Confession 1: I feel guilty about the amount of money I spend on my travel adventures.
Confession 2: I like to assuage my guilt by believing that the money I spend is going to support conservation and the local economy.
Confession 3: I like a lodge that is complicit in my delusion.
I spent my last few days in Madagascar at an amazing eco-lodge. The lodge leveraged its position to protect a large tract of Madagascar forest which it continues to expand with new purchases. It also got the local communities on board with a marine reserve running four hundred meters from shore along the property’s coastline. It employs only Malagasy people, most of them from the local villages (excepting, of course, the Indian Businessman Owner and the white French general manager). In truth, the success of the lodge is largely a product of the work and vision of the general manager. In the end, any lodge is a money making venture, but this lodge made me feel good about spending my money while providing an awesome overall experience. All the guests I talked to felt the same way, and most people when they left contributed additional funds for planting trees and to expand the lodges conservation work.
Aaaaah! A happy guilt free travel experience 🙂
By comparison, I went from Madagascar to an Island off Mozambique. Perhaps if I were on my honeymoon and just wanted to picnic on a white sand beach, I would have seen this lodge differently, but I left feeling like they were doing it all wrong. A large percentage of the management staff were white foreigners, although most of the service people were local people. There were very few activities and even fewer focused on learning about the island and its people and natural resources. (And yet the island seemed so rich with unexploited opportunities for this kind of activity.) I left with my guilt fully intact.
I think a lot on my travels about how to integrate conservation and sustainable development for the local people. If you’re looking for a slice of paradise knee deep in mouse lemurs, let me suggest Anjajavy Lodge in Madagascar. Is this a model for sustainable development? I don’t know, but it might make you feel a little bit better about all the money oozing from your pores in the 10th poorest country in the world.
Oh man! It’s like LAX all over again!
And just like that, the plane appeared out of a cloud of dust.
Move along, man. Nothing to see here. This tree cavity is already occupied.
A different species of Madagascar ground gecko.
One can never see enough pictures of chameleons 🙂
Ah, back to the sea after 2 weeks of living like an inlander.
This is where I’ll be if you’re looking for me after the apocalypse.
Bee eaters.
Kayaking the river near Anjajavay at sunset.
Hairy Leg Crab. Carapace is about 4″ across and 2″ deep.
Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur. Hibernate in dry season. This was the first sighting of the new season.
Long-eared Owl.
Intrepid discoverer of the world’s largest dinosaur egg.
Madagascar Leaf-nosed Bat ???
Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar. Photographed from The Queen’s Palace.
You’re telling me if I lift this rock I can join the Queen’s army. Hmmm… I’m really more of a lover than a fighter. Is there a lover’s rock somewhere?
Shot from the helicopter on the way to Benguerra Island. My first ever helicopter ride 🙂
This was in the school library at the village school. It was one of my favorite books when I was young.
Not sure of the species.
There were hundreds of these “playing” in the surf at the shoreline.
How cool is this guy?
Sunset from Benguerra island.
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