After saying goodbye to all who attended the International Palm Society’s annual board meeting, it was time to get on a plane and fly back to Antananarivo and start my journey south. Ten days in the rainforest and it was time for a drastic change of scenery. My destination? Mount Ibity—just outside the second largest…
The first part of my month-long trip through Madagascar was spent around Andasibe. I’ve blogged about those four days over the last few weeks here. The second stop of the ten key areas I would visit was to Sainte Marie Island (now known as Nosy Boraha) for the annual Board of Director’s meeting for a non-profit organization I serve on….
My four-day visit to Andasibe was coming to a close. Before the three-hour drive back to Antananarivo to meet up with friends and make a flight to Sainte Marie Isand, I had one more opportunity to trek through the rainforest. This time it would be at the seldom toured Vohimana Reserve—only 12 km east of Andasibe Village down RN2. The Vohimana…
After an amazing visit in the Mantadia National Park the day prior, I awoke early to the sounds of the Common Brown Lemur (Eulemur fulvus) walking outside my bungalow at the Hotel Mikado. What a great way to start my Maromizaha Reserve adventure. I had arrived at the Hotel Mikado at night, so I didn’t see this Dypsis ‘Black Stem’ out…
After a full day of touring the Analamazaotra and Mitsinjo Reserves the day prior, and a good night’s rest at the Vakona Forest Lodge, I was ready to visit the much larger Mantadia National Park. Mantadia National Park and the Analamazaotra Reserve were once one large entity many years ago. Sadly, private logging and slash-and-burn agriculture have since divided the two….
It only took one day in the capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo, before I was antsy and wanting to get away from the traffic and crowds. I was ready to start my month-long adventure of living off the beaten track. My first stop of the ten key areas of Madagascar I planned to visit was to Andasibe and its surrounding…
Thanks to the creative requirements that using airline points can produce, my trip to Madagascar involved flying Delta there and Air France back. This gave me the opportunity to spend two full days in Johannesburg, South Arica, as I waited for my connecting flight to Madagascar. The first day would be spent visiting the Apartheid Museum, the Mandela House…
It shouldn’t come as any surprise to those who frequent my blog that I am an avid grower of tropical hibiscus. Not only do I cultivate the many cultivars that have been created by hybridizers, I have even started growing my own hybrids with the goal of finding one beautiful enough to name. The jury is still…