Nicole & Jay's Adventures
Trip to Madagascar  - April 2004

This story starts with a tough decision ..... where in Africa should Nicole and Jay visit next ?

We found out in January that we would be transferred out of South Africa in July.  Nicole quickly began assessing the places that we would really like to visit before we leave.  She figured we should visit  some islands in the Indian Ocean, as the planning for these trips are more complicated and easier to do if you live nearby.  The other places we'd like to visit in Africa will just have to wait!

On the map above, we concentrated on the island groups next to South Africa.
We had already visited Zanzibar (Tanzania) and the Seychelles, which left us 
with a choice between the Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion and Madagascar.
 

  
We chose Madagascar because
it has unique animals (the 
Lemurs) and nice islands.
 

  
It was also convenient to
have a friend who lives in  
Antananarivo (shortened to 
"Tana" for those of us who
cannot speak Malagasy).
 

 
 
It took Nicole a long time to plan
this particular trip. She found that
there is not a good infrastructure,
which meant that even a short
excursion required a lot of effort. 

The itinerary she came up with
is as follows: (each blue link below
will take you to a picture page)

1- Antananarivo
    Capital of Madagascar

2- Lemur Reserve
    Specialto Madagascar

3- Nosy Iranja
    Small secluded island

4- Nosy Be
    Larger island

 

  

 
 

Madagascar is located in the Indian Ocean and is separated from the southeastern coast of Africa by the Mozambique Channel.  It is made up of Madagascar Island, the fourth largest island in the world, and several smaller islands. 

The country’s area totals 587,041 sq km (226,658 sq mi).

Madagascar was annexed by the French in 1896 and became self-governing within the French Community in 1958 as the Malagasy Republic.  It gained full independence in 1960 and took the name Democratic Republic of Madagascar in 1975.  It became the republic of Madagascar in 1993 after a new constitution was adopted.

 
   
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