Final Goodbyes

We're at the airport now, waiting at the gate to board our departing flight back to Logan Airport in Boston. I'm really going to miss this place, and all of it's beautiful animals and landscapes, but at least we get to go back in style. I mean look at this plane!






We'll miss you Madagascar, but mainly because we didn't have to pay for diddly squat.

TALLY HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Departure Day

As the prophecy has foretold, we must now leave this Earthly paradise and travel back to our stressful New Hampshire lives, whereupon we shall fantasize about coming back to this tropical island like no other. We shall miss you Madagascar.



WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't wanna go home! It's really ugly back home compared to this!!!

Snorkeling

We got to sleep in today! No early wake up.... We set off to Nosy Sakatia to go snorkeling in the early afternoon. It was awesome! We saw many different species of fish and marine life. I couldn't recognize like any of the fish, but what I saw was amazing...take a look! This makes me so thankful for the unique climate Madagascar has that supports these fish.

It is definitely something that I will never forget! Specially diverse ecosystems for the win!

Our Hike

Wow, we had a wonderful time on our hike today! We saw so much wildlife and plants while we were out there exploring. We saw many different lemurs, we also saw a few geckos. It was very cool to see that kind of wildlife because back home we don't have any lemurs...we may have some geckos but you don't see them very often. One of the lemurs we saw was called a Dwarf Lemur, these lemurs are found all throughout Madagascar. We chose the best day for a hike, we had the greatest weather possible! A few of the plants that we ended up seeing were very neat. One of the ones we saw was called a Periwinkle plant, that plant is to help cure illnesses. Periwinkle plant is generally only grown in Madagascar though. We also thought it was very cool to see a banana tree while we were on our hike. We hope that we can come back and do this some other time, it was so much fun!

Banana Tree

 

Safari

We just finished up our safari, and we saw some of the coolest animals! As our safari guide told us, Madagascar has such a strange climate, that it's home to several thousand species of animals that can't be found anywhere else. Who knew?  Isn't this little guy so cute? I just want to squeeze him, and squeeze him, and cuddle him to death!

Before our safari trip

Safari Time!!!!!!!! We've been fantasizing about this our entire trip, this has been on our to-do list since day 1. We're here at the perfect time too, since the rainy season has just barely started, the air and temperature is absolutely perfect for us. Thank you for not raining us out weather gods! Off we go! into the wild green jungle...

Before we leave for our hike

We are up, and ready to go on a good hike today. We have been looking forward to doing this for a little while now. Hopefully we will be able to see a little bit of wildlife while we are on our hike. We are here at one of the best times of the year, because it's the end of a cool dry season, and it's not rainfall season just yet. We wanted to get hiking done on a nice day so we didn't have to get caught in a rain storm or anything. Hiking is one of our favorite things to do because you can see so much, and the nature is so beautiful. We are going to need to make sure that we bring the items that we need, such as water so we don't get dehydrated. We'll update you later on how our hike went!

Surfing

We headed off to the beach today after a good night sleep to try and surf some gnarly pounders (I regret nothing!). Ryan and I both know how to surf, so we had to spend most of our day at the beach teaching Sam how. There are some really nice waves here... but man, you can't imagine the rush of having those waves creep up on you, and your only option is to keep on shredding along or fall and get swept up like a bird in a hurricane. Man do I love surfing, it gives me a high like you wouldn't believe. Plus, were just on the edge of the best time to be here, because the trade winds down here are still blowing strong, creating some big waves. It's reached the rainy season, but that doesn't diminish our love of the sport.

            Ryan               

We just stepped out of the airport in Antananarivo to this view. We thought it might be fitting to rub this in all of your faces.

Landing

Just landed in Antananarivo after a 18 hour flight. We're extremely tired. We all got separated on the plane and didn't sit next to each other... It was miserable, especially when the guy sleeping next to you is trying to hug you in his sleep.

Imagine that.........

















Check out this video we made! We're total pros! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBibIguPNJA)

Leaving

We're heading off today after making our packing list... I just hope we packed enough. Madagascar HOOOOO!... I really hate the airport... There are so many weird people.

Packing List

   

   So after a little bit of research, check that, a lot of research, we have compiled a list of the necessities to survive the climate in Madagascar. The list is as follows 5 days worth of: 

• Underwear     
• Shorts
• Hiking Boots
• Sneakers
• Flip Flops
• T-Shirts
• Hat
• Bathing suit
• Umbrella
• Towels
• Raincoat
• Pants
• Toiletries

1. Toothbrush
2. Toilet paper
3. Toothpaste
4. Shampoo and conditioner

• Sunscreen

Madagascar, Here We Come!!!!!

This is incredible! Ryan, Sam and I all just got a 5 day all expenses paid trip to Madagascar! We've always wanted to go so badly, and now are dreams are finally coming true! Now If only we knew what to pack...