Madagascar
Ranohira Ville

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    • Day 18

      Sauna uf vier Redli

      October 5, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      Hüt morge am 7ni isch Abfahrt richtig Rinohora gsi. Mit paarne Bislistopps und Snackpousä simer nach 9h Fahrt mitm Bus äntläch ahcho. Bimne Ungernämä wo ämne usgwanderetä Holländer ghört, heimer ghulfä Böim pflanzä. Är wott dert ä Waud erschaffä, so dass di Gägend äntlech wieder meh Rägä het. Mit üserä Reiseorganisation G-Adventures, düemer di Böim finanziere womr pflanzt hei. I üserä Ungerkunft für di nächste 2 Nächt hoffä mr sehr, dasmr nid vo chrabbelndä Tier gstört wärdä.Read more

    • Day 19

      Rocky Mountians

      October 6, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      Hüt Morge früä simer mitm Bus zum Isalo Nationalpark gfahrä. Uf üserä Wanderigdert, simer dür heissi u trocheni Gägendä, aber o dürä Djungu gangä. Üs hets höllä gfröit, dassmr sogar Lemurä und ihri Babys hei gseh! Ungerwägs hets äs Zmittag vom Grill gä u äm Nami nach dr Wanderig heimer nis imne Seeli chönnä abchüehlä.Read more

    • Day 24

      1er jour de visite pour les vazaha

      November 15, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Nous avons visité le parc Isalo aujourd'hui de 8h à 14h avec un guide prénommée Fleuri.
      On commence notre randonnée par la découverte de plusieurs espèces amusantes comme ces papillons en cours de transformation, un serpent, des lézards et même un scorpion (mortel mais seulement après 4j alors ça va le guide à dit qu'on aurait le temps d'aller à l'hôpital si jamais).
      Le petit arbuste rempli d'eau est tout mou au toucher et il grandi seulement de 5mm par an donc lorsqu'ils sont centenaires ils sont quand même minuscule ahah
      Petite pause baignade (très) rafraîchissante dans les piscines naturelles bleu et noire (ils se sont pas foulés pour les noms). C'était magnifique !
      Clou du spectacle, des lemuriens par dizaines ! Symbole de madagascar ils n'ont absolument pas peur de nous en ce moment de l'après midi et nous avons même la chance d'en observer des blancs (plus rares que les marrons) entrain de jouer juste avant notre repas!
      Ce soir on recharge les batteries car demain c'est reparti !

      Des bisous,

      Pierre, Camille, Guillaume 🦂
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    • Day 7

      Il parco nazionale Isalo 🏞️

      May 11 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Oggi giornata escursionista piena di avventura. Dopo un abbondante colazione, si parte alle 07:30 in direzione del parco nazionale Isalo.
      Lungo il percorso non perdiamo l’occasione di donare del cibo ai bambini del posto, i quali non perdono l’occasione di avvicinarsi a noi incuriositi di vedere l’uomo bianco. (Vazaha) Con poco si può regalare un grande sorriso che ci riempie i cuori di gioia. Il trekking inizia all’interno di un canyon, tra le rocce 🪨 e i soliti ragni 🕷️ che non vedono l’ora di salutare Sandy 🤩. Ci viene spiegato che nei buchi delle pareti rocciose, vengono seppelliti i defunti, i quali vengono collocati il più alto possibile per essere elevati al cielo e vegliare sulle persone. La prima tappa ci porta ad una piscina naturale con tanto di cascata, una bellezza incredibile tra le rocce. Si prosegue per qualche chilometro sotto il sole della death valley, fermandoci a pranzo nella foresta tra i lemuri che vogliono rubare il cibo dal tavolo😂. Nel pomeriggio si prosegue verso la piscina nera e quella degli innamorati dove finalmente Giuseppe decide di farsi un bel bagnetto “brrrrrr” e Sandy scatta qualche foto. Dopo ben 12 km di camminata, si va a vedere il fantastico tramonto con un panorama mozzafiato grazie ai colori nitidi della golden hour 🏜️. Che giornata ragazzi, grazie Madagascar per le tue bellezze naturali 🤩

      (Redazione Giuseppe P.)
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    • Day 44

      Isalo National Park

      November 22, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      I had a very rough night sleep due to some very painful indigestion, likely starting from dry swallowing my malaria medication right before bed. This cost me about 3 hours of sleep that I needed for my big walk today. I say big, it was only 12km in a very cruisy landscape, but given the age of my tour group, it seemed like it would take all day. Regardless, we began our trip at the top of a very large canyon, allowing us for some great photos of our path. The stratification of the rocks formed clear layers of different colours, meaning that the face of the canyon walls looked like a collection of houses. It's difficult to describe, but a thick red layer in conjunction with a darker layer on top, along with some undercut rocks, seemed to create the illusion of a large house. The photos don't really show this, but maybe some zooming in will help. This process of stratification was caused by the ancient ocean floor having different materials being deposited onto its surface. Over millions of years, these layers become compressed to form a hard rock. Many million more years later, the sea level falls during glaciation, thus creating this landscape that contains many layers on different types and colours of rocks. Many more millions of years again, as mass erosion occurs, the canyon forms.

      We then walked into the floor of the canyon and followed it for about 3km to a small oasis. The sandstone rock that forms the canyon means that, in select corners, there are beaches that have formed from the erosion of the canyon walls. Additionally, there are tiny little waterways that are sustained due to the considerable catchment area in which rain is collected and funnelled into the canyon. As such, water is found here all year round, and therefore, springs can form, with tiny waterfalls and beach oases. It is crazy to stand atop the canyon and see a dry, empty landscape, but as you enter into the tiny pockets of moisture, little pieces of paradise form out of seemingly nothing. This meant we could go for a swim in some beautifully refreshing water after our short 3km start to our hike. This also meant we could carry some wet and cool clothes as we trekked through the bottom of the canyon in a very exposed area. It was amazing how quickly the landscape changed. We then 4km walking close to midday heat, on completely flat and empty landscape once again. After this, we arrived at a point where a few different canyon sections joined to form a much larger but more densely vegetated valley - the result of additional water being fed into the system. As the landscape got greener, however, we were forced to begin a bit of a hike upwards, although very manageable we were forced to a crawl by some of the others on the group. It wasn't a big deal, we had all day, but it was frustrating to stop all the time when all you want to do is get to the swimming hole and back home. I tried to be patient, as it's not their fault, but eventually, the guide and a few of us carried on. Which made little difference as when we arrived at the picnic area, after many stairs back down into the valley floor, we had to stand around for quite a while waiting for them anyway. This did give our guide the opportunity to go and find some wildlife for us to see, however. Which was great for us. He first found a Chameleon, probably the biggest we had seen so far, before spotting some ring-tailed lemurs jumping through the trees. He walked us through the bushes to help watch them. I was shocked at how close we could get. Unfortunately, the thick vegetation made getting a photo quite difficult, but I got some ok ones. Eventually, the guys joined us to spot the lemurs briefly before they carried on, and we went for lunch. Just as we sat down to eat, our guide wandered off and found some black and white ruffed lemurs, which were adorable and exactly like a toy I had as a kid. After some admiration, we headed back down for lunch. I opted for lunch in the valley made by locals, and it was amazing. They cooked veggies, rice, salad, and meatballs. It was the perfect feed after a big hike. I ate a huge amount of food to refuel, though I was still battling some indigestion before we continued to explore some waterfalls. This was probably the best part of the whole walk, we walked alongside the river, criss-crossing the waterway from side to side as the valley that we were walking through got bigger and bigger. Eventually, the canyon above us shut us off from all direct sunlight above. The greenery and moisture within the valley were incredible. There are so many picturesque opportunities as natural infinity pools formed every 100m or so that would eventually transcend into beautiful waterfalls. I can not describe it. In the end, we arrived at the blue and black pool where we could swim to cool down. The water was insanely clear and a perfect temperature to refresh ourselves. As we walked back, we enjoyed the scenery once more before heading back to the hotel to rest before dinner and bed.
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    • Day 10

      Isalo National Park

      October 19 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Early start this morning to try and beat the heat. Our walk started with lots of action. Just a few minutes from the carpark we entered a picnic area and saw a troop of Ringtail Lemurs chasing away a Red Fronted Brown Lemurs. And if that wasn't good enough, just 10 metres away was a small group of Verrauxs Sifaka ( Propithecus verrauxi ), playing like naughty toddlers. We spent almost half an hour enjoying this spectacle before the Ring Tailed Lemurs once again chased away the Sifaka.
      After this we continued our journey up the hillside, stopping to admire the first waterfall, and the clear pool below. After this we continued up the steep sides of the canyon and reached the summit where we were treated to a 360°, panoramic vista that left us in awe
      The descent on the far side of this flat topped summit was treacherous, with the ground loose underfoot. It was truly worth it though when we reached the far side, beautiful waterfalls and two icy cold pools. I couldnt resist those cool waters and took a swim, allowing the waterfall to massage my tired shoulders - absolute bliss. After sun drying we started the hike back to the car. On the way we were shown a couple of Long Eared Owl Chicks, fluffy, tired and miserable seems to describe them best
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    • Day 7

      Isalo Nationalpark

      December 27, 2019 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Die Nacht war nicht so toll, denn ich konnte kaum schlafen. Die Hitze in unserem Zimmer hat mir Schweißbäche den Rücken runterlaufen lassen und so war an eine angenehme Nacht nicht zu denken. Nichtsdestotrotz heißt es auch heute wieder bald aufstehen, denn eine Wanderung durch den Isalo Nationalpark steht auf dem Programm.
      Da es in diesem Teil Madagaskars im Sommer sehr heiß wird, sollten wir nicht zu spät starten und so brechen wir bereits um 7.00, nach einem kurzen Frühstück, auf.
      Am Eingang des Nationalparks wartet schon unser Guide, Peter, auf uns. Nach einer kurzen Autofahrt über die wohl schlechteste Straße, die wir bis jetzt hatten (Lehmpiste mit elefantengroßen Schlaglöchern), kommen wir beim Parkplatz, von dem unsere Wanderung startet, an. Wie immer erwartet uns schon ein Rudel Kinder, die wir, bevor wir unsere Tour starten, mit Schlecker versorgen,über die sie sich sehr freuen.

      Gegen 7.45 wandern wir los, es ist jetzt schon brütend heiß. Das erste Stück geht es über jede Menge Stufen bergauf, aber wir sind froh, dass der anstrengendere Teil schon am Morgen absolviert wird, denn wir können schon erahnen, wie heiß es heute noch werden wird.

      Peter ist ein toller Guide und Animal Spotter zugleich. Während unserer 7 km langen, zum Glück zum Großteil flachen Wanderung, zeigt er uns viele Tiere, klärt uns über die lokalen Begräbnisrituale auf und zeigt uns die wunderschönen Landschaften, die dieser Nationalpark zu bieten hat.

      Die erste Etappe unserer Wanderung, die etwa 1.5 Kilometer lang ist, führt uns zu einem Aussichtspunkt, von dem wir einen hervorragenden Überblick über den sogenannten Grand Canyon Madagaskars haben.

      Auf dem Weg zum Aussichtspunkt erfahren wir nicht nur über lokale Begräbnisrituale, sondern können auch schon die ersten Gräber sehen (im Laufe unserer Wanderung kommen wir noch sn zahlreichen weiteren Gräbern vorbei), Höhlen in Felsen, in denen Tote 5-7 Jahre lang in einem Holz- oder Eisensarg aufbewahrt werden. Nach dieser Zeit kehren die Verwandten zum Grab zurück, holen die Gebeine aus dem Sarg, reinigen diese, schmieren sie mit Zebufett ein und bringen sie erstmal nach Hause. Dort wird ein großes Fest zu Ehren des Toten gefeiert. Anschließend werden die menschlichen Überreste zurück in den Nationalpark gebracht und in einer "finalen" Höhle, zu der man sich abseilen muss, für immer abgelegt. Ein für uns völlig neues Ritual.

      Aber nicht nur Gräber bekommen wir zu Gesicht, sondern auch endemische Eidechsen, Chamäleons, verschiedene Vögel und feuerfeste Bäume.
      Wir brauchen vom Parkplatz zum Aussichtspunkt knapp 1,5 Stunden, denn wir bleiben oft stehen um Fotos zu schießen oder die Landschaft und Flora und Fauna zu bewundern.
      Beim Aussichtspunkt genießen wir den Ausblick ein Weilchen, es ist wirklich wunderschön hier. Die Sonne wird von Minute zu Minute stärker und so ist die zweite Etappe schon eine sehr schweißtreibende Angelegenheit.
      Sie führt uns zu einem natürlichen Swimmingpool, bei dem wir uns ein wenig erfrischen können.
      Auf dem Weg dorthin zeigt uns Peter eine Stabschrecke bzw.den Busch in dem dieses Insekt sitzt. Er bittet uns das Tier zu finden, aber selbst als er hindeutet, ist dieses Insekt, das exakt wie in Ast aussieht, kaum zu entdecken *erst als er es anstupst und es sich bewegt, können wir es ausmachen). Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich, welch Kreaturen die Natur hervorbringt!

      Nach einer längeren Pause im Schatten beim Naturswimmingpool, steht die längste Etappe (4 Kilometer) der Wanderung auf dem Programm. Der Weg selbst ist überhaupt nicht schwierig, aber da es in diesem Teil des Nationalparks nur wenige Bäume gibt, die Schatten spenden könnten, ist das Gehen in der prallen Sonne, eine anstrengende Angelegenheit. Aber auch in diesem Teilabschnitt gibt es interessante Dinge zu entdecken. So macht Peter zum Beispiel einen Skorpion mit Babies ausfindig. So etwas habe ich noch nie gesehen. Die Babies sitzen alle am Körper der Skorpionmutter und so kann man nur ihren Kopf und Teile des Schwanzes sehen.

      Gegen Mittag kommen wir schweißgebadet zu einem Campingplatz, wo wir erstmal im Schatten rasten und vieeeel Wasser trinken. Bevor es zurück zum Auto, das auf einem anderen Parkplatz, wie dem, bei dem wir ausgestiegen sind, wartet, zeigt uns Peter noch Kattas und eine Boa. Noch ein Tier, das ich noch nie in freier Wildbahn gesehen habe.

      Es war eine tolle Wanderung (trotz der Hitze) und gegen 14.00 sind wir wieder zurück im Hotel, wo wir uns erstmal erfrischen und ein kleines Mittagessen zu uns nehmen. Um 16.00 gönnen meine Mama und ich uns eine Massage, die am Zimmer gemacht wird. Eine gute Entspannung nach unserer Wanderung!

      Vor dem Abendessen spielen wir noch je eine Partie Skip Bo und Phase 10 und obwohl es schon später Nachmittag ist, ist es immer noch fast unerträglich heiß!

      Zum Abendessen im hoteleigenen Restaurant laden wir auch Hery nochmals ein, es ist schon unser letzter gemeinsamer Abend. Morgen fahren wir ja nach Ifaty, wo wir noch ein paar Tage Badeurlaub machen. Da wir dort keinen Guide mehr brauchen, verlässt uns Hery morgen leider auch schon wieder. Wir werden ihn bestimmt vermissen!

      Nach dem gemütlichen Essen mit sehr netten Gesprächen gehts ins Bett. Eine weitere heiße Tropennacht steht bevor! Vielleicht kann ich ja diesesmal besser schlafen!
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    • Day 17

      Creating Balance by Planting Trees

      November 10, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      We arrived at Soa Zara and were welcomed by Jacob, the Dutch founder of the tree planting project. He reminded me of Max Verstappen, the Formula 1 driver, with his firm talking and efficient striking that didn't accept any weakness of himself.
      He explained to us, why he founded this project in the first place, and listening to him made me extremely sad.
      All the high plateau we drove through from Ranomafana to Ambalavao and Ranohira had been jungle 50 years ago. All the massive mountains that interrupt the landscape in between and are now completely blank, we're full with trees 150 years ago. If there is no change, in 2040 the southern region of Madagascar will be a desert. All these trees were cut by people, first because of the French Industrialization, then because of the locals' need to feed their Zebus. Where ever a tree stands, no grass can grow, so they cut the trees. However, when there are no trees, they can't give leaves to the soil and their roots can't hold it. So, whenever the heavy rainfalls arrive, the soil gets washed away by them. That's why the rivers are always muddy in Madagascar. Because the soil is washed off by rain. When it gets into the river, it'll end in the sea, and then it's gone forever. As Madagascar is a country on sandstone, there isn't a lot of soil, only about 2-3m in the southern region. Underneath you get the stone. And plants can't grow on stone. The soil gets very dry in the meantime, so that it's extremely hard and looks like stone itself. When the rain comes, the soil can't take all the water and, as I said, is washed away. The grass that the Zebu farmers love that much, they burn it whenever it is dry, so that new green can grow. However, by burning the old grass, all the nutritions from it leave as smoke with the wind, and the soil didn't get anything new to add again. So the grass will grow there multiple times, but after a while the soil won't have enough seeds or power anymore to grow anything. So the Zebu farmers have to cut even more trees to get more land for more grass that will last a couple months. This short-term thinking makes me furious and I don't get it. But then again... I get it. They're not educated, they just want to survive and they don't have the long-term sight that we have, because of the science we have access to. Oh, and I don't want to be a hypocrite, because even with all the science and knowledge on our hands, there are still enough western people who dismiss the fact of climate change and we still don't do enough to stop it.
      So, hearing all this from Jacob, made me want to cry, but this doesn't help anyone, so I'd rather help his project. He shows us some trees former G Adventures travellers have already planted. He showed us a huge tree and told us that it was planted about 4 years ago, then he pointed out another tree of the same species that was rather small and didn't look so fit. "This one is about 5 years old. It can't grow that easily because there isn't enough soil underneath it. Some tress get lucky, some trees don't. About 1/3 of all the 180.000 hectares we own aren't useful for planting trees anymore because of the missing soil."
      Uff. That's tough. Hopefully, our little piece of land would still have enough soil to grow our trees. We began the work and Seb and I planted three trees each, naming them Aluna, Andrea, Siegfried and Renata, Stefan and Olivia. Crossing fingers that they would grow up lucky.
      To plant 65 trees with 10 people took not enough ten minutes and I would have happily planted trees the next 2 hours. But I guess that it was more of a symbolic act then a real tree planting action. Tourists like us should talk about these problems and projects to solve them, so that others would come, help and donate. Jacob and his team is planting 300.000 tress this year, next year they are planning to do 1 million. They get help from the government by the way, they help them with all the scientific things like when is the best time to grow this tree where, etc. But they don't fund anything for the project. Oh, and I didn't talk about the Lemurs yet. The Ranohira village is next to the Isalo NP, which houses some kinds of lemurs. As they have less and less trees their too, they've searched for other habitats which made them come into human cities, where there are lots of predators like cats, dogs and... Humans. They might have got caught by people who sold them to some rich kid from Russia or the UAE. There, the lemurs get accustomed with human food and can't go back into the wild like that. They were living alone in a 1x1x1m cage as well, which makes them unsocial and usually not very fit. Lemurs like that sometimes get rescued by the Malagasy government or other organisations and have to be taught to live in the wild again. Right now, Soa Zara has 14 lemurs like that in their care that can't be visited by tourists. They try to remind them about their natural instincts again to finally put them into their natural habitats again. But if all the trees are cut before that can happen... Well. Soa Zara tries to recreate their habitats by planting trees so that in case of more migrations of desperate lemurs, they could find peace and safety in their trees.
      After cleaning our hands, we had a little snack buffet, watching the sunset and ants stealing our popcorn. Then Jacob told us about yet another project he's starting at the moment. Currently, he's building a restaurant that will have the following benefits: For every drink bought there, a tree will be planted, and for every meal purchased, a school kid from Ranohira will get a meal, too. With that, he wants to help the poor school children that won't have breakfast nor lunch because both their parents gone, to get something into their stomach. The fathers are working on the fields, whereas their mothers go to the last remains of the river to wash clothes. So in that regard, he's also building a washing station in the village, so that the women won't have to go to the river and wait for their clothes to dry. When they can wash their clothes in the village, they'll be home more, so they can feed their children more and get to spend more time with them. This may help the children to study more easily and therefore better, which makes them more educated with better chances of having a better life. So, you see how many small things intertwine and connect to a huge amount of problems that need solving.
      I'm glad, that I could be a small part of a good project like this.
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    • Day 8

      Isalo Nationalpark

      April 13, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      In Ranohira startet unsere Tages-Wanderung in den Isalo Nationalpark. Dafür bezahlen wir für Eintritt, Steuer, Guide und Fahrer. Mit einem alten Poegeot 505 fahren wir zum Parkeingang. Die Strasse ist felsig, sandig, buckelig, schlammig und auch mal von einem bächlein getrennt. Erstaundlicherweise ist der Wagen gelendegängiger als gedacht und wir meistern es bis zum Eingang. Nach einem ersten kleinen Aufstieg zu Fuss, werden die Berggötter nach Erlaubnis unseres Besuchs gefragt, indem wir einen Stein auf einen Steinhaufen werfen. Rollt er runter, dürfen wir nicht weiter gehen. Glück gehabt, unser Stein bleibt auf dem Hauffen.
      Auf der Wanderung entdecken wir Insekten, Eidechsen, Chamäleons und Makis (Lemuren). Auch gingen wir in einer kleinen Oase baden und konnten uns abkühlen. Wir hatten einen sehr schönen Tag und lernten vieles über das Leben der Menschen und der Tiere auf der Insel dazu.
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    • Day 6

      Salut Vazaha

      August 22 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      Uf eusem Wäg nach Ranohira het sich Landschaft verändert. Grassavannelandschaft und Felsformatione präge d Gegend. Au wenn me meint me haltet Mitte im Niergendwo, isch me nid lang ellei. Vo allne Site chöme Kinder a grennt. "Salut Vazaha" ghöre mr do oft. S Kind finde spannend aber bättle au sehr oft.
      Für die nächste zwei Nächt sin Mr in me Bungalow in dr Isalo Ranch.
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    Ranohira Ville

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