Chris and Nik Trek Madagascar for WaterAid

To add a pdf to a blog you use the add media option. You can add this a couple of ways depending on your version of WordPress. Use the blue button with a white plus sign to add a new section. Choose File (near the bottom of the list of options). Use Upload if you haven’t already uploaded it or choose from your Media Library if you have already added it.

The journey started in Fianarantsoa which had been our base since the fire. After breakfast we said an emotional farewell to the final Malagasy guides and chefs who were still with us. This included Fidelis who had lead the fire fighting up on the mountain and who was central to saving our lives.

The first part of the journey was in 4x4s. We were going to be spending a lot of time in vehicles over the next two days and so important that we used the time productively…to get our blogs together, sort our thoughts or to soak in the culture and scenery….but instead we played Keith Lemon’s Don’t Show Keith Your Teeth game. For those unfamiliar you go through the alphabet on a chosen theme but have to put your lips over your teeth for the whole game. If you show your teeth or get a wrong or repeat answer you’re out. Not sure Dr Will got the rules. When we were on an animal themed round he had to name an animal starting with P and went for…Paracetamol. What do they teach in medical school these days! Later we shifted to more comfortable minibuses and things shifted from Keiths to sleeps as we both dozed on and off during the trip.

The wet season was starting and the weather was definitely taking a turn for the worse. The glorious sunshine of the day before had turned to rain.

We drove through past endless rice fields and through many small villages. The landscape was more green than the orange of Antananarivo. It was fascinating to see the local way of life. Whilst people can buy hand crafted clothing, many prefer cheaper western clothing which is sold second hand on the street. There were many Hotely signs (local cheap restaurant not hotel-ish places) and stalls selling mobile phone top ups or lighters.

There were also butchers that at first seemed very odd. They were essentially wooden kiosks with meat on a wooden counter with people behind brushing the air (usually unsuccessfully) to keep the flies off.

---

We found out that hardly anyone in Madagascar uses refrigeration and so the meat is fresh and bought to be used that day. Only the big restaurants or hotels really use fridges.

We stopped for lunch and for many of us it was the first time we had had phone signal or Wi-fi since the fire. Straight after it had happened we had been desperate to call home but now a few days on our feelings were more mixed as we were unsure of what to say especially as we were safe and didn’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily.

The night was spent in Ambositra at L’Artisan hotel where we had had lunch at a week earlier and watched traditional dancing. After a few THB beers we decided to leave the group for an early night. Some of the group had planned to go searching for local bars but had been told by the hotel staff that they couldn’t go out of the hotel complex because of ‘gangsters’. So ended up being an early night for all.

The next morning we had some breakfast and then headed into Ambositra (the gangsters must have been sleeping) for some shopping time. There were many shops selling local handmade products particularly wooden items and Marqueterie. There were some amazing globes and world maps all made from intricate hand carved pieces of different coloured woods assembled like a jigsaw. Amazing but too large to carry back home!

A group of western tourists attracted a lot of attention and groups of locals followed the group around trying to sell scarves or rickshaw rides. One of our group Nicky attracted a lot of attention and acquired a fan club as they attempted to haggle calling him back by name every time he walked away. Nicky also negotiated a rickshaw ride but with the rickshaw driver as passenger!

After another long drive we stopped for lunch…and it was pizza!!!! You would think it had been years since we had last seen a pizza given the excitement in the room.

We stopped a few times to see other local crafts including watching miniature bicycles being made from recycled objects (wheel rims from old Coke cans soldered over a candle, tyres from thin plastic tubing). We saw objects (including teaspoons) being made from zebu horn and intricate embroidery of lemurs and Malagasy life.

We arrived into Antsirabe and headed out for our celebration meal. For the rest of the group this was their last night as the following evening they would head to the airport to catch their plane home.

The meal included an award ceremony where a few of the group were picked out for fun achievements over the trip. Nik was awarded the ‘Strong as a Zebu’ award for powering on even when she was completely wiped with illness.

Nik in true die hard fancy dress style had come prepared with a ‘WaterAid-blue’ wig which was soon passed amongst the group. I think Fano suited it the most…less Mr T and more Pokemon.

The sensible ones (including Nik)  went to bed….others went to a local club. Memories are a bit blurred but managed to pick up a (still) lingering leg injury attempting to limbo and recreate the King of the World Titanic pose (although not at the same time)!

Fun night!

It was a relief to be in camp and to know we were safe and had access to hot water and toilets. There was even a swimming pool….it was coated with slimey algae on the bottom but it was still a swimming pool. After a morning shower I was drying whilst looking at the pool with the cool water reflecting the amazing mountain around us and so couldn’t help getting in for a few lengths….it was so refreshing although I did need another quick shower.

 

After breakfast it was time to say our thanks and goodbyes to many of the porters who had been with us on the trek and had saved our lives 2 days before. Some of our group gave speeches and the porters in turn wanted to say a few words in return, thanking us for staying together during the fire.  The speeches ended with singing and dancing. It was a very emotional but uplifting start to the day.

 

 

We were getting used to early mornings and with the swim, breakfast and speeches we had already been up a few hours but it was still only around 7am. There were a few options on the table for the day. Most of the group opted to take a further trek up to Chameleon rock….which was a huge mountain overlooking the camp that looked like a chameleon…complete with rocks in the shape of chameleon’s distinctive eyes. (Did you know that chameleons eyes can rotate their eyes so they can see from many angles and even use their two eyes to look in opposite directions!)

Anyway, we didn’t do that. Nik was still not feeling great and there was another option on the cards that was much more tempting…..lemurs!

Those of you who followed our fundraising over the last year would have seen that lemurs played a big part. We raffled 3 separate toy ring tailed lemurs and Nik’s Mum made King Julien style headdresses. We even took one of the toy lemurs to Scotland in the summer as part of our walking training….just to get used to being around them. Lemurs had become so much a part of life that even our cat Violet was making friends.

 

Basically, seeing lemurs especially the ring tails was one of the things we had been most looking forward to and this was a chance to see them in the wild.

The main group headed off up the mountain and a smaller group of 5 of us went with our guide into the forest around camp. We were on full lemur alert looking at any movement in the trees hoping to catch even the briefest glance or snatch a blurry photo….

…..and then suddenly there they were. Dozens of them. Families, babies…and one very accommodating model Julien striking a pose in front of the mountain.

 

It was more than we could have hoped for. They were running around us seemingly totally unfazed by humans.

 

We headed into the forest. Around us were geckos, chameleons, brightly coloured and noisily singing birds, giant grasshoppers and kites soaring overhead.

 

We saw weird ants’ nests, huge spider nests and giant orchids. We clambered through caves and onto stone ledges given us amazing views of the rock massif above and valley below.

 

We even watched our guide make a rope in minutes in front of us from the leaf of an Aloe plant.

 

After all of the adrenaline of the last couple of days this was a different kind of excitement and very much needed. An amazing morning.

Our walk ended with a visit to the nearby village. There was a wooden shack of a bar, a zebu car park(!), the village shared toilet block and Malagasy children in football tops…including one that looked suspiciously like a Sheffield Wednesday kit! We bought some jumbo sized bottles of Coke from a small wooden store and headed back up hill to camp past a football pitch that was going to be used for the weekly match between local villages.

 

We had a lazy lunch by the pool and a chilled afternoon. There were other people staying at the lodges at the campsite and we got talking to a Dutch couple who had climbed Pic Bobby a couple of days earlier. When we shared our story and showed them the pictures of the fire they were shocked. It was emotional to see reactions of people who knew the base camp and understood how close we had come.

Whilst we were relaxing by the pool we saw a couple of young Malagasy men bring out a huge telescope. We were intrigued and then a little worried, They seemed to be looking through the lens and then looking at each other with serious expressions. They didn’t seem pleased. We thought that maybe there was another fire and so went over to find out more. We need not have worried. They were just watching the local football match and their team was losing! The game went on for hours and seemed to be around 20-a- side.

As the evening drew in the dying sunlight hit the top of Chameleon rock and illuminated the top turning the Chameleon a vibrant gold colour.

That night we had a fantastic meal and final night in Andringitra. The cooks had prepared a full spit roasted lamb. Nik was finally able to eat (although still too poorly for cold beers). The locals had also arranged some music and were playing local and western songs….it took us a while to get the running joke after they played ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Staying Alive’…..they didn’t go quite as far as ‘Disco Inferno’.

The night ended with Will, our group medic and resident Doc Rock accompanied by our resident photographer and Fire hero Al playing the guitar and a rousing sing a long. We belted out everything from Oasis to Cat Stevens. Singing our hearts out in a campsite under the stars with great new friends was a memory we willl never forget.

Still no ‘Disco Inferno’ though!

Well, that was a strange night. After the fire we experienced a whole load of different emotions from stunned silences, to euphoria that we were all okay, to action as we moved the pots and food supplies to the safe patch of grass. Amazingly within a short space of time the porters had erected tents and the cooks were prepping food. The fires were still burning in the mountains around us flooding the skies orange. One of the group, Christine led a group meditation which helped to calm and focus us all. It was a special moment sat in a circle together with the land smouldering around us.

Once again a huge meal seemed to appear from nowhere and as we ate the locals who had only an hour or so ago had saved our lives were singing and playing music. With the drums, singing, celebration and fire I couldn’t help think of the end of The Return of the Jedi (the version that didn’t have Hayden Christensen in though, obviously).

The difficult decision had to be made to abandon the trek to the top of Pic Boby and instead leave at first light to walk back out of the National Park to safety. This would be the trek that had been planned for us to do over the next 2 days…but we would now do in a day.

None of us really felt like sleep and with some trepidation about the fire returning many of us decided to stick together in the main communal tent creating a sleepover atmosphere…with the accompanying farting and snoring. We had come a long way from the strangers making small talk at Heathrow less than a week before.

We didn’t sleep much… we awoke around 4:30….when Nik and I took a joint trip to the toilet. Still don’t know how she managed to deal with everything the day before given how ill she had been. Incidentally it is much harder to go to toilet behind a bush when all of the bushes have burned away.

After a quick breakfast we headed off. It was very strange walking through an alien landscape of scorched earth. The black, charred terrain stretched for miles in all directions. The macabre sights of the occasional incinerated rat or gecko with missing  or burnt limbs brought the devastation to all life in the area and how lucky we had been.

The trek took us through some amazing rocks with some impressive views. Conversations flowed to keep us going flipping from subject to subject. We spent a long time discussing best gigs we’d been to. There were some great stories Nicky’s Springsteen and the mob story was a winner although bonus points for Helen.. After saying she hadn’t been to many gigs other than local pub bands she casually threw out that she’d seen Queen as a teenager..and partied into the night with Freddy and the band after the gig. Flash!

The route out of the park was actually really well signed with blue arrows pointing the way…something we had struggled with on UK mountains. Even the devastated and isolated Malagasy massive is better signposted than Snowdon.

We thought we were making pretty good time with an impressive pace.until the porters one by one trotted past us carring huge bags, equipment and live chickens….barefoot (the porters not the chickens)

The route eventually took us into unburnt territory with grass and some more amazing wildlife. There were huge colourful grasshoppers  that looked like a child’s crayon drawing of a giant insect.

After 10 hours and over 43,000 steps we made it out of the camp. We had a truck come to pick us up to make the final part of the journey to our camp site.

We had only been away from basic plumbing for a few days but it had been so intense and eventful that the camp felt like unbelievable luxury.

There were flushing toilets to be used, cold beers to be drunk…and much, much Elvis to be sung.

We needed it after too much Burning Love as feeling All Shook Up but that One Night will be Always on my Mind.

This blog’s a solo effort – Nik shares her experience of what was for her one of the toughest days she’s experienced.

In the last blog we’d arrived at the first campsite, at the end of the first day of trekking. Just three days since we’d left Blighty and, as predicted, despite the good hygiene practices and not sharing our snacks, a few of the team mates had been got by the dreaded travellers’ sickness bug. I, on the other hand, was feeling fighting fit and pleased to have started the walking part of the trip. I was feeling excited about the adventures ahead and ready to blitz my fears.

My two biggest fears about the trek were sleep deprivation and getting sick. But I was also a little apprehensive about the idea of camping out with all the exotic creepy crawlies. Especially after our unwanted visitation from scorpions and cockroaches at our comfy hotels! However, I was pleasantly distracted by the sight of what looked like mattresses piled up in the middle of the camp. And even more elated when we were  invited to take one each for our tents. Perhaps sleep deprivation will be off the cards completely 🙂

Once settled into camp, the lovely Kristine ran a yoga class for us. It was a fantastic way of stretching and chilling out and I felt fantastic afterwards. All was good in camp.

The apperitifs came out, the banter resumed and we all watched with interest at the bush fires far away on the mountainside – seeing them come to life, then the embers fade away.

I still really don’t understand what happened next, but I quickly went from being in a very relaxed state to getting a nagging feeling of nausea at the pit of my stomach. Birthday celebrations for one of our camp mates, Jade, were kicking off in the big tent with balloons, cakes and candles. I was gutted to miss it but thought it best to get in my pj’s, get some rest on my lovely mattress and hope I felt better the next day.

Moments later I dashed out the tent and ran towards the toilet area, a sudden burst of vomit violently exploding from the depth of my guts. Thinking that was all that was needed, I returned to the tent to get some shut eye. A short while later the erruptive feeling returned and I had to get myself out the tent ASAP. This time I only just made it through the (silent) zips and deposited on the tent door step!

After cleaning up I’m sure I felt much better, so back to bed to get some rest for the big ascent tomorrow. Sadly the rest of the night and morning was spent in and out of the tent, emptying from both ends. Our lovely leader, Helen, came out to check on me and gave me her tent mat so I could sit and recover away from the stinking toilet area, in between bursts, knowing that going back to the tent wasn’t an option.

It’s funny how at that point I really didn’t give a monkeys about any creepy crawlies deciding to join me on the mat. I just wanted this feeling of sickness to go away. I’m sure all my camp mates did too, as I must have disturbed their sleep with my incessant honking – which some of you know sounds just like a velociraptor on a loud speaker system!

I even got used to the squat toilet during my ordeal – well I certainly got plenty of practice!!!

I was surprised to find myself waking up at dawn, back in the tent. Finally the nauseous feeling had abated and I was so relieved, like I had a new lease of life.

As the rest of the camp awoke others were clearly suffering in the same way, so there was plenty of company at the toilets. There was breakfast but my appetite was completely shot and my mouth was so dry it was futile trying to eat anything.

The plan for the early morning was  a walk to see some waterfalls. I was feeling really weak but didn’t want to miss out. The walk was tough, the heat was ramping up and it was frustrating after all of my training that I wasn’t able to keep the pace, especially with the constant dashes into the bushes.

We visited the King and Queen waterfalls. The Queen was the only one actually falling as the King was currently dry. Apparently during the rainy season the King waterfall is majestic. The waters are regarded as sacred and locals believe swimming in the water will help infertile couples to conceive.

It was definitely worth the effort (to see the waterfall, obviously not to swim in the river!). On the way back Chris walked with me and provided cover for the many toilet stops, which meant we were last back into camp. It took every effort to just keep moving forward and that was just the start of the day.

The rest of the day was a long trek to the base camp for a Pic Boby. It was a scorchio day and a long, steep climb. I was feeling drained but determined to get through it. There were several other members of the group suffering with illness and so we stuck together at the back and the amazing guides helped by offering to carry my day bag.

The ascent was relentless and I was really struggling. As long as I took regular breaks though I was able to push through, Thankfully there were often stops as the guides would point out an amazing plant or animal. A real highlight was a close up and personal encounter with a chameleon, which put a big cheesy grin on my face.

Once we reached the plateau things were easier but I was still struggling. I told Chris to go on ahead as I had good support from the other poorly crew. We stopped for lunch at a small water spot. Chris and others went for a swim and a wash but I couldn’t risk going in, or eating much as everything was going straight through me.

The afternoon was a walk through amazing scenery as we worked our way to base camp. After a few hours we could see the camp ahead but that final trek was very tough for me. I had to pull on every reserve to keep going and it was so frustrating having to stop and get the energy and grit to keep going,

We eventually made it and I headed straight to the tent to crash out, too exhausted to even find the energy to get to the camp toilet.

The plan was to have a rest for a few hours before setting off at 2 am to climb to the top of Pic Boby to watch the sun rise. I was exhausted – even zebus need to sleep!

The trek had been amazing but I felt wiped and as I nodded off I thought that this was definitely the most difficult day of the trip.

Little was I to know what was to come.

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously the focus for us for this trip was to raise money for WaterAid projects in Madagascar to help people in poverty to access clean water and improve their health and hygiene… however we’d be lying if there wasn’t another pull..the wildlife.

Madagascar is so rich in biodiversity and so the chance to get up and close with the many unique species that live on the island was a huge bonus.

Our guides had arranged a nature night walk on the border of Ranomafana National park and so our first chance to see these amazing animals up close.

We were split into smaller groups and our local wildlife guide rubbed some banana on to a tree. Slowly we started to see movement in the dark and a small mouse lemur appeared searching out the fruit. It was hard to see but our first lemur spot! Little did we know just how many lemurs we would end up seeing and promise.. the photos get better..much better.

There followed a walk stopping every few metres to see frogs, geckos and some amazing chameleons.

The next day we went into the main part of the Ranomafana National park. We saw golden bamboo lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs as well as many birds including a very moody looking owl.

Here are some video clips showing the lemurs in action.

The high/ lowlight of the day (depending on your sense of humour) was the moment when we were all staring up at a lemur just as it decided it was lemur loo time. The warning of ‘He’s having a poo’ wasn’t quick enough and splat! Our group was hit with hard pellets followed by a warm brown liquid. Michelle in our group got the worst of it (Pootle got poopled) getting a face full but Nik got a good wallop too. It’s probably a sign of good luck, right?

The wildlife didn’t end there. That night we had to escort a scorpion and a cockroach out of our hotel room and share the breakfast table with a very small but bright green lizard and lunch with a rather meaty looking beetle.

In the coming days we were to see so much more but this was a great couple of early days for wildlife spotting.

There was ahem….a different kind of wildlife in the night between these two visits as after another hearty carb heavy meal of rice and chips we headed out with some of the group to a local bar. Bar, might be putting it a bit strongly. Malagasy villages don’t have much we would recognise in the UK as a shop or bar. These are more like wooden shacks where locals drink or get a meal (we learned that the many wooden buildings called Hotely weren’t actually hotels but places where locals can go for a fixed low price meal). We found one such bar a few hundred yards from the hotel and ordered a round of Three Horses Beers (and later a sneaky shot of rum).

One of the local shop/ stall owners was closing up and had a small speaker playing Malagasy music. It had a vague Christmas carol feel to it and this inspired us to start singing Christmas songs. In fact we borrowed the speaker and plugged in the phone to play a selection of Christmas 80’s classics to the locals. I think they were very appreciative of the Last Christmas and Fairytale of New York singalongs. Our guides and group mates danced and jived in the streets and the bar was happy to keep us in rum and THBs.

Can’t beat a bit of eighties…can’t believe we didn’t do Karma Chameleon though!

So the adventure finally started.

We were to meet with the rest of our group outside of Cafe Nero at Heathrow Terminal 4…trouble was we had only met a couple of them before and so like a blind date we were looking for anyone who looked like a trekker scanning for over-sized rucksacks, poles or a whiff of Kendall mint cake. Gradually we found all 19 of our group, all reassuringly normal and the bonding started. In keeping with the first date theme there was plenty of excitable small talk…how much training did you do? how did you fundraise? Did you travel far? The big relief was how friendly and funny everyone seemed. This was going to be fun!

We left Heathrow for our 8 and a half hour flight to Nairobi followed by a lovely 6 hours 20 mins wait at Nairobi airport and finally a 3 hour 20 min hop to Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. It was early afternoon when we arrived and so the sun was shining but what struck us most was how orange and red everything was. The soil, the rivers..even the light had an orangey tinge.

We met our guides Zo and Fano. Zo was kind and gentle, teaching us a few Malagasy words and the important motto of Madagascar ‘mora, mora’ or slowly, slowly. Nothing happens in a rush here. Fano had a very different energy, with his Mr T mohican, constant humour and energy.

As we began our long, slow drive out of the centre to our first night’s hotel the land of orange became even more apparent. The sunset made everything look like a painting.

We drove through the busy city and the huge differences to the UK were everywhere. Madagascar is the 4th poorest country in the world and the poverty and conditions were stark. The roads were jammed with cars and bikes sharing the road with rickshaws, carts and zebus (the local hump backed cattle). The roads were lined with people, many carry on strange items on their heads from water to piles of laundry..and on one occasion a whole stack of hay!

When we arrived at Antsirabe our first stop we were pretty exhausted….but we were soon to be introduced to the groups’ near constant companion on the trip – THB, or Three Horses Beer. The local lager.

The next day saw more driving as we snaked further south. Passing many paddy fields (rice is the main crop here and often eaten 2-3 times a day). The landscape has terraces cut into hillsides to manage drainage. Women and children worked in the fields and men worked with zebu to plough the land.

We had a long day of driving ahead but the conversations and jokes were flowing. [Spoiler warning: considering what we were going to experience together and the bonds created it seems strange that we were still relative strangers at this point]

The toilet stops were often and random, pulling on to the side of the road. At this stage we were being discrete and polite, trying to hide away our wipes and nappy sacks as we tried to find a bush far away from others on their own hunt for a private toilet spot. It would only be a few days before constant toilet talk and going in groups became the norm. Toilet stops were usually interrupted by the sudden appearance from nowhere of groups of children wanting to say hello or have their photo taken.

We stopped for lunch at Ambositra (after lots of had sanitizer of course). There was a definite theme starting with the meals… some meat, usually zebu alongside rice..and chips…and occasionally spaghetti. They do like their carbs here..or maybe the locals took one look at us and thought we would all need fuel for the trek ahead! The meal was accompanied by some traditional dancing.

Ambositra has many artisan craft shops making and selling intricate carvings and marqueterie. Marqueterie involves pictures made of wood, made by cutting detailed pieces out of different coloured wood and slotting them together to create elaborate scenes of local life, animals or maps. We watched a demonstration of this and Nik was given a wooden heart we watched being carved as a memento. The speed and artistry is even more impressive when you realise that the tools usedare all hand made too out of the wire from old tires and other items that are no longer used. A real feat of recycling.

 

The marqueterie artwork is then used on many different objects from framed images to boxes (some with hidden compartments). The French influence in the country was also apparent by the amount of marqueterie made of Asterix and Tintin book covers…including many covers of the non existent Tintin in Madagascar. Though not sure what title ‘Coke en Stock’ is? Don’t think Spielberg will be adapting that one.

The bus trip continued to Ranomafana National park where we were due to go on a night time nature walk…and meet some of the other locals of Madagascar!