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Nosy Komba
Oh my, this is ridiculous…..Ridiculously beautiful. Not my idea, but the decision was taken by the camp’s coordinator to stick to the original plan. I was to meet all the volunteers on Sundaymorning and take the boat to Nosy Komba. Leaving the frustrating job of locating my lost luggage, organising the transfers and communicating in…
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Village life in Nosy Be.
I am staying in a village in Nosy Be called Madirokely. This reminds me so much of the Sri Lanka I lived in during 1998 and 1999. There are many similarities. Notably the tut-tuts jostling along the roads like go-karts on a race track, the ‘peep peeps’, sounds of motorbike engines, smell of diesel fuel,…
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North to Nosy Be
I am now on my way to Nosy Be by turbo prop plane courtesy of Tsaradia. A service scheduled to leave at 16.00 today, then switched oddly to 05.00, then 14.10 and then, on the day, given a new time of 16.20. I will be taking one of their three planes manned by their seven…
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Country File : Madagascar
Madagascar is an island country situated 250 miles off the South East Coast of Africa. Named as the 4th largest island in the World, after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo. Its is similar in size to France at 592,796 km2. The inland capital is Antananarivo. Thankfully shortened and known by the locals as Tana. It…
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Why Madagascar?
I don’t remember when Madagascar first came on to my radar as a place I needed to visit. Maybe it was a seed planted by one of those early influencers ( in the days before Instagram), Jacques Cousteau or David Attenborough… I only know one person who has ever visited the island. A colleague, from…
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I’m going to Mauritius?
I now realise that the most stressful part of any trip is the preparation and packing before you leave. The trip itself is the easy part. I had hoped that my Namibia list would quickly steer me on what packing was needed, but the truth was very different. Going from a dry desert location to…
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Born under a water sign… really?
I was born in the month of July which, in theory, makes me a zodiacal water baby. So, why is it that this particular crab is so frightened of water? The next project on my UN sustainable goal list is Number 14. Life below water. So, as I ‘grasp the next nettle’, working all day…
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Losing weight is easy (not)
I remember a long time ago. I was living in Istanbul at the time, asking my friend, the fabulous Robert, whether I looked any slimmer after losing a few kilos in weight. It only takes Robert a fleeting look to catch: what you are wearing, the source of each item and tuck away mental notes…
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4 am Friendship
Writers on the subject of friendship say that there are three types of friends: reason, season and 4am friends, and those friendships are critical to both our mental and physical wellbeing. Friendship is another thing that you can ponder, when you have a breathing space from: work strategies, constant meetings and the email overload. They…
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I’m a dendrophile
For as long as I can remember I have loved trees. So much so that, like many dendrophiles – lovers of trees – I find the thought of cutting any trees down tantamount to murder. I witness many a murder in the area I live in. Here there is an incessant desire for laying ugly…
