Was going to be the last proper driving day with 4 hours to our destination close to the coast. Was an interesting last drive where we first passed a village close to a Sapphire mine - so you could see all the locals in the rivers panning for Sapphires and hoping they would be the lucky one. Heather had asked the day before whether we could do a stop at a Sapphire workshop - just to see the jewellery - so we did a short stop there to look at the things. Funny enough when we stopped and got out of the car - 2 guys independently noticed that I was wearing the Danish Football T-shirt and they both cheered for Denmark when I passed - so funny they recognised that. Was a lot of beautiful jewellery in the workshop and Heather was tempted to buy a beautiful necklace but ended up being sensible. Even if it might have been cheap compared to the Western world it was still over 300 Euros and none of us knew enough about Sapphires to know if it was a good price or not. On our way out of the Sapphire village we came across a normal car, which had something like 20 people inside - looked absolutely hilarious and how they managed to get all these people in there I have no idea.

Another interesting short stop was in a village where they brewed their own rum. However looking at how it was made I am not convinced that this would have been a healthy cocktail. As soon as we stopped the car - we got surrounded by people who wanted to sell us their rum filled in to Water bottles. Stayed in the car since the people were a bit too pushy but the driver borrowed a bottle for us so we could smell it - ugghhh - it was pretty disgusting and I am sure a bottle of that could easily make you blind - so none of us were tempted to try it. At the last stretch we stopped to take a few pictures of some very colourful tombs and a last picture of the much overloaded taxi-bus - that never failed to impress us with the amount of luggage and people it could carry.

Arrived at our accommodation for the night 'Auberge de la Table' around lunch time but before checking into our room it was time to sort out the tips for Lolo and say goodbye to him. Heather and Dan also had an old smartphone with them, which they gave to him as well since he only had a very old Nokia like phone - so he was very pleased to receive that. Otherwise it was quite an emotional goodbye since despite the language barriers we had grown really fond of Lolo and he was just such a kind man who had done everything for us the last 4 weeks - so both Heather and I said goodbye with tears in our eyes - really sad.

We were once more in a triple room tonight - but a big and beautiful hut in the forest. My stomach was not great today so I gave lunch a miss and only had something to drink to try and get things to settle a bit. Realised shortly after arrival that there was no television at this place, which was quite catastrophic for me since tonight was the Danish game and I was not going to miss this. The staff said they would talk to the owner - who had a television but turned out he was not willing to share that with us - so had no other option than to order a taxi into town for dinner and the match. In the afternoon there was the option of a self-guided walk in the Arboretum with a collection of 900 species of plants. First I was not really up for it - but ended up going anyway. However turned out to be a mosquito hell in there - so we more or less sprinted around all these plants and only took few pictures since it was unbearable to stand still and take pictures.

Had ordered the taxi for 6 PM, which took us to the restaurant "Le Jardin de Giancarlo" in the centre of Toliara. Was a really interesting place with lots of art work and actually nice to leave the hotel for once - since was a bit more atmosphere here. Luckily as promised they did have a television and even luckier - we got a table right in front of the television. The game Denmark-Peru was on at 7 PM and as promised to Heather and Dan I stood up and sang the Danish National Anthem for the whole restaurant, which at least the locals seem to enjoy. It has all been video recorded by Heather, who unfortunately stopped the video a little bit early so missed the 2nd part and the cheering from the restaurant, which was actually nice. Do not claim it was nice singing - but has to be done :-). Not an easy match but luckily Denmark managed to beat Peru 1-0 - so very pleased with that result and that we managed to see the match.

Bakuba Lodge - Sunday the 17th and Monday the 18th of June

We were going to finish 4 weeks in Madagascar with a real treat staying in the amazing Bakuba Lodge which is a real piece of art. Got picked up by a driver from Bakuba Lodge at 9 AM and turned out that the lodge was literally just 5 KMs down the road - so a lot closer than we thought. Absolutely stunning place and a unique house where a lot of the design has been inspired by Gaudí. Was welcomed by the owner's 4 dogs and the staff with a nice refreshing green drink and were then asked to choose which smell we wanted for our shampoo and soap in the room where we had 4-5 different ones to choose from. The rooms were just stunning and all of them a unique design and with terraces.

The next 2 days for me and 4 days for Heather and Dan (since they ended up extending it with an extra day) were all about luxury, relaxing and nice food since this was a real treat. Got to meet the owners as well from the Belgium Congo and they were extremely kind and helpful. As soon as the owner realised that we wanted to see the football he offered to put up his private television in the bar and also sort out the satellite channels so we were able to watch it - so a completely different service from the last place,

The only minor disappointment about this place was the beach - since it wasn't really a place where you could go for a swim - but then on the other hand we had a gorgeous pool at the site so went swimming there instead. Everything else here was also just perfect - the food was amazing and so well presented, breakfast got served on the balcony with a beautiful sea view every morning, cocktails were great, staff extremely friendly and couldn't do enough for you and the sunset was stunning and we could view it from the top of the lodge. In the evening when it got dark the staff also put up solar panel candles everywhere and offered you ponchos when it got a bit cold at night - so a very romantic place as well.

After 4 weeks travelling together it was time for me to go home and time for Heather and Dan to get ready for their next adventure. Had a final breakfast together at the beautiful balcony in Bakuba Lodge overlooking the sea - but at 10 AM it was time to say goodbye and once more Heather and I had tears in our eyes - since we just spent 4 great weeks together.

New Chapter - with Annette gone, it seemed very strange just for the two of us to be together and the only guests at Bakuba Lodge! Also, Heather now has to get back in to the habit of keeping a diary. We stayed an extra 2 nights then 2 internal flights back to the capital for an overnight stay and then our flight to the Seychelles. The end of a wonderful 4 weeks in Madagascar