Taolanaro, Madagascar

Hi Girlies,

KT, I don’t know why Tuk Tuks are called that.  Maybe you can google it.

Today we made our second stop in Madagascar.  We had a nice tour to a botanical garden and zoo, the city, and a beach.  We saw lots of people carrying things on their heads.  

The women in middle has a load of fish on her head.

Waiting for the bus.

These kids wanted us to give them candy as our bus went by.  Some people did, but we have been told it is not a good idea because of the lack of dental care in these poor countries.

Madagascar is a very very poor country.  Some of the houses we saw.

The botanical garden was beautiful.

We saw lots of pretty flowers.  These are hibiscus.

This fan shaped palm is called a Traveler Palm.  

Really big bamboo trees.

These crocodiles in the zoo were scary, and they smelled bad!

A turtle family

We saw lots of ringtail Lemurs.

This man was feeding the Lemurs.  They liked to jump into his boat.

This one looks like a cat with a really big tail.

After the botanic garden we rode into the city.  We went by this very busy market.  No Wegman’s here.

Chickens on the way to the market.

At the end of our tour we went to a beach.  We could see our ship from the beach.  

Gpa had a big beer.  We didn’t swim, but a few people from our group did.

So, that is a look at our day.  Tonight we sail for our next port of Maputo, Mozambique.  We don’t get there until Saturday.  By then you will be in Costa Rica.  So we probably won’t hear from you for a while.  But we will keep blogging and you can catch up when you get back.  Have a wonderful time on your trip, we will be thinking about you.  We miss you so much!

Love,

Gpa and Nanoo

xoxoxo

 

LEMURS LEMURS LEMURS!!!

HI Girlies,

Today was our first stop in Madagascar.  We anchored off Ile Sainte Marie, a very small island off Madagascar’s main island.  The name of the town is Ambodifotatra.  Here are a few pictures of the town, it is a bit primitive. 

The main street.

A cafe

Hotel

A few houses

A girl walking home from school, so cute.  

We didn’t expect to see Lemurs here.  But we discovered that there was a zoo about 10 miles from the town.  This guy took us there in his Tuk Tuk, $10 each way.

The zoo was great.  It was in the middle of a rain forest.

We saw lots of Lemurs.  This one liked it when Nana petted it.

Wow, a Gpa selfie with a Lemur!!  Photo bombed by a Lemur, how many people can say that?

This Lemur liked licking the salt off Nana’s hand.

This one is so handsome.

This is the very tiny mouse Lemur, smaller than a human hand.

We saw snakes.

This red frog is poisonous.

Big turtles

And Chameleons.  They can move their eyes in different directions, it is fascinating to watch.

Another small turtle

And this gecko

After the zoo visit we returned to our ship.  These kids were watching the ship tenders come and go.  Having a big cruise ship visit their town is very exciting to them.

So, that is our day in Ile Sainte Marie.  We were not expecting to see Lemurs until our second port in Madagascar, today was a real bonus.  Hope you like the pictures. Oh, and Nana wore this dress to formal night last evening.

Bye for now.  More Lemur pictures in two days, we hope.

Love, Gpa and Nanoo

xoxoxo