Those disembarking were asked not to linger in the sun and to move straight to that building over there (unsmiling men pointed to the airport with the barrels of their submachine guns – their hands were full). Of course, we're in Africa, a police state, it's restless and generally expected, thought the tense passengers who had never been to Madagascar before. Then, of course, it turned out that on our plane, cash transporters were moving some astronomical sum of cash for a local bank, and the submachine gunners were a routine precaution. And they don't meet every plane like this, only this specific one. And there is no danger.
This is a typical story about Madagascar. None of the fears that a tourist works themselves up into before a trip to this amazing country turn out to be justified. That is, yes, there are sharks in Africa, there are big angry crocodiles in Africa, but there is absolutely no one here to bite, hit, or offend you.
Jungles
If you have always dreamed of walking through a rainforest, you probably imagined some Amazon and were probably stopped by a couple hundred rather deadly poisonous spiders and other snakes. Madagascar is for you. The local jungles are the same jungles, but at the same time, no species deadly dangerous to humans lives in them.
There are plenty of snakes here, but no venomous ones. There are a lot of huge multi-colored spiders, but no venomous ones. These are real jungles plus the pleasant knowledge that you will definitely return alive from them, albeit thoroughly bitten by mosquitoes.
Endemics
You still remember from school that Madagascar, which broke away from the African continent early, is full of endemics – animals that are not found anywhere else. It is to see them that tourists who have already been everywhere come. But to avoid disappointment, remember that most of these animals are physically quite small. These are lemurs, chameleons, snakes, frogs, spiders, butterflies and many other insects.
Lemurs
Madagascar is very proud of its lemurs – and yes, there are none like them anywhere else, and many believe that seeing them in the wild is worth a lot. But you need to clearly understand – to meet a lemur, you will first have to drive for a long time off-road, and then walk through the jungle for several hours.
At the same time, there is a risk, albeit not very big, of not meeting lemurs at all. And then you have to go back through the same jungles with insects and humidity, from which every breath and step becomes difficult due to unfamiliarity. Therefore, it is very important to think carefully, but then still be sure to go in search of lemurs.
Mosquitoes
In Madagascar, a girl's best friends are a mosquito net around the bed and anti-mosquito devices that need to be plugged into an outlet. The net is provided everywhere, but the devices not always, so it is better to bring them with you. Even in the cheapest hotel room, there will be insect coils, but they don't help much and not for long.
Hotels
It doesn't matter whether you stay in a shabby hostel or a luxurious five-star hotel – you will be served by extremely polite and hospitable people.
Most of the national parks that you will be taken on excursions to are very far from civilization, and the choice of hotels here is very limited.
There is no centralized electricity, but each hotel has its own generators. The more luxurious the hotel, the longer the lights stay on. Nevertheless, in most hotels they turn them off for at least a few hours. The lights may be turned off from 10 PM or from 2 AM, but it will happen anyway. And, it would seem, so let them turn them off, you are sleeping anyway.
But together with the lights, the anti-mosquito devices that you so persistently plugged into the outlet also fall asleep, and the mafia wakes up...
In general, no matter how opposed to wildlife you are, in the life of every tourist there comes a moment when they start to rejoice at lizards crawling through the doorway. Lizards are indifferent to people and merciless to insects.
People
Polite and friendly. Children don't beg, they play with elastic bands and look at white people with interest. Adults don't try to deceive you. In the shop and at the market, they will give you the same price they give locals.
Food
Rice, very tasty beef, incredibly delicious ocean fish and tropical fruits. Moreover, you only think you know what these tropical fruits taste like.
All this is prepared with simple and understandable spices. There will be no problems with food. In this former, but still French colony, there are fine dining establishments, but even with low cuisine you can have a pleasant time.
Excursions
Most of the interesting things worth coming here for are in the jungles. And any excursion involves many hours of walking, and sometimes even climbing. The local climate makes all this a rather difficult test even for very athletic people. To be honest, the local excursions are, of course, more suitable for that special type of people – you've seen them on TV – they always wear khaki clothes and know 16 ways to make drinking water from their own urine.
To a normal person, it will be very interesting, fun, and joyful, but hard. Under no circumstances plan several excursions in a row – leave at least one day of rest between them.
And in general, it's better to divide the whole tour into two parts: first excursions in the wild, and then a week or two on the beach.
Beaches
Absolutely heavenly. With white sand, clear water and that special effect – when after a whole day spent in the jungles, you come here, watch the sun set into the water, and feel absolutely happy, whole. And no matter how hard you try, you can't make yourself worry about anything in the world.
You don't understand at all where on earth there is grief, suffering, and mortgage loans. But you do understand that right now you can feel so good all by yourself. Because really, can anyone else be feeling this good right now?
Elena OSIPOVA.
Photo by Andrey GUDKOV.