Madagascar to Mauritius, Islands of the Indian Ocean January 17 - February 2, 2020

I feel extremely lucky now to have been able to travel safely to Madagascar and Mauritius in January, before COVID-19 expanded to pandemic proportions.  Read on for a look at this incredible tour:

This was a full tour of 90 passengers including people from 5 sponsoring organizations: AIA - Archaelolgical Institure fo America, CAA - Carlton Alumni Adventures, DAT - Dartmouth Alumni Travels, HAA - Harvard Alumni Association and NTT - National trust Tours.

Our Lectures were a fantastic group scientists and academics who provided us with an expansive look at Madagascar, its people, animals, plants and politics.
Prof. Nate Dominy, Dartmouth, anthropologist and evolutionary biologist
Ambassador Peter Galbraith, Former Ambassador to Croatia (1993-98), as well as an American author, academic, commentator, politician, and policy advisor.
Prof. Matt Rand, Carleton, professor of biology
Prof. Ian Tattersall, paleoanthropologist and curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History

My journey began with a very long travel day from Reno Airport overnight to JFK where I caught my delayed flight to Dubai and then just barely made the last flight of the day to Johannesburg. I was excited to fly on a big A380 on the last leg and even had empty seats next to me. 

The next morning I met my co-tour managers, Leslie and Temu, who had already been there for a week leading the two pre-extension tours. I set up the welcome desk and proceeded to meet all the other passengers as they arrived. We enjoyed a very nice cocktail reception that evening. The next morning we boarded a charter flight to Tulear, Madagascar.

Hot and dry, for the moment. Our passengers boarded mini vans to the first of the many parks we would visit. Madagascar is comprised of a variety of ecosystems: Tropical Moist Forests, Southern and Western dry forests, Wetlands, Coral Reefs and man made ecosystems such as savannah and cactus scrub. The Antsokay Arboretum has over 900 species of plants representative of the Spiney Forest, located in the Southern and Western dry forests ecosystem.
The plants have unique ways of making a living in this environment and look very different from anything I've ever seen.

It was a very warm afternoon, but I think everyone enjoyed the outing and could see that Madagascar is really trying to take care of its natural resources. There was a small museum on the way out of the tour where we could see a mix of artifacts,  fossils, shells and minerals.

By the end of the day everyone was ready to find the ship and relax with some cool air conditioning and adult beverages. My group, however, wanted to make a quick stop at the local grocery store to pick up some necessary items, (Peppercorns and Rum). It was a warm drive, but so interesting to see some of the town of Tulear along the way.

 Hot!

 Ian Tattersall, our fearless shopper!

Excited to board the Serenissima we arrived at the port and proceeded up the gangway.

Unfortunately, the Air conditioning was struggling to keep up with the heat of the day, so the ship's welcome was less than ideal. The Serenissima is an older ship, circa 1960 (like me!) She is a sturdy ship and we would all come to appreciate her strength in the coming weeks.

Our next few days were filled with visits to more parks with new sights and experiences. I'll just put some photos in here with the names of where we were rather than review each day.

Honko Mangrove Reserve

Maybe an Iguanid lizard of some kind

Spider tortoise

 Reniala Private Reserve

 phot - Temu Nana - Ringtail Lemur

 Phot - Temu Nana

A change in the weather brought us into rainy, rough waters making our zodiac landings a bit more exciting.  We were actually on the edge of a Cyclone that later inundated the areas we would try to get to.

 We stopped for Chameleons!

Phot - Temu Nana - Verreaux's Sifakas

Phot Temu Nana

I have to say, though, that the passengers were all great sports and seemed to really enjoy the challenges. After all, who would want to go on a boring tour?

We were unable to make the trek to Ankarafantsika National Park due to the road being washed out. That was a disappointment, but then we had our box lunches at a local school where we got to glimpse the inside of classrooms.  The lesson on the chalkboard was on Cyclones and personal hygiene.

Back at port the local dance group sang and danced for us in the rain!

And things just kept getting better and better:

 Temu!

 Celebrating 60 (alone because everyone else was seasick!)

 Leslie!

 Female Brown Lemur

 Male Brown Lemur

 phot - Temu Nana

Aldabra Tortoise, Susan, age 41.

It felt as though the rain would never stop, but that didn't stop us!

 nice to just walk off the ship for a change!

 Meet my newest Grandson, Owen Michael Ellis, who arrived two weeks early!

Grandma sends love from Madagascar!

 Brookesia Micra - World's tiniest Chameleon

 phot - Temu Nana

 phot - Temu Nana

 phot - Temu Nana

Our last day in Madagascar we toured the pretty little town of St. Marie and had a beach party to bid Madagascar farewell.

 Our guides

 Phot - Noble Cal

 Phot - Noble Cal

Next up was a 30+ hour sail to Reunion Island and then finally on to Mauritius where all but a small group of passengers would disembark for home. Happily, the small group would be joining me for a two night stay on Mauritius to explore what was there.

 Farewell Dinner festivities

 Our excellent Study Leaders: Ian, Nate, Matt and Peter

 Bar staff

 Restaurant staff

 Hotel staff

On Mauritius we stayed at a lovely property called Trou Aux Biches Beachcomber Resort. We had a busy schedule to keep as we toured tea plantations, vanilla plantations,  a Rum distillery and geologic formations. If you ever go, be sure to visit the Aapravasi Ghat; a UNESCO World Heritage site that gives visitors and excellent overview of the history of Mauritius and her people. 

 Sunset at the Hotel

 Reunion Island Waterfalls

 Vanilla Plantation

 Shopping in Port Louis

 Tea Tasting

 overlooking tea plantation

 Chamarel Rum Distillery

 Tea processing factory

 Seven Colored Earths

 Sculpture of a Dodo

Looking back on this tour now that I am doing my part by not traveling (not even to the grocery store!) I realize how incredibly lucky I am to be in this line of work.  Thank you Madagascar and Mauritius, I hope to visit you again one of these years!

I can't wait to get back to work, but have no idea when that will be. Thanks for reading my blog!

I used a few photos from Temu Nana and the Noble Cal crew. If I failed give photo credit to you, please let me know and I'll add it in.