Today we leave Madagascar so I thought I would do a summary of our experience. Madagascar is a five star wildlife experience and a real education for those wanting to see and understand a different way of life. Madagascar is the 4th largest island so an enormous country; there are 18 tribes and much of their daily lives are governed by ritual and traditions or fady. The national parks are excellent but really are natural islands in a large country which has be...

Well we survived the night of toxicity from the insect killer albeit the floor was littered with dead bugs that didn't - importantly I suppose we were bite free. Travel day today - 5.30 am we had continental breakfast overlooking the pool and then off to the airport at 6.15am. Whenever the staff see bags they descend on them - I have decided they are equivalent to ATMs as transferring them equals tips ......today 2 guys took our bags the short distance from grou...

Today we again left early to beat the heat of the day. This time we headed west towards Toliara, our final stop on the southern part of the trip before heading back to Antananarivo and our final night in Madagascar. Not long after leaving Isalo we went through several boom towns - they have grown up in the last 15 -20 years as a result of finds of sapphires and gold. Indeed we saw lots of people working in the river bed and more again queuing to sell what they h...

Today we were up early so we could leave by 7.15 to ensure we were not doing all our walking in the heat of the day. Today was hiking, landscapes, views and a little wildlife. Sadly due to a canyon fire a couple of years ago all but two of the Verreauxs sifakas have moved further into the park which is an inaccessible place for visitors......we didn't see either but hopefully we will see them tomorrow at our final stop in Zombitsie. We collected our guide, a ma...

Today was a travel day - another 8 hours - but very different scenery particularly when we went passed the mountains that are called the gateway to the south - I was actually asleep as we went past them but I did photograph them from a far! We left the winding mountain roads for much straighter roads that cut through rolling savannah grasslands. There was evidence of burning to stimulate the growth of green grass on which the zebu graze. Indeed we passed several ...