After 8 relaxing days in Ile Aux Nattes, we continued on to Diego Suarez in the very far North of Madagascar. We had a little airline drama while traveling to Diego Suarez (the airlines seem to be against us on this trip). Air Mada had oversold the flight from Ile Ste. Marie to Tana by 50%, and had to bring in another plane from Tana, to accommodate all of the passengers. This delayed our departure by several hours, meaning that we missed our connecting flight and got stuck in Tana for an extra day. At first we were a little upset by this mishap, but Air Mada put us up in a decent hotel (with internet!) for the night, and we ended up befriending the other 3 travelers who were also en route to Diego Suarez and fell victim to air Mada’s scheduling incompetency. We met Benjamin, Katia and Chris #2, and spent the next week touring around Diego Suarez with our new group of backpacker compatriots.
Diego was quite different from central and Eastern Madagascar. The climate was much drier, which meant that the flora and fauna was nothing like what we had seen in the rain forests of the East coast. We also had the opportunity to do several day-tours around Diego Suarez which allowed us to really explore the region and to see a lot of Madagascar’s infamous one-of-a-kind plants and animals (more lemurs!!!).
Some of the highlights included:
Hiking along the windswept 3 bays, where we saw hundreds of baobab trees and hidden coves of crystal clear water.
The Sacred Lake where we got up close and personal with some wild crocodiles (don’t worry dad, we were at a safe distance).
The Tsingy Rouge where we saw crazy iron-infused pinnacle rock formations, a mini grand canyon and tons of chameleons.
Our boat trip to the Emerald Sea where we snorkeled in turquoise waters and enjoyed lunch on a secluded little island (cooked by our French hippy boat captain).
L’Ankarana National park, where Chris and I hiked through limestone Tsingy rock formations and spotted 4 different kinds of lemur in one afternoon.
Diego was also where Chris and I arrived at our wits end in terms of frustration over our inability to communicate with people. Fortunately our friend Benjamin is a native French speaker and is also fluent in English, so he helped us out immeasurably. Traveling with a French-speaker also gave us a window into how much we were actually missing in Madagascar. It’s amazing how much more you can learn about a country when you can communicate with the locals.
All in all, Diego Suarez was a fantastic conclusion to three amazing weeks in Madagascar.
-Julia
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Diego Suarez Town
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
These old cars were all over the place in Diego
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Our traveling companions: Benjamin, Katia and Chris #2
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
400 year old Baobab
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Hiking the 3-bays
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
A beautiful cove that we found during our 3-bay hike
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Taxi-Brousse
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
I think this one was my favorite chameleon
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
A croc at the Sacred Lake
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
More chameleons than you can shake a stick at!
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Tsingy Rouge
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
En route to the Emerald Sea
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
The Emerald Sea
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Walking back from a snorkel in the turquoise water
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Crazy tsingy rock formations at L'Ankarana National Park
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
A Milne-Edwards nocturnal lemur!
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
More Baobab trees
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Lemurs
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Hiking through the Tsingy
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| From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web |
Chris stands next to the "white man" tree (named after the peeling bark)...fortunately we’ve been good about using lots of sunscreen and haven experienced any nasty burns
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