诺西贝，马达加斯加：阳光明媚，35度

在我们漫长的旅程中，马达加斯加是最后一次需要乘坐小艇上岸。真的很可惜，我们一直很享受这些渡轮旅行。

此次游览将访问勒穆里亚公园与小首都赫尔维尔的探索结合在一起。勒穆里亚公园是一个自然和植物保护区，坐落在古老的香水树种植园中。我们在香气四溢的植被小径上散步，这里生长着众多稀有和特有的马达加斯加植物，以及各种棕榈树和高达25米的壮观竹子。传教士们在这里建立了香水树精油的蒸馏厂，是全球最大的香水树精油生产地。之后，我们再次上车，前往市中心，参观了一个提供各种当地产品的市场。那是一个混合着各种不同气味的地方，有的闻起来好，有的则让人想快点离开。我们继续在城里闲逛，稍微感受到马达加斯加的生活，例如在学校前面嬉笑的孩子们，或者在街边睡觉或讲述最新故事的妇女。马达加斯加是世界上第五贫穷的国家，但我们遇到了许多快乐的人们。这个在马达加斯加的经历真是难以忘怀的美好体验。 现在接下来是4天的海上航行，然后我们将在南非的港艾丽莎白停靠。

正因为我们对狐猴还是意犹未尽，今天的行程安排是访问Lemurialand。这是一个在Hellville附近的动物园/公园。我相信我们在乘坐TukTuk前往那里时被狠狠宰了一笔，但由于村子很小，只有两个司机可供选择，所以没办法拒绝。于是我们花了大约半个财富，大约30分钟的时间到达那里，还付了门票。

不过我们的向导确实非常酷，他知道很多，导览过程十分愉快。我们首先要寻找的就是那种roi du camouflage，一种能够色彩上1:1适应周围环境的壁虎。

其次又一次被狐猴吸引了，不过这次我们见到的不是之前在诺西康巴的那些，而是另一些种类，包括国王朱利安 :D 这些狐猴被“圈养”着（即它们被一个水沟围住，因为它们讨厌水）。不过稍后我们还是能见到野生的狐猴 :)

在见到它们之前，我们还看了能轻易咬掉你手指的鳄龟，因此很遗憾我们不能去抚摸它们。我们的向导告诉我们，它们甚至能杀死鳄鱼。因为如果它们被鳄鱼吃掉，便会躲在自己的壳里，之后再从内部吃掉鳄鱼 - 真可怕！

幸运的是，野生的狐猴们很快就朝我们走来，我们能够给它们喂香蕉并抚摸它们约20分钟，而我们的向导表现出了他超凡的拍摄才能，不断为我们拍视频和照片 :D 他说的只有三句话，每次顺序都不同：“Maaaaaki, maki maki”，“Voil”，和Banane?。

经过这次毛茸茸的乐趣，我们还去看了两只名叫拿破仑和波拿巴的巨龟，它们好像已经150岁和170岁了 - 它们真的很大！

作为最后的动物项目，我们终于看到了鳄鱼，老实说让我有点害怕。一只鳄鱼每周吃掉5公斤肉，并能以40公里/小时的速度奔跑 - 我可做不到，所以我很高兴我们之间有一堵墙。当我看到这些动物时，老实说我也很高兴那时在Mont Passot没有见到它们 :D

在Lemurialand的最后一站是Ylang-Ylang蒸馏厂。诺西比叫作“香水岛”，因为这些Ylang-Ylang植物散发着令人难以置信的香味，是香奈儿5号等的主要成分。

我们被告知，在这种容器中（见下图）可以放入500公斤的花瓣 - 想象一下，这些花几乎是无重的！根据我的计算，这大约相当于30万朵花。值得找！:D 从这些花中大约可以提炼出12升香油，直接运往巴黎。

在这次大约两个小时的美好访问后，我们乘坐TukTuk返回海尔维尔，因为我们想利用剩下的时间取些现金，好好看看首都。于是我们在自动取款机下车，并告诉司机我们下午2点再来接我们。

稍微富裕了一些，我们在街上闲逛，看看一些商店。这座城市真的很热闹，我感到是一种极大的刺激。不过，这很有趣，尤其是与我们小小村庄之间的巨大对比。我们在这里大约逛了4个小时，还参观了Bazar Antranomanogny，一个市场。

过了一段时间，我们找了家可爱的餐馆，分享了一顿美餐，然后来到最后一站，超市。在这里我们再次购买水、花生和法棍（像往常一样 :D），然后等着我们的司机。巧合的是，我们遇到了那两位英国人，他们也和我们一起在Nosy Iranja过夜 - 所以说Nosy Be确实不大。我们聊了聊，那两位今天又要回家了，一直在打发时间直到航班。

回到我们的住所后，我们稍微清理了一下（即试图用水桶里的水洗澡），然后在村子里散步。这真的很美好，我们也遇到了许多友善的人。此外，我们还看到了这座建筑，一间冰箱冷库，看起来完全不融入这片风景。当然这是腐败总统的一个项目，谁会想到...

劳拉和我想要找一家小酒吧喝点东西，正当这时，有一个男孩过来跟我们说，他在这里和一个组织学英语，希望能聊聊以提高自己的能力。于是我们三人就坐在酒吧里，给他请了一瓶大啤酒，和他聊了一会儿英语。

他的故事让我觉得很伤感，他离开了家人，因为他们太穷无法给他一个生活。现在他18岁，独自在这个小村子里生活，努力获得英语证书，希望能成为向导，有一天离开马达加斯加。真是个艰难的故事，但他真的显得很高兴能够和我们交谈，能喝一杯。这也是一点进展。过了一段时间后，我们告别了，回到房间吃东西。

我们的丰盛晚餐是用新鲜购买的香蕉、花生和法棍制作的。先尝后评，真的很好吃 :D 需要发挥创意，我听说过。

然后我们就去睡觉。

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今天的活动是我们之所以来这个小村庄的原因：参观Lokobe自然保护区。

但这一天又是从美味的早餐开始，我们甚至请求更多的米饼 - 真的太好吃了！

大约8点30分，我们与向导和他的表弟一起上了一艘独木舟。这艘船好在明显比Nosy Iranja的要稳且没那么多洞。我们甚至不需要用水桶来排水 :D

我们划了大约20分钟，抵达了一个海滩，停靠在岸边。自然保护区只能通过海路到达，因此我们的船当然不是唯一的存在。

我们在一些纪念品摊位前受到了欢迎，这些东西中的某些我觉得真的挺酷。不过我们（可能是走运）并没有带额外的钱，因此也没办法购买任何东西。但看看也不错 :)

在我充分涂抹防晒霜后，我们开始出发，首先我们来到一片稻田。这让我想起了我第一次去马达加斯加旅行，因为那里的稻田随处可见。稻田的绿色是一种美丽的色彩，我真的很高兴再次见到它。

接下来让我感到兴奋的是：狐猴（是的，又来了 :D）。我们了解到，婴儿狐猴是如何被抚养长大的，而且雌性狐猴总是拥有主导地位。#GoLemuren

我们再次用香蕉喂食那些可爱的小绒球，几分钟后继续前行。在穿越森林的整个过程中，我们的向导讲解了各种植物和动物，也讲述了他是如何学习这些知识的。他的父亲也是一名向导，小的时候，他就跟随父亲参与了他的旅行。

接下来我们遇到的动物是一条巨蟒。我们了解到，偶尔会有狐猴被它吃掉，尤其是在晚上从树上摔下来的时候。狐猴在晚上几乎失明，因而无法看到即将来临的危险。然而，一只狐猴能长时间保证饱腹，因此这样的事件并不会每周都发生。

接下来我们期待着一项让我们向导的观察技能得以充分展现的事情：他给我们展示了世界上最小的变色龙。为此，他突然伸手到一根树干里，说：“在这里，把手放上去”。无论他是如何找到这些小虫子的。这些东西肯定比我预期的还要小。

因为我们已经走了一段时间，所以该在一个瀑布旁稍作休息了。我趁这个机会来弥补过去几天缺乏洗澡的问题，试着在水中洗掉上周防晒霜留下的残余。我觉得自己真的仿佛重获新生，而清凉的水也让我感到非常舒适。之后，我又晒了一会儿太阳，享受这个美好的地方。

经过一个小时的休息后，我们继续前往另外一种我们还不知道的狐猴：一种夜行性的狐猴，白天完全失明。很遗憾，我无法拍到它的照片，但对于看过动画片《马达加斯加》的朋友们来说：它是国王朱利安的小伙伴。

在导览的尾声，向导们再次证明了他们的观察能力，向我们展示了野外的伪装之王。我花了一段时间才发现他，但也许你们比我更好 :D

在返回海滩的路上，我们再次向狐猴告别，因为今天将是我们最后一次见到它们。

返回到出发点后，我们坐在了一张桌子旁，因为我们非常饿。等了一个小时的食物真的让人觉得漫长，但值得等待：食物非常美味，有一种土豆沙拉、面包、米饭、泽布、我甚至吃了一条鱼（在劳拉的指导下）。甜点是橙子。

肚子饱饱的，我们再次冲向海滩，想要带回尽可能多的美黑回到留尼汪。

大约一个小时后，14点左右，我们再一次划回村庄。这次我们停靠在了不同的地方，因为向导还想给我们展示红树林，这是一种只生长在盐水中的树木。

回到我们的住所后，我们尽量清理了一下，并开始打包那些我们不再需要的东西。

之后我们走出村子，和向导一起度过了这个夜晚。起初他给我们买了香蕉，因为这里的香蕉真的非常好吃，和在德国及甚至留尼汪的香蕉大不相同。这个小村子里的居民还没有学会如何从游客那里榨取钱，因此我们几乎没有为香蕉支付任何费用。之后我们又去喝了点东西，向导甚至请客，真是太友好了。我们尝了香草朗姆酒，真的很美味而且相对平易近人。

在与新朋友聊了1-2个小时后，我们告别了，回到房间吃晚饭。今晚餐单包括香蕉、饼干和花生。好美味！:D

在这顿豪华的晚餐后，我们就上床睡觉。

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最后一天已经来临，我们对其充满复杂的情感。这里真的很美，我希望能再待久一点，但我确实也有点想念我正常的生活标准。

早餐时我们再次用所有能得到的米饼填满自己，然后把最后的东西收进背包里。

然后我们等搭乘的TukTuk，准时在9点内抵达并载我们前往机场。在此之前，我们还和我们的向导朋友拍了一张最后的自拍，互换了联系方式。

到达机场后，一切顺利，我们很快通过所有安检等程序。显然，其他人的情况也很好，因为我们提前了近30分钟起飞 - 德国铁路可做不到这一点。

大约1.5小时的飞行后，我们终于回到了家，我真的很高兴。

因为我们过去两周几乎是在断食，所以从机场直接去了一个汉堡餐厅，劳拉和我早就想试试。我们拿着食物，坐在海边。食物超级美味，是假期的圆满结局 :)

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总体而言，这次马达加斯加之旅与我的第一次旅行真的有很大的不同。

首先，这些岛屿在风景和文化上都与Grande Terre非常不同。其次，我的第一次经历当然更加奢华，很有对比性。白天可以看到贫困，晚上则待在奢华的住宿中，喝鸡尾酒。这次我们白天看到贫困，晚上则在没有电和水的房子里过夜。我很享受这个，因为我们真的在某种程度上与那里的居民一起生活，更好地了解他们的生活。此外，这次我与当地人有更多的接触，并与他们进行了很多交流。这非常令人兴奋，也是我上次有点缺乏的。景观上，我想我仍然更喜欢马达加斯卡大陆（除了诺西伊兰贾）。

我很感激能有这样的经历，并希望我会一直珍视，当我插上电源和打开水龙头时！

We had booked an overnight stay on Nosy Iranja for this weekend . It was an absolute must-see for us, even though it was really expensive. But up until now we had really vacationed in anti-luxurious conditions (frequent power outages, no doors, only one breakfast and half a pizza a day), so we treated ourselves. We paid €135 per person, but that included the three-hour boat ride, meals, drinks and some activities as well as accommodation.

We packed our things in the morning and waited for a tuk-tuk that the provider would send to pick us up. At around 7:45 a.m. we got in and drove off towards fun&boat . For reasons that were still unclear to us, they had even sent two tuk-tuks, but that would become clear later.
When we arrived at the agency, we met our fellow travelers, but only we and a mother-son team were staying overnight; the rest would return to Nosy Be by boat in the afternoon. We left our suitcase at the agency and went to the harbor with two backpacks, where the boat was already waiting for us.

We were given life jackets on board and the 1.5 hour boat trip began. Nosy Be quickly disappeared almost completely from sight, but Grande Terre , the "mainland" of Madagascar, came ever closer. The closer we got to our destination island, the clearer and more turquoise the water became. It looked really surreal in places, it was so beautiful.

A few meters before Nosy Iranja we unpacked our snorkeling gear and I was so happy because the water was crystal clear and the color was indescribably beautiful. We could already see the white sandbank of the island in front of us and it was like paradise. In addition, we could see lots of turtles in the water from the boat. So we got off the boat with diving masks, snorkels and fins and swam with turtles and fish. It was somehow magical because the water didn't offer any visual barrier between us and the fish, it was far too clear for that. This place definitely deserved the name "Island of Turtles".

After a while we were called back on the boat and we moored at the sandbank. From there we only took a water bottle and flip-flops and went to the left. The island is split in two at high tide, but at low tide you can walk across a white sandbank from the right to the left part of the island. On the left part there was an abandoned hotel that was closed when the president changed to protect the turtles. They had buried their eggs everywhere in the sand, which we were later able to see first hand. The hotel was super luxurious and even after so many years of being empty it still looked really good, almost better than our current accommodation :D

After we had looked around, the guide left us alone and we were able to enjoy the stunning beach for about 30 minutes. It is difficult to describe how beautiful it was and photos don't even begin to convey it. We stood on a white sandbank with the finest sand I have ever felt. In front of and behind us was the sea, but it was as calm as a small lake. And the water was like air, so clear you could see through it. If you looked further into the distance you could see all kinds of turquoise, dark blue and light blue, it was really too beautiful to be true. I felt like I was sitting in a photoshopped reality.

After half an hour we walked all the way across the sandbank to a house where our guide picked us up to go and eat. To get to the dining area, which consisted of several tables set for the whole tour group, we had to walk a little further through the village, which was also interesting.

For lunch we had rice, pasta salad, fish, shrimps, zébu (a type of beef), chicken and bread, so we couldn't complain :D It tasted really delicious and was our first proper meal in a few days.

We tucked in and were more than full afterwards. For dessert we had pineapple and oranges.
After dinner we were shown our tent, which was actually just a small room with a roof down to the ground, really cozy and beautiful (and right by the sea!). We put down our luggage and spent the next few hours digesting and getting a tan by lying on the beach.

At 5 p.m. we met up with our guide and the other two people who had stayed overnight in front of the sandbank, which had since been flooded by the sea. He was waiting for us there at a table made of sand that he had dug into the beach. I was more impressed by this than I perhaps should have been, but it was really, really cool.

We snacked on peanuts and banana chips, the other two drank juice and Laura, I and the guide drank a lot of rum in the form of mojitos. They were really delicious, with cane sugar and limes straight from Nosy Be. The evening progressed slowly and we had a really good chat, it was really nice.
At some point I had to go to the toilet so badly that Laura and I moved a little away from the table so we could pee in the dark. But just as we got far enough away, a strange woman ran up to us and informed us that a turtle was laying its eggs on the beach. So of course the toilet plans were immediately abandoned and we gathered around a turtle with everyone else.

We watched her as she scratched the sand over her eggs and then headed back towards the sea. The turtles always dig and bury two such holes to confuse any predators of the eggs. After 45-60 days, the little babies hatch at night.
It was really exciting to watch and I was really glad that the woman had called us. We all then returned to our sand table for a short while and then made our way back to the dining area. Here we had dinner, which was really delicious.

We were very lucky later and were able to watch two more turtles laying their eggs. Unfortunately, you can't upload videos here, but it was really cool to see.

After this spectacle, our other two overnight friends said goodbye and went to bed, while Laura, Constantin (our guide) and I opened the bottle of rum again. Unfortunately, Laura was no longer so enthusiastic about the idea of alcohol, which is why Constantin and I drank the liter of rum almost alone. But it was delicious and a really fun evening!

At around 11 p.m. we lay down in the luxury tent and I fell asleep immediately.

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Waking up was very nice and very unpleasant at the same time. The view from the bed was unbelievably beautiful, it was a gentle sunrise over the soft, clear water.

Unfortunately, I had to swap the view from the bed for the view from the toilet, because I had a bad case of food poisoning. And I was also sick from the alcohol, a dream. In retrospect, I think that the ice cubes in the mojito were probably made with tap water rather than drinking water. I hadn't expected that, since we were traveling with a real agency, but oh well, that's how it is :D So I struggled a bit on the toilet (with many flashbacks to the first Madagascar vacation), took 2-3 activated charcoal tablets and sat down with the others at the breakfast table. I had been going through coffee withdrawal for a few days now thanks to not eating breakfast, but I really didn't want to add that to my gut. So I ate a crêpe and an orange and left it at that. I couldn't sit still any longer anyway, because the toilet was calling.

The next item on the agenda was a pirogue trip to go snorkeling, which scared me on the one hand because I would be away from my toilet for at least 3 hours, and on the other hand because the pirogue really looked like a complete nutshell. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photo, but it was honestly 6 wooden slats that had been poorly shaped into the shape of a boat. And there was even a bucket on board to scoop the water out of the boat during the trip. My kayak trauma made itself known, but I ignored it.

So six of us set off, four paddled and two emptied the boat. We made good progress and arrived at our snorkeling location after about 30 minutes. The water was once again incredibly clear, and you had the feeling you could stand upright the whole time because you could see the bottom so clearly.

Unfortunately, we didn't see any turtles this time, but we did see a lot of fish and very beautiful corals. After about an hour of snorkeling, I gave up my snorkeling gear and just swam around a bit. When you swam out to the open sea, you felt like you were in a video game or virtual reality, because it was too good to be true. You swam and only saw transparent waves lapping towards you, with the shallow light blue of the sea in the background. It's hard to describe, but I just hope that these images will stay in my head forever. After a while, we set off back home in our floating saucer and managed to get all six people back to land safely.

We then had a short time to get ready (or rather, time for me to use the toilet) before we continued on with a tour of the village. We actually just walked up the stairs, past souvenir stands, to an old lighthouse that unfortunately no longer worked. Past the lighthouse we came to a really beautiful viewpoint, because you could see the contrast between the white sandbank and the light blue of the sea, the color of the clayey earth and the green of the trees and bushes. A really great sight!

We use the chic backdrop for a selfie with the other two and Constantin.

After the return journey, I had lunch, the last meal on this beautiful island. I ate despite the discomfort (don't worry, I will refrain from any further explanations of the inner workings of my intestines from now on) and the upcoming 1.5 hour boat ride, because I had paid for it and besides, it was sooo delicious again *-*
Luckily, we had about an hour left after lunch to spend on the beach before we had to head back to the boat. During this time, we tanned a bit and enjoyed the incredible view and the magical water one last time. Unfortunately, it went by far too quickly and we were already back on a boat heading for Nosy Be .
Everyone we asked here what the most beautiful place on Nosy Be or even all of Madagascar was answered with " Nosy Iranja ". And they were all so right. I'm not a huge beach person, but that was a really amazing sight. I've never seen anything like it and I probably won't find it anywhere else. I'm really glad we treated ourselves to this trip, it was worth every cent. Constantin, our guide, was also just a sweetheart and really really pleasant, as were the mother-son team who stayed with us.

Back on Nosy Be and at the agency, we asked Constantin if he could get us a tuk-tuk to take us to our next accommodation in Ambatoxavavy . His boss should have organized this for us a long time ago, but he had forgotten. And it's not easy to find someone who wants to drive the long distance (45 minutes) on a rather bad road at night, because he has to drive it back alone and is unlikely to find any clients on the way home. Fortunately, Constantin was able to convince the driver who had also taken us from the port to the agency. The price was steep, but what could we do, we just had to go :D Constantin was then nice enough to accompany us to the AirBnB and then let us drop him off at his place on the way back, so the poor guy was still in the tuk-tuk for 90 minutes after work.
When we arrived in the village of Abatoxavavy , all the residents already knew that we were coming. We didn't have a specific address, but as soon as they saw us they guided us in the right direction and we arrived safely.

The room we had was actually really nice, I had expected worse. The bathroom was pretty bad, especially because there was no running water. And yes, I didn't want to talk about it anymore, but I would like to point out the need for a flush toilet. And we hadn't had the opportunity to shower on Nosy Iranja, so it would have been really necessary. But hey, what can you do.

The rest of the village was really small and there was nothing, but it was kind of cute. The people were very nice and open and our host, who lived a little further away, was really nice too.

After the long drive we went to sleep pretty quickly.

On Sunday morning we got ready, packed up the last of our things and went looking for the bus boat. This turned out to be easier than we thought, because a man came up to us right outside the door of our hotel and led us to the boat. There we went on board and drove from right to left for about half an hour to pick up other people. Then we finally headed towards Nosy Be , with beer crates under our feet and chickens on the roof.

[Picture coming soon]

When we arrived at the port of Nosy Be, we were surrounded by tuktuk drivers and had to hold on to our suitcase because they all wanted to take us to the AirBnB.

We then decided on one of the many based on our gut feeling and set off in the direction of " Croisière Coco, Espace la Banane ", which was what our host had told us. From there we followed his instructions and walked along a long dirt road and across the beach until we arrived at around 8am.

We spoke briefly with Franck, our host, and then decided to go on a discovery tour after checking into our room and sharing breakfast. We first went to the Scuba Nosy Be diving school and arranged two dives for the following day. Then we took a tuk-tuk to a waterfall. The driver also became our guide and accompanied us to the waterfall and back again.

In the evening we ate a very tasty and very expensive fish at Franck's, our host's, and then went to sleep.

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The next day was all about diving. After breakfast we went straight to the diving school and met lots of nice people, including several from La Réunion. We took a boat to the island of Nosy Tanikely and did our first dive in this national park.

It looked completely different to La Réunion, more fish and really huge mussels covering the ground. After about 70 minutes we got back on the boat and drove to the island. There we went on a little tour of the island with our diving instructor (who is only a diving instructor because he smoked weed and lost his license and consequently his job). We saw lemurs and climbed an old lighthouse.

After about an hour we went back on the boat and the second dive began. This one was even better than the first and it was unbelievably fun. We arrived back on Nosy Be around 2 p.m. We were pretty tired from the long dives so we just ate pizza and then went to bed.

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We spent Tuesday evening at the beach and shopping and got a good tan. On the way to the Big Bazar supermarket we met a parrot.

At around 5pm we went out for pizza (it's the cheapest thing you can get here and we always share one anyway :D), because we were meeting at the diving club for a night dive at 6pm. We arrived there and met the first German since we'd been in Madagascar. Laura and I wanted to do the night dive with special goggles and UV lamps to see the corals glow, which Michel had recommended to us at the diving camp on La Réunion. We paid the extra 10€ and were looking forward to it.

The dive was actually incredibly chaotic and I was soooo glad that I had some experience. It started with our diving instructor being a total slob and everything started off a bit chaotic. Then, just before we went into the water, I noticed that my barometer was losing air. So we quickly swapped it and jumped into the dark water. Things continued to be chaotic there: We were actually all supposed to dive together at the buoy, but only Laura and I were there and the rest were about 3 meters away from us, which is not a small distance in the dark.

Once underwater, everything was in disarray again. There were far too many divers (6 divers, a diving instructor and an assistant), which meant that I couldn't find Laura at first and started to panic a bit. But when we found our way back, it was a case of just avoiding all the fins and hands that were scurrying around us. And to top it all off, I noticed that my new barometer was also losing air, and not a little. I was really glad that I could now estimate these risks and knew exactly when it could become dangerous and what to do. Despite the hustle and bustle and the stress, it was a really nice dive and the effect of the corals and the light was pretty cool. But when we were out of the water again, I wasn't angry either :D

In the evening, as always, I went to bed completely exhausted.

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On Wednesday we finally went on a hike, which I had been missing a bit from La Réunion. The most famous (and perhaps highest) mountain on Nosy Be is Mont Passot . It is surrounded by 9 lakes that you can see. It wasn't that far from our accommodation, about 45 minutes by tuk-tuk heading north. Our plan was to combine the three possible tours, each lasting 1-3 hours, into one big one. Unfortunately, when we arrived we discovered that a guide was obligatory (and expensive) and that you had to pay per tour. We therefore decided to only do one of the tours, namely the one where there was a chance of seeing crocodiles.

While we waited for our forced guide from the village to drive up the mountain to us, we went to the lookout point and ate some baguette and jam that we had brought with us. We didn't have breakfast at the accommodation because it was incredibly expensive (25,000 Ariary, instead of 15,000 Ariary on Nosy Komba).

When our guide arrived, we were delighted to find that he was really super nice and knew his way around really well. During the "hike", which was more of a walk, he showed us a variety of plants. For example, a leaf whose juice could be used to dye furniture (or our hands, for example) red and at the same time protect them from ants. But also a plant that you could use to get a small tattoo.

Otherwise, we were shown plants and roots for diarrhea, fever and even Covid-19, it was really exciting and I wish I could have remembered everything. Even though La Réunion is known for sugar cane, I have never eaten it there just like that. During the tour, our guide gave us a cane of sugar cane and showed us how to "eat" it. It was really delicious, you basically suck the juice out and it tastes like very sweet lemonade or something. Very exciting and a great snack for on the go.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the lake, we didn't see any crocodiles, but I was kind of glad about that, because I don't think I would have felt so safe without a barrier between me and them. There's a legend behind the many crocodiles on Mont Passot: A witch who came to the village and asked for water was refused it. She then put a curse on the whole village. A week later, the villagers started to cry bitterly and flooded their village. Then they turned into crocodiles, which is why it is said that some of them still wear bracelets.

Well, we only came across chameleons and snakes, but that's enough :D

We arrived back at our accommodation in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day at the beach. In the evening we went out for another pizza (again we shared one, because saving money is everything).

Slightly weakened by the lack of nutrients of the last few days, we went back to bed.

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Thursday started out quite comfortably and ended in a near-death experience. An adventure holiday, after all. In the morning we went shopping for our breakfast again, namely baguette, jam and, for once, pakopako, which are super tasty flatbreads that you can buy in the local supermarket bakery.

Afterwards we wanted to withdraw money because we wanted to go to Nosy Iranja at the weekend and it's really expensive. We went to the ATM and found out that it wasn't working. Apparently it was supposed to be repaired in 30 minutes, so we sat next to the machine and had breakfast (more or less leisurely). At some point some men actually came and did something to the machine so that it worked again. In the meantime, however, a tourist informed us that the machine had swallowed his credit card and that he had been trying to get it back for three weeks.

Since we needed the money, we put my credit card in the slot despite the warning and were lucky: both the money and my card found their way out of the machine!

Back at our AirBnB, we borrowed our host's kayak and decided to paddle to Nosy Sakatia , an island that we could see from our accommodation. It didn't look that far away and it was only 10 o'clock, so we had 7.5 hours until it would be dark. We packed our belongings, including cell phones and snacks, into two garbage bags and put on plenty of sunscreen.

We happily set off paddling shortly afterwards and, thanks to the low tide, were able to navigate through fairly calm waters. The water was super clear and you could see corals, fish and even turtles - beautiful! After about 2 hours I noticed that our kayak was bubbling. After about 2 hours and a few seconds I noticed that a bubbling kayak is also a sinking kayak. Unfortunately the island was still quite far away, which meant that speed paddling was suddenly the order of the day. Despite the kayak sinking deeper and deeper, we reached our destination after about 3 hours. First we ate and then sunbathed for a while, leaving the kayak upside down on the beach in the hope that the water would find its way out of the hole.

The island was really beautiful, there was very little on it, I think only 2-3 houses. According to Google Maps there were a few hotels on the other side, but we didn't see any. The water was totally clear, the sandy beach was deserted and fine-grained and there was even a small forest on the edge of the water. So far the trip had been really worth it, even if the last hour was a bit stressful.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked because the tide was starting to make the beach disappear. So when we had no more room for the towels on the beach, we decided to paddle home. This time, however, we didn't just paddle across the open sea, but along the coast so that we could stop and empty the kayak if necessary. So we headed more or less at a right angle towards the beach of Nosy Be, where we noticed that the waves had gotten much stronger and the tide was no fun. After a while, we reached the beach anyway and took another short break, but only for about 30 minutes. Since we hadn't checked the distance to the island, the weather, the position of the sun or the tides, we didn't know that every minute of rest would be our downfall.

We continued along the beach towards AirBnB, and it became increasingly difficult to fight against the strong waves, especially since our kayak was so deep in the water due to the leak. The closer we were to the beach, the worse it got, but the further away we were, the more the waves pulled us out into the open sea. We struggled forward for about 2.5 hours, constantly afraid that we would capsize or lose our sacred garbage bag.

And then at some point we realised that we would never, ever arrive. The sunset had started, the waves were high and the water was very rough. We didn't know exactly how far we were, but getting to our AirBnB before dark was out of the question. And we really didn't want to paddle in the dark in the rough sea. So we went back into speed mode and hoped to at least get to the beach of our AirBnB so that we could pull the boat home if necessary. The sun was getting lower and lower, we were still a long way away. The sun was setting and we paddled with the last of our strength and with the last rays of light. Actually, we just wanted to dock at the next beach, but the tide was too high, there was no beach. There were just walls everywhere that the waves were crashing against and we did everything we could to avoid being thrown into the wall with the kayak. After a total of 7-8 hours of paddling, we finally saw the beach and docked immediately. We were lucky, it was the beach where our accommodation was, but we were still at least half an hour's walk away - without a kayak. We tried to pull the boat in the water, but the waves were too strong and simply overturned the boat and Laura several times. I think we hadn't even gone five meters when the boat was overturned again. And suddenly we heard someone speaking to us and asking if we needed help. It was an employee of the AirBnB who was on his way home. What a coincidence, because he told us that he doesn't actually go home via the beach but across the street. And he was in the right place at exactly the right time. He really was our savior. He helped us empty the kayak, because it was so heavy that even the three of us could hardly set it up. Then he asked a nearby hotel if we could leave the kayak there, because it was still almost impossible to carry it to us. Fortunately, this was possible, and the three of us only carried the kayak for about 10 minutes.

I had never been so happy to have land under my feet and to see an actual man - I had already seen us smashing against walls in the pitch-black ocean.

The lovely employee then took us to the accommodation and invited us to go and celebrate with him. Laura and I were both soooo exhausted and knocked out, but we wanted to thank him somehow and so we said yes. After a fit of laughter and tears and a lot of adrenaline, we quickly showered and then met up with him at Espace La Banane. After a walk of about 30 minutes we arrived at a bar and had a beer with him. But since we were really exhausted, we headed back home at around 10:30 p.m.

The day was extremely exhausting and I was really scared at times.

We also made the whole day based on a baguette, peanuts and biscuits :D

But it's a good story nonetheless (and now that it's over, a funny one too). I swore that evening that I wouldn't go kayaking again that holiday.

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On Friday I had to break this vow again. After a lot of sleep and a hearty breakfast of biscuits and jam, we rented the kayak with a hole in it again.

This time we didn't go far, just to Nosy Tanga , an island that was directly opposite our beach and can even be reached by swimming at low tide. Laura really wanted to go there and so did I, but neither of us had much motivation to paddle again :D

We set off at low tide and I think we could have stayed there the whole time. But the water was crystal clear and there were corals and lots of fish, really fantastic. After about 30 minutes we arrived and went on a little exploration tour of the island. There wasn't much going on here either, I think there was only one house. But there were really beautiful and huge shells all along the beach. We took a closer look at some of them and then sat down on the beach to get a little tan. After 1-2 hours we started our journey home, it was still low tide so it was no problem to get back (thank God).

After we had showered, we went to another beach on Nosy Be and treated ourselves to a massage. We really needed it, because our backs and shoulders were really sore from the day before, to put it bluntly. After twenty minutes of massage per person for a total of 30,000 Ariary (about €6), we definitely felt better, I felt halfway like a human again.

We did some more shopping because we were going to Nosy Iranja at the weekend (actually all inclusive, but we don't trust anyone here and still bring water and snacks with us).

After that, we ate properly for the first and last time at our accommodation, because it was always too expensive for us and there was only fish. The food is really good though, so we wanted to treat ourselves to it once. Unfortunately, we had to enjoy it in the dark because the power had gone out again, like every evening. But no matter, here you learn to live with what you have.

In the evening we packed up for the weekend and went to sleep. Our 5 days with Franck had been really nice, but now it was over...

在我们冒险的旅程之后，现在是时候利用这个机会，去探索 Nosy Komba 了。

不过，我们首先必须先进行一次不太愉快的谈话。因为这个岛的景点数量大约和 Siefersheim 一样，我们急切地想要避免在这里呆上 10 天。幸运的是，我们尚未支付任何费用，因此可以把这个不愉快的消息告诉我们的房东。他对此并不太高兴，但也很少能对我们的决定做什么。所以，从十个晚上缩短到了三个晚上。

我们原计划在 17 日进行一次徒步旅行，但遇到了其他游客（之前我们在这里是唯一的游客，因为这里真的没有太多事情可做），他们告诉我们有一个狐猴公园。此外，他们似乎在前一天进行了皮划艇之旅，并告诉我们他们的皮划艇是从哪里租来的。

因此，我们放弃了徒步的计划，开始寻找狐猴公园，并且很快找到了。为了找到那里，我们必须穿过小村庄（顺便说一下，这是岛上最大的村庄 - 有 4000 名居民）。到达公园时，我们马上被一个导游接待并领着前进。大约 10 分钟后，我们终于到达了狐猴的栖息地。我们没料到的是，狐猴竟然会爬到我们身上。这真是绝对的亮点，它们是如此毛茸茸而温柔，却又非常强壮并抓得牢。

除了狐猴，我们还得与一条蟒蛇和三只海龟（其中一只叫 Pablo Escobar）亲密接触。

海龟的脖子触感大致就像我想象中的大象阴茎。我当时真是松了一口气，当我们终于可以不再抚摸它们。

当劳拉把蟒蛇绕在脖子上时，发生了以下对话：

劳拉：它上一次吃东西是什么时候？

导游：一周前。

劳拉：它们多久吃一次？

导游：每周吃一次。

幸运的是，我们没消化多久，就在约一个小时后离开了公园，心情非常愉快。

接下来我们吃了点小吃，然后开始寻找皮划艇。指南不是很详细，不过经过一段时间我们的搜索还是成功了。

于是我们两个人一起上了一个单人皮划艇，开始划行。第一个目的地是对面的一个小岛。

在经历了一些方向上的问题和被一艘邮轮压过去的极大恐慌后，我们终于到达了小岛。这里有很多贝壳，一点沙子，除此之外什么也没有。我们游了一会儿，收集了我们喜欢的贝壳，打算之后做成项链，然后又重新坐上我们的摇摇欲坠的小船。这次去的还是一个小岛。我们以为这里会和之前一样，什么都没有。但我们错了：在岛的最初几米，我们就发现了人类骨骼。再往前几米便发现了一个古老的墓地。

说实话，当你在印度洋的一个偏僻小岛上发现人类遗骸时，确实会有些害怕。但我们当然还是留下来，四处走动，直到我们发现了两个儿童墓地。于是我们决定还是转身返回，避免在黑暗中待在这个地方。

成功且刺激的皮划艇之旅后，我们再次去了餐馆，然后去休息。

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如前所述，Nosy Komba 的休闲活动相对有限。因此，我们决定将一天的时间花在皮划艇上。不过我们在此之前先短暂逗留在村庄，因为这里正在举行一年中最大的活动：Maki Run。这是一项 10 公里或 24 公里的长跑，显然是岛上所有人的超长赛事。到处都是音乐、舞者和跑步者。有些人甚至是穿着人字拖、Crock 或赤脚到达终点，完成后筋疲力尽。但他们却像英雄一样受到欢迎。

在我们稍微观看了这个盛会后，我们再次租了一条小船，驶向大海。或者说，尝试环绕小岛一周。在绕行过程中，我们发现除了我们的酒店以外，岛上的其他地方真的一无所有。只有水、沙滩和绿色植物。没有房屋，没有人，什么都没有。

经过几个小时后，我们意识到 1.5 升水和一顿早餐对于在 32°C 下进行大约 8 个小时的双人皮划艇之旅显然不是好的条件。幸运的是，我们找到了可能是岛东部唯一的酒店：Komba on the rocks。

于是我们上了岸，询问是否可以在这里喝点东西和吃点东西。实际上，这家酒店是关闭的，不接待非客人，但我们看上去实在太疲惫了，以至于那位善良的女士给我们拿来了苏打水、矿泉水和汉堡。虽然她也收取了不少钱，但说实话我们已经没有其他选择了。然后我们问她，如果继续环绕小岛，我们还会看到美丽的景点吗。她建议我们折返并返回。

说做就做，经过大约 4-5 小时的皮划艇，我们又回到了酒店。由于我们明天还要离开，所以在我们酒店里吃了晚餐，并询问如何离开这里。友好的服务员告诉我们，早上 6:30 会有一辆 bateau commun 也就是一种公共交通船。从这里到酒店的交通费用是 160,000 阿里亚里，而这辆船只需 20,000 阿里亚里。所以我们感谢了她的提示，收拾好行李，准备上床睡觉。

5月16日，我们前往马达加斯加的诺西贝岛（至少是计划如此）。

在机场办理登机和整个航班都非常顺利，我们甚至得到了相当美味的午餐。然而，当我们降落在诺西贝时，问题就开始了：我在跑道上丢失了钱，因为我忘记关闭手机的飞行模式，在我注意到之前的5分钟里， apparently收到了价值50欧元的信息 :D 嗯，真是倒霉，我想这都是我的错。继续。

抵达小型机场后，我们发现这里无法购买SIM卡，也没有Wi-Fi，网络或电话都是不可能的。在入境柜台，由于没有笔，我们是最后填写入境表的。然后，突然之间，一切都迅速进行了：我们填写完毕后，突然被两位女工作人员带入了所有服务的快速通道（可能是因为她们担心两个连笔都带不上的白人女孩）。无论是在签证检查、行李还是边境警察那里，我们都被优先处理并被放行。接着，我们一路小跑跟着那位友好的女士，她带我们去了一辆绝对破旧的汽车，车里有一名男士。那时，我们不确定这是去酒店的快速通道还是走向贩卖人口的道路。然后，突然出现了一位戴帽子的老太太，她在我们面前打开了装满亚里亚里纸币的钱包，甚至在工作人员面前与我们进行了欧元与亚里亚里之间的兑换。这一切发生得如此之快，连我都来不及数清。

于是，我们大约在填写入境文件30秒后，就坐在一辆破旧的汽车里，和一个陌生的男人在一起，手里抓着防狼喷雾。我们朝着首都赫尔维尔的方向前进，想在那儿买一个SIM卡。然而，很不巧的是，那时是中午，一切都关门了，因此我们和这个陌生的出租车司机在一家餐厅里等候。在那里，我们吃了一点东西，并让他打电话到我们的酒店，以了解我们何时能到达。回答是：根本无法到达，那家酒店已经十多年没有营业了。

所以我们就这样，和一个陌生人在马达加斯加的一个餐厅里坐着，变得无家可归。

然后我们预定了第一家有WIFI并且能负担得起的酒店。其实那也不错，除了位置不巧在错误的岛上。我们让出租车司机送我们到港口（如果可以这么称呼的话），然后等第二个陌生男子，他将在接下来的30分钟内乘坐一条绿色的船到达。然而，我们的司机在此期间却不幸地离开了，这让等待变得非常令人不安。

结果，他真的来了，带我们去新的酒店诺西孔巴。船程大约15分钟，我们直接在酒店（Chez Yolande）前停靠。我们得到了热情的接待，但被催促要住10天。为了省点钱，我们也答应了（毕竟我们在原来的酒店损失了200欧元）。他们还提议明天再付款，这后来证明非常有利。

与业主长时间交涉关于房间和其他事宜后，我们出发去看看岛的西部。我们在海滩上躺下来，观看日落。回酒店的路上，我们又在一家餐厅停下来吃晚饭。

大约晚上9点，我们累得倒在床上，心里只感到庆幸能有个地方遮风避雨。

The last day in Mada has begun :(

We met with Michel again for breakfast and then discussed the past trip a little over dinner. At the same time we met our guide for today's old town tour of Antananarivo .

We went there straight after coffee and it was really very interesting. We were able to see the different architectural styles throughout the centuries, the Royal Palace and some other highlights. The old town is the richer part of Tana, and that was clear in my opinion.

We therefore took a detour to a somewhat poorer area so as not to take the wrong impression home with us. That was really very impressive again. After about 3 hours of guiding, we arrived back at the hotel slightly red.

There we finally packed up our things and went out for some ice cream - Nina had been craving it the whole trip. However, it's usually not that easy to get some here because the cooling would be far too expensive. The ice cream here was even better!

We then quickly went to a souvenir shop to get the last gifts for our loved ones. Then Michel suddenly disappeared there for some time and we didn't know where to go, but the secret was soon to be revealed...

We were really lucky on the way to the airport because there weren't nearly as many traffic jams as the day before. The big farewell to Michel was at the airport. But first he took a small brown box out of the car and handed it to me with a big grin. So I opened it and found: a tiny little turtle!! While we were in the gift shop, he drove to his house to pick up the little one. Of course he knows that I had developed a turtle fable and really wanted to show me this mini turtle species. Sooooo cute! Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take them with me :D

We then all hugged each other and went to check-in. Everything went smoothly there, so we bought something to eat and waited for the flight to take off. First I had to say goodbye to Edi because he was taking a flight to Mauritius. The three of us then waited for our plane, which was unfortunately delayed by an hour due to the weather.

Of course, at some point we also took off and were expected by Tobias at the airport after a 1.5 hour flight. He was so kind and picked us up because there are no buses at that hour.

I have to be honest, it's an incredibly strange feeling to come back from vacation and somehow still not be home...

Conclusion Madagascar

I enjoyed this trip incredibly much.

It started out exciting in itself, as I didn't know much about Madagascar before, nor did I know our guide, nor did I really know my fellow travelers. Many uncertain aspects that I simply got involved in - with success!

Madagascar is a diverse and fascinating country. As the second poorest country in the world, you see a lot of suffering and poverty, la misère . That was sometimes difficult for me to bear, but there's nothing you can do. Long-term help cannot be provided by one person. I kept telling myself that. I found it very interesting that the people here seem quite happy, they help each other and respect each other. They share what little they have. And they were very open-minded and friendly towards us tourists, which made me very happy. I didn't want to be perceived as a "rich white egotist."

Nevertheless, it was sometimes very clear that completely different cultures meet here. A man traveling with three women and none of them are his girlfriend? And everyone always sleeps in the same room, sometimes in the same bed? Absolutely unthinkable here. And we heard that often. However, I was very fascinated by the culture and language of Madagascar and I would like to continue exploring it.

The landscape was also breathtaking. It was a big contrast to La Réunion , just in size. It's been a long time since I've been able to look so far without seeing the sea. It was also very varied, it felt like you were in a completely different environment every 100km. Jungle, desert, stone, beach, ... Simply fantastic!

I definitely want to go there again (or several times...) because it has a magic all of its own. I'm also still missing the north and the east, and I'd like to see that. But only when I can say more than Mora Mora , Salama and Misaotra :D Then I would like to go on less of a luxury holiday and be more with the people there, because this distance between me and them often felt a little wrong to me.

It is a land of ambivalence, diversity, discovery and life - a second Ile Intense !

Ifaty Day 1 - Sunday

After breakfast we wanted to look directly at the sea, as it was only a two-minute walk from our bungalow.

However, I was quite disappointed, because unfortunately neither the beach nor the water were particularly clean, nor was it possible to relax: as soon as you set foot on the sand, you were surrounded by children, sellers or supposed guides, all of whom wanted to sell you something could not be shaken off. So after about 30 minutes I switched from sea to pool.

After sleeping and tanning and swimming there for a long time, I quickly freshened up for the day's activity: visiting the forêt de baobab . So at 3:30 p.m. we got into a carriage with two zébu and drove about 30 minutes to the baobabs.

On the one hand, it was a cool experience and I really enjoyed it, but on the other hand, I felt very sorry for the animals and, of course, we were laughed at by all the locals. It couldn't be more touristy.

When we arrived at our destination, we took a guided tour for about an hour through the forest full of baobabs and medicinal plants, which was really incredibly interesting. Our guide's father was a village healer, which is why he was really able to show and explain a lot to us.

We then took the carriage back to the village, where we looked at a market and even bought some fruit. The prices for the locals (our guide bought for us) are incredibly cheap in some cases: 4 mangos for the equivalent of around 5ct etc.

We then took a short walk through the village, which was quite exciting as we hadn't really done anything like that before. We walked past our guide's house and he introduced us to his wife and his property. I would love to see Michel's house and get to know his wife and children!

We arrived back at the hotel just in time for sunset, sat on the beach and enjoyed the fabulous view. So the day ended in a relaxed way with card games and dinner.

Ifaty Day 2 - Monday

Today we had to get out of bed a little earlier: At 7:45 a.m. we took an old boat (" Pirogue à voile ") out to sea to snorkel. Just driving the boat was a lot of fun and it was exciting to see what a non-industrially manufactured sail (boat) could look like.

A few kilometers from our hotel, the other three were busy snorkeling while I chilled out in the water on the boat and sunbathed. Of course, I also tried snorkeling, but I quickly realized that my fear of water didn't allow me to do it stress-free. And who wants stress on vacation? I still really enjoyed the whole thing and was actually pretty happy that I was able to swim and relax in the open sea.

After about an hour we drove on to another beach, where we docked and rested. Meanwhile, our guide prepared two fresh fish as well as chicken and vegetables for us. Sooo delicious!

Afterwards we played cards again (Dad, I'm bringing a lot of new card games with me from my time here!) and then the sail was set again towards the hotel. You may be starting to see a trend, because once again we drank a cocktail and then chilled out by the pool.

For dinner we decided to try a different restaurant than the hotel's own, which brought a little variety to our currently somewhat pensioner-style vacation (just saying that is renter-style again, oh dear) :D

The day ended again with a cocktail. The cocktail counter since I've been in Ifaty has been at five. In three days. But not pensioner style.

Ifaty Day 3 - Tuesday

Unfortunately, since it's incredibly hot in our bungalow and I haven't slept much the last few nights, I decided to spend the night outside. Right in front of our door we have a kind of terrace with benches on which I made myself comfortable. I think the hotel staff found the whole thing a bit strange, but I was finally able to sleep - even if comfort is still something else :D

Anyway, today was a day of lazing around: After a late breakfast, we lounged by the sea for a few hours. By applying about half a liter of sunscreen per 10cm of skin every 20 minutes, I even managed to look like just a very pale cancer.

Afterwards we looked for a small restaurant on the beach and had a leisurely lunch there before changing locations - to the pool. That's what I call an adventure vacation in wild Africa!

In fact, there was at least one more thing on today's diary: a trip on the pirogue for the sunset. We actually thought about going by boat to look at flamingos, but that was a bit too expensive for us and we decided to do that instead. And there was actually going to be a bit of adventure on our retirement holiday: We were relaxing and going out to sea and enjoying the view when we suddenly heard strange noises from the boat, as if it was breaking apart. But our companions stayed cool and let us admire the sunset.

When this was over, however, there was no longer any delay. The sail was reset and we immediately headed towards the beach. Once we were safe, our guide showed us the problem: While we were out at sea, one of the wooden masts started to break. Not that safe, but hey: a cocktail to get you excited! ;)

While we drank it we also ate dinner and played cards, then we went to bed. The last night in Ifaty !

Ifaty Day 4 - Wednesday

After another night on the hard wooden bench, we drove towards Tulear at 10:15 a.m. There we exchanged money again and did some shopping in the supermarket and then waited at the airport for check-in to begin. That also took some time, in total we waited about an hour for check-in and then another 1.5 hours for boarding. However, we met other Germans with whom we had a good chat. In general, the airport was more of a tourist collection point, it was super tiny and somehow totally bizarre.

What really hurt my heart was that we still had too many water bottles left and somehow we weren't allowed to give them to the employees at the airport, but had to throw them away... Clean drinking water simply in the garbage can, while people were dying of thirst not far away.

Instead of 3 p.m., the plane left at 2:45 p.m. Who would have thought that an airport in the second poorest country in the world would work better than Deutsche Bahn. :D

When we arrived back at the airport in Antananarivo , we were picked up by a driver that Michel had sent. We were originally supposed to sleep in the same hotel as the first night, but we changed our minds and preferred to be in the middle of Tana, because that is the capital after all. So we drove about two hours to the city center and checked into the hotel.

What I noticed on the car ride:

1. What I had classified as poverty on my first day in Madagascar suddenly seemed luxurious to me. On the trip I saw so much worse living conditions that my perspective was completely changed.
2. Antananarivo is a real city. Because we were very out of town on the first day, Tana seemed very small to me. But now that we were right in the center, I realized: This is everything, but not a small town. Impressive!

We then had dinner and went to sleep. We would see Michel again tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. :)

However, as I said, we slept in a kind of luxury military tent and Michel didn't miss the fun of selling the hotel to us as a kind of campsite. The surprise was even bigger :D

There is also a national park in Isalo, which of course we took a look at. There we learned a lot about the burial culture of the Bara ethnic group, which I found really fascinating. This ethnic group used to live in the national park, but was then expelled because of its creation. Nevertheless, they still have the right to bury their relatives there today - in "transitional graves" from which the remains are then removed after a few years to make room for the next person to die

Otherwise we admired the interesting stone constellations as well as flora and fauna. To get a short break from the scorching heat (34°C in the shade), we bathed in a natural pool - that felt really good!

Afterwards, however, we walked for about 1.5 hours through the blazing sun without any shade to get to our picnic area. Picnic is a bit of an understatement, there was a 3 course meal prepared especially for us by a local chef. You have to imagine this! However, this is also a small problem point here (at least for me): we are constantly being pressured to eat. Be it twice a day in a restaurant or with picnics like that day. Homemade bread would have done the trick for me too. The leftovers are always eaten by the cook or others afterwards, but it still bothers me sometimes. The food still had a huge plus point: the lemurs came very close to us because they were hungry too - sooooo cute!! However, the chef wasn't so happy when I threw his laboriously prepared luxury meal on the floor to attract the little things :D

After eating we quickly went to two other piscines naturelles , which were also really nice. However, the weather changed and when it rains it is super dangerous there. Just recently, an entire family probably died there. So we turned around and were met by Michel at the parking lot.

We then drove to the Fenêtre de l'Isalo, a stone formation in the shape of a window from where you could watch the twilight - a really nice place all to ourselves. At least until the bus with 16 French people arrived and wanted to take a look. So we went to another hotel so I could play with my newly discovered friends: the turtles!

When we got back to our own hotel, I went briefly into the pool and then had a cocktail with the other three. Michel went to bed early, but we ate dinner quite late and chatted for a while, so it was after midnight when we turned off the lights.

But that wasn't a problem because we were able to get some sleep the next day. We had to drive from Isalo to Ifaty , which took a total of around 5.5 hours. We drove through many villages where emeralds are mined. The stones are really beautiful and the people there are a bit richer, but there is a completely different problem: As a result of collecting sapphires, all the rivers there have dried up and the people no longer have any water.

Michel told us beforehand that we should fill up all of our empty plastic bottles at the hotel, and sure enough: on the way we were constantly asked for water with gestures. It was very impressive to me that people here destroy vital resources in order to have more money...

On the long journey I was also supposed to see something else impressive: my first baobab. What can I say, these things are fucking enormous.

We then stopped at the Arboretum d'Antsokay, a botanical garden with 900 species of plants, 90% of which are endemic to Madagascar and 80% of which have medicinal uses. I found that really exciting.

At around 7 p.m. we arrived in Ifaty , the hotel where we would stay for four nights. There was a bit of a mess with the room, which unfortunately couldn't be resolved, but the hotel itself is still beautiful! We met our guide here and said goodbye to Michel, who we wouldn't see again until Tana . Maybe I shed a few tears... A few days of travel really brings you together.

Here too we went to the pool again and then to the bar for a cocktail - there should be a few more in the coming days.

周三的时候我们继续前往 Tsaranoro。这段旅程相对有点辛苦，因为我仍然不太舒服，最后大约 45 分钟的路程是条不太愉快的小路。

不过我们还是终于到了，我立刻被那里的风景和住宿震撼了。

酒店是周边唯一的文明，外面只有令人印象深刻的岩石和美丽的植物。酒店非常大，甚至还有一个台球桌，一个图书馆等等。

我们的房间像一个霍比特人的洞穴，形状和角落都非常怪异，我立刻感到很舒适！最有趣的绝对是浴室门的设计：

在我们稍微安顿好之后，我去看了日落，然后和米歇尔一起坐了会儿，玩了几局纸牌。过了一会儿，我们想玩滚球。玩得非常开心，还是我们与米歇尔之间真正的“亲密时刻”，因为这是我们一起做的第一个活动，而不是旅行计划的一部分。此外，我的队伍还赢了 :P

晚餐后就上床睡觉，第二天则准备去 Pic Caméléon 进行一次长途徒步（这个名字很明显是因为它的形状）。

为了避开酷热的天气，我们相对较早（大约06:30）从酒店出发，带着两位向导。首先，走了大约1.5小时的陡坡。由于我仍然感觉腹痛，而且已经有两天没怎么吃喝，所以完全脱水和无精打采。我仍然觉得这一切都是值得的，因为风景太梦幻了！

在山顶上，我们休息了较长时间，然后才开始沿着一条目前干涸的河谷下山。这条河谷确实非常美丽，因为石头闪烁着各种颜色，令人赏心悦目。亮点是：我们看到了变种狐猴，另一种狐猴。

在芒果树的阴影下，我们吃了午餐（除了我之外的所有人），然后继续走向一个小村庄进行参观。我觉得那真的非常令人印象深刻。

大约七或八小时后我们回到了酒店，洗漱过后享用了按摩。按摩师是盲人，这让整个体验变得非常有趣-而且她在自己做的事情上真的很出色！

之后我们又玩了几局纸牌，并与两位其他美国游客聊天，直到吃完晚餐后，我们就直接去睡觉了。

朱莉亚、尼娜和我大约在04:30又出发去徒步，以欣赏日出。不幸的是，我很快因疲惫而停止前进，留在较低的地方，而其他人继续向前走，但这段经历依然非常美好。尤其是由于马达加斯加的自然环境真的很宁静。没有车，没有拖拉机，什么都听不见。

我就这样享受着宁静和美景，直到其他人回来。

洗过澡后，我们又饿着去吃早餐，然后打包行李，继续前往Isalo - 开车四个小时。

从星期天到星期一，我们在拉诺马法纳，以便参观国家公园（特别是狐猴）。为了这个，我们早上从安齐拉贝出发，在四个小时的车程中还参观了一个木工艺工作室。那真是太美了。我特别喜欢那些有隐蔽锁的“秘密盒子”。不过我遗憾的是只拍了以下和类似艺术作品的照片 :D

拉诺马法纳位于森林之中，因此在去的路上我们还欣赏到了一些美丽的风景。

没有多浪费时间，我们便直接进入了森林，因为我们有很多东西要探索！老实说，我并没有拍很多照片，因为我对一切感到太着迷了。不过这一天真的很刺激，我们非常幸运，在短时间内看到了四种不同的狐猴。

这些家伙真的非常可爱，不过它们从一个地方移到另一个地方的速度很快，所以我们有时不得不在灌木丛中奔跑 :D 但这值得，因为这些动物仅存在于马达加斯加！

我也觉得这个动物很有趣，祝你们在寻找时玩得开心😉

在公园的参观结束时，我们还走了一个“短途”（大约1小时的步行）去看一个瀑布和一个天然泳池。那里虽然真的很美，但我无法享受，因为我感到剧烈的腹痛。[接下来的几行可能包含对于我胃肠活动的过于详细的描述，但这是我的博客，我想讲什么就讲什么 :D]需要知道的是，自从大约八天前我已经没有上厕所了，我的肚子看上去像怀孕七个月的样子。离开公园后，我真的是疼得快崩溃了，米歇尔非常友好地来接我，并把我送到酒店，而其他人则还在游泳。在那里，他让我准备了一个菠萝汁，水果来自街头摊贩，因为欧洲人通常对此有很大的问题，所有东西都会立即排出。怎么说呢，这确实有效……

然后我们继续开了大约1-2小时，到了菲亚那兰椰，那是一个美丽的古城。我们大约在17点到达，和当地人一起住宿。这真的很酷，我们几乎是在二楼，得通过梯子才能到达。厕所和淋浴在院子里（有一点不方便，因为从现在开始我会享受腹泻，而晚上在黑暗中爬梯子是有点困难的）。此外，他们为我们新鲜烹饪，味道超好！

第二天早上，我们进行了一次城市导览，这真的是一个梦幻般的美丽城市，因为它几乎完全修复了。

这里发生了很多事情，接收和处理所有的印象有些累，但这简直太梦幻了。不太梦幻的是我的腹部痉挛……

在第三天之后我再次在马达加斯加发信息，虽然由于缺乏网络，延迟了一些时间。

星期五，我们与我们的向导米歇尔见面了，吃早餐。早餐不仅非常美味，而且幸运的是，我们的向导非常友好。

他已经做这项工作大约20年了，并且对这个国家了解很多。此外他非常开朗、诚实和灵活，这使得我们能够在可能的范围内，真正按照我们想要的方式来安排旅行。

大约09点钟，我们告别了酒店房间，上了车，准备前往下一站。我感觉不太好，有些恶心。我不知道具体是怎么回事，可能是疟疾药物的副作用，或是空气中被汽车等的废气污染。

无论如何，我们沿着一条不太完美的沥青道路摇摇晃晃前行，我感觉自己昨天看起来喝得过多。（给所有担心的人注：除了喝了一点朗姆酒之外，我什么也没有喝！）
第一个停靠点是在一个加油站，我们与一个陌生人见面，兑换了600欧元为Ariary ——有点奇怪，但很成功。

在接下来的大约6小时的汽车旅程中（呜呜）我们学到了很多关于马达加斯加及其文化的知识，米歇尔喜欢说，很会说。不过，他也主要谈论有趣的事，所以tant mieux 😊

除了几个风景停靠点，我们中午还在餐厅休息，吃了一顿午餐（一个汉堡约合2欧元！），然后参观了一个“铝制工厂”。用引号标注，因为“工厂”这个词给人错误的印象。那实际上只是一种后院，铝在那里被熔化并铸造成锅子。完全没有保护服等。空气中充满了烟雾、灰尘和灰烬，而就在旁边，孩子们在玩耍。这真的令人印象深刻，尤其是当我意识到自己在La Réunion的公寓里也有一个这样的锅子…

大约18:00时，我们抵达了下一个酒店，随后接着在一个马尔加什-中国餐厅用餐，期间不同的客人持续不断地唱着传统歌曲。这是一个非常愉快的结束。然后就去休息了。

第二天上午07:15，我们在一个丰盛的早餐桌旁就坐——鸡蛋、法棍、酸奶、水果、果汁、薄饼、巧克力面包、咖啡…

吃得饱饱的我们再次上了车，不过米歇尔在酒店美丽的花园里遇到了两位可爱的朋友：

我们当天的第一站是在一个石头工作室，那里我们学到了很多关于马达加斯加的（半）宝石，甚至收到了五块石头作为礼物。

之后我们去了一个糖果工厂，一位非常可爱的老太太给我们展示了以前如何制作糖果，以及今天（手工）是如何制作的。我们当然也品尝了这些糖果，非常美味！

为了稍微伸展一下腿，我们之后又去了Lac Tritriva。不过，我们必须离开国家公路去往那里，这又是一次冒险。道路没有铺设满是坑洼，颠簸得让我们不得不感谢我之前没有吃过东西 :D 尽管如此，骑的旅程是值得的，因为湖真的非常美丽，我们也在里面游泳。

在环绕湖泊的徒步游之后，我们继续前往下一个湖泊：Lac Andra Ikiba。我们的向导在那稍微休息，而我们则又在湖边散步 :D 这真是个美好而舒适的体验，不再仅仅坐在车里。

不幸的是，接着开始下起了很大的雨，我们迅速继续出发（终于又上了铺好的道路！！）。我们当天的倒数第二个站点是Atelier artisanale，一个手工艺工作室，首先我们观看了制作牛角汤匙的小演示，然后又看到如何用各种材料（例如罐子和输液管）制作迷你自行车的展示。我真的觉得非常令人印象深刻！

在一家巧克力店稍作停留（马达加斯加因其巧克力广为人知），我们终于去吃饭了——早餐毕竟已经过去了近9个小时。由于餐厅就在酒店不远处，我们便奢侈地用了Cyclo-pousse回程——也就是一辆轻便三轮车。

回到酒店后，我们整理了一下，然后又玩了一局纸牌——一天有着无数印象的圆满结束。

在这两天的总结中，我在安齐拉贝可以说我有着复杂的感受。风景美丽，人们友好，我学习了许多新鲜有趣的事，并且能与了不起的伙伴们相处，但生活条件确实让我有些痛苦。到处都是贫困，小孩乞讨，还有一种对我而言完全陌生的生活现实。我花钱看着人们冒着健康风险生存。仅仅因为我觉得这很有趣，并且有足够的特权去做到这一点。这真的很震撼。

终于来到了这一天: 冒险开始了，我们出发前往马达加斯加 *-*

昨天我整整花了一天的时间打包，今天下午1点在机场见到了。我遇到了我的两个旅行伙伴Julia和Nina。在顺利完成登机手续后，我们便登上了飞机。因为我一如既往地把一切安排得非常完美（咳咳），所以在登机和起飞之间，我快速在线完成了一份考试，但可惜的是没有时间把它发出去。

飞行持续了90分钟，我们甚至还得到了一个小午餐。这真是太好了，因为自午餐以来我就没有再吃东西，我的肚子在咕咕叫 - 而到晚餐还有几个小时。

着陆时，我在剩下的10分钟里匆匆忙忙把我的考试提交了 - 虽然是最后时刻，但至少及时提交了。我对于成绩还是很期待的 :D 但我也得怪自己: 航班是15:40到17:10，而考试是15:30到17:00……

在机场，我们购买了签证并填写了一些入境文件。我们把这些文件交给了边境官员，他非常健谈，情绪高昂 - 可能有些过于兴奋了。因为当他问我多大时，接着就直接问我有没有经历过恋爱和/或初次经历……嘛 :D

在这段相当有趣但又奇怪的对话后，我们在行李转盘上拿到了我们的行李，之后在外面碰到了Edi，我们的第四个同伴。他是从毛里求斯来的，已经等了我们一段时间，期间他忙着换钱（这里的钞票真是漂亮！！在后面的文章中我会给你们展示照片😁）。1欧元大约相当于4900阿里亚里。

酒店的工作人员用一辆颇有意思的车来接我们（两个变速杆，我从未见过这样的车 :D），带我们去酒店，距离机场不远。到达酒店后，我们对其感到绝对的惊喜，真的很被震撼。这里现代、漂亮又宽敞，我完全没有预料到！

因此，我们放松下来，很快决定利用剩余的阳光去买水（和四瓶啤酒）- 这里的自来水是不能喝的。

能看到我们豪华酒店与它所处的贫困街道之间的对比，真是令人震惊……这真是让人深思……

晚上我们还在酒店餐厅吃了晚餐。每个人都有饮料，一道主菜，有些人还点了配菜，最后还喝了朗姆酒。总共我们只花了30欧元，这真是太划算了。

现在我累得倒在床上，期待明天，我们将在08:00左右与我们的导游Michel见面，我非常期待！

今天早上，我们最后一次享用了美味的煎蛋卷和水果沙拉早餐，然后就出发了。在前往曼贾的沙路之前，我们再次利用文明的便利，取钱、买香蕉和橙子，还加油。接着我们驶出了莫隆达瓦，走了几米后向右转。 “说再见吧，文明”，曼南索啊笑着说道。我们穿过一座非常简陋的木桥，来到了一片荒野。长时间以来，我们只看见内陆景观、小村庄，偶尔有一条河流需要穿过。每当遇到较大的河流时，都会有一个小木栅栏，村里的家庭父亲会收取小费。2000到5000阿里亚里，具体取决于河流的宽度和劝说的能力。通常会有10到20个孩子在他周围跳舞，向我们索要糖果或礼物。确实，这里的家庭有很多孩子。他们笑着、挥手、喊叫，追着我们的车跑。通常他们会一直喊，直到我们从车窗里向他们挥手，然后他们会笑着回应并继续玩耍。然而，如果我们不挥手，他们就会显得失望。很少有孩子会跑到车边，真的要东西，他们通常来自那些的确身处荒野的村庄，甚至没有河流或水源。很快就会发现：河流越近，人们就越满意，似乎也是“富裕”的，至少他们能够种植一些食物。在河流前，曼南索啊关闭了轮胎护盖，切换至四轮驱动，深吸一口气，微笑着，我们就穿过了河流，有时水深，有时不深，但事先从来不知道。幸运的是，没有发生其他意外。天气超级炎热且多尘，几乎没有阴影。我们开车经过白蚁巢和斑马车之间的土地。突然在一个村庄停下：午餐时间！曼南索啊去找一家出售食物的家庭，吃了一些米饭和鸡肉。对于外来者来说，这完全不是选择。“他们绝对无法忍受。” 在马达加斯加需要遵守的第一条规则：如果你不想大肚子问题，就不要吃街头食物。所以我们吃了橘子和香蕉，坐在阴影下等候。接着出发。到曼贾还有一段路，天气热且尘土飞扬。不久后，只剩最后一小时。突然后，曼南索啊突然系上安全带，并打了方向灯。哇？太棒了！在世界的另一端竟然又出现了一条街道。就这样，一个城市和一条沥青路。我们到达曼贾。一个可爱的城市，给人感觉非常友好。现在我们很好奇这家被许多人提到、因其丑陋而闻名的酒店。四处寻找，几乎没有其他选择。我们大概预期会有最糟糕的情况。这样会让我们感到惊喜。而且的确，这里并不是特别糟糕。在大门后面，有一片小椰子树和鹦鹉的绿洲。房间当然不是豪华的，代替流动水的是两个水桶。但总的来说，这是一处不错的住宿。而且据说以美味的扎布牛排而闻名。实际上，食物非常美味，晚上甚至有风扇。情况还可以真的更糟。第二天早上的早餐相当简单，虽然重点还是在“简单”上，但这也没事。

在经历了一个晚上让我不得不时刻留意蚊子和蟑螂后，我很高兴终于可以相对舒服地在早上5:30起来，逃出去躲避蚊子和蟑螂。听起来比实际情况糟糕，但我确实不想在晚上不小心把蟑螂压死在床上。天气宜人，微凉，我们和其他一些客人共进早餐，大家都期待着在白天参观基林迪公园。我们再次开车前往公园入口，阿尔弗雷德已在等我们。我们开始进入灌木丛。幸运的是，早上7:30的气候依然宜人，感觉清新。我们很快就看到了在树上跳舞的西法卡猴。这些红额棕狨甚至来到地面，好奇心十足。在一棵树的洞口，坐着一只白尾狐猴，白天看不到任何东西，睁着大眼睛盯着我们，显得一片空洞。它白天不活动，除非听到危险的声音，那时它会迅速逃进树洞。我们在途中遇到了一些美丽的热带鸟和蓝色美洲鹞，这是一种典型的马达加斯加鸟类。我们甚至还在一棵树的洞里发现一只正在打瞌睡的猫头鹰。徒步游览结束后，我们返回住宿地点，在泳池边放松了一会儿，然后在下午沿着尘土飞扬的道路朝向文明的方向驶去。我们在一个小村庄停留，与那里的孩子们聊了一会儿，那里是该地区最大的“猴面包树爱好者”。然后我们继续向日落和猴面包树大道进发。当我们到达时，还有很多时间等着日落，我们用现场制作的美味冰淇淋打发时间，冰淇淋是用猴面包果制成的。还有几种其他口味，我吃了椰子、猴面包和番石榴，非常好吃。过了一会儿，我们该去日落的观景点了，我拍了一些照片，这次背景上有一些云朵。之后我们继续前往莫龙达瓦的住宿。这次是一个不同的房间，我们也在这里的餐厅吃晚餐。显然，对于我们的西班牙和意大利室友来说，时间太早了，因为餐厅里只我们几个人，包括两位非常友好和幽默的服务员，以及关于马达加斯加自然环境的私人纪录片。我们吃了非常美味的饺子和蔬菜，甜点是自制的香草和番石榴泡酒，之后晚上也结束了，我去睡觉了。

今天早上，在河畔酒店再次享用早餐。这次我只点了果盘和几片薄饼。早餐后，我们轻松地整理行李，启程前往干燥森林基林迪。村子里相对热闹，还有一场葬礼庆典，但这里的庆典方式略有不同，充满音乐、有色彩缤纷的游行，而无需将遗骸穿过街道。我们再准备一些水，然后出发上沙路。再一次通过壮观的猴面包树大道，继续向北行驶。天气干燥、尘土飞扬，气温相当高。马南索开车就像是在享受乐趣。其实在这种路上开车根本不需要过山车。我的平衡感有些不适，但我很庆幸在这条路上不会开太久。我们遇到了一群牛，理所当然地享有优先通行权，悠闲地走在路上。大约两个小时后，我们在一处旅馆停下，那里的一个朋友是马南索的同事，我们和他一起参观了旅馆和森林。天气超级热，潮湿。他带我们去看跳舞的环尾狐猴，它们的走路方式非常滑稽。然后，我们在树干上看到一只小昆虫在跳舞，还有两只中等大小的变色龙在树上。我们离开旅馆，继续走进附近的森林。路上我们看到一只可爱的小老鼠狐猴和红额棕狐猴。它们相对温顺，靠近时几乎不会逃跑。最后，我们还看到一只叉尾狐猴，它是最大的不夜动物，从树洞里向我们望去。然后我们开始返回旅馆的路。天气依然非常炎热，我也无法再呆太久。几分钟后，我们已到达基林迪村，村里主要是一个有小木屋的酒店和一些居民。我们吃午餐，随后在泳池边悠闲度过下午，清凉的水让人感到舒适。我询问是否可以洗澡，因为水龙头流出的水不多，结果却被送来了两个巨大的桶，里面是沸水。好吧，我无法用这个洗澡，而且我已经用一点冷水洗过了。所以我干脆洗了我的衣服，这也很好。下午四点，我们前往基林迪公园参加夜间徒步旅行。我们带上了头灯和驱蚊喷雾，再次上路，走上沙路。公园入口处还有DPZ的研究站，不过目前没有研究人员在这里。我们稍等了一会儿，等天黑下来，然后和我们的向导阿尔弗雷德一起走进森林。氛围非常美好，星空也非常壮观。我们看到一只老鼠狐猴在树间嬉戏，一只叉尾狐猴在舔树汁，以及一些壁虎、蚂蚁，甚至是睡觉的鸟，看上去非常惊人。我绝对不是一个夜行性动物，反而有点疲倦。行程结束时，我们甚至见到了一个福萨，令人印象深刻，绝对是一个亮点。它正在啃食一些骨头。回到酒店后，晚餐有意大利面，而且按请求在小屋里也有电。房间里有很多蚊子，但用蚊帐还算可以。

在妈妈和爸爸把我送到机场后，我面临的第一个城市（或机场）挑战是找到一个停车位。终于找到了，爸爸也出现了，我得以前往一段无阻碍的航班。托运行李后，最后享用了一份沙拉，接着就开始了大旅行。安全检查——完成，护照检查——完成，步行到登机口——完成，一转眼：已经在飞机上，前往遥远的埃塞俄比亚。上飞机的路上还和一位同事聊了聊，他在托运行李时因为携带大量行李被认出是热带生态学领域的人士，话题也就自然而然产生了。后来发现他几乎是莱比锡iDiv的邻居，并在马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所工作，正前往喀麦隆。在飞机上我非常放松，旁边有个空位，顺利飞往埃塞俄比亚。当地时间早上6点到达，经过简短的安检和在登机口的喘息后，9点继续飞行，此时已时差1小时。在一对挪威家庭中，我们不再感到无聊，欣赏关于埃塞俄比亚的精彩纪录片，稍微打了个盹后便到了填写令人困惑的入境表格的时候。要求填写诸如旅行计划和当地手机号码，新冠疫苗接种与航班号等各种信息。好吧，反正填个什么都是好事，懷疑的话就写德国手机号码吧。经过几分钟的困惑后，终于要到了，远处出现了一个棕色的山地国家。经过最后的打盹……咔嚓——着陆了……虽然不算优雅，但成功了。在美丽的稻田和安塔纳那利佛的湖泊风景中！

 到达小巧的机场后，首先要进行护照检查。由于我坐得比较前，我对能很快通过感到乐观——我有签证，我以为……好吧，持有签证的人可以在几乎全是当地人的队伍里排队吗？‘这只是为马达加斯加护照准备的’。好的，那我就让所有人先通过，去排‘签证’的队伍。但我不就有签证吗？不，不，我要去排当地人以及想要成为当地人的队伍。真烦人的是，现在整个航班的人都在那儿排队。好吧，那就在所有人后面了。‘Moro moro’，我心想，保持冷静。终于：哈哈，没问题，我的签证通过了。虽然在此之前我被问了一些不确定的问题（在马达加斯加居住？），但显然没有回答也是一种回答。迅速进厕所锁上门，把要兑换的正确钞票从各个秘密藏身之处收集起来。然后，我准备迎接我的行李在法兰克福与非洲之间的某处可能误送的选项……但是不！一切都完好无损。真是幸运。几乎让人毛骨悚然，这一切竟然如此完美地进行。

下一步：到达——紧张：‘真的有人会在世界另一端接我吗？’又过了一次海关，但是那里似乎只为当地人而设，眼前立刻出现了50个人，兴奋地喊叫着，举着牌子，或默默站着。脑子里警惕着机场的高犯罪率，迅速藏好所有贵重物品，时刻不离视线。现在的艺术：尽量看起来自信而不是无助，不要表现得太感兴趣，绝对不能随便寻找目光在人群中游荡。不要看谁太久，否则私人接送服务几乎已被预定。我迅速扫视四周，一开始没看到举着我名字的人。不过我首先想从主要的目标线驶出。没，好像没那么简单：刚走出一步就看见三位马达加斯加人，其中一位立刻接管了行李车，另外两位对我询问一些问题。我认为流程如下：‘哪个酒店？’——‘我们送你去’——然后跟我说A l'Hôtel——然后MICET（我的机构名称），再然后：‘Franka’？……嗯：是吗？！一转眼，他们已经把我带到了David身边，他笑着举着写有‘Franka Meyer’的牌子。哇哦，印象深刻。他们在12秒之内完成了这一切，而我没有说过任何能让他们认出的东西。他们这个天赋啊……我尽管有些困惑，还是发现那个抢了我行李车的男人已经半溜走了。David，这位MICET的人，看来很可靠。我迅速告诉他我1.还想换些钱，2.需要一张SIM卡。他于是能够在行李快速送出去前暂时把我的行李留住，David很友好地把行李和司机留在柜台旁边，这样我就能看着我的行李。也许像一只狮子妈妈护着她的幼崽……他们朝我微笑以示鼓励，我冷静地开始学会换钱。我把我节省的250欧元递过去，透过玻璃框看到计算器上的数字，我一时没能辨认出，咔嚓——一堆10厘米高的纸币就到了我手中，每张上都印着10,000。好的，就用500克纸再走一小步，去换SIM卡。身份证交过去，选套餐，交出一些钞票，‘手机，谢谢’。嗯，他们立刻拿走我的手机，敲了几下德国的按键，仿佛那上面写着法语，插入SIM卡，继续按了5分钟的按键，哈哈：新SIM卡忽然就可以用了！万分感谢，Au revoir。我把钞票放进背包，朝David点头，然后嗖的一下，我的行李几乎已经在停车场对面的车上了。David看上去很冷静，我暗想，这人肯定不会把我的行李拿走。事实证明他确实没有。他很友好的把所有东西都搬进了车里，冲我微笑。对了……小费。我手忙脚乱地把背包放下，翻出钱，给了他一些千阿里亚里。他看起来很满意，挥手送别。我们开车出发，前往百万大都市。后来发现David是个超级德国迷，从小学习了很多德语。他讲了许多事情，说明了我们将要走的路线，同时我惊叹那些多彩的街道、混乱的交通、稻田和五彩斑斓的水果摊。他把我带到了A l'Hôtel，我们定下明早六点的约定。我办理入境手续，享受了一杯木瓜果汁，走进我的房间——关上门，深呼吸。安静。到达了。比想象中简单。不过，我还是想经历一些事情。快速换个衣服，把登山鞋换成拖鞋，换上上衣。把一些钱好好藏好，把外套披上，踏上安塔纳那利佛的街头。这是我所见过的最嘈杂、最多彩和最拥挤的地方。到处都是人、孩子、汽车、摩托车、狗、鸡、水果、摊位，和许多更多。还有好奇的面孔望着我，微笑或流露出怀疑的神情。果断走动并友好地微笑，在说‘你好’时是个不错的策略，也能礼貌地拒绝潜在的出租车司机。其实也没那么难。我在街道上走动，努力保持自己方向明确，首先让我所有的印象尽情涌入。

经过7小时的飞行到达亚的斯亚贝巴，另外再飞5小时抵达塔那那利佛，我们顺利地到达了青旅。

一切都按计划进行。

这里对新冠的防护措施也非常明显。整个机场员工都佩戴着口罩。飞机上的中间座位90%都没有人（保持距离）。很多乘客也戴着口罩。入境时需要填写额外的表格（见照片）并在边境接受体温检查。

(@哈娜，真好我们没有见面。)

海关工作人员幸运地也对我的回答表示满意：我没有任何东西需要申报。

然后我们在机场被项目Manda的两位非常友好的工作人员接走，并送到了青旅。

遗憾的是，我的法语还不足以进行愉快的交流，但通过手势和混合的英语-法语也能沟通得来。

穿过城市的旅程令人印象深刻。马达加斯加的首都周边丘陵起伏，现在正是青翠的时节。到处都是稻田、自由放养的牛和羊，甚至在水稻田中——拥挤的小巴士——载着4人的摩托车家庭——摊贩……等等，这就是典型的非洲画面。

我们的青旅：Maison du Pyla 离市中心稍远。它是一座老房子，形状复杂，有楼梯、高高的天花板和古老的木地板。房间很不错，甚至还有独立浴室。距离Manda儿童之家（大约5分钟）也不远。

我很期待，明天就可以开始活动了。

在志愿者工作的最后一周，我们在学校修理了桌椅和门，或者在Lemurialand工作。由于学校里最多有4个孩子挤在一个小桌子旁，课上时桌子很容易散架。在Lemurialand，除了清理狐猴岛和准备食物外，还有需要刷洗的乌龟和时不时想要新鲜浴室的鳄鱼。

上个周末我们在“la grande terre”，马达加斯加的主岛，度过。我们乘坐出租车（人很多，空间少）前往安卡拉纳国家公园，在那里与一些老鼠一起共度了两个夜晚。在国家公园内，我们遇到了一些蛇、狐猴（还有两只正在睡觉的夜行性狐猴）、蝙蝠、蜥蜴、壁虎和蝴蝶。由于雨季刚刚开始，我们还参观了除非在降雨后不可进入的Tsingy Rary和一个蝙蝠洞。

现在我们在Scuba Nosy Be再呆几天，享受水下世界，然后在星期六去往新西兰。

最重要的是：一周前又出生了6只小狗，现在这里有12只可爱的小毛球。

星期一我们开始了项目。由于这一周的建筑项目并没有进行，我们两个人在学校或幼儿园教课。这个项目很有趣，尽管用法语教授英语语法并不简单（那时字母歌相对简单一些 :P）。

在进行了两个多星期的潜水后，志愿者工作的入门周于上周一开始。我们在住宿处被六只刚出生的小狗迎接（好吧，它们其实只是一直在睡觉）。

现在我们终于看到了海平面之上的世界。我们参观了一棵神圣的树、一栋鬼屋、海滩、观景点，并在诺西萨卡蒂亚与巨大的海龟浮潜。本周末我们在诺西孔巴度过，那是一个位于诺西比南部的小岛。到达那里后，我们徒步攀登到岛上最高点，在这里的气候条件下真是件流汗的事。但为了那份景色，值得。我们还靠近了一些好奇的狐猴，并看到了多种蛇和蜥蜴。

明天志愿者工作正式开始，主要是小学和建筑工作。

在非洲南部停留后，我们于10月16日抵达诺西比，这是一座位于马达加斯加东北部的小岛。在这里，我们首先将完成潜水大师课程，然后参与志愿者项目的工作。

潜水学校的典型日程如下：07:00 早餐。07:30 检查潜水船上的设备。08:00 出发，随后进行两次潜水。大约在13:30潜水艇返回，之后员工们将共享午餐，通常也为一天的工作画上句号。

‘你好！你是新来的，对吧？’ ‘是的，没错。你好，我是安娜。’ ‘嗨，我是XYZ。你在什么项目工作？ ... 你之前在哪工作？ ... 而且，你为什么选择马达加斯加？’

几乎所有我在前几天的谈话都以这种或类似的方式开始。关于项目的问题还比较好回答。‘那个关于水产养殖的项目，前不久主管走了。’ ‘哦，是的，你是那个鱼女！我听说过你。’ 显然，这里的耳闻目睹也运作得很好。下一个问题就稍微有点难了。经过在德国的7周准备，我已经有点敏感了，知道发展援助工作者通常应该至少有2年的工作经验，而我的研究旅行和助理工作不算。我找不到一个能让我不受到惊讶和困惑目光的说法。最后一个问题时，目光往往会有些怜悯。我对此（还）不太理解。我不是因为这个国家，而是为了工作。对这个国家我了解不多，或许这样也不错。所有的数据和事实或许也对我没有什么帮助。我根本无法想象在世界上最贫穷和腐败的国家之一生活的样子。三年后我或许能多说些。

好吧，现在我在这里。马达加斯加。一个大家都听说过，但几乎没有人知道的岛屿，除了它的自然应该是怎么美。

我于3月3日下午3点，在我30岁生日前的几天，带着三个大袋子降落在安塔那那利佛。我的心情有点低落。我经过4周的强化课程，法语也依然很一般，我对将会发生什么毫无头绪，几天前被告知我的领导将会变更。就像这一切的经历还不够挑战一样。幸运的是，我的临时领导非常友好且能干。我在机场被接走，头几天的安排得非常妥当。由于相对突发的领导更换，虽然有一些行政上的混乱，但其他一切都进展得很好。我的护照被转至部门，以便将我的旅游签证更改为长期签证。在几天内我应该能取回护照并继续前往安济拉贝。提前声明，这几天变成了三个多星期。

所以我首先被困在首都安塔那那利佛（简称：塔那）。塔那很吵，拥挤，脏乱，雾霾重，跟大城市一样，且由于周围的山峦非常迷人。但无论如何一切也还好。上下班高峰期交通几乎瘫痪，4公里的回家路最糟糕的情况下可能要花四个小时，但大家依然相对文明。鸣笛主要是作为超车的信号或者在转角和交叉路口的警告，在一些（南）欧城市，噪音水平明显更高。由于狭窄的街道和数不胜数的坑洼，这里也无法快速驾驶。晚上大多数噪音来自街头的流浪狗和邻居的公鸡。对我来说，塔那最艰难的事情是难以评估的安全形势。如果和马达加斯加人交谈，白天和夜晚都非常危险，而几乎在每个角落都可能遭遇袭击。如果与其他外籍人士交谈，白天要小心，做到谨慎，而晚上可能确实最好不要再步行。天黑后6点出门，所以会经常打出租车。出租车通常是已经破旧的车辆，经过许多手艺和一点魔力被重新复活。我很喜欢这些车，但大家认为它们比步行更安全，我仍然感到非常奇怪。的确经常会发生发动机在半路抛锚的情况，而关于刹车我们就不谈了。但确实没有其他选择。一周后我搬到了市中心的一家酒店，每天都能轻松步行去办公室。唯一一段非常不愉快的经历是在警察那里。尤其晚上，他们喜欢拦下出租车，检查证件，希望能获得“罚款”。不幸的是，我的护照留在部门，我还没有公证副本……现在我明白了，为什么有些国家的人宁愿避开警察。

不过，首都的生活当然也有好的一面。在这段时间里我认识了许多外籍人士，并且在各个餐厅尝试了不少美食。而且几乎可以购买到所有需要的东西。大型超市里挤满了法国和南非的产品。

不过在复活节前夕，我还是非常高兴能够出发：我终于可以继续前往安济拉贝了！我的第一手印象即将到来。

祝好，

安娜

在我们旅行的最后，我的导游为我们提供了一些特别的体验。因为他是一个 Rodeo 队的队长，他可以为我们在他村庄组织一次 Zibu Rodeo。这个村庄正好在我们返回塔那的路上。我们绝对不想错过这个机会。一方面我对这个活动不是很了解，另一方面，这种 Rodeo 在马达加斯加有着悠久的传统。

因此，在我们的车再次抛锚后，我们乘坐出租车前往 Ambatovy，也就是我的导游所居住的村庄。仅仅是这段旅程就已是一次体验。其实并不是旅程本身，而是那个“车站”，如果可以这样称呼的话。为了到达目的地，我们不得不换乘一次。在那个被提到的车站里可真热闹。每位司机都在争抢下一位乘客。你几乎无法正常下车，四周就已经围满了人，他们想知道你要去哪里。刚一说出目的地，就在四面八方被牵扯，似乎每位司机都能去任何地方。如果有人认为一上了公交车就能安静下来，那真是大错特错。虽然已经支付了公交车的费用，但司机们仍然想要说服你乘坐他们的车。而这场争夺乘客的战斗并不仅仅针对白人游客，而是针对每一个踏入这个车站的人。在等候 bus 出发时，你可以从流动商贩那里购买各种商品。从食物，如三明治、春卷、萨摩萨、蛋糕和面包，到耳机、U 盘等，甚至还有篮子和帽子。观察这一切的过程真是有趣。

在经过 4 小时的车程后，我们在傍晚抵达了村庄。首先向我们展示的是竞技场，然后我们由村长亲自接待。他邀请我们进入他的客厅，给我们提供当地的朗姆酒和当地食品。我们与他用法语聊了一会儿，然后他就带我们去竞技场了。在简短的致辞中，整个村庄的居民已经聚集在一起，我们得到了感谢，并宣布 Rodeo 是为了纪念 Berni 和我而举行的。因此我们成为了随后的娱乐活动的组织者。

然后活动开始了。每次都有一头 Zibu 进入竞技场，然后进行一些表演。

男人们试图抓住不同大小的 Zibu，在高架上保持稳定。Zibu 并不喜欢这样，并且抵抗攻击者。

看得非常开心。

整个村庄的人都分享着这种兴奋。

当夕阳西下时，比赛也结束了。我们再次被村长邀请进入他的客厅。这一次我们并不孤单，村里的长者和勇敢的 Rodeo 骑手也聚集在一起。接下来是一个仪式，或者更确切地说是一个祈祷，这通常伴随这样的活动。其实，这场比赛的目的就是为了祈求幸福和健康。由于我们是组织者，因此为我们祈祷，希望我们能继续安全、无事故地旅行，愿好运伴随我们的旅途。这个仪式以一瓶自酿的朗姆酒结束，慷慨地分发给在场的每一个人。

然后，我们被邀请分享一点关于我们的旅行，这当然是我们乐意做的。我们的导游也友好地将其翻译成马达加斯加语。

稍后，在我们回顾了 Rodeo 的照片和视频后，我们被友好地送别。

就这样，我们的马达加斯加之旅以一个难忘的回忆结束。

经过过去几周的艰苦努力，我们现在享受着两天的放松海滩。

我们有一个小而舒适的海滩别墅，可以在这里一边懒散一边欣赏海景。

为了不让我们在放松中感到无聊，我们决定去海滩散步

或者去浮潜。

我们的非游泳向导也参加了浮潜之旅，并展示了即使不会游泳也能浮潜的方法

我们还再次享受到美丽的日落，直接从我们别墅的阳台上欣赏。

明天我们将缓缓返回安塔那那利佛，马达加斯加的冒险也接近尾声。