MadagascarJanuary 2, 2025
I was so excited to visit today's port: Antsirinana (formerly Diego Suarez), Madagascar. Madagascar just seemed like such an exotic place in my mind. That was the great thing about this cruise itinerary. We were visiting places that I never thought I would ever visit. Each place was noticeably different in culture, language, landscape, and even climate in some instances.
We had booked Norwegian's 5.5-hour Tsingy Rouge Stone Formation by 4x4 shore excursion. According to the CruiseNext desk onboard the ship, it is a good idea to have an excursion booked for this port because there is nothing of interest in walking distance from the port. This was not a problem for Traci and me. I had booked all our shore excursions and tours at least a month before we departed. I wanted to make sure that they were not sold out.
As excited as I was to explore Madagascar, I was quite concerned about Traci's health. She was under the weather to say the least that morning. I told her that we could cancel the shore excursion, but she assured me that she was well enough to do it. Despite this, I was still concerned. She did not eat anything at breakfast. Instead, she brought a few slices of bread, a packet of peanut butter, and a packet of jelly with her in case she regained her appetite later.
Antsirinana was a tender port. Fortunately, the tender operation was much more orderly than the chaos we experience trying to get ashore at La Digue, Seychelles a few days prior. Things were a little confusing once we came ashore. There were guides and Norwegian staff directing passengers to their shore excursion. The problem was that there were too many people giving conflicting instructions. It was not too bad though. Traci and I were eventually invited to board an SUV with a teenager and his mother who were also from the U.S..
We left the port in a caravan of SUVs. Riding through Antsirinana was eye-opening. Our cruise had started in the oil-rich nations of Qatar and the UAE where there are elaborate buildings, super clean streets, and over-the-top technology. By contrast, Madagascar is one of the poorest countries of the world and it shows. There was crumbling infrastructure, pot-holed streets/dirt roads, and poverty. Luxuries such as working air conditioning and seat belts were nonexistent in our vehicle. It was still interesting to observe life in this part of the world. The streets were filled with yellow tuk-tuks. The buildings reminded me somewhat of the French Quarter in New Orleans.
We made a stop at a gas station so that our guide could join us. He had to sit in the luggage compartment of the vehicle because there were no more seats available. The mother of the teenager was sitting in the front passenger seat while her son, Traci and I were in the back row.
The roads got even worse as we left the city. We rode through the lush green countryside and past many villages with very humble living accommodations. The people are able to survive off the fertile land. There was greenery everywhere. From time to time, I noticed small roadside vendor stands that were selling what I thought were fruit drinks. Our guide told me that these were jars of homemade sauces containing fruit and vegetables that people pour over rice.
Our group was rather quiet. Our driver did not speak English. The mother and son did not say much. Traci, who wasn't feeling well, spent most of this two-hour bumpy ride sleeping with her head on my shoulder. That just left our guide who was crammed in the luggage compartment and me. This young man and I had great conversation throughout the entire trip. We spoke mostly in English; however, given English was his third language behind Malagasy and French, there were a handful of times when he did not understand my questions or he struggled to express himself in English. It was at those times that all my years of participating in my Saturday morning French conversation group meetings came in handy. It allowed the tour guide and me to briefly switch to French when English was not working for us. In fact, being able to communicate in French came in handy for the remainder of the places we visited on this cruise.
Some of the more memorable topics of our conversation were learning about common superstitions such as finding a chameleon in your house brings bad luck. He told me about the importance of the ebu (type of cattle) in the society. The animal provides meat during certain celebrations and festivals. A man must offer an ebu to his bride's family when he gets married. There were some traditions that would cost you if you got it wrong. Our guide told me that if you attend a funeral and you stand up before everyone has finished eating the post-funeral meal, you must pay the grieving family a certain amount of money. During wedding celebrations, there is a traditional game in which the bride and her sisters dress alike and hide. The men of the groom's family must find the women and determine who is who. If you get it wrong, you have to pay. There were many more tidbits and anecdotes that he shared with me during the ride. He really made this bumpy, hot journey enjoyable.
Our caravan of SUVs made a stop at an overlook. You could see the Indian Ocean in the distance. Other than that, it seemed to be really just an opportunity to stretch your legs. There were no restrooms available. We would not encounter one for a couple of hours.
After more driving through the countryside, we finally reached Tsingy Rouge Park. Each vehicle in our caravan had to take care of administrative stuff at the park ranger checkpoint that used a roped attached to a wooden rod as the crossing arm. While we waited our turn, a passenger in the SUV behind us decided to hand some local children some type of treats through the window. Suddenly, there was a mob of children gathered at the window pushing each other and begging. This infuriated our guide who kept saying "I don't like to see this. I don't like to see this." as he knocked on the window of our vehicle for someone to open the hatch so that he could get out of the luggage compartment. Another guide let him out. He went over and broke up the melee.
rough ride to Tsingy Rouge
After passing the checkpoint, we still had a considerable amount of riding on a cratered dirt road through the forest until we finally arrived at a clearing where all the SUVs in our caravan parked. We followed our guide to an area where I got my first glimpse of the Tsingy Rouge. The Tsingy Rouge are crevassed red rock formations that were formed by wind and water erosion. I had first heard about them in my youth while watching nature documentaries on television. I almost could not believe that I was there. The rocks were down in a valley that would require a considerable amount of walking to get to. Our guide told us that it would be a 1-hour round-trip hike to get to the rocks and return to the top of this hill. Some of the other passengers were starting to complain that this looked like much more than the 'moderate walking' activity rating that Norwegion gave this shore excursion in the description. Many of the passengers were seniors with leg issues, back issues, etc... On top of all this was the heat and humidity. African heat is on another level! It will cause you to get an instance scowl on your face as soon as you feel it. As for me, I wasn't worried about my ability to do the hike even though it felt like an oven. My worry was Traci. I could tell that she felt lousy. I pleaded with her not to do the hike. I would have been content to use the zoom feature of my phone to get a halfway-decent picture of the rocks. She assured me that she would be fine.
With that, we followed our guide down the hill in the blazing sun. At one point, we had to climb over a hip-high metal railing that just seemed out of place among all the red dirt and rocks. We continued past a small stream where some local women were washing clothes. Finally, we arrived at our first set of rocks. I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed. They looked a lot smaller than what I had seen on TV. Traci and I took a few picture of them. The interesting thing is that they looked more impressive in the photos we took than they did in person.
Tsingy Rouge
It was at this point, that things started to take a turn for the worse. I knew Traci was not doing well so I told her that we were abandoning the hike. I was firm this time. Traci does not do well with heat. In the past, she has passed out from heat exhaustion after running a marathon or half marathon and has needed medical attention. The races she runs always have medical staff on hand to quickly treat runners who need immediate attention. This was obviously not the case in this remote park in Madagascar.
After taking a few photos of the Tsingy Rouge, I saw that confused look in Traci's face that I had witnessed before she passed out after a race. Another couple, who were obviously competitive bodybuilders, also noticed that something was not right with Traci. In fact, the husband said, "She's not all there." The three of us grabbed Traci and walked her over to a boulder where she could sit down. She immediately began to vomit. I had an umbrella in my backpack. I used the umbrella to shade Traci from the sun since there was no shade whatsoever in that valley. Everyone around us was so helpful. A group of Italians offered Traci candy to get some sugar into her. An Australian lady wet her towel and placed it around Traci's shoulders to cool her off. The bodybuilding couple took over the situation. They asked her questions to determine her cognitive function: "What's your name? What year is it? etc..." I chuckled to myself at the "What year is it?" question because I probably would have gotten it wrong. We were only two days into the new year. Traci answered all the question correctly even when the husband tried to trick her with "We are in Egypt right now, right?" The husband ordered Traci to drink water slowly. He assured me she would be fine. He and his wife said that they were going to continue the hike but would come back to check on us. They said that they would help me get Traci out of the valley if necessary.
Our guide and a few other guides came by to check on Traci but they had their hands full with other passengers who were having mobility issues and exhaustion. Traci and I sat on that boulder for about 20 minutes until God sent us a gift in the form of a big fluffy cloud that blocked the sun. This, along with a light a breeze, cooled things off considerably and allowed Traci and me to begin our slow walk out of the valley back to SUV. I was so happy that we made it there without Traci passing out in this very remote area of Madagascar.
I was surprised that our lunch stop was only a 5-minute drive away from our Tsingy Rouge stop which was in the middle of nowhere. Our vehicle was the last in our caravan to arrive at the restaurant. This was a blessing because by the time we arrived at the restaurant, the line to use the restroom was very short. Of course, there was no line at all for the mens' restroom. Our lunch was presented outside the restaurant as a buffet. I decided to skip the rice and meat because I did not know how long they had been sitting out in the hot sun. This limited my choice to fruit. I was sure to follow the recommendations of the CDC and other travel health agencies that recommend eating only fruit that you can peel. I opted for pineapple, mango, banana, and papya. Some of these are not exactly peelable but these are not fruits whose skin you bite through. Traci was still not feeling good. She sat at the table resting her head on her folded arms. I was somewhat relieved when she ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she brought with her.
refueling after the Tsingy Rouge hike
Our two-hour rough ride back to the port was similar to the ride to get to Tsingy. Traci slept on my shoulder the entire time. The teenager was asleep. I did not know if his mother was asleep in the front passenger seat or if she was just quiet. On the other hand, our guide and I chatted the entire 2-hours. I learned a lot about him. His story was quite inspirational. Life is difficult in Madagascar. Despite this, our guide is determined to succeed. He was very proud and overjoyed to have this job as a tour guide. He told me about how he saved money to learn English at the language center. He kind of regretted going to the language center because he said his English did not improve until he started watching videos online and talking to his friends who could speak English. He is now learning to speak Italian and German so that he can lead more tours. During the low tourist season, he does carpentry and masonry to earn money. He hopes to save enough money to buy his own tuk-tuk and be a tuk-tuk driver.
The most enjoyable part of our conversation was when I hit our guide with my favorite question to ask when I am in a foreign country - "Who is the popular musical artist around here?" He whipped out his phone and showed me videos of some of the popular Malagasy artists. The music was fascinating to listen to. It reminded me a little of soca. The real surprise was when our guide told us that he enjoys competing in karaoke competitions. He then begin to sing a bit of John Legend's "All Of Me". He was amazing; so much so, that the other passengers in our SUV woke up and complimented him on his singing ability. He had a really nice tone and an ability to ad-lib. It turns out that he and his brother produce music videos in their spare time. He showed me a few of himself singing and dancing in some of the videos. He said that he wants to post them online but not until he could afford professional recording equipment. I thought the quality of the video, the music, and his songwriting was great without the professional equipment but our guide seemed to be a perfectionist. I'm sure he will do well.
Madagascar is known for its unique nature. Probably the most popular is its lemurs. Lemurs are primates that are found nowhere else in the world. The island is also known for its very large oddly-shaped baobob trees. While we did not see lemurs or baobobs during our excursion, we did see one of Madagascar's other popular creatures - a chameleon. I was surprised that our guide was able to spot one as we rode through Red Tsingy Park. Our driver stopped briefly so that we could get a close-up look.
chameleon
Despite my worries about Traci's health and a challenging day of riding in the SUV, this shore excursion was among the most memorable of our cruise. This was mainly because of the conversations I had with our tour guide.
Upon arriving back at the port, I bought a refrigerator magnet to add to our collection and then stood in line to take a tender back to the ship. I worried about Traci while we waited in the extreme heat. It was such a relief to step aboard the air-conditioned ship. The Norwegian staff was handing out cold towels. I wiped my face with mine and was shocked by how much red dirt was on my face from our Tsingy Rouge hike. Our shoes and pants legs were noticeably covered in much more of this red dirt.
By the time we made it back to our ship cabin, Traci barely had enough energy to take a shower. Afterwards, she got in the bed and remained there the rest of the day and night. I brought her food from the buffet but she did not have an appetite. I touched her forehead and realized that she was running a fever. I was glad that the next day was a sea day. It would allow her to rest instead of trying to soldier through another shore excursion.
I spent the rest of the day and evening doing activities on my own. I dined alone. I attended a concert by a violinist in the Stardust Theater. I watched passengers participate in a couples competition being held in the Bliss Lounge. I would stop by our cabin to check on Traci between each activity. I finally turned in for the night around 10 PM; but before doing so, I had to set our clocks/devices ahead one hour since we would be entering another time zone overnight.
The next day was a sea day. Traci was doing a little better. She ate fruit and drank juice for breakfast and then got back in the bed. She was starting to develop a phlegmy cough. She responds well to Musinex in these situations but we did not have any with us. I went to the store on the ship but they did have any. I ended up buying Robitussin cough syrup which was in short supply probably because so many passengers had also developped a cough. In hindsight, taking Robitussin was probably not a good idea even though it said that it thins mucus. Traci probably needed to cough all that up instead of suppress it - more about this later.
I did my normal sea day stuff - eat, join my team for progressive trivia, listen to music on the pool deck, eat some more, etc... Several crew members and passengers asked about Traci when they saw me dining alone. They told me to pass their well-wishes to her. Later in the day, Traci was feeling well enough to play bingo and to attend the evening show "Elements" in the Stardust Theater with me. "Elements" was the best show we saw on the ship. In addition to the singing and dancing, there were special effects, aerialists, and illusionists. Continue...
Magnet Purchased At This Destination: (click to enlarge)
Entire fridge magnet collection...