Jan 20th, 2012 at 4:00PM: While many people may think of DreamWorks' animal cartoon movie when they hear about Madagascar, there are many reasons the destination warrants a visit in person. The country of Madagascar is actually a large island off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. Because of it's unique location and climate, the area is home to an array of interesting and colorful diving opportunities.
...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Madagascar posts
Exploring the marine life of Madagascar
Jan 20th, 2012 at 4:00PM: While many people may think of DreamWorks' animal cartoon movie when they hear about Madagascar, there are many reasons the destination warrants a visit in person. The country of Madagascar is actually a large island off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. Because of it's unique location and climate, the area is home to an array of interesting and colorful diving opportunities.
...10 breeds of pirate - Somalis to Vikings to Japanese Pirate Ninjas
Feb 21st, 2011 at 11:00AM:
A yacht carrying a quartet of Americans was recently seized by Somali pirates, the latest in a string of hijackings that reaches back millenia. According to MSNBC, the seized yacht, the "S/V Quest," is owned by Jean and Scott Adam - a couple on a worldwide quest distributing bibles. While they no doubt expected to spread the word far and wide, they were certainly not expecting to be boarded by ...East of Africa: Departure
Jan 22nd, 2010 at 10:30PM:
The boiling hot shower is streaked with trails of reddish-brown dirt that's been bonded to my skin for the past several days. I take a series deep breaths in the therapeutic warmth of the water, thankful to be back at the cozy, quiet, and hospitable Radama hotel.
The day's journey was a sudden reminder of just how dangerous a two-lane road winding through the hills of rural Madagascar can ...East of Africa: Rural Madagascar (Video)
Jan 13th, 2010 at 12:30PM:
Now that you've seen scenes from the capital city, Antananarivo - here are some final shots from the rural towns of Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, and Ilakaka. For more, catch all of the previous articles in the East of Africa series! ...
East of Africa: Scenes from Antananarivo (Video)
Jan 8th, 2010 at 9:00AM: As the East of Africa series wraps up, I want to bring you a small collection of video that I hope will bring the previous articles and audio clips to life. First up: faces and street scenes from the capital city, Antananarivo. Enjoy! ...
East of Africa: Sounds from the Red Island
Jan 5th, 2010 at 9:00AM: Belltowers can be heard from the top of a hillside on a warm Sunday morning in Antananarivo. After returning from Tuléar, I had a few remaining days in Antananarivo to explore the city and capture some additional photo and video. I've started getting in the habit of keeping an ear out for interesting sounds and pulling out my audio recorder to capture the moment. Below are a few ...East of Africa: Toliara (Tuléar)
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 8:30AM:
Our driver has a big smile on his face. He points ahead at the landscape which has become increasingly flat in the past hour or so. I follow his finger up to see the road dramatically disappearing into a vast, clear, blue horizon.
After two days and 1,000km, we've made it to Madagascar's southwestern coast - to the small, sleepy town of Toliara. ...East of Africa: Sapphire of Ilakaka
Dec 27th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
After hours of driving through untouched landscape, a speck of civilization appears on the horizon. It's a sizable town; modest in structure, but full of activity and commotion -even at a distance.
A patchwork of low-grade wooden structures stem from a single main road. Electrical wires criss cross each other in all directions, connecting small shanty homes with restaurants and makeshift ...East of Africa: the Road to Tuléar
Dec 22nd, 2009 at 1:00PM:
I sneak a glance at the side-view mirror to try and catch a reflection of my face; I'm trying hard to look at ease, but my tight grip on the door handle suggests otherwise. It certainly isn't the worst road I've been on in Africa, but it seems that our driver is intent on moving as fast as the laws of physics will allow; navigating hundreds of hairpin turns with haste so that we can get off the ...East of Africa: An island divided
Dec 14th, 2009 at 12:30PM:
We're at a small, roadside cafe - a room that consists of a few wooden planks slung together to form a humble dining area. Our server is a loud, jovial woman in her fifties and seems particularly excited to have a vazaa in her restaurant. She enthusiastically brings out six plates of over-saturated rice and sets them down on a cheap plastic tablecloth. I reach for the aluminum fork in front of ...East of Africa: ToughStuff (w/ video)
Dec 11th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
The idea for ToughStuff came to Adriaan on a trip to his home in the Netherlands, between stints of working with charities and NGO's in Africa for fifteen years.
He was in the garden, inspecting a cheap outdoor lamp that had solar panels built in to the top of the plastic. The light would automatically recharge a set of internal batteries during the day, and have enough power to stay ...East of Africa: City of the Thousand
Dec 7th, 2009 at 9:30AM:
In Antananarivo, the French colonial influence is everywhere: spired churches sit atop the city's prominent hills. Pretty jacaranda trees line Lake Anosy, which wraps around a war memorial statue in the center of the water.
A large defunct train station sits negelected at the end of a wide boulevard. The sign below the grand clock spells the city's old French name: "Tananarive". Horse-drawn ...East of Africa: Arrival
Dec 3rd, 2009 at 9:00AM:
Adriaan and I are barreling down a small cobblestone street in a dusty 4x4. Several people narrowly miss the car's bull bars as they dash across the road, yet hardly flinch when we brush past them. I look out into the mass of people; skin tones are a mix of brown and black. Moderately well dressed people walk next to beggars with torn shirts.
The market we're passing feels as crowded and ...Madagascar: East of Africa
Nov 30th, 2009 at 10:00AM:
I have this habit of never preparing adequately for trips. The tickets get booked, the bags get packed at the last moment, and I suddenly find myself about to touch down in a foreign place.
When I found out I was going to Madagascar for work, I did some brief Wikipedia and Wikitravel skimming: fourth largest island in the world...lots of plants and animals...used to be a French ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Zanzibar
Jun 22nd, 2009 at 10:00AM: After the Perfume River in Hoi An and the souks of Marrakech, Zanzibar rounds out the trio of 'most-exotic' places on the globe that I've long wanted to spend not days, but weeks. While these are very real places - crowded, often hot, occasionally dirty – they have each set themselves up in my mind, mostly through books, as mysterious, romantic. Now I've officially spent time in each. ...French Airline signs deal for 840 passenger A380 superjumbo
Jan 16th, 2009 at 3:00PM: Airlines placing an order for new planes is normally not really newsworthy, but a memorandum of understanding signed yesterday between French airline Air Austral and Airbus for 2 A380's is something special. Air Austral will be the first airline to order the A380 with seating designed to its fullest capacity. That means a whopping 840 passengers spread out between the double decks of this ...Woman smuggled monkey into the U.S. from Thailand under her shirt
Dec 11th, 2008 at 11:00AM: Not long ago,a woman was arrested in New Zealand for trying to smuggle three banana plants in her underwear. Here's another smuggling story, but this woman almost got away with it.
In November 2007, the woman, looking to make money, smuggled a rhesus monkey into the U.S. from Thailand. She wasn't arrested right then. Instead, she breezed right through U.S. customs without anyone noticing that ...Talking travel with Patricia Schultz, author of "1000 Places to See" (part 2, plus book giveaway)
Jun 27th, 2008 at 9:00AM: Patricia Schultz is a well-traveled woman. She single-handedly launched the mini-industry of travel list books with her 2003 #1 New York Times bestseller, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List (Workman), which has sold more than 2.8 million copies and translated into 28 languages. Since then, she's written a sequel, 1,000 Places to see in the USA and Canada Before You Die, ...Cyclone Ivan and Madagascar
Feb 23rd, 2008 at 10:00AM: The Island of Madagascar, east of Africa, has been hit pretty hard by Cyclone Ivan. Madagascar has been a popular traveler's destination due to its natural beauty and unique wildlife. The fourth largest island in the world, Madagascar is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species.
Cyclone Ivan made landfall on the island Februrary 18th, and 28 deaths have already been confirmed. The death ...Tropical Sunsets
Nov 17th, 2006 at 12:00PM: As the days keep getting shorter and colder here in Prague, I find myself thinking more and more about travel to the tropics. And, of course, one of the best reasons to visit the tropics is to watch the sunset, lying in a hammock next to a loved one, with drink in hand. Now, sunsets in Prague are nothing to sneeze at, with the rosy light settling on the beautiful buildings, but it's hard to beat ...
