Log> Lemurs galore

Goodbye Madagascar. It was fun. And productive. I found this charming little B&B called Country View Guest House between the dirtiness of the Antananarivo and the emptiness of the airport, in a quaint countryside location it's been a perfect place to unwind and gets some thoughts on paper. The guesthouse is highly recommended anyway - it's close enough to the airport and you get to experience the city too (if you really, really want to, up to you) and Ockie, the South African owner-operator is very knowledgeable and can organize any trips you might fancy. You can't miss him - he's the big guy running around in a Chuck Norris t-shirt. He also has a hotel on Ile St. Marie for a more rustic experience, and discussing the relative merits between Nosy Be (where I stayed for 5 days for diving) quite well convinced me that St. Marie could be a place to go. If one comes to Madagascar at all, that is.

The nature is beautiful, once you get to it - deforestation in all but the protected or almost inaccessible areas is massive. Logistics are terrible - the roads literally disappearing into dust at times. Granted, the flora and fauna have features not found anywhere else on Earth. But something about the local culture and the general vibe has felt quite inaccessible to me. It's a language thing partly, but partly a mentality thing as well. People are really laid back. Very relaxed indeed, but in a strange way I also got the feeling something was expected of me all the time but that nobody would or could verbalize it. Maybe it was all positive, but I got bothered every once in a while, not being used to attention. Uh, that sounded uncharacteristically humble of me, but true.

I'm loving the trip, though, with all my heart. And I got to see some Lemurs, oh yes. Very cute and curious.