4 hours off road drive to Bekopaka - 2nd June For the first time we could have a bit of a lie in since we were not heading off before 9 AM - but unfortunately this were not the place where you could easily have a lie in since a lot of activity started in town already at 5 AM and was not easy to just sleep through. We had 110 KM off road 4WD to Bekopaka ahead of us and it was indeed a very interesting journey where we also had to drive through some quite deep water - so good our car was equipped with a snorkel. The road is only accessible in the dry season between April - October otherwise it is not possible for tourists to get to this area. Arrived at our accommodation "Grand Hotel des Tsingy" for the next 3 days. The place got good reviews and was advertising a beautiful pool which we were really looking forward to since it was very hot here. However we were really unlucky - since they are doing a lot of refurbishing at the hotel for the moment and the pool was not going to be filled with water before next week - so a real shame. Met our guide Jimmy at 5 PM who is going to be with us for the next 2 days and who gave us a briefing about the program. The real highlights here are the National Park 'Tsingy de Bemaraha' and the Manambolo River, which we are going to spend the next couple of days to explore. Only Dan and I went for dinner tonight since Heather was still not feeling great. Decided to just eat at the hotel since the food was quite nice and wasn't a lot of other options close by. A quiet night with just a few drinks and where we only saw 2 other people eating at the hotel. Visit to Bemaraha National Park (Grand Tsingy) - 3rd June Today we had a 4 hours challenging walk/hike/climb ahead of us - so we were all 3 a bit curious to see how we would cope with this since none of us feel particular fit for the moment and both Heather and Dan have had some stomach issues - so their energy level was not great either. There was an option of doing a 6 hours or 4 hours walk but both challenging - so agreed to the 4 hours one so there was a bigger chance of all of us completing it - since there was no turning around when you are first out there. We headed off from the hotel at 7.30 AM and then had an hour drive to the 'Grand Tsingy' 17 KM north of Bekopaka but again on rough roads. When we got to the car park we were all 3 given harnesses to wear since on part of the route you have to clip on to cables and ladders as an extra security if you fall. Part of the route was also to go through narrow caves and crossing a rope bridge, which was definitely going to be a challenge for me since I am not keen on these bridges. Was indeed a challenging walk but also absolutely loved it because of the big variety on the route and it was just so interesting and different to everything else we have seen. Started the walk in the forest where we came across a few lemurs, some traditional tombs since local people get buried here and Dan tried out his Tarzan skills in a branch from a tree which looked like a rope. However the real highlight was to just see the Tsingy which is literally a huge area of limestone pinnacles, where you climb the 70 meters to the top and then walk at the top for a while to a few view points. I also managed the rope bridge (didn't have a choice really) but was happy when I got to the other side and that we only had to cross it once. On our way down we came to a cave which they named the Cathedral since it looks a bit like being in a Cathedral and here we sat down and had our sandwich for lunch, which we brought from the hotel. Was nice shade here because otherwise it was really hot and we were dripping with sweat also because of all the hard work. While eating we got company of a giant rat - but looked quite nice actually so not like a typical rat you see at home. On our final walk after lunch we came pass a white tree which was peeling. The guide made a joke and said it looks like a white person when he/she has got too much sun and the skin is falling off - so that made us laugh :-). Also saw a Sifaka when walking the final bit through the forest and this was the 2nd time we saw a lemur carrying a baby on the stomach but was a bigger baby than the one we saw the Indri-Indri carrying in the Palmarium Reserve. Had half a sandwich left when we got back to the car park and as soon as I took it out of my bag a few kids came running for it - so pleased that I could share some of my food with them - who definitely needs it more than me.

Got back to the Hotel at 2 PM - so had the rest of the day to relax. Heather and Dan basically crashed on their massive double bed while I did some washing, had a shower and then enjoyed a cold beer in the bar. Stupidly enough I didn't put any mosquito stuff on before going to the bar so had my ankles eaten alive - so stupid. Had decided today to try the restaurant at the neighbour hotel 'Tanankoay' just 5 minutes walk down the road since some Americans we have met a few times were raving about the place. However whereas the Americans had there driver literally taking them everywhere in the car - we insisted that Lolo shouldn't drive us - since we had our torches and could easily walk the 5 minutes - so he could have the evening off. Was a nice restaurant with a bit more atmosphere that the one at our hotel - but again communication was difficult. Tried to order 2 Gin with 1 Tonic - so first the waiter came with 2 Tonics no Gin, then she understood we only wanted 1 Tonic but still didn't bring the Gin - but finally 3rd time good luck and 2 glasses with Gin appeared with 1 bottle of Tonic - hurray. We all 3 had some chicken, pasta and vegetables for dinner which was the only thing on the menu really - but was barely any meat on the chicken so agreed that we thought the food at our hotel actually were better.

Visiting the Gorges of Manambolo River and walking in the Small Tsingy - 4th June

Both Heather and I woke up feeling our thighs - so clearly we had used some different muscles by all the climbing yesterday - that we are not using that often. Walked around a bit like 2 cowboys who had been s***ting their pants - so made us both laugh but we were pleased we didn't have another strenuous walk today. Got picked up at 8 AM by Lolo, collected our guide Jimmy in the nearby village and then continued the short drive down to Manambolo River. We started the morning with a very leisurely 1 ½ hours canoe trip down the river - where we got poled by a guy so didn't had to do any work ourselves. It was a beautiful stretch of the river where we could watch the locals working in and by the river. We were also surrounded by some great cliffs and several caves - so stopped to visit a few of them. Furthermore passed a traditional tomb for the area where you could just see some skulls and bones lying on the rocks - since they don't bury the people here - the bodies are just placed on the rocks.

After the canoe trip it was time to walk the Small Tsingy, which was as the word suggest a lot smaller than what we saw yesterday and also a lot easier even though it still included some climbing to 2 different view points but no harnesses needed this time. From the 2nd viewpoint we could see an old clay pot lying in between the pinnacles and the guide explained that this was a leftover from the past where the women would walk on top of the Tsingy barefoot - so they just walked on their toes. The word Tsingy also comes from another Malagasy word, which means walking on your tip toes - so all makes sense now. However how the woman could walk on the Tsingy barefoot I have no idea - since they are really sharp and I was struggling enough to walk on them with my boots on - so very impressed. Was only 1 ½ hours walk today and finished by a beautiful lake and through a traditional village where we watched the day-to-day life here with the woman drying the rice. When Lolo picked us up and started driving us back to the hotel - we could feel there was something wrong with the car since it was like it kept breaking. Luckily it was only a short drive today because 100 metres before our hotel the car stopped completely - but at that point we could easily walk back. Lolo said that it was just a small problem and he would get it fixed for the long drive tomorrow - so we trusted him on that.

The rest of the day we were free to relax - so could really have done with some water in that nice pool - but had to just settle for a long shower instead. Otherwise Heather and Dan both went for a lovely massage at the neighbour hotel where we had dinner last night and I got my entire luggage sorted and worked on the diary. Were eating at our hotel the final night and had a few drinks since Heather is now starting to feel a lot better and could fully join us tonight. Were only a few other guests at the hotel so we also spent part of the night making up a story about some of them. There was a white man and his Chinese woman staying at the hotel, which we decided must be a Russian spy and a Chinese CIA agent, who in the end got eaten by a lemur and a crocodile - so we do have a big fantasy but also had a real laugh about this.