madagascar's wacky wanimals and weirdest rock formations - solar powered street lights

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A week of sightseeing in the north of the island is not suitable for people who are discouraged.
The most interesting place is connected by roads that require 4x4 vehicles to be negotiated by skilled drivers.
We soon discovered that when an unexpected hurricane hit, they turned into chocolate mousse.
Credit: Sue viser, we followed the itinerary set by a very capable tour operator who advised us to visit some strange and wonderful attractions, especially the rock formations known as tsingies, and a forest full of unique creatures.
She then advised to meddle on the nearby islands and enjoy the pristine beaches and sea life for a few days.
The process of tourists traveling at a crawling speed on crowded roads needs to be warned.
You often go to some very remote places and you need to bring your own food and of course water.
Local flights need to be confirmed as well.
Even Malaysia Airlines is nicknamed "probably air ".
On takeoff, Airlink took over the flight and considered our return ticket invalid one hour before boarding.
We were stuck for 24 hours and missed a transfer back to Cape Town.
So we were treated for another day at their expense, but we refused to pay their harsh fine for "cancellation" of the flight. (
They also called the place "Mada ". ")
Boats and ferries are very effective, although people need to protect themselves from the crowds of locals who try to sell you things, teenagers take your luggage and nitpick the cost of the porters.
It gets a bit crazy when you go from one hotel to the next through three local taxi trips and two boat trips like we did a day.
Have your driver handle the Porter and hang it on a bag with your priceless wifi gadgets.
We arrived at the Capital ant nalifo airport in the heart of the island.
We are grateful for being accompanied in the crowded crowd who are robbing us of our luggage.
A small Renault has 12 passengers on board.
It was not hung, and the carriage below almost hit the road.
How they drove along terrible roads, we bounced back along a narrow lane, dug out of red clay, to our hotel for the night, was the only guest.
Our room was full of food.
The toilet was singing all night.
We are happy to travel to the round-trip flight to Antsiranana, the Northern Regional Portal.
Until 1974, after the Portuguese sailor discovered the bay, it was called Diego Suarez.
It forms a beautiful four-leaf clover with a small island called sugar cubes (Nosi Lonja)
In the first Bay
Credit: Sue viser we explored the town and in so-
Called the city square, but they need some serious maintenance.
According to the local people, our guide showed us the most important items at the foot of a monument to heroes of the past. It.
This is a big tree with bright yellow flowers.
She explained that this is the Zebu tree, a sacred place where people come to make a wish.
If the nature is serious, such as allowing a couple to have children, sacrifices must be made to commemorate the Zebu.
It wasn't until she pointed to the skull of a cow nailed to the tree that we knew what was Zebu.
Zebu, a local cow, has a big hump on his back.
They were introduced to the island, half.
Only the sacred beast that was killed as a sacrifice, so a piece of zebu meat is very precious.
As I was disappointed to find out, they do not offer commercial dairy products. (
I have been deprived of cheese. )
Credit: Sue viser, we were left to spend the afternoon at our hotel for the night.
This is by far the largest building.
A tall building made of mirror glass, among the shabby buildings that look like the main street, there is a glittering princess.
We stroll under it hoping to find a place where lunch can be served, or at least show some signs of life on a lonely Sunday afternoon.
We heard music along the street. aha!
Band practicing at a local cafe.
We sat at the table with a few lonely gentlemen and asked for a menu.
But we realized that most of the dishes offered here were on two legs, and the local lassies and the old male "vazahas" had a fierce take-out deal (tourists).
However, the local three-horse beer (THB)
Good lunch.
Wet and muddy journey around the bay and Amber Forest Credit: sue visseracording drives 4x4 vehicles in the Bay Area according to the itinerary we will collect By Raissa and our driver Nono, see some blue ocean and white sand beaches.
Oh, it was really an unexpected cyclone storm that turned what was left on the impassable road into chocolate mousse.
Nono is a professional driver, but we can see his ups and downs in washed canyons, newly formed rapids and oozing mud.
After arriving at the first beach on the beach, we turned around.
A unanimous decision
We visited Amber National Park in the inland mountains.
Mengtian (Mengtian)
Stay at nature inn as planned.
Another wash, this time in a forest with tall monkey puzzles and pine trees, was planted more than 40 years ago as part of a plant experiment.
When going through a continuous overhead waterfall, it is really puzzling to walk to the side of the waterfall and let us get wet.
No matter how sacred the waterfall is, there is no waterfall anymore.
There are no more tree ferns or rare Sutie.
These animals have sought shelter and we should do the same.
We were taken to our bungalow on a green hill overlooking some of the more luscious, dripping wet vegetation.
We had a comfortable night with the help of solar energy
Power light, power point and very efficient fountain with super hot shower.
The food was beautifully prepared and we ate a lot of pineapple, papaya, rice, vegetables and omelet.
As a vegetarian, it's hard to explain that I don't eat Zeb, chicken, fish or any other "friends ".
Another problem is that to avoid your intolerance to wheat/gluten, explain to them that it means no bread, pasta, cake or cookies.
They don't always compensate with alternatives.
But there is always a lot of rice here because the locals usually eat it three times a day.
The island has a population of more than 4 million people, but half of them are under 14 years old.
They see a lot of children and a lot of cattle as a sign of wealth and prosperity.
There are 2 million cows and 2 million children on the island who do not have much hope of finding a job, let alone a decent education.
But they eat rice three times a day. (
Unfortunately, it is polished rice, which lacks nutrition and can be cooked without salt. )
Madagascan is the country that eats the most rice in the world.
Even more than Chinese.
This may explain why people who are not obese. Rice is gluten-free!
Simple Diet for low-income villagers to eat wheat, sugar, genetically modified foods
Fat and abundant animal fat, although very little in green leafy vegetables and other vegetables.
Red Tsingy venturecredit: it was sunny the next day.
The wet clay road to Qingdao Rouge is another challenge we have faced for a long time.
The driver who suffered
We had to drive over a mountain and down to the plain below.
Sometimes we walk out of the house and walk more than half the way away in the canyon.
Red Earth is formed by Red Earth (
Iron-rich minerals make them red)
Formation mainly caused by water erosion in the canyon.
There is a stream at the bottom, but it is clear that during the flood it is able to dig out softer materials such as sand and clay and leave a harder mass to form something similar to stalactites or turrets.
These formations are known as "Hudos" in places such as Bryce Canyon in the western part of the United States that we have visited ".
But here we experience the magical structures on a more intimate level, guided along the river bed, where we can enjoy them in more detail.
Ankarana National Park and chameleon and lemur on the way to our next stop, at the remote Ankarana hotel we enjoyed a tarred road despite the potholes on the road
To our delight, the guide and her driver found all the major chameleon species during the days we spent together.
They often have to stop so we can go out and drive them away.
I now have a brilliant gallery of pictures showing these multi-colored animals that are as big as my feet and have only the top of my little finger.
The lemurs also performed in the forest where Jim visited the Bat Cave.
Since we only have one torch, I decided to wait and be allergic to mold.
So Jim saw the bat and I was treated to a group of lemurs who came to the parking lot to find food.
I ate some banana peels and they ate with relish and posed for pictures like every day.
They might.
Credit: Sue viser came to pick me up after that.
He trembled with excitement. "Big-a-snake.
"In the middle of the forest trail, a big snake is heading towards the park bench.
It is more than 1 m and a half long, it carries out some winding loops and gives a warning hissing sound to the camera. What a scoop!
I am glad to hear that the snakes on this island are not poisonous. (
At least they said they had come back. )
The next day, the gray Tsingies in Ankarana were sunny and without clouds, we enjoyed a 10-kilometer hike at Ankarana National Park and visited the limestone Tsingie area.
We have made a long trek through some cool forests, which Raaisa says are fallen leaves, and in midsummer the heat and humidity is unbearable.
Today is no exception. in the hot weather, we are very weak through barren eroded limestone.
She is not sure about the old waza Haas "(
What they call tourists
I could cross the suspension bridge, but we managed to do it anyway, especially since there was a shady bench on the other side.
Credit: Sue viser credit: as part of the Okada Varan series thousands of years ago, Ma madagascar experienced a lot of landscape turbulence.
The eroded limestone in this area was once under the sea.
In the midst of intense volcanic activity, it is pushed to the ground along with a lot of lava, or the black basalt that we see now.
Over time, the wind and rain hit the limestone, which washed away a part of the limestone and formed a sharp ridge, or what the locals call the tsingys.
Basically the word means "the rock is too sharp to stand up.
"The Ankarana Cottage is the gateway to heaven, or how I imagined it, because the back of the cottage leads to a huge forest of trees with a cathedral in it --
Like proportion.
I head into the recliner on the choppy cement board and stare at the green plants with a sense of awe and appreciation.
It would be nice to stay here for two nights.
They even provided 24/7 of the electricity as part of the dining area and a huge pool.
The staff went out of their way to take care of their guests.
We no longer take anything for granted, especially the road!
Enjoy our movies with animals and tsingies!
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