Africa 2016 - Johannesburg, the beginning of a trip of a lifetime

For my past two trips to Africa I did a blog as I had carried my heavy laptop around with me and updated as I went. This year around I chose to leave my heavy laptop at home and I was very grateful for that. I’m back now after my epic 6 weeks in Africa and I thought I would write some brief blogs to show you some incredible experiences I had and share some stories with you. It will also help me to relive the adventure again and ignite the flame to return. 

Johannesburg 8-10 March 2016

As the plane touched down on the tarmac at OR Tambo International Airport on 8 March 2016, I felt a soft drumbeat in my heart. An African feel to it with the chorus of bringing me home. Flutters of excitement filled my body and anticipation for the adventures to come overwhelmed me.

Choosing this time to travel with my mother, we collected our bags and headed to the hotel for some much needed rest. 

Feeling a little jet lagged and weary we awoke the next day ready for our first exploration. In 2013, I went on a tour around the Apartheid Museum, Soweto and the Hector Pieterson Museum. I had anticipated that this Johannesburg tour would be quite similar and we would be mainly left to our own devices. I could not have been more wrong nor more pleasantly surprised and grateful to our wonderful tour guide Colin, organised through the fabulous team at Captured in Africa.

Colin took us back through history. There were times on the tour where I felt I was walking in their footsteps as we journeyed through the troubled times. 

We visited a true village where we met the people and the children of the day care, most of whose mothers were only 15 years old and still in school. We went to Freedom Square, a place dedicated to the freedom of the people when the apartheid era was over. We walk through Regina Mundi church and saw the bullet holes from when it was raided and where children ran to safety. We left messages on the walls there amongst hundreds of others leaving our love there and prayers that this will never happen again. We went to Soweto and visited the Nelson Mandela Museum, a man who I admire greatly. Where one person changed the world. We went to the Apartheid Museum and explored the history there. Even taking the time to read nearly every post and view every picture we could. South Africa’s history is heartbreaking. I will never understand how you can hate someone simply because of the colour of their skin. We all bleed the same colour and we are all the one race, the human race. I am colour blind.

Here are some photos from our journey through South Africa’s history in one day.

If you would like a similar tour, I highly recommend contacting the Captured in Africa team and requesting Colin Christie as your guide. You will not be disappointed. http://capturedinafrica.com/pdf/2015CIA-ToursPriceList.pdf - We chose the Apartheid and Soweto combined tour.

On 10 March, Mum and I took a flight to Windhoek where our Namibia adventure starts… stay tuned!!

Madagascar Part 2 of 2… the last adventure… or so we thought.

Tuesday - another early morning to beat the heat of the sun and I'm so glad we did that. Boy did it get hot today!! Today we explored Ankarana East Reserve. Word of advice if you go... Comfy walking shoes. Preferably boots. Plenty of water. Sunscreen. Insect repellent and Take your camera for the amazing sights you will see and above all... be fit. We walked/hiked for 4 hrs today and I'm utterly exhausted. But it was all totally worth it. Within the first 30 minutes we came across our first wild lemur family. They are the crowned lemur and endemic to the north of Madagascar. Endemic was a word used very frequently by our guide. :) 

We then came across the nocturnal spotted lemur. One of two spotted lemur species. And later came across the other species. They are ridiculously gorgeous and made the entire trip to Madagascar totally worth it. I can now leave satisfied that we saw wild lemurs. 

Along the way to our destination we spotted many species of gecko also endemic to the north and then started the hard part of the journey across many rocks. It was a hike for me. The reserve is made up of limestone and when we reached our destination it was mindblowing to see. As I am scared of heights unless I'm strapped in to something I didn't cross the bridge but rather waited for Hannah to do so and return. It didn't matter as the view was much the same from both positions. Another guide passed me on the way and started conversing in Malagasy to me of which I didn't understand at all. Parlez vous anglais? I asked him. He apologised and said that I looked Malagasy. Must be the dark tan I've managed to get. Haha. 

It's been challenging but also fun to remember and practice my French here with the locals. And they have been fantastic in answering back in French to either humour me or help me better my French. 

The walk back was exhausting across the rocky terrain but I made it and it was worth it. On the way back we saw more lemurs and geckos and even a snake. 

After lunch we headed to our next lodge. Ankify Lodge which is right on the water and beautiful. 

Unfortunately this is where my trip turned a little sour. I became quite ill. Struck by a fever, vomiting and other nasty gastro stuff. All night long. In the morning we were to catch a boat to Nosy Be. Luckily we had a lovely man look after us and he escorted us across the sea, organised for a doctor to meet me at the hotel and made sure we were safe. I praise God for that man. Arriving at our hotel (Anjiamarango Resort) I immediately laid down. The doctor arrived shortly after and it turns out I had a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius. She was lovely and helpful and while only spoke a little English I was able to piece it all together with the little French I knew. Je suis malade. She put in a saline drip for 2 hours and dosed me up on meds. By the evening I was feeling better. Still not 100% but getting there. 

On the next day - Thursday - Hannah headed off to a tour and I remained behind to rest which I think was wise. Although I was jealous. She was lucky to see the black lemurs and another species and more chameleons followed by snorkelling. Snorkelling isn't my thing so wasn't jealous about that but would have liked to have seen the lemurs but even Bev and Mary said I wouldn't have made it. It was a lot of walking. And they were probably right. Rest is what I needed. I had enough energy in the evening to go for a quick dip in the pool and I organised to go on a tour of Nosy Be through the guide Dallas and Adrian recommended for Friday. 

Friday was good. Still not a 100% but better. My bag arrived on Thursday finally after 5 days without it so I had new clothes to wear which was nice. Eleonelle picked me up at 8.30am. We headed to see lemurs first. Unfortunately for me it was in a zoo type situation which I was very disappointed about but what can a sick girl do? I saw some free roaming ones that stick in the forest because it's close to food so that was nice and saw a baby ringtail even though it was in captivity. Still adorable. 

Afterwards we visited the sacred tree where I had to wear traditional clothes and enter with my right foot first because they believe it is more pure than the left side as the left side bears the heart. You can make a wish in there but if it comes true you must come back and pay your dues either in money, alcohol or a zebu head. 

Lunch was simple as I was still ill but the setting was a beautiful backdrop of a serene beach. I bought a couple of souvenirs after being accosted by a bunch of women selling me things. Lol. Then we headed to Mont Passot. The tallest mountain in Nosy Be with the most breathtaking views. It was spectacular. Then a quick drive back to the hotel so that I could get some more rest. Overall it was a good day but I'm disappointed I didn't get to see more lemurs in the wild. Perhaps another time. 

We joined Bev and Mary for dinner and I finally are something a little more substantial. Great fellowship. 

Then we found out that all international flights on Saturday were cancelled. Sigh. Seriously what more could go wrong?!?! I guess not much we can do with no Internet. So I text the wonderful Drew to ask for assistance. Now we just had to be patient and wait. 

Well... The next three days were very trying on me. Each day we tried to get on a flight and each day we had no luck. My patience had worn out and I'm sure I had become the most difficult of travelling partners for Hannah. It had been a tough week on me and I was ready to leave and even ready to come home. But we missed our flight home and this entered new problems. Luckily for us Hannah's mum to the rescue. Cathy organised for our flights to be flexible home and it seems Singapore Airlines were more than accommodating and understanding of our situation. Finally on the Monday after no luck of getting on the Nairobi connecting flight we bought tickets for the South African Airlink flight for Tuesday to secure a seat for us and because after all that had gone wrong with air Madagascar even if by some miracle we got to fly on the Tuesday who knows if we would have got a seat because of all the other stranded passengers and I just didn't trust the mechanics of the plane. I actually feared for our lives if we were to get on an Air Madagascar flight. So we will demand a refund from Air Madagascar on our flights and claim the difference through insurance. I don't care so long as we got off the island. 

And we did. I write this from the air. On SA Airlink and on our way to Johannesburg. What an ordeal. 

On the Monday though after our flights had been confirmed we decided to head to Lemur Park to just get out of the hotel that was driving us both crazy. The park actually isn't that bad. The lemurs are free ranging and the park is surrounded by water. So no enclosures or cages. We saw dancing lemur, black and white ruffed lemur, ring tailed, brown, mongoose lemur and another one that kind of looked like a baboon. Even though again I didn't get to see them in the wild this made getting through that day a lot easier and made it easier for Hannah cause I didn't complain as much. (I'm lucky she doesn't charge like a psychologist would otherwise I would owe her a LOT of money!) 

We were finally on our way to Johannesburg and I hope to have a surprise in store for the next blog. 

Madagascar Part 1 of 2 - The last adventure… or so we thought.

Last Day at the Sanctuary

Leaving the sanctuary was bittersweet. I love it there and it really feels like home. Over the two weeks you begin to feel like the people and animals are your family. Saying goodbye to them for now though with plans to return in the not so distant future. But the other half of me was super excited and overjoyed to be heading to Madagascar. Not many people I know get the chance to go there so this was going to be special. And special it was. 

The last day at the Sanctuary was a lot of fun. An early morning to feed and clean. As we did a lot of cleaning already on Friday during deticking there was only one enclosure to do so we had enough time to feed both the north and South enclosures in the morning and clear out dead grass and leaves from the electric fence of some enclosures. The animals get so excited for feeding and become different cats altogether. They become big scary lions. Haha. Bobcat, Suja and Tau in particular and holding the gate shut while we put food in their night pens safely can be a thrilling experience with the lion hating on you so much. Let me in! Let me in! 

In the afternoon Drew arrived ready to take us to the airport. We had the chance to show her and her daughter around the enclosures and introduce them to the lions, leopards and hyenas. Kind of felt weird doing that to be honest being an Aussie showing the South Africans around but also a privilege. We then headed off to the airport. A bite to eat before boarding our plane. 

We arrived safely on the Saturday night very late in Madagascar after being delayed by half an hour. It took an hour and a half to get through passport control and get a visa. We then had to wait another 20 mins for our bags. At this stage it was 1am already. Unfortunately my bag was misplaced. Either taken or left somewhere. Either way. No bag for me. One very upset and frustrated girl. Lucky for me we had left all our valuables with Drew and had on us my camera so in the bag is only clothes, shoes and toiletries. All replaceable. I'm trying to stay positive. 

We headed to our first hotel which was just to shower and sleep before our flight in the morning. We only got 2 hrs sleep before heading to airport to get flight to Diego Suarez. 

We were met at the airport by our guide Bruno and our driver Gabby and headed to the first hotel to settle in. A beautiful place with friendly people. Then straight off to Amber Mountain National Park for a walk through the rainforest. We were joined by Bev and Mary. An elderly British couple who we ended up running into for the rest of our trip as they had the same itinerary as us. We spotted 5 different species of chameleon and the walk was really lovely. Waterfalls, luscious green trees and even the worlds smallest chameleon measuring just 1 cm!! 

We had a late lunch at a cute little restaurant before going back to the hotel to rest. It's been lucky our itinerary is so jammed packed I haven't had too much time to think about my lost bag. Dinner was lovely and we had the chance to chat to another couple from Australia, Dallas and Adrian. Their itinerary is the reverse of ours so they were able to give us tips for Nosy Be when we get there. 

Monday - An early morning to try to beat the heat with walking we headed to see the Red Tsingy. Again passing Bev and Mary. :) These rock formations can not be found anywhere else in the world and were spectacular. Here are some photos for you. 

We then stopped and had lunch with Bev and Mary and shared some great fellowship with new friends. They have done a lot of travelling and are now just spending their children's inheritance. The way it should be. Mary reminds me a little of my Nan. So adventurous. 

Then a long drive to our next hotel. Passing many villages and that all familiar smell of burning charcoal. The people are very happy here despite not having much and they have fulfilled lives. Something we should remind ourselves of often. 

Finally reaching Relais de Ankarana Hotel we settled in and relaxed for a bit. Dinner was delicious with fresh pineapple for dessert. 

A good nights sleep before a full on day on Tuesday. 

To be continued...