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Dobbs Away II
Dobbs Away II

Dobbs Away II

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    The HMS Beagle
    Magellan's shipView of museumDowntown Punta ArenasBraun PalaceJohn and Magellan both looking for choripan!Choripan at last!Shacketon's original ad to find a crewJames Caird lifeboat

    Punta Arenas, Chile

    January 3, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    The trip to this charming town, our first stop in Chile, was a 12 hour bus ride from Ushuaia. Historically significant in the exploration of this part of the world, the town has been visited by Magellan, Darwin and Shackleton, to name a few.
    The weather was wet and windy as we drove through some very desolate and beautiful farmland that looked much like Southern New Zealand - except for an occasional llama. During our ferry crossing (on the bus), we saw some very cute white and black dolphins - which we first mistook for penguins.
    In Punta Arenas we’ve spent our time walking through the very sweet downtown packed with grand, somewhat crumbling buildings. Finally we stumbled across some choripan – bread with chorizo – which we were hoping to try. Delicious!
    We also visited the Braun Palace Museum -set in a beautiful old mansion - and the quirky and wonderful Nao Victoria museum. The Nao museum was out of town overlooking the Strait of Magellan and had 3 full-size replicas of famous ships including: Shackleton’s James Caird (the lifeboat that miraculously made it from Elephant Island to South Georgia), Darwin’s HMS Beagle and Magellan’s ship. It’s crazy to see how small and basic these boats were that accomplished such incredible journeys.    Read more

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    Californian's reunited at end of world
    See crab......eat crab!!Proof! We're at the end of the worldUnknown explorer looking toward Beagle ChannelBrief sunshine in poppy garden

    Ushuaia

    December 28, 2017 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Sadly, we had to leave the ship but were excited to catch up with our dear friends, Marc and Rowena, for a few hours before they boarded our same ship for their Antarctic adventure. We tried not to tell them too much as they were in for an amazing trip, but it was hard to contain our enthusiasm. We look forward to hearing what they saw and experienced given they had a few more days in Antarctica as they didn’t visit South Georgia or the Falklands.
    Originally we’d planned to spend just 3 nights here, however we quickly realized busy season is truly busy so ended up needing to stay 6 - not only to wait to get a bus ticket out of town, but also to book hotels and buses ahead as almost everything is sold out. Although we’d wanted to travel in a more relaxed and flexible way, this simply isn’t possible during summer.
    Our time here was spent planning and booking things ahead (phew, we did it!), though we managed to spend a good amount of time walking through the town, visiting the museum and enjoying king crab (which is delicious, but not as good as the Alaskan variety). The people here are incredibly friendly, the weather very damp, cold and changeable, and the setting spectacular as it overlooks the Beagle channel and is overlooked by stunning, jagged mountains and glaciers.    Read more

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    Cheers to Antarctica
    Cheers on xmasSun setting in AntarcticaHumpback whaleIcebergChinstrap penguinEerie lightIce sculpture magicChristmas lunch

    Antarctic Peninsula

    December 24, 2017, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ -2 °C

    After leaving South Georgia, we cruised for 2 and ½ days through the Scotia Sea in the Southern Ocean to the Antarctic Peninsula.
    On our way we saw our first icebergs - one huge tabular ‘berg approximately 22km long - and many whales, penguins and birds.
    We were lucky enough to pass by, and get a good view, of Elephant Island where the majority of Shackleton’s crew waited while “the boss” and 4 others sailed to South Georgia in a tiny wooden boat. We were on the opposite side of the island from Shackleton’s landing site, but it was incredible to imagine how a tiny boat had been able to make it to South Georgia from here. Amazing!
    Our first landing was in Yankee Harbor where we saw our first chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals. Next we visited Deception Island, a recently active volcano with a small opening leading to a magnificently sheltered harbor. Here we enjoyed a short hike, saw our first leopard seals and enjoyed seeing the remains of a former whaling station during a small snow storm - which simply added to the atmosphere of the place.
    On Christmas Eve we visited Cuverville Island where we hiked up a steep hill to enjoy beautiful views of the Errera Channel. The best part was body sledding down the hill. Ridiculous fun! In the afternoon we landed at Brown station, an Argentinean research base that was our first official landing on the Antarctic continent. The base is empty at this time of year and opens in January. On our way back to the ship our zodiac cruised through Paradise Bay where another zodiac waited with champagne to toast our official arrival to continental Antarctica. Living the life!
    We spent Christmas day in Port Charcot. While the weather was beautiful, there was plenty of snow and ice around making it the most spectacular white Christmas we’re ever to likely experience. Santa managed to pay a visit via a zodiac. In the morning we spent time scooting around the icebergs of Salpetriere Bay in a zodiac. We were lucky to see Weddell and leopard seals, hundreds of penguins and birds, and some beautiful arched icebergs.
    The weather was so clear and windless that we were able to enjoy xmas BBQ lunch outside on the back deck of the ship, surrounded by massive mountains and glaciers with icebergs floating in the sea. In the afternoon we landed at Port Charcout and saw 3 types of penguins: Gentoos, Chin-straps and Adelies, a Crabeater seal and Minke whales in the bay.
    While cruising out of Neumayer Channel towards the open ocean, we couldn’t believe it when we saw orca’s then humpback whales feeding, including bubble-net fishing. It’s impossible to describe how stunningly beautiful it is here and everyday has become more and more breathtaking. This may well be the most spectacularly beautiful, wild place we’ve visited so far
    Our final two days were spent crossing the Drake Passage to Ushuaia. Famous for huge seas, we were lucky and enjoyed a very mild crossing with good weather. This was an incredible trip with an amazing ship and crew and so many nice people onboard. We feel so grateful to have had this experience.    Read more

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    Young elephant seal
    King penguinsKing penguin chicWhere's waldo?1Shackleton's graveOld whaling stationRelics1Nap time

    South Georgia

    December 18, 2017 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☀️ -2 °C

    This island has played large in our imagination after first reading Sir Ernest Shackleton’s account of his epic journey from being stuck in pack ice off Antarctica, sailing to Elephant Island in 3 life boats, then sailing a single life boat >900 miles to South Georgia before traversing the island in mid-winter over glaciers and crevasses to a whaling station where he could get a rescue party together for his crew back on Elephant Island. Four months after setting out on their small life boat he was able to return to rescue his crew – all survived.
    We had 2½ days around the island and were able to make many landings while here. Our first landing was at a massive king penguin colony on Salisbury Plain. It was an emotional experience seeing such abundance of wildlife (king penguins, fur seals, elephant seals and countless birds) and realizing we were someplace very special. Next, we stopped in Fortuna Bay, another large king penguin colony and also the place where Shackleton and 2 of his crew had arrived after traversing the island. It was very exciting to be walking in the footsteps of these great explorers.
    On our second day, we were meant to land in Stromness - the whaling station where Shackleton had come to mount the rescue - but bad weather prevented us from landing. We did enter the bay and get a good look at the former station before continuing on to Gothul for a zodiac cruise through a sheltered cove where we saw some amazing wildlife. Our afternoon landing was at Grytiviken, another former whaling station and where Shackleton and his friend and fellow explorer, Frank Wild, are buried. We toasted Shackleton at his gravesite with some Irish whiskey before taking a short walk up a hill for a beautiful view. Next, we visited the excellent museum and took a brief tour of the former whaling station. There are about 15 people that live here, mostly researchers and administrators. Incredible experience!
    On our last day in South Georgia, we landed at Gold Harbor to see both king and Gentoo penguins, as well as many other creatures. After some rough weather, it was a brilliantly sunny day. Lastly, we cruised up Drygalski Fiord for indescribably beautiful views of the mountains and glaciers.    Read more

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    Rockhoppers
    Strong British prideSo BritishBrrrRockhopper chicGiant petrelAlbatross1Baby fur seal

    Falkland Islands

    December 15, 2017 in Falkland Islands ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Even though we’re traveling on a luxurious ship with all the comforts you can imagine (champagne, sir?), this first stop on our trip helped us to quickly remember we’re in a very remote part of the world that few people will ever have the opportunity to see. The crazy part is that we still have a very long way to go to get somewhat close to where the early (and current) explorers and researchers traveled to document and preserve this incredible part of the world.
    Once we were cleared to get off the ship (very strict bio-security measures), we jumped into Land Rovers driven by locals over dense, spongy peat fields to visit a rock-hopper penguin colony. After hanging out with the penguins for an hour or so, we headed back to the capital, Port Stanley. We walked the main street and visited the very impressive museum that included a great exhibit presenting a local viewpoint of the short occupation and brutal war with Argentina in ’82. Before returning to the ship to begin 2 days of sailing to South Georgia we stopped in one of the pubs to enjoy a local pint.
    This is an amazing, unique, wind-swept group of islands, with a population of just 3,000 people. A beautiful and remote place.    Read more

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    Mt Olivia
    Wow!Mt Olivia and cinco hermanos1Our cabin for the next 17 days

    Ushuaia, argentina

    December 13, 2017 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After a few nights in a nice hotel in B.A., we met with our tour group for orientation. Then, a short, bumpy 3 hour charter flight took us to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Ushuaia is set on the Beagle Channel and is steeped in an amazing history of famous explorers and exploration. We’ll be spending more time here at the end of our Antarctica trip and are looking forward to learning more.
    After a quick lunch and short hike in the stunning mountains, we boarded our ship. It was ridiculously exciting to suddenly be on a ship, casting off and heading towards an adventure we’d been anticipating for a long time.    Read more

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    Puente de la Mujer
    Cafe TortoniOpera HouseBreakfast in La Boca. Thank goodness for coffee and medialuna!La BocaCaminito in La BocaRecoleta cemetery statueDoor to Evita's tombIn front of theater

    Buenos Aires

    December 7, 2017 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Because we’d used miles to pay for one ticket out of Delhi, we ended up on different flights to London. Christy flew Delhi-Helsinki-London (on FinnAir – “the official airline of Santa”) and John flew Delhi-London. We met in London for a few hours’ wait then took a long flight to Argentina. John bought a very small camera in DutyFree as we’ll be sending his HUGE camera home after Antarctica as it’s just too heavy/big for how we will now travel.
    A very nice lady from our Antarctica travel company met us at the airport and then drove us to our Airbnb apartment in central BA. The apartment was in a great location with easy access to all the sights we wanted to see. Generally, we’ve headed off early in the morning to different parts of the city, walked around, drunk some coffee and taken a siesta. We also went to Boca (famous for the soccer team and colorful homes), the waterfront and famous women’s bridge, the cemetery where Eva Peron and many other famous Argentinians are buried, and we saw an Opera at the Teatro Colon - considered to have some of the best acoustics in the world.
    Like India, the cow is worshipped here in Argentina but in a totally different and obvious way. When people find out that we don't eat a lot of red meat, there is genuine concern that we will starve to death. Also, nothing really gets started here until late at night, which is another adjustment to our normal m.o. Like many other travelers have noted, BA is like a combination of NYC and Paris with more empanadas. The architecture is amazing and the people have all been wonderfully friendly, even though we are struggling with our Spanish. The plan is to travel for a few more months and head back here for 3-4 weeks to take Spanish lessons and enjoy this beautiful city.    Read more

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    Today's level. 500 max. Was 460 when we arrived. Yes, we have masks. SF is 70 Wellington 7. Yikes!
    Red fort reception buildingRed fort gateRed fort field tripChristy in disguise at Red Fort

    New Delhi

    December 2, 2017 in India ⋅ 🌫 12 °C

    Our last 4 days in India were spent seeing some sights in Delhi, getting our teeth cleaned (masala chai stains, yo!), and getting our laundry cleaned and bags in order for the next part of our trip to South America and Antarctica.
    Delhi is a huge city with incredible history and culture as well as many comforts that make traveling easy. However, the air quality is the worst we have ever seen anywhere in the world. When it hurts to breathe, your eyes are watering and city authorities suggest you do not go outside, you are not encouraged or motivated to spend anytime exploring what the city has to offer.    Read more

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    We hope so!!
    1Our first tigers. Male looking at us with female resting.1Big, beautiful cats!Spotted deer1Langur monkeyBrief glimpse before he disappeared.Dining room on edge of jungleLunch in the jungle3Brief encounter

    Bandavgarh National Park

    November 28, 2017 in India ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The main reason for coming to this part of India and to this park was to try to see tigers in the wild. We went on 5 safaris and saw tigers on 4 of the visits to the park (we had 2 different sightings on one of the trips). This is unusual and we feel very lucky to have had such a range of tiger sightings – from very close crossing and sleeping in the road, to seeing silhouettes in the dense jungle and hearing a mom roaring at her cubs. Tigers are incredibly beautiful and can be highly ellusive given the density of the terrain. Guides rely on spotting tracks in the road and listening for warning calls from deer, monkeys or birds to pinpoint potential locations of the tigers. In addition to tigers, you can sometimes see leopard, wolves, bear, wild dogs and striped hyena. While we didn’t see any of these, we saw plenty of deer, monkeys and birds. The landscape is also incredibly beautiful and left us feeling like we would like to someday return for a visit. India’s wildlife and parks were not on our radar and seems to be under-sold to tourists.Read more

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    Do we look excited? 12 hour train ride. Christy got top bunk.

    Katni

    November 27, 2017 in India ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our last India Railway experience (maybe forever?) was a good one, even though we had to get up at 4am to catch the train. We managed to end up in the same carriage and next to each other, which had not happened before (tickets are hard to come by). The train was clean, by IR standards (even the toilets), our cabin mates were quiet and we had a comfortable 11-hour ride to the town of Katni.
    We ended up staying the night at a pretty disappointingly grungy hotel that we’d booked online. It was next to a highway overpass and we even had to ask the management to give us clean sheets. Somehow we managed to sleep before being picked up for a 2-hour drive to Bandavgarh National Park.    Read more

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    Bodhgaya Big Buddha!
    Main temple in BodhgayaTemple offeringsPrayer and meditation under the Bodhi treeOur temple/monastery at nightGroup photo on last day of classBe nice!Closing ceremony

    Bodhgaya

    November 21, 2017 in India ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Took a short flight to Gaya then a tuk-tuk to Bodhgaya.
    According to Buddhist belief, Bodhgaya is where the Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. Now, this small town is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists from around the world.
    We’d visited here before and attended an introduction to Buddhism course ~8 years ago. Having enjoyed it, we decided to return to the same monastery/temple for another retreat – this time for teachings about the human mind.
    Over 4 days, with participants observing silence, we meditated a few times a day and attended a Tibetan monk’s lectures discussing Buddhist’s concept of ‘what is the mind’. The summary, following several days of esoteric discussion on the nature of the human mind - and probably the bottom line for most Buddhist teachings - was: BE NICE (god-dammit!!) or your mind will not be at peace. The monk did not say ‘god-dammit!’ we added that for comedic value. Clearly we still have a ways to go on our dharmic road.
    Accommodation at the Root Institute was very basic, but clean. Unfortunately, there were lots of huge mosquitos since in Buddhism it’s forbidden to kill or harm any living being. Fortunately we had a large lizard in our room, which hid behind a portrait of the Dalai Lama and helped to keep the mosquito count down.    Read more

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    Christy's top bunk on the train

    New Delhi

    November 19, 2017 in India ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    On our way to Delhi, we encountered the first real travel hick-up of our trip.
    We’d booked a flight out of Jodphur to Delhi (there were no flights from Jaisalmer) so took a 5 hour taxi ride to the airport. Unfortunately, there was so much fog that our flight was cancelled. A manager at Air India informed us that flight cancellations had been happening for the past 4 days due to the weather and that it wasn’t looking good for the next day either. We quickly decided to take a tuk tuk to the rail station to try to find an overnight train to Delhi. After unsuccessfully attempting to buy tickets from several counters and being told they were sold out, we were eventually directed to an India Rail office down the road. While waiting in line, John noticed Rishi – the tuk tuk driver whose wife taught us cooking – in another line a few windows down from us. We said hello and went back to waiting in our respective lines. As we were waiting, we realized we didn’t have enough cash to pay for the tickets if we were lucky enough to get them so John headed to the ATM. The line started moving and it turned out there were 2 tickets available, but Christy didn’t have enough cash. She ran over to Rishi, who gracefully agreed to lend her money for the tickets until John returned from the ATM. Phew! Lucky coincidence.
    The train was delayed by several hours, but we eventually made it onto the train and to Delhi (a 10+ hour trip) a day later.
    This visit to Delhi is very short and we’ll be returning in early December to do some sightseeing and shopping.    Read more

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    Sandstone carving
    Fort gatePrayers in Jain templeStreets of the old cityLocal marketThe golden cityCamel at restThar desertMilitary men and Christy1

    Jaisalmer

    November 14, 2017 in India ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We caught a very early train to Jaisalmer and managed to get in a sleeper car so were able to relax in relative comfort for most of the 6 hour trip. The last time we were in India we spent many, many days and nights traveling on India Rail, so it was a very familiar experience.
    Jaisalmer is a much smaller town than Jodphur and even closer to the Pakistan border. We spent an afternoon exploring a military museum that helped us to better understand the history of the Indian military and some of the border wars they’ve successfully fought with Pakistan and China (including some insane conditions high in the Himalayas). They have a huge border to protect and pour incredible resources into this effort. The military presence is everywhere in this part of India and we saw very large convoys of tanks and patrolling jets while visiting this area.
    The dominant feature in the town is a beautiful hilltop fort. Built in the 12th century, it’s one of the oldest occupied walled cities in the world. We had a great guide who spent a day showing us around the Fort and part of the new town. The fact that people still live within the city walls somehow makes it easier to imagine how life may have been several hundred years ago. People here are very proud of their heritage, and rightfully so. The city is truly spectacular and the detail and beauty of the sandstone carved buildings surpasses anything we've seen elsewhere in India.
    People here have been incredibly warm and friendly. One night after returning to our hotel after enjoying dinner at a rooftop restaurant, we had a knock on our door. It turns out that Christy had left her iphone at the restaurant and the manager had ridden his motor bike through the city to return it to us, despite it being worth many months of most people’s salary here in India.
    We’d considered doing a multi-day camel trek through the Thar desert, but in the end decided for a shorter trip of a few hours. Phew, within minutes of getting on our camels we both realized that camels are not particularly comfortable to ride AND they are enormous and a little terrifying. In any case, we very much enjoyed a few hours with the camels, seeing the Thar desert and enjoying sunset over the dunes.    Read more

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    2Jodhpur skyline
    The fortRoyal family's homeFort musiciansCow and stray dog, we know we're in IndiaTouristsMarble windowFort buildingsMandore garden templesMausoleum

    Jodhpur

    November 10, 2017 in India ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    After an easy 6 hour flight to Mumbai (Bombay) we caught a short connector flight to Jodhpur.
    Our last trip to India was in 2008, but we were quickly reminded as soon as we exited the airport how India has the ability to assault all your senses - often all at the same time. We’d missed coming to this part of Rajasthan previously so were very much looking forward to our visit here.
    Jodhpur is known as the blue city because many of the homes are painted a brilliant cobalt blue color. We visited the 450 year old Mehrangarh Fort, which is wonderfully intact with sweeping views of the city, beautifully carved rooms where the royal family used to live, a good museum and an excellent audio tour. Other sights we visited were the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park and the Jaswant Thada mausoleum - which is likened to a mini Taj Mahal. Apart from the fort, our highlight was taking a cooking class. The cook’s husband, Rishi, is a TukTuk driver who picked us up and took us to their home on the outskirts of the city for the private class. Over 3-4 hours we helped prepare 9-10 different dishes in the small family kitchen and then enjoyed a rooftop feast. The menu included different teas and lassi, several vegetarian dishes, chapatti and finished with traditional sweets called ladoo. Yum!
    The weather has also been kind to us, with warm days and very cool evenings – a nice and very welcome change.    Read more

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    Breaking news!! Dodo discovered!

    November 9, 2017 in Mauritius ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Our last day in Africa! See you in India!

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    Never forget the dodo!
    View from our apartmentAqua colored seaSugarcane plantation

    Azuri Village, Mauritius

    October 30, 2017 in Mauritius ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We took a very short flight to Mauritius, our last stop in Africa. We’re taking time here after 6 months in Africa to intentionally not do much. We’re staying in an apartment and are able to cook for ourselves for 10 days, taking advantage of fresh veggies and fruit, exercising and resetting before the chaos of India. Mauritius is about the same size as Reunion and doesn’t seem as well developed (except in the booming resort areas). The majority of people here are Hindu and so it has a very different feel from other places we’ve visited so far and is a good transition for us before India.Read more

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    1Dodo on reunion (lol)
    Farmer's marketOur poolView of sea

    St. Leu, Reunion Island

    October 27, 2017 in Réunion ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We only had a few days on this beautiful tropical island, which is a French department so technically we cannot count it as a new country visited. We experienced minor culture shock on arrival because the island is incredibly modern and well developed. Our first stop after picking up a rental car was a supermarket because we were staying in a small cottage with a kitchen and looking forward to cooking for ourselves for a few days. It was hard not to go crazy given all the wine, cheese and wonderful food options on offer, but we resisted since we planned to visit a farmers market the next day.
    While we managed to visit the wonderful (very French) outdoor market and to stock up on fresh vegetables and fruit, that’s about as much as we saw of the island. Unfortunately, Christy came down with a fever and we mostly stayed around our cottage and pool area, constantly monitoring symptoms – something about coming from a plague zone made us paranoid. The fever broke before our flight to Mauritius, so we were relieved to be able to fly out without getting quarantined.    Read more

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    Queen's summer palace
    King's tombsFuture tour guidesPalace guardTana view

    Antananarivo

    October 25, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We spent a few days here visiting a few of the palaces, going to a nice lunch, but mostly just reveling in the modern conveniences of running water, electricity and air conditioning! We also tried to avoid big crowds to reduce our chances of being exposed to the plague as the outbreak has become much more serious in the past weeks.Read more

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    Dinner!
    1Mosquito suit (we gave away)

    Anakao

    October 23, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We had to spend another night here since the boat only goes out early in the morning. This time we had not just one, but two, mouse lemurs in our hut.
    It was interesting getting on and off the boat because the tide was very high and we were lucky all of our stuff didn’t get soaked – especially in the oxcart ride where the animals were up to their mid-belly in the water.
    After waiting around for ~4 hours, it was finally time to catch our flight to Tana. The small airport was odd in that when the plane eventually showed up late, it was announced with an emergency siren that you would expect to hear before bombs dropped or a tsunami hit. The plane was relatively new and large, but the pilots drove it erratically. When they parked after landing, they drove straight towards the terminal and then whipped it around for loading – it seemed very close to hitting the building and isn’t something we’d seen before with such a large jet. The takeoff and landing were also very rough, but we were very happy to be sitting in on air-conditioned plane and to eventually land safely in Tana.    Read more

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    Sunset over ambola beach
    Baobab treeShadeHotel loungeGiant baobabElephant foot (not a baobab)GiantSalt lake

    Ambola

    October 22, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We wanted to visit this remote park, Tsimanampesotsa, to see a unique species of baobab so we took a taxi about an hour up a sand road to another beach area, Ambola. This turned out to be one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever visited and we were the only guests so had it all to ourselves. The hotel was very basic without any running water (we used buckets for washing and to flush the toilet), but the food was very good and mostly straight out of the sea. After asking if there was good snorkeling, one of the hotel staff drove us a few kilometers up the deserted beach and dropped us off so we could float back with the current. It worked great and we were surprised to find more variety and quantity of tropical fish than expected, though they were all small. If this reef were protected, it would certainly become a world-class diving and snorkeling area.
    We spent one morning in the park doing some walks and admiring the very unique baobabs. There’s also a huge salt lake here that changes color as the sun changes position – very beautiful. During certain times of year there are huge flocks of flamingos, though there were only a few around during our visit.
    It was a very good visit and much nicer than the more popular Anakao beach area, but it was again stinking hot at ~100F (nearly 40C).    Read more

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    Mouse lemur
    Our ride to the boatOxcarts at workOxcart ride

    Anakao

    October 21, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We said goodbye to our driver, Tom, who drove us safely around the country for the last 3 weeks. He headed back to the capital where he has a break for a few days before picking up new clients. Our trip to Anakao involved a taxi, an ox cart (a first for us!) and a boat.
    We’re staying in very simple accommodation on the beach before heading a little further south to visit another park. A bonus was that our bungalow has a mouse lemur living in the roof. So cute!    Read more

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    Elephant foot tree
    Big Headed Gecko

    Tulear

    October 20, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    It only took us ~3.5 hours to get to the coast, but the drive was a bit disheartening as we passed through sapphire mining towns and barren landscapes with very possibly the worst poverty and exploitation we’ve seen. This was highlighted when we stopped at a village to give away all our empty water bottles we had been collecting over the last few weeks. The local villagers use them to store water and local rum, brewed from sugar, which is then sold roadside. There was a mad scramble as our driver got out to give the bottles away, highlighting how precious even an empty water bottle can be in this part of the world.
    We spent the night at the hotel connected to the Arboretum d’Antsokay. It was a very interesting place with lots of plant species, chameleons, tortoises and mouse lemurs (which we saw on a night walk).
    There’s been a fairly serious outbreak of the plague (Black Death) in the capital city and on the east coast so we’re not only hoping to avoid catching anything, but are a little worried that it might be difficult to get out of the country next week as travel restrictions are possible. Fingers crossed as we’re looking forward to exploring Reunion and Mauritius next.    Read more

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    Ringtail lemur parade
    Rapunzel the ringtail1Baby on boardRingtails at restMatching tails1Canyon viewOur oasis1The lone dangerJohn at rest1Future lemur king

    Isalo National Park

    October 17, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Before driving through the beautiful mountains to Isalo National Park, we stopped at the Anja Community Reserve where we saw tons of ring tailed lemurs and many, many more babies. Plus some chameleons. What a treat!
    We’d changed the itinerary up to arrive at Isolo a day early because we heard the hotel was great (it was) and that the rocks were spectacular (they were).
    In all, we spent three nights in a wonderful resort surrounded by rock formations that reminded us of Sedona (though not red). So beautiful! We did some walks around the hotel and in a few canyons in the park, Christy went horseback riding, and we both enjoyed a few days of relative luxury.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without JobsDobbs Away II
    Beautiful mountains
    Lemur king1Mom and babyView from our campOur campThe start of our climbJohn and GeorgeMore views

    Andringitra

    October 15, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Leaving the rain forest, we experienced a dramatic climate and landscape change. We came out of the rain forest, up a steep, windy road - like coming out of a hole in the ground - and very quickly entered a spectacular desert. It was extremely hot, with beautiful, craggy mountains that reminded us of Yosemite and the Tetons.
    We stayed in a tented camp that was fairly basic (buggy and hot, also…), but the dramatic beauty made everything worthwhile.
    Our main activity here was a hike that we started from the camp with a local guide, George. He had wonderfully limited and creative English to match our even more limited Malagasi and French, but it all worked out. We started the walk via the local village and then ventured into the Enchanted forest looking for the symbol of the Madagascar National Park Service - the iconic Ring Tailed Lemur. We saw plenty and it was so great! In some places, we had to create our own trail and jump from boulder to boulder, but the reward was that we enjoyed watching the antics of an entire family of lemurs by ourselves with most of the females carrying babies – ~ 1 month old.
    After the lemur viewing, we climbed up the side of the mountain. Along the way there were caves that George told us was where the “cowboys” slept (the literal boys who watch over the village cows). This turned out to be one of the most exhausting hikes we have done…ever! We found out later that the temperatures were over 40C (over 100F), which explains why we felt so tired. George kept asking if we were “lazy” (we think he meant to ask if we were tired) so this egged us on, even though we very much wanted to stop climbing up hill. In the end, the views were rewarding (no pics, sorry our battery died), but we were relieved when we eventually made it back to camp where we enjoyed some cold sparkling water as our reward.    Read more

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    River through park
    Empty thermal bathChameleonAncestor memorial

    Ranomafana

    October 13, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Ranomafana National Park is in a very dense rainforest with a river running along its’ border. The river has big boulders, impressive waterfalls and some thermal pools. We were meant to soak in the thermal baths, but the Minister of Health had closed them because of some “parasite”. Glad they were proactive.
    While here, we did a day and night walk to look for critters. On our day walk, we were able to see a new lemur species - the red bellied lemur, as well as a few types of bamboo lemurs and another sifaka – this one black & white. It was a beautiful forest, though a tough climb to see the lemurs. And when our animal spotter would find a lemur family, we’d go racing off trail through the woods crossing creeks, scrambling up and down muddy hillsides, and trying not to fall down. The lemurs were worth it!
    On our night hike, we simply walked along the road (in a steady rain) where it is easier to spot chameleons. We were able to see the nocturnal mouse lemur, some frogs and lots and lots of chameleons!
    This park was very different from the others and well worth the trip.    Read more

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    Village kids
    Ambositra townTown concertConcert viewersVillage homeRickshaw rideVillage outskirtsHome cooked meal

    Ambositra

    October 12, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    This small town on a hill is famous for woodcarving and was only a few hours drive from Antisirabe. We ended up having a great experience with our accommodation after a bad start.
    We’d been taken to a room at our originally booked hotel that was simply not happening. It was essentially a wooden box in the garden with daylight showing through the walls, one small ‘window’ with a shutter (no net or glass) and no mosquito net for the bed even though the room was already swarming when we arrived. The hotel was fully booked so they couldn’t put us into one of their decent rooms in the main building.
    We called the tour organizer and learned that the hotel had an annex. Not expecting much, we drove down a very rough road through a small village, past an abattoir and over a collapsing bridge before pulling up to large, new-looking house. The caretaker, a cute older lady, let us in and proceeded to show us 4 rooms. The place was empty, and the rooms were large, clean, and did not need nets because the doors and windows were new. We settled into the room and after realizing we were the only guests, and seeing how organized the new kitchen was and knowing the caretaker was also the cook, decided to eat dinner there. What a great meal! We ordered early for a later dinner and after she knew what we wanted, she headed into the village to buy ingredients. Simple food, but fresh and wonderfully prepared.    Read more

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