The hotels that we have stayed in have been very comfortable. Most have had mosquito nets and blankets both of which have been necessary though not all nets have prevented the mozzies as some of our nets haven’t fully closed and then when they did close there were holes in them! The other issue that we have had with hotels is the supply of hot water for our showers. Some of our hotels have had hot water in the evening and not so hot in the morning but the hotel that we stayed in at the coast seemingly had no hot water in the morning or the evening.

On arrival to the hotel at Morondava from the Baobabs most people had gone for a shower before dinner. The topic of conversation at dinner was the lack of hot water. Jen had had success by leaving it running for longer than she thought and was eventually rewarded for her patience. The rest weren’t so lucky. I had a shower the next morning and again left it running for longer than I should have done. On picking up the courage to just have a cold shower and hair wash I suddenly wondered if hot and cold had been switched. I turned the tap to the left and noticed the water pressure drop. Within seconds I had a lovely hot shower! Drainage also proved to be a problem at the next hotel as the sink drained onto the floor and the shower flooded a somewhat palatial bathroom.

According to the trip notes (which I hadn’t studied in detail), we were to have the morning free. However, in order to visit a crater lake before 4pm we all agreed to leave no later than 11am. That gave us time to see the Indian Ocean, paddle (or swim) and do the ubiquitous souvenir shopping.

We had said goodbye and tipped our 4 drivers of the 4x4s the previous evening and we were reunited with Etienne, our bus and a tarmac road. The next day we got to a town which was bustling and turned off the main road. The bus was soon crawling as there were hundreds of people going to a a festival. It was definitely church orientated as there was a field by one of the lakes in the area that had been kitted out with a large stage, lights and a very loud sound system. There were all sorts of street vendors by the side of the road and all the people were dressed in their finery.

The tarmac road disappeared and soon we were heading uphill. Eventually we arrived at the lake and went for a guided 1 hour walk round the lake. As soon as we got off the bus, we were descended on by ladies selling polished stones. Barnabas told them to wait and by the time we came back from our walk, the ladies had waited but had also set out all of their wares for us to see.

Lake Tritiva is about 160m deep and has legends attached to it, including Madagascar’s own Romeo and Juliet forbidden lovers who jumped to their watery death. In the dry season the water levels are higher as it takes that long for the rainy season water to seep through the rocks. Swimming in the lake is a taboo.

Side of the road enterprises

After many photos taken, we arrived back at the bus to find the ladies and boys had set out their goods. Some bartered, others just paid the set price.

While the above photos were taken in a car park, we also had to opportunity to see vegetable stalls, truck toy stores, a zebu market and recycling in action.

One of the zebu for sale was about 1.4 million Ariary about £240/ 305 USD / 405 AUD / €280 / 2200 RMB. Just Agric tells me that a UK cow could go for £850-1500 depending on breed, use etc.

Another photo opportunity was perhaps more macabre and one that while it looked innocuous and fun made our gentlemen travellers cross their legs. The brightly painted trucks are given as a gift to boys aged between 2-8 that have become a “real man” and been circumcised. The circumcision is performed by a village elder who will have done a number of them and be experienced. Every one of us raised our eyebrows at this and the paediatric doctor that was part of our group with us told us of the cases in the UK when “home” circumcisions don’t go so well. Infections and uncontrollable bleeding are just a few of the concerns – and that is just in the UK. A brightly coloured truck though is supposed to take a boy’s mind of the pain!

Recycling

We had two experiences of recycling in action. On the day we did the Little Tsingy we had gone over to some sellers of water, coke and bottles containing what looked like home brew – which was actually honey. Because all of us had the same plastic water bottles we had written our names on the bottles with a sharpie/marker or a “texter” as one of our Aussie travellers called it. So imagine our surprise when one of the empty bottles that Rowe had left on the car seat the day before turned up full at the stall.

Our final experience of recycling in action was going to an aluminium centre. We all came away knowing that whatever issues we had with our jobs we couldn’t complain. No shoes, safety goggles, gloves or masks.

These guys need to make 50 pieces a day. When they finish the requisite number they can make souvenir pieces such as aluminium baobab trees, lemurs or turtles.

Most of helped local industry and bought something small. The night before we had stayed in a hotel that helps fund the local orphanage, Madalief. Residence Madalief was set up by a Dutch woman and Intrepid supports it. Intrepid’s mission is “to create positive change through the joy of travel” and so by spending our last night on the tour in the lodges here was lovely. It was also a night when I tried Madagascan white wine! It was better than I thought it would be. But at £13 it didn’t taste how a decent £13 bottle should be!

Our trip ended with a lunch in a fast food restaurant outside Tana. We were then all dropped off at Hotel Belevedere. Janet and I stayed there for an extra night, Jon flew out the day the tour ended, 5 people continued onto the rest of the Madagascar tour – they left the following morning at 3am! And Jen, Janet, David, Andrea and I all enjoyed lounge access at Antananarivo International Airport. (But Jen came in after Andrea, David and I had left).

We were a diverse group, and while we all got on, Janet and I were thankful that we had booked together and hadn’t been thrown into the mix of sharing a twin room and been surprised by a single person’s habits. We were pretty confident that having shared a tent at Glastonbury for 10 days that we could do an international trip together under canvas and in hotels with showers in the room! We gave each other space, we got up at similar times and we mixed with everyone else. The group also mixed well and there were no cliques. Crucially we gave everyone space when doing bushy bushy though we all saw each other’s butts at some point irrespective of how well we thought we hid behind bushes.

Will Janet and I go travelling together again- absolutely. Should we bring our husbands along for the ride next time? … Maybe…

For now though, Martin, Eleanor and I are now in Singapore for my birthday with my first cousin and her family. The Croziers have our trips planned until Christmas. We won’t stop adventuring. Not least because our summer 2025 holiday is a trip round Europe.