African Safari Update - July 2024
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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Madagascar for me, has been an on and off love affair. Mostly of the long distance kind but always smoldering just below the surface. Just an image, a song or a thought away from being back where it all began in 1999. It was infatuation at first sight when I saw my first ring-tailed lemur at Berenty that many years ago. Infatuation comes easily with lemurs, adorable creatures that they are. Lemurs first. Then birds. Now? Anything and everything Madagascar. The romance endures.
There have been a few ups and downs along the way, of course. Actually several of them. Bad roads, an awful domestic airline, detestable charcoal burning, inexorable habitat loss - the list is all too long. The harsh realities of this poverty stricken, chronically mismanaged and largely sidelined country will test even the strongest of relationships. Despite all of this, Madagascar and I are still very much an item, I'm happy to say.
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so naturally the anticipation was at a fever pitch when Kathy and I made it back to the red island in late June. Was Madagascar still going to make my pulse race just a little bit? Make my heart skip a beat or two? Of course it was. All it took was one good view of an indri in my binocs at Andasibe to run back the clock, as if it were the very first time. Just one good photograph of an indri mother and baby and the two of us were together again, hearts beating as one.
Madagascar is a strange, wonderful and at times mildly to moderately maddening country. Which I've written about in a couple of blog posts before: here and here.
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This time around the experience was no less thrilling, no less absorbing and certainly no less fulfilling than before. To be sure, several of our accommodations along the way were a step up from previous visits. A visit to what was planned to be the grande finale of our Madagascar trip - Miavana - was canceled due to cyclone related damage. Which was disappointing but ultimately didn't really matter as Time and Tide arranged an inspection trip to Miavana by helicopter. Just for the two of us. Did that visit and that place make me an even bigger Madagascar aficionado? You bet it did!
Until this trip, I had some reservations about recommending travel to Madagascar due to infrastructure and transportation issues. While the issues haven’t disappeared, we have now identified several Madagascar trip options which involve limited road and commercial air travel. With convenient and reliable service on Airlink from Johannesburg to Antananarivo and Nosy Be, and now also Emirates four times a week from Dubai, we see a lot of potential for increasing tourism to this fascinating destination.
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In a matter of 16 days we visited some spectacular places such as Manjarano Lodge in Andasibe, Anjajavy on the west coast and Tsara Komba in the north. We observed more than 10 different species of lemurs, over 60 bird species and an amazing array of other organisms including some very special chameleons (from tiny to massive), giant tortoises and a truly dazzling array of fish on a snorkeling outing at Nosy Tanikely. We did it all: met the people, tried the food, swam the ocean, climbed the hills, hiked the forests, snorkeled the reefs. And bought the vanilla.
Read more about it in our Madagascar blog below or directly on our website here. If this newsletter piques your interest in a visit, please call our Houston office at 1-800-513-5222 or email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com.
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MADAGASCAR EAST, WEST & NORTH
Where does one even start with Madagascar? If it were a perfect world, this Texas-size island in the Indian Ocean would be the perfect tourism destination. Fascinating beyond belief with an incredible array of endemic lemurs, baobabs, birds, chameleons, other plant species and more. Beguiling people with babies and young children to be seen literally everywhere. There are gorgeous beaches, world-class diving and snorkeling, some incredibly good food, bird-watching, hiking and cultural experiences. The country is a photographer’s paradise. Also, Madagascar is inexpensive by almost any standard...
Learn more about our Madagascar adventures on our blog.
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ANJAJAVY LE LODGE - WESTERN MADAGASCAR
I first became aware of Anjajavy some years ago at a travel industry event in Cape Town and a visit to the resort had slowly percolated to the top of our ‘must-visit’ list. Reflecting upon our all too short visit there, I regret that we had not made it to Anjajavy sooner. It is a jewel of a spot, as good as it gets on many levels starting with location (remote and isolated), setting (gorgeous) and hospitality in the wider sense, reflecting service, food and ambiance. All impeccable. Anjajavy is pronounced just like it is written, but the last ‘y’ letter is silent. So if you say it like ‘an-jah-JAHV’ you will sound just like a local. Or close...
Read more about Anjajavy Le Lodge on our blog.
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LYNDON VISITS MATUSADONA NATIONAL PARK, LAKE KARIBA
Visitors from North America rarely make it to either Lake Kariba or Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe, which is too bad. Combined with Victoria Falls and either Hwange or Mana Pools, Lake Kariba adds yet another layer of diversity to the already absorbing Zimbabwean experience. Boat safaris, tiger fishing, lake cruises, foot safaris, birdwatching and now even a sleepout on a luxury yacht will keep you occupied and will provide a nice change of pace from game drives.
Visit our blog to see what Lyndon thought of Lake Kariba and Matusadona National Park, including Bumi Hills Lodge and Changa Camp.
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BERT & KATHY IN SEDGEFIELD, SOUTH AFRICA
Kathy and I are spending our second (US) summer in a winter climate, in a rather chilly rented house just across the street from a large coastal dune on the edge of the Indian Ocean in Sedgefield, a quiet town in South Africa’s Garden Route area in the southern Cape. We will be here until late August, before returning to the US via Kenya where we will be spending a few days in what we hope will be a warmer setting in Diani Beach.
En route to our satellite office here in South Africa we made a couple of side trips to Kenya and Tanzania and subsequently to Madagascar. In early August we will check out another couple of beach resorts on the coast of Mozambique in the Vilanculos area, with perhaps a quick trip to Botswana thrown in.
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Meanwhile we are enjoying spending some time with family (my 96-year old mother lives in the town with my sister and brother-in-law), doing some local sightseeing and exploring the surrounding hills on foot and by bike. The ocean itself is a tad too cold for us but pleasant enough for a stroll. Despite the South African Rand having strengthened somewhat lately, relative to the US Dollar, almost everything for sale here (notably food and beverages) is cheap by US standards. Our favorite venue is the Saturday morning organic market where we already have a pretty long list of old and new ‘favorites’ including a local version of breakfast crepes, dried peaches, Johan Muller’s fynbos honey, fruit cake, aniseed rusks (the local version of biscotti), olive bread sticks, locally made tofu, protea flower arrangements, and organic fruit and produce. Kathy is particularly fond of the local tangerines.
While we may not be spending quite as much time as usual ‘in the office’, we are pretty much available any time, so do reach out by email to bert@fisheaglesafaris.com or kathy@fisheaglesafaris.com if you are thinking about heading to any of the destinations we cover. Of course, if you are already here or will soon be traveling to Southern or East Africa, we will be in the same or close to the same time zone. All the better to communicate with in real time.
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