16 Oct: Montagne d’Ambre

I can’t say it was a pleasure to have such an early flight but all went well.

Richard, the guide, and Sebastian, the driver, awaited us at the Antsiranana airport for a short transfer to Montagne d'Ambre National Park.

Already along the way Richard showed us some big chameleons and this was the first time ever I’ve seen the jackfruit.

Montagne d'Ambre National Park is an isolated forested volcanic massif in northern Madagascar that rises from the surrounding dry region.

It’s wetter, cooler and lusher than its surroundings. That’s why in the beginning of the 20th century the French colonists built Joffreville, a pleasure resort for the French military.

The park is known for its waterfalls, crater lakes, and wildlife.

Maarten got a bit jealous at Richard who saw chameleons on every tree. Maarten found a baby boa but still wasn’t satisfied.

We saw a group of brown lemurs but for Maarten geckos and chameleons were still by far the most preferred animals probably because he could touch them.

Without Richard we would never be able to see this mossy camouflaged leaf-tailed gecko

or find the tiny Brookesia micra, the world’s smallest chameleon.

We spent a night at another charming little hotel in a beautiful natural setting in Joffreville.

14 - 15 Oct: Ambohimanga - Anjozorobe - Antananarivo

Last night we met our first driver/guide (sorry, I didn’t catch his name) to arrange an early departure for our first sightseeing. He talked about visiting “Blue Hill” and I had no idea what he was talking about.

Along our way to that mysterious hill we stopped at the Tsarasaotra Bird Sanctuary, a protected area with many birds.

The streets were crowded with cars and pedestrians heading for the city stadium where some religious event took place. We took a shortcut but the city was congested all over the place.

In general the street life in Africa is much richer than what we used to in Europe. Same as in Angola when you get stuck in traffic there is so much to see!

Passing many tobms of the local rich we finally left the crowds behind. And there was it, the Blue Hill or Ambohimanga, a former royal fortress with king Andrianampoinimerina's palace.

The palace is a quiet modest dwelling, it's actually a simple black wooden hut.The central pole of the hut is made from a single trunk. The king was very paranoid and scared of assasination so he usually hid in the rafters when visitors arrived, signaling whether the guest was welcome by dropping pebbles onto his wife’s head.

Behind and up the hut are the baths that the king used once a year together with his 12 wives. Afterwards his bathwater was considered sacred. According to our guide people still drink the water here.

Next to the hut is the elegant summer palace of Queen Ranavalona, who was widely hated for her cruelty.

Many local people still believe in the holiness of this place, there is a huge heart shaped stone where zebus are offered. There are few smaller places where you can offer smaller animals like chicken, as well as sweets and honey for luck and fertility.

Maarten was impressed by the blood stains but got really interested in the colorfull sweets scattered all over the exposed rock which offered a nice view of the surrounding countryside. And then one of the gardeners pointed into the tree.

Maarten was all shaking with excitement. There was it at last!

Chameleon munching on cricket!

When the poor animal disappeared in the brush again our guide took us to the restaurant just outside of this holy place.

A group of young people from the village performed traditional Malagasy singing and dancing.

There was more waiting for us today. It is a long way to the Anjozorobe forest. It's some 100 km north of the capital but it took us more than 3 hours to get there.

Especially the last part of the trip was quite challenging when the paved road ended and we bounced along a narrow, dusty, dirt road for the last hour before arriving at our lodge.

This small lodge has such a unique location, is the only one in the forest and offers ultimate tranquility.

It was so quiet far away from civilization, roads and crowds, an unique silence. For me it was like coming home.

After dark we made a guided walk hoping to see some wildlife. The night walk was quite exciting especially for Maarten but also a bit disappointing as we didn’t see any lemurs.

There were some chameleons along the path and a little bird in his nest.

Back at the lodge they served zebu for dinner so I went to bed hungry. No problem. As usually Maarten woke up before the dusk but this time I didn’t mind. The whole night there were the most strange wildlife sounds but now in the early morning the forest was shrouded in mist and in the silence you could hear the lemurs calling. A magical experience!

Just after breakfast Jean Paul, the guide, awaited us for our second walk to look for lemurs. A German couple wished us luck as they spent 5 hours searching the forest without any success.

But we were lucky and saw many lemurs today, at least 5 species! I can name only Indri, Sifaka and nocturnal wooly lemur.

It was very difficult to take pictures, some were running across tree branches, others soaring from tree to tree. This hike was quite exhausting. We started early but after hours walking through the forest it was getting really hot.

We were glad to be back in our cozy bungalow.

Maarten made friends with the staff. They were very friendly helping him to find his most favorite animals.

He was obsessed!

We had to say goodbye to this magical place and return back to the capital. ~~~

I wasn’t glad at all to be back in the city. It was the same chaos and was choked with traffic just like Luanda.

Our hotel was again special and a huge contrast with the eco lodge from last night. Seeing our extremely outdoorsy son finding his way through our antique decorated room made me a bit stressed.

Luckily he was very tired and after the sundowner served on hotel terrace he was glad to snuggle in his bed with Pungo (or Londo) lemur. Even though I prefer the tranquility of the nature this was a special place. Our room was in a tower and the small windows offered breathtaking panoramic views of the capital. Unfortunately next day our flight to Antsiranana was rescheduled and we had to wake up at 3 o clock! Our guide assured us that it could get worse and we will be lucky if the plane really will take off.

12 - 13 Oct: Luanda - Johannesburg - Antananarivo

It took us two days to get to Madagascar. We spent a night in Johannesburg. We had to wake up early to catch the plane to Antananarivo (Tana). Unfortunately, someone else got our wakeup call so we were too late for the breakfast.

With some struggle we managed to get our visas. Our excitements faded quickly when we found out that there was no one waiting for us at the entrance. There were many taxi drivers offering their service but we tried to remain optimistic still hoping that someone will show up. After being waiting for some time Rob went inside the small empty airport hall searching for help at the Information counter. We had some emergency phone numbers but to use our Angolan mobile was not possible. They managed to contact our travel agent that promised to release us from the airport. After an hour waiting while being permanently surrounded by curious children and addressed by taxi drivers finally someone from the agency arrived. At least we thought he was. His car looked rather doubtful and he talked about a friend who called him to pick us up. So your friend works at BP? ~ No, his friend! ...

After about an hour drive enjoying the scenery along the way, the highland landscape with its green rice fields, we finally arrived at our first Madagascan hotel.

On my bike

This morning Bernardo took our car in for regular checkup and maintenance at the dealer. That’s why I finally ventured out to the streets on my bike. My aqua gym class is only a couple of km away and biking in the neighborhood isn’t worth mentioning but what surprised me was the crowd’s reaction. People were openly jeering at me, laughing and shouting phrases. And I wasn’t even wearing any spandex shorts or a tank top! Bernardo explained later that people consider biking in the streets of Luanda extremely dangerous and therefore crazy. Probably it’s the same here in Luanda Sul and because there are no cyclists around here therefore seeing one is very strange and draws attention.

I volunteered my Saturday

This week I’ve been approached by one of the school administrators in regards to support as a LIS parent in the re-accreditation visit from NEASC/CIS. It is important for the community to get some parent feedback in this process so I made a commitment to my participation and spent the whole Saturday in a workshop. Some parts were interesting but I can’t say I was really enjoying myself. Only there we learnt about the future self-study process which will last for more than a year requiring a considerable time commitment not only from the school personnel but also from the parents. Now I wonder what exactly did I sign up for.

Garden expo

Year 3 was showcasing what they have learned during the What Grows unit. Groups of children set up activities in the Year 3 garden and were informing primary students and parents on what they felt were the most vital or interesting aspects of the unit.

Maarten was helping children out with the “Part of plants” game and was very proud to show me everything what’s growing in their garden.

I especially love the idea of having raised garden beds right in front of their classroom.

Post written by Maarten

We had a visit from Chompy the crocodile today and Maarten wrote this little note to Chompy’s diary. It’s obvious that Maarten’s spelling is still very Dutch. I was contacted by the EAL (English as an Additional Language) teacher that Maarten’s results from the EAL assessment have shown a need for further support in his language skills. So he’s getting some extra support during language lesson times in class.

It is challenging but we decided to continue the Dutch distance learning. We had our doubts because we both struggle at times, but Maarten is doing so well in Dutch reading and spelling that it would be a shame to throw all our work away. Besides of that, thanks to knowing Dutch spelling he is also quite capable of reading and writing in Czech. I only needed to explain to him the diacritical marks and now he is able to read his favorite comics in Czech as well!

I tried and now I know

Despite all warnings, I was being stubborn, insisted I had to walk to the school for exercises on my way to fulfill my bus mom duty. And yes I know there is a brand new air-conditioned gym right next door. But the truth is I miss my freedom to walk everyday outside wherever I want to just like in places I lived before. And to get to Maarten’s school it’s only 3.6 km.

Sadly, I have to admit, that walking on the streets of Luanda Sul is really not fun. I found it quite safe and rather boring. There is not much to see and no adventure to find. The cars are choking the same amount of black fumes like in the city and the strong odors from urine, feces and rotten garbage made me feel sick at moments. There is no shade so walking in full sun with a temperature around 40 °C and crossing a street with traffic comparable to that of the highway probably would kill me anyway.