Marxem de Tana / We're leaving Tana

Dema marxem de Madagascar, be si els vols no s'endarrereixen, es clar. Hem passat mes de sis setmanes en aquesta illa, primer convivint amb la canalla de la llar que Yamuna hi te organitzada i despres visitant un xic altres parts del Pais. Ha estat una experiencia extraordinaria, especialment al tenir el privilegi de coneixer tota aquesta canalla i la gent que hi treballa cada dia, veure com viuen i acostar-nos al seu mon. .Visitar els parcs que hem vist i descobrir la fauna i la flora de l'illa tambe ha estat increible; feia anys que teniem Madagascar al cap i per una rao o altra mai hi haviem arribat, ara sabem que hi volem tornar! Habitar a la ciutat ens ha ensenyat com sobreviu molta gent, com tiren endavant dia rere dia, entre el fum dels cotxes, la manca de serveis per nosaltres basics, l'olor de les escombraries descomposant-se i les plujes torrencials que varen arribar amb el Nadal i que ben segur continuaran al llarg de tot el mes. Ens hem acostumat a comprar al mercat local i a veure les mateixes cares que et saluden al sortir de casa cada mati, a agafar els busos del barri i trobar-hi la mateixa gent, a fer i tornar a fer el cami envoltat dels familiars venedors, de veure els camps d'arros que ha crescut i ja han començat a segar, de trobar durant setmanes el terra sempre ple de peles de "lixi", per ara ja no veure'n doncs la temporada s'ha acabat. Han arribat les prunes i amb elles nosaltres ens n'anem. Veloma Madagascar!

Tomorrow, unless the flight is delayed, we'll be leaving Madagascar. We have enjoyed more than six weeks on the island; first sharing our time with the children Yamuna houses in their home and later traveling to other places. It has been an extraordinary journey and we have been very fortunate to meet all these kids and their carers and to get to know a little how they live. Visiting some of their parks we have discovered new flora and fauna to us. We always wanted to go to Madagascar and now we know we want to come back! Living in the city has taught us how some locals survive, how they fight each day amongst the car fumes, the lack of some basic services, the stench of the decomposing rubbish and the torrential rain they endured after Christmas and that will stay for a while. We have become accostumed to shopping in the neighbourhood market and to seeing the same faces greeting us every morning when leaving home, to catching the local buses and to finding the same people every day doing again and again the same route surrounded by the same vendors, seeing the rice fields growing and being harvested and also seeing the floor constantly covered in lychee peels and stones. Now these have disappeared as their season has ended and the plums have arrived. We are leaving Madagascar too. Veloma!

Lemurs, leeches and chameleons/Lemurs, camaleons i sangoneres

We are back in Tana having spent a week visiting this beautiful island. There are no motorways here and so our journey of approximately 800km south took us Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday to get there…but it was worth it. Our first stop was Isalo National Park where we spent a day first climbing up the huge escarpment having Bara tombs pointed out to us (actually pointing at tombs is fady – taboo- here and so our guide did it with his knuckle) and then crossing a plain towards a natural plunge pool. We walked about 12km and saw plenty of Madagascan wildlife…technicolour grasshoppers, owls, a kingfisher, lizards, a chameleon and a troop of ring-tailed lemurs!
We then moved on to Ranomafana, but on route stopped at Anjà, where Frank, our one-armed guide, showed us more wildlife and took us scrambling over almost vertical granite rock faces.
Ranomafana is in the jungle and so we expected rain but instead had the most brilliant sunshine and again we saw lots of flora and fauna including leeches, two of which managed to attach themselves to Manel and Blanche, who were unaware that their blood was being sucked until we saw the stain on their T-shirts!
After the noise, pollution and dirt of Tana, these few days away were a refreshing change.

Tornem a ser a Tana havent passat una setmana visitant aquesta magnifica illa. No hi ha autopistes aixi que el nostre viatge de 800km cap al sud va durar la tarda de dilluns i tot dimarts per arribar-hi…pero va valdre la pena. La primera parada va ser al Parc Nacional d’Isalo on vam passar el dia, varem escalar un penyassegat mentre ens ensenyaven tombes Bara indicades sense assenyalar (en realitat assenyalar es fady – tabu- i per tant el guia ho va fer amb el puny), i seguidament atravessant una plana en direccio a una piscina natural. Vam caminar 12km i vam veure molts animals de Madagascar…grills que semblaven haver caigut dins un pot de pintura, mussols, un marti pescador, llangardaixos, un camaleo i una tropa de lemurs!
D’aqui ens vam dirigir a Ranomafana, pero de cami parant a Anjà, on en Frank, el nostre guia amb un sol un braç, ens va ensenyar mes animals i ens va pujar a una roca practicament vertical.
Ranomafana es a la jungla per tant ens esperavem pluja, pero sorprenentment vam tenir molt de sol, i de nou vam veure molta flora i fauna incluint sangoneres, dos de les quals van aconseguir enganxar-se a en Manel i a la Blanche, que no s'en van adonar fins que van veure la taca de sang que restava a les seves samarretes!
Despres del soroll, la contaminacio i la bruticia de Tana, aquests dies han sigut un canvi molt agradable.

Heading south from Tana / Cap al sud de Tana

Avui es el primer dia que no hem anat a Tsinjo, el centre d'acollida de canalla, i ens preparem per marxar a descobrir un xic d'aquest extraordinari pais. Anirem cap al sud i despres cap a l'oest. El territori es molt gran i les infraestructures un xic precaries i per tant suposem - i ens ho confirmen- no podrem fer molts quilometres cada dia, o sigui que anirem tant a poc a poc com calgui, disfrutant pero de la rica varietat dels paissatges que anirem trobant.

Avui es el primer dia que no passarem per la casa-camio que hem vist cada dia prop de Fianarivo, tampoc veurem els venedors ambulants que ocupen els dos costats de la carretera que hem seguit gairebe cada dia del darrer mes, pero ben segur que en veurem d'altres, potser fins venent coses diferents i tot. Avui tambe es el primer dia que hem fet la motxila, despres de 30 dies disfrutant de tenir la roba en un armari... ja s'acosta el dia de deixar Madagascar i ens ha anat be la practica!

Today is the first day we haven't been to Tsinjo, the children's home. Instead we are getting ready to travel south first and then west, to see some of this extraordinary country. This is a very large place and the roads are not necessarily in tip-top condition, so we don't expect to travel very far every day, but this will allow us the opportunity to enjoy each and every one of the different landscapes we'll pass.

Today is the first we will not pass the lorry-house which we pass near Fianarivo on our way to the home, nor will we see the many sellers that populate both sides of the road, but we are sure to see many others along our route, maybe even selling different items. Today is also the first day we have had to pack our rucksacks after 30 days of enjoying the use of a wardrobe... we'll soon be leaving Madagascar and so the practice was convinient!

Merry Christmas i Bon Nadal

Merry Christmas and Happy 2008

Bon Nadal i Felic Any Nou

Felices Fiestas y Prospero 2008

Diana, Manel, Ella i Blanche XXX

Tana

Amb les motxiles buides i la roba a l'armari pensavem que estariem com a casa i la veritat es que els dies que portem a Tana ens sentim gairebe com a casa. O sigui que l'Ella i la Blanche tenen ocasio de barallar-se de tant en tant i nosaltres de fer de pares ignorant les seves disputes. Barallar-se de fet es una exageracio, alguna petita discussio sobre qui deixa que a qui i es clar, com que el que voldrien portar esta brut... Em penso que als 4 ens agradaria poder portar alguna cosa que no tenim aqui ja que malgrat haver fet alguna compra tant a l'Argentina com a Xile, Australia i a la Mumbai, la roba que portem comenca a estar aburrida i gastada. A mes des que varem deixar America del Sud, fa molta calor i no cal posar-se gaire coses... la mateixa samarreta o l'altra i uns shorts o uns altres (qui en te dos parells) es repeteixen. Aqui la terra es molt vermella i hi ha bastanta pols, per tant ja ens hem acostumat a anar un xic empolsegats, encara que mantenim l'habit de fer tantes dutxes com podem -encara que gastant tant poca aigua com ens es possible. Seguint amb la primavera constant, la meva al.lergia es dispara de tant en tant i empipo als altres amb grans dosis d'esternuts, i encara que ens queden algunes anthistaminiques, no sempre sembla que funcionin, i es clar la contaminacio de la ciutat no hi ajuda gens.
Seguim patint de les males conexions a internet i a vegades es un suplici fins enviar un correu i tot, ens ha arribat a caldre fins una hora, per tant de moment no estem penjant fotos i les nostres session es limiten al que podem aconseguir. Des que tenim telefon les noies han rebut alguna trucada, que sempre les alegra i nosaltres un missatge -gracies Carlos!

We thought that emptying our backpacks into the cupboard would help us feel at home and indded it had some effect. The girls immediately had the occasional argument about who wears what and whose is it, as often what they want to wear is either dirty or being washed... As good parents we try to ignore such discussions. In fact I think at times we could all do with different clothes, some that aren't with us, as despite some shopping we did both in Argentina, Chile, Australia and Mumbai, the clothes we have with us have started to get old and we are bored with them. Not to mention that the last few weeks it has been hot and one ends up having to wear the same t-shirt or shorts all too often. The soil here is red and dusty and it doesn't help staying clean, however we still try to have daily showers, even if using as little water as possible. As it seems to be always spring, my allergy is often bothering me and although I still have some pills left, they do not always have much of an effect, so the girls are constantly enduring my sneezing sessions; of course the city pollution contributes a lot to it.
We continue to struggle with internet as access is far from ideal and we have been unable to post pictures for a while, some times a simple email can take an hour! Since we've got the mobile the girls have received some calls which they really enjoyed receiving and we had one text -thanks Carlos!

Mumbai, Mauritius, Madagascar, a 3 day journey

When we left Darwin little did we know how long it would take us to reach our destination in Madagascar. It all seemed to go well until we were ready to board the flight from Mumbai to Mauritius late at night when after some inquiries we realized our flight had been cancelled. Fortunately Air Mauritius had organized an hotel for us and after stopping a local cab outside the terminal, we were on our way to a 5 star hotel. The next day we took off early afternoon hoping to still make a connection in Maurice, however once we reached our first stop there were no more flights to Madagascar until the next day in the afternoon. Again AM had organised a hotel for us and this time even a proper transfer. As Mauritius is a "luxury" holiday place, we ended up in a Hilton on the beach resort where they greet guests with drinks and all the modern comforts one can imagine were at our disposal... no complaints there. Finally we got to Antananarivo on the 3rd day and were welcomed by Yamuna's Manolo at the airport. We have only been here a couple of days and it already feels we have been here a long time thanks to the extraordinary welcome we have received from everyone here.
By the way, as it will soon be Christmas and we will be here for a while we've got ourselves a local mobile number (+261325195728) in case anyone has the urge to call any of us...

Al marxar de Darwin sabiem que el viatge seria llarg pero mai varem inaginar que tant. Tot havia anat be fins a Mumbai, pero al anar a agafar el vol cap a les Maurici ja tard a la nit varem descobrir que l'havien anul.lat. Afortunadament Air Mauritus ens havia reservat un bon hotel i despres de trobar un taxi varem poder dormir comodament. L'endema el vol va sortir finalment a primera hora de la tarda pero al arribibar a les Maurici ja no hi havia vols cap a Madagascar. De nou AM s'havia ocuptat de buscar-nos hotel, aquest cop ens portaren a un Hilton a la platja on reben els hostes amb begudes i fent sonar el gong i posen totes les comoditats possibles al teu servei. Despres de disfrutar de l'estada i els serveis l'endema a mitja tarda varem marxar cap a Antananarivo, on ens esperava el Manolo de Yamuna a l'aeroport. Encara que nomes portem dos dies aqui, gracies a la benvinguda que ens estan donant sembla que ja faci molt mes que hi som.
Per cert, com que s'acosta Nadal i serem aqui un temps hem adauirit un mobil local (+261325195728) per si algu vol contactar amb nosaltres.

Salam Mumbai

Pels que seguiu la nostra ruta, ahir a migdia varem marxar de Darwin cami de Madagascar. El primer vol en va portar a l'India, a Mumbai, on varem arribar ja tard al vespre. El viatge en taxi cap a l'hostal va ser al.lucinant, un paseig per barris molt diversos veient com vibrava la ciutat, focs d'articifi, claxons de cotxes i motos, olors ben variades i tantes altres sensacions ens varen rebre agradablement. Aquest mati hem descobert una mica d'aquesta metropolis superpoblada, i fins hem trobat un bon restaurant local on degustar les especialitats a l'hora del migdia a la vegada que ho feien els treballadors del barri. Aquest vespre seguim el nostra cami cap a Antananarivo, on esperem arribar a mig mati de dimecres. D'entrada ens costara marxar tan rapidament despres del primer contacte amb l'India, pero ens consola saber que a finals de Gener tornarem per passar-hi unes quantes setmanes...

For those of you who are following our route, yesterday we left Darwin en route for Madagascar. The first leg took us as far as Mumbai where we arrived last night. The journey to the hostel by taxi was incredible; a journey through various, different districts where we saw the city alive at night, fireworks, horns, motorbikes, many smells and other sensations .... This morning we've been discovering this metropolis a little more and we even found a great local restaurant to eat where the local workers were enjoying their lunch. Tonight we continue on to Madagascar where we arrive tomorrow mid-morning. It's a shame to be leaving here so quickly but we'll be back at the end of January and we'll be able to spend a few weeks here ....

Visiting Alice

Very quickly, it seems, we are reaching the end of our stay in Australia. For the past week we have been spending time with Centralians in and around Alice Springs, a 'bonza town', as described by Neville Shute. We picked up another campervan for this leg of our tour and headed south into the desert. It was so hot on that first day that when we stopped to look at Mt Conner and some salt flats, my feet burnt in the sand we walked across. We were heading for Uluru, the spiritual home for many Aboriginal people of this country. It did not disappoint. The rock rises massively out of the landscape and as we first saw it at sunset it was the most beautiful magenta colour. The next morning, we woke early and entered the park at 5 o'clock to watch the sun rise and again enjoy the changing colours of the rock. We then walked the 10 km around it's base. The literature given to you by the National Park in English asks you to refrain from climbing the rock as it is a sacred place for Aboriginal people and indeed only some of them have the right to climb. It seems a reasonable request, however it was ignored by many and from first light a line of ant-like figures started for the top. When we returned from our base walk at about 9 a.m., access to the climb had already been shut because it was over 36 degrees centigrade (or more) and those that had started up so sprightly were returning with much less spring in their step. Another good reason, possibly, not to climb the rock.

Sembla que el final de la nostra estada a Australia s'acosta molt depressa. La darrera setmana l'hem passat amb els Centralians als voltants d'Alice Springs, un "bonza town" (lloc extraordinari) segons Neville Shute.
Vam llogar una altra caravana i varem anar cap al sud pel desert. El primer dia feia tanta calor que quan varem parar per admirar el mont Conner i un desert de salt, els meus peus cremaven nomes de caminar sobre la sorra. Anavem cap a Uluru, el centre espiritual per molts Aborigenes del pais. No ens va decepcionar. La roca s'aixeca majestuosament sobre el paissatge i la primera vegada que la varem veure va ser amb la posta de sol i era d'un bonic color magenta. Pel mati varem entrar al parc a les 5 en punt per poder disfrutar de la sortida del sol i veure els colors cambiants d'Uluru. Despres varem caminar els 10 quilometres al voltant de la roca.
La informacio que et donen al Parc Nacional en angles et demana que t'abstinguis de pujar sobre la roca ja que es un lloc sagrat pels Aborigenes i de fet nomes alguns d'ells tenen "dret" a pujar-hi. Sembla una demanda prou raonable, encara que molts turistes la ignoren i aixi que va sortir el sol, una fila de gent com si fos de formigues iniciava l'ascencio. Quan varem acabar la nostra caminada, a les 9 del mati, l'acces a la pujada era tancat ja que feia mes de 36 graus i aquells que abans havien inicat la pujada ara tornaven molt cansats i molt mes a poc a poc. Una altra bona rao per no pujar a la roca.

d'America a Australia / From America to Australia

Despres de passar els darrers dies d'octubre a la illa de Pascua disfrutant de vistes extraordinaries sobre el pacific, moais i meravelloses postes de sol, varem tornar a Santiago a passar-hi el darrer dia de les "Ameriques", el mateix dia que la Sego Royal passejava per alla, encara que no ens varem trobar... Tal i com estava previst varem embarcar el dimecres 30 d'octubre al vespre per anar cap a Sydney via Auckland. Despres de 12 0 13 hores de vol, aterravem a Nova Zelanda a les 4 del mati del divendres 2 de Novembre hora local (les 2 a Australia) i despres d'un parell d'hores sortiem cap a Sydney, on varem arribar vora quarts de 8 del mati. Com estava previst, haviem aconseguit evitar el dia de tots sants! Potser per castigar la nostra gosadia el cel descarregava litres i mes litres d'aigua, despres de la sequera mes llarga patida a la regio en els darrers 100 anys!

Arribar a un pais del 1er mon, on parlen angles i condueixen per l'esquerra va ser un xoc cultural, a mida que veiem mes coses mes estrany s'ens feia, semblava una europa a l'antiga amb edificis del futur... tot tan net i endrecat, tothom respectant els semafors i les limitacions de velocitat... un canvi radical respecte a les darreres 10 setmanes!
Avui hem volat a Tasmania, on comencem uns dies de "tour" en autocaravana, una novetat per a nosaltres que esperem disfrutar... esperem sobreviure en el petit espai en que viurem els propers dies, dormint en una "habitacio" encara mes petita que les que hem compartit fins ara.
De moment, aquesta tarda feia molt de sol, un canvi que ens ve molt de gust ja que a Syney, en 11 dies nomes 3 no ha diluviat.


After spending the last days of October in Easter Island enjoying its great views over the Pacific, moais and sunsets, we returned to Santiago the same day Segolene Royal was visiting the city. As planned we departed on Wednesday Oct 30th for Sydney, with a technical stop in Auckland. After landing there at 2 in the morning local time (4am in Sydney) on Nov 2nd we continued to our final destination where we wrrived around 7:30AM. As we hoped, we missed Nov 1st -All Saints Day- and maybe our penance was the rain that poured for the next few days... after the longest Australian drought of the last 100 years.

Landing in a 1st world country, where they speak English and drive on the left was a cultural shock. As we saw a little more of the land it seemed we were in Europe 30 years ago with futuristic architecture... all neat and tidy, following all the traffic rules and stopping at red lights, what a change after the last 10 weeks!

Today we have flown to Tasmania, where we are starting a tour of the island in a motorhome, a novelty we hope to enjoy... and hope to survive sharing such a small space, sleeping altogether in an even smaller room than until now. This afternoon was sunny, a change from the last days in Sydney, where only 3 out of 11 days where nice and dry.

Picture to follo due to internet limitations at the hostel / Falta la foto pero la internet de l'hostal no ho permet...

Patagonian channels 1 Canals de la Patagonia

Bé, ja som a Temuco. Aquest matí hem desembarcat del "Evangelistas" (fins fa poc Magallanes) a Puerto Montt després de 4 dies en mig de gairebé silenci, boira, pluja i fins mars arrissats i tot.

El viatge ha estat extraordinàri encara que de vistes poques per les condicions climàtiques. Hem vist una foca nedant, un parell de "lobos de mar" en la distància i la cua d'uns dofins que ja no varen tornar a la superficie, i també hem trobat troços de gel surant pels canals i hem vist moltes aus marines. Hem navegat pel Golf de Penas amb vents entre 6 i 7 de l'escala Beaufort i no ens hem marejat - potser gràcies a una pindola que varem prendre prudencialment una hora abans de creuar-lo- i a més de dormir i descansar hem acabat llibres i endreçat retalls pendents.

La darrera nit fins varem participar en el bingo Patagònic i l'Ella gairebé hi guanya una ampolla de wiskey... però la dona mexicana que també havia cantat "bingo" va enthusiasmar més el públic -majoritariament de mitjana edat com ella- en el ball de desempat...

Avui hem intentat viatjar primer de P. Montt a Temuco en tren, per després seguir cap a Santiago en un altre tren, malhauradament el servei fa mesos que està suspès ja que -encara no és clar- o no hi ha màquines disponibles o n'hi ha una d'averiada a mig camí. Després de fer el trajecte en bus, hem tornat a intentar agafar el tren cap a Santiago a Temuco, on ens han tornat a confirmar que el servei fa mesos que està suspès - també en aquest tram- segons el taxista que ens ha portat de l'estació a la terminal de busos, per culpa del govern socialista que tenen i el d'Espanya que va vendre a l'anterior president - Lagos- trens que no funcionen... ves a saber... O sigui que hem reservat seients en el bus-cama de la nit per arribar Santiago demà ben aviat pel matí. Desgraciadament haurem d'esperar a un altre viatge per disfrutar dels trens chilens.

We have now arrived to Temuco. This morning we disembarked the Evangelistas (previously known as Magallanes) in Puerto Montt, after 4 days in very silent seas amongst fog, rain and even choppy waters. The journey was great even if we did not seen much due to the climatic conditions. We spotted a seal, two sea lions -in the distance- and some dolphins' tails going back into the sea, as well as some ice plaques floating down the channel and many sea birds. We sailed the Penas Gulf with winds up to level 6 0r 7 from the Beaufort scale and we weren't sick - thanks to great sea sickness pills we took- and as well as catching up with sleep, we have finished books and updated our scrap books. The last night we even participated in an organised bingo and Ella almost won a bottle of whiskey, although a middle aged Mexican lady snatched it from her in the dance-off, as her dancing pleased the also middle aged majority of the audience more.

Today we attemped to travel to Santiago by train from Puerto Montt, only to find out that the trains to Temuco have not been running for several months and then again once in Temuco we learned that the night service to Santiago has also been cancelled for a variety of reasons which we could not really confirm, so we've booked seats on a night "bed-bus". We will leave Chilean trains for our next visit.