Lemur Land!!!

After a good nights sleep and another wonderful breakfast we organized a driver for the day and headed off to a place called Lemur Land.

Almost as soon as we arrived and got out of the car we saw our first Chameleon, a huge brightly colored one in a tree.

I never cease to be amazed by them, the way they move, change color and the way their eyes move independently, that is incredible!.  We were met by a guide and he explained we would first tour the Ylang Ylang distillery and then visit Lemur Land. Ylang Ylang oil is distilled from small flowers picked from the trees and then loaded into a giant still, steam is then introduced to the still and the oil is carried with the steam into the condenser. The resulting oil and water then separate and the oil is skimmed off and bottled for sale.

Inside the Distillery.

There was also a display of old machinery from the Distilleries past, that gave us an insight into days gone bye before electricity.

Old Steam engines that were once used to run the distillery.

Once we had finished in the Distillery we moved on to the gift shop for a welcome drink of Guava juice before proceeding over a small wooden bridge into Lemur Land. Once in Lemur Land we were greeted by a massive 300kg Tortoise that roams the grounds with a slightly smaller companion. There were small displays of the native reptiles and Chameleons on every second tree. We saw many different species of Lemur as we moved through the different habitats set up specifically for each different type of lemur. We were fortunate to be able to interact with them all and it struck me how gentle they were, I had expected behavior somewhat similar to monkeys but they were totally different.

Greg feeding a Lemur.

After spending hours in the jungle of Lemur Land we made our way back to the gift shop to buy some souvenirs before leaving and driving through the old port side area of Hell-Ville, old wrecks stuck in the mud littered the port and still sailing wrecks floated among the hulks. We found it hard to believe that these vessels still floated let alone took on cargo and sailed between the mainland and the islands.

We then wound our way through the crowded streets before joining the road back to the Villa on the opposite side of the island. We spent the remainder of the day relaxed in the shade with a couple of drinks, taking the occasional swim to keep cool.

Our first day in Nosy Be and we wind up adrift at sea.

We woke early and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of tropical fruit and toast, fresh fruit juice and coffee. There was not a better way to start the day than eating breakfast while watching the the waves lap the sandy beach, thinking of what the day may hold. We enjoyed watching the morning procession of activity on the beach, women wandering the length of the beach with huge bowls of fruit balanced on their heads selling the fresh produce along the way, children picking up bits of drift wood and anything that may be of use and men launching their small fishing Dhows and proceeding to sea for a days work. The daily rituals of life that we in a modern society don't see anymore.

Early morning view of the bay.

One of the many women selling fresh fruit on the beach every morning.

After breakfast we sorted out our gear and organized for some weights to be delivered to the villa, we also organized a boat for the afternoon. We needed to get out and dive so we could sort out any problems with our gear and get our weights correct for the coming days.
I also took a trip into Hell-Ville to get some cash as we were unable to get any from the money changer at the airports in Johannesburg or Antananarivo. We then found none of the money changers would exchange South African Rand or Australian dollars both of which I had plenty, this would turn out to be a problem that plagued us for the rest of the trip. After numerous attempts we found an ATM that worked and I was able to  use a prepaid Mastercard to withdraw $800,000 mga yes that's right the exchange rate was in the vicinity of 2500/1. If you plan to travel to Madagascar try to bring either Euro or US$ as they are about the only currencies they will exchange.

The result of the trip to the ATM, a huge wad of cash and a headache!

We had managed to arrange a boat for the afternoon, and planned on visiting a reef some 20km offshore that held small Dogtooth tuna and a wide variety of reef fish. This would serve as a warm up dive to sort out any problems that our gear may have developed in transit. Luckily we encountered no problems with our gear and everything worked perfectly, unfortunately the same can't be said for the boat!!.

We ate a leisurely lunch before loading our gear on to the boat and setting out, the first sign of impending trouble came about half way to the dive spot when the motor unexpectedly stopped. We had a quick look over the motor and discovered a loose electrical connector which was quickly and easily repaired with some duct tape. Having overcome that minor inconvenience we set off again and quickly reached the reef. On entering the water we were greeted with amazing visibility and a wonderful variety of fish. We both made use of the time and tested our gear to the fullest, I spent some time pursuing a school of Black Snapper and was rewarded with a large fish after some long dives laying on the bottom throwing up sand, Greg also had success landing an exceptionally large Coral Trout.

The Boat prior to the trip to the reef.

Greg with a large Coral Trout.

Having checked our gear and both landing good fish we headed for the beach and this is when things took a turn for the worst. About half way back to Nosy Be the motor started making some pretty expensive sounding noises, the boat driver decided that the best course of action was to go faster therefore ensuring that any failure on the motors behalf would be catastrophic. Well that is exactly what happened, soon enough something inside let go and it clunked and spluttered to a stop. We were still about 10kms from land at this point however the tide and wind were in our favor for the time being.
We conveyed our displeasure to the boat driver however not understanding a word of English he just smiled at us. It was at this point we discovered that even though the boat had a nice flash looking marine radio it didn't work!!! Luckily we had come armed with a phone number to call in the event something like this happened, and even more astounding we actually had phone reception.

It never ceases to amaze me that even in the worlds poorest countries, everyone seems to have a mobile phone and mobile reception is everywhere, hey we may not have running water but we got a mobile phone aren't we flash!! who gives a damn that I live in a washing machine box I got a phone!! something is wrong with peoples priorities somewhere that's for sure.

Well after a dozen calls and trying to learn French on the spot, the sun had set, it was pitch black and 4 hours had passed. we had fashioned a sail from the boats canopy and were making a steady 2 knots towards Nosy Be. Some 5 hours after the motor died we were finally picked up and towed back to the beach.
The following morning we discovered the numerous reasons behind the delay in towing us ashore, the boat tasked with towing us back had originally set out with no fuel and had to return to fuel up. By the time they had fueled up it was dark and they could not see us so they went home, another round of phone calls ensued and we were able to tell them we had a torch and would signal them with it, only then did they find us and tow us back to shore.

Finally back on dry land we walked the 100 yards to the villa where thankfully dinner was waiting for us and we hungrily ate another wonderful meal of local produce followed by the local brew "Three Horse Beer" and some Malagasy Rum before showering and falling into bed exhausted after the days events.

Off to Madagascar, at last!!!!

I had been in constant contact with Chris Coates over the months of planning and kept him up to date with all developments so he could make the required arrangements. He was able to tailor the trip to suit just the two of us and managed to pull off a splendid trip despite all the challenges thrown  his way. We had started our trip in Nelspruit staying with Friends prior to traveling to Madagascar, and whilst there we visited Kruger national park and saw the big 5, we helped out for a day at a game farm darting and relocating Impalla. We bottle fed baby Rhino and played with a baby Hippo named Emma, Greg tubed down the river and played on a rope swing in a deeper pool, we went epic right from the start.

We then traveled to Johannesburg where we joined Chris Coates and Richard Leonard for our trip to Madagascar’s Spot X and Castor bank, Richard was along to help capture all the action on video. 
The fun started as soon as we tried to check in for our flights courtesy of Air Madagascar.  We had flight delay after flight delay just getting to Madagascar. Then once we arrived some 18 hours late we were taken to an old hotel for a few hours rest until our flight to Nosy Be. We all boarded the plane ok but then had an unscheduled stop at an unknown airport once on the way to Nosy Be, apparently there were people there that wanted to go to Nosy Be, so we stopped for them?. 

Transport to the mystery hotel.

Checking in for the flight to Nosy Be. 

Air Madagascar plane.

The airport was that out of the way I think it had been forgotten, there were even 2 old WWII biplanes rotting away at the edge of the apron complete with rotted canvas hanging through wooden wing skeletons. I tried to take a photo of them but the local police got a little upset at the sight of my camera so I thought better of it.

When we finally landed at Nosy Be our Skipper was waiting for us and we quickly loaded all our gear into the vehicle for the trip to the lodge. We traveled through the town of Hell-Ville yes that is what it is called, and over rough roads and a wooden bridge until we reached a quiet bay on the Southeast side of the island. Here we were introduced to the owner of the lodge and were given a welcome drink, before being shown to our rooms. 

The streets of Hell-Ville.

Crossing a wooden bridge on the way to the Lodge.

The beach at the Lodge.

Day Gecko

We were staying at the lodge for a few days prior to boarding the yacht, this would give us a chance to check our gear and pick the best weather to spend our time out at sea. Almost immediately Greg spotted a Day Gecko and was pleasantly surprised to find they were very common. We relaxed for a couple of hours before we ate a late dinner and retired to our rooms for a good nights sleep beneath mosquito nets and whirring ceiling fans, the sound of waves gently lapping the shore sending us off to sleep.