people of the cities, towns and countryside of this region. My impression of these people is that they deserve my admiration. Everywhere there was activity with people working - tending shops, fields, zebu(cattle) and more - and transporting goods - by foot, bicycle, zebu cart, motorbike and more. They were nearly always fit, well groomed, well dressed, and getting on with life in difficult circumstances. Everyone was doing what they could to make their own way in the world. Their world, the central highlands, as I visited it in the dry season, was scorched and sometimes torched. A land of tended fields where water was available, and brick making where it was limited - both very labor intensive. Every village was a street lined with shops/stalls and throngs of people doing what was needed. Even in the countryside, we would often pass groups on foot, doing what was needed. When we stopped at a "highlight" there were people selling trinkets, which I resisted. Only after it was clear that I was not buying, did they appeal for money.

  Some scenes from this period: A video of scenes from the National Route 1 on the way out of Tana; brick-making and rice tending; Nene (my driver) on a local "geyser (a bubbling spring of carbonated water), a butcher in a local market, a young woman with a load of papaya on her head (in all my travels there were loads on heads everywhere, but tough to capture in pixels - this woman was kind enough to stop and allow me to take her photo (for a small reward), a sweet, sweet potato vendor; Lake Tritriva (a lovely secluded lake in a volcanic crater - justifiably popular with young tourists), the view from the lake rim over the highlands.

    
    
         

         
    
         

     

     

  The next 2 days of the tour were a cruise down the Tsiribihina River (I was told that the name means "No Swimming" in Malagasy based on the presence of many crocodiles in the past). I was joined by Faliana and her son from the tour company, with a crew of 4 plus a guide. The boat was set up with a table/benches on the lower deck with an awning and chaise lounges above. I spent all the time, except at meals, on the upper deck. This was the perfect break after few days of fairly rough traveling. We chug-chug-chuged along with the breeze providing a pleasant temperature. The guide, Ernest, was very knowledgeable with good English. The 4 crew members (3 plus cook) seemed to be always having fun and laughing. The food was quite good, and the tents/bedding provided for our overnight stops were very comfortable. The highlight of the first day was a stop to walk a short distance up a side canyon to a waterfall - a beautiful waterfall with a troop of lemurs to greet us. The water was clear and warm. The pool at the base of the falls was not deep, so you could paddle right up to the falls, or go behind them. This was a truly magical spot - and we got clean and refreshed as a bonus. On both days there was a good variety of river life on display, crocs, birds (herons, egrets, kingfishers, bee eaters, parrots, and more - even an owl), a steady stream of boats and canoes, and always locals lining the banks, working, doing laundry, bathing, or whatever. The river itself changed character along the way - sometimes in a narrow gorge and sometimes so shallow in the flat areas that the boys needed to get out and push. On day 2 we called into a couple of frenetic riverside trading hubs - where the locals congregate to buy and sell anything. These were interesting, but I was glad to be back on the river. That evening, we were close enough to a village to attract a small group of locals to come to the campfire and sing and dance for us (for a small tip). All very amateur, and really fun.

  Some scenes from this period: Our craft  (The African Queen she is not - but a great ride), river paddler in the ubiquitous dugout pirogue, our cook with a fresh catch of prawns (delicious for dinner - photo credit Faliana), croc, arrival at the waterfall (note welcoming brown lemur), waterfall (photo does not do it justice), bathing pool near the falls, magnoes along the river bank, laundry with self powered agitation, market (some women use sandalwood to lighten their skin (go figure)), baby baobab trees (note the egrets), last morning sunrise

         
    
         
    
         
    
         
    
         
    
         

  The 3 nights after leaving the river were spent a lovely hotel to the north in the Bekopaka region to allow visits to the strange limestone formations known as Tsingy. Immediately, the calm of the river was a thing of the past and the adventure of Madagascar's roads began anew. Previously they had mostly been thin strips of pavement with many, many potholes and gaps to be dodged. Here the "road" was a rutted, rough, narrow red dirt track. The only place I have seen roads nearly this rough was in the Australian outback. We bounced and rattled our way forward - making progress at the rate of 25 kilometers (15 miles) per hour - hanging on all the way. At first it was sort of fun - a bit of a wild ride. But after about 20 hours over several days I was glad to see the pavement again in Morondava. Happily the hotel was lovely - a true oasis. I'll add here that the quality of my accommodation has exceeded my expectations. Every one has been clean, comfortable and welcoming, and a couple have been quite luxurious. Likewise, the quality of the meals has been very good, whether in the hotel or in a stop off the road. The menus are always in French and the food prepared to a high standard using fresh ingredients. All this is rather a surprise for one of the poorest countries in the world. The roads are diabolical, but the rest of the traveling logistics are first rate.
  So, back to the Tsingy. There are 2 - large and small. They are weirdly eroded limestone outcrops - weathered into cliffs, canyons and very pointy spires. Tsingy translates to "walk on tiptoes", but I can't imagine trying to cross them barefoot. The locals have engineered routes over, under, around and through the maze. At the Big Tsingy you are issued a climbing harness and attach to cables in the walls in places for safely. Little Tsingy is more of a series of tight squeezes in a labyrinth. Both a quite unique experiences, and both start/end with forest walks for some lemur spotting.
  A full days drive south including 2 ferry rides, and lots of hanging on, brought us the Kiringy Natural Reserve. Here a night and morning walk revealed a few new lemur species, and included my best viewing of their remarkable athleticism - jumping from branch to branch to search for ripe fruits. Sometime they strung together 5 or 6 jumps with the longest being well over 5 meters. Great fun to watch.
  The final attraction of the tour was Baobab Alley - just north of Morondava. Here a group of largish tress happens to be clustered along the "road" - making a famous photo op. All along this stretch of "road" we had seen clusters/groves/forests of Baobabs, and walked amongst them in Kiringy.

  Some scenes from this period: The "road" (trust me, it was worse than it looks); Little Tsingy: tight squeeze, looking up; Big Tsingy: landscape, climbing to the top, landscape, sifaka; Ferry ride heading south (not just cars along for the ride); Kirindy forest: chameleon, red fronted brown lemur (I wanted to show the tail this time); Baobab forest along the road south; Baobab Alley: In daylight (note size of car for scale), sunset x 2, locals posing with trunk; Morondava: View of the beach from the lunchtime cafe; Avocado salad for lunch (and my only Three Horses Beer (Madagascar's favorite but not mine)); Room 15 at my Morondava hotel (note swimming pool reflection);
    
         
    
         
    
    
    
         

         
    
    
    
         
    
    
    
         
    
         
    
  My tour ended in Morondava where we hit pavement again, and I flew back to Tana. If you liked the traffic scene of leaving Tana you might like this one of the tuk tuks and tricycle rickshaws of Entering Morondava. Back in Tana, I had a morning city tour that included the Queen's Palace.

  Some scenes from this period: View from the flight of the central highlands; The Queen's Palace: the palace, her throne, view of Antananarivo from the palace hill (the highest point in town); Night view from my guesthouse balcony
    
         
    
         
    
   

  So, what to say about my Madgascar experience? Sitting here in the Dubai Airport only 24 hours after leaving, surrounded by gleaming glass and metal amid the luxury and duty free shops, may not give true perspective. I had booked the tour hoping to see The Nature of Madagascar - meaning the unique flora and fauna of this "biodiversity hotspot". I certainly got that with visits to nature reserves and national parks on many days. But, what I really got was a tour to The Nature of Madagascar - meaning the way that life goes on here - at least in the narrow slice of central Madagascar that I visited. I mentioned before that I was struck by the number of people on the go everywhere. As soon as you left the park, or the hotel room, you were in a sea of people all going about their business. Despite being "one of the poorest countries on earth", I saw no sign of malnutrition - even in the rural villages with thatched roofed timber and mud houses. Everywhere people were clean, and mostly stylishly dressed and groomed. The Malagasy people with whom I interacted were kind, friendly and shy - even through the language barrier (I have never been more happy for my schoolboy French). The guides were skilled and very knowledgeable. I learned lots. My drivers were brilliant on the roads, and solicitous of my comfort. When I saw groups of locals relaxing they were always chatting and laughing. Unfortunately for them they are very limited in their ability to make more of their lives. Criticism of the government (well justified) was a constant theme, as was the lack of education and opportunity. The countryside is seldom beautiful. This is a rugged land cleared of the previous forest, and often recently burned, or burning, to promote grass growth when the rain come is November or so. The wild places were never jungles, but rather, normally, patches of second growth woodlands. There is much more that could, and has, been said about the impact of humans on Madagascar - I leave that for you to research if you have interest.
  Traveling in Madagascar is not a relaxing holiday. It is, in some ways, a tough slog. But, to me, the respite of the meals and accommodations, the brief but wonderful wildlife experiences, and the immersion of this unique way of life, made it all worthwhile.

  The FindPenguins video of this journey isn't so appealing - too many stops with not enough detail on each - but it is here NorthernSummer2025FindPenguins.

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