Africa Safari Blog

Sunday January 4, 2009
By John Wilson, Source: Daily Express

The exotic island of Madagascar off the eastern South African coastline was where our party of nine were on a research trip to the remote island of Kalakajour which lies over 40 miles south of Nosy Be just off the north western tip of Madagascar.

A most humid, jungle-clad island full of colourful birds and lizards, where a myriad of weird and wonderfully coloured salt water species from the fast moving and acrobatic sail fish, to heavyweight, deep water reef dwellers, provide continuous arm-wrenching battles in crystal clear blue waters.

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I am sure most of you have heard about the Madagascar Cyclones and the destruction on the news…. Madagascar is a tropical island in the Indian ocean and therefore tropical cyclones are expected around the beginning months of the year – even though are expected they are still shocking when they do ‘hit’ this wonderful red-island. Madagascar, unfortunately, experienced a double hit last week when Cyclone Eric hit the island and shortly after Cyclone Fanele hit the island…. These cyclones brought forth rains, injuries, fatalities and destruction.
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I departed Cape Town at 10am on the 13 November. Upon arrival at OR Tambo, I made my way to the International terminal where I headed straight to the Air Madagascar check-in counters. I was informed that our flight was delayed by a bit …. Air Madagascar made this few hours a bit more bearable as myself and the rest of the group were invited to the Premier Lounge! The rest of the group consisted of agents from Explore Plus, Jambo Safari, Self Tours, African Encounters, The Journey, Animal Tracks, Unusual Destinations and last but not least Air Madagascar (the educational was arranged by the airline).

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On Wednesday, 14 January at 08h45 sharp, Hilka, Amina, Babes, Sydney and myself braced ourselves for the last stretch of the Hoerikwaggo trail, namely from Smitswinkel to Cape Point via Smitswinkel Bay, Judas Peak, Paulsberg, Kanonkop and the Matroosberg, a total distance of 17km. Oh all right, before I get caught out, I’ll be honest and tell you that we hiked from the entrance of the Cape Point Nature Reserve to the Two Oceans Restaurant which is ‘only’ 15km. But hey, don’t be fooled, when you are hiking those kinds of distances, 2km can make a big difference and it took us all of six and a half hours to complete. I guess if Sydney had had his way, he, Hilka and Amina would have made it in 5 hours. Babes and I would occasionally see the back of their brightly colored backpacks way down in the valley below or going up a hill in the far distance – sigh!
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It was my turn to also embark on the Hoerikwaggo hike which many of my fellow colleagues had already done the previous sections of. After listening to “blue toes” and “stiff for 3 days” stories, I was very eager to go on the shortest and easiest section of the hike! Needless to say that “15 kilometers” ended up not being that short after all, but I have to admit it was easy and flat! The past hikes had steeper inclines, gushing wind and higher temperatures. So we did have it easy

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Over the years we have sent many families, clients and even Jenman staff members to the warm and tropical areas of Madagascar… They have all explored the beaches, the national parks and the towns that make Madagascar the exotic and vibrant island it is!

Below are some comments that we have received from some of our clients after they have holidayed in and around Madagascar. It’s always great to get positive feedback from those that love this wonderful and exciting island….

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After “bunking” one week of hiking (due to our year-end function last Wednesday), a few members of the Jenman Team set out to do the 3rd leg of the Hoerikwaggo Trail this past Wednesday.  This time the team consisted of Garth, Patti, Hilka, Nadia and myself (Wiebke). We met up with “Babes” (the guide from the previous hike) and Sydney from SA National Parks at Silvermine Dam early in the morning and started our journey of the day – we had 18km ahead of us and boy, can I tell you, they were filled with fun, falls and, as per usual, lots of laughter.
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