Category Archives: Madagascar

When Madagascar played host to NASA

If you drive down the highway about 32 km southwest of Antananarivo, you may be surprised to see a giant white satellite dish next to some abandoned buildings not far from the road.  This is a relic of the American … Continue reading

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DJI Mavic Pro: First Flight! (Antananarivo, Madagascar)

Finally, it has arrived! Back in mid-October, I heard that DJI, the company that manufactured the first drone I owned, was releasing a small, foldable drone with an integrated camera.  In other words, one that would allow me to carry … Continue reading

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Madagascar: Solar Eclipse at the Pangalanes Canal

I got an email from somebody at some point, soon after we arrived in Madagascar:  there was to be a full solar eclipse, and we were invited to stay at the “Bush Camp” on the Pangalanes Canal, wherever that was. … Continue reading

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The strangest animal you’ve (probably) never seen!

Meet the bizarre, but wonderful aye-aye.  It’s an odd nocturnal lemur with a kind of creepily long middle finger and a bizarre, wild and wide-eyed expression.  We were lucky enough to see a few of these in the wild and … Continue reading

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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 3)

In the third and and final installment in this series I have written about a trip we took out to a remote village in Madagascar, to help film a crowdfunding video for a great cause, Onja.  In this post I … Continue reading

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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 2)

This is part two in a series.  Part one can be viewed here. So as I noted yesterday, after our long trek into the countryside, the first order of business was to meet with the President of Andovolalina, the village … Continue reading

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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 1)

It started back in July when I got an interesting item in my “Google Alerts” for Madagascar.  A small NGO was looking for a filmmaker and a social media manager to support their project in eastern Madagascar.  I quickly fired … Continue reading

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Madagascar: Visiting the Tsingy de Bemaraha (Part 2)

This post is a continuation of my previous post, where I described out trip from Antananarivo to Morondava, and then north across two rivers and to the “petit tsingy” and a boat ride through the Manamobolo Gorge and the caves … Continue reading

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Madagascar: Visiting the Tsingy de Bemaraha (Part 1)

Travel and Leisure has listed Madagascar as one of its 50 places to visit in 2017.  Since we’re talking about a country that would stretch from New York City to the tip of Florida, I’ll help narrow things down a … Continue reading

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Madagascar’s Majestic Baobabs

I’ve been pretty quiet here on the blog – we have been hard at work on some crowdfunding initiatives, and in between, I have been editing some of the video footage I shot on our trip to Madagascar’s west coast. … Continue reading

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Anjezika: Antananarivo’s “Waterworld”

This is Anjezika. Once a vibrant fishing and rice-growing village, it has gradually been encircled and choked off by the surrounding city of Antananarivo, Madagascar.  Now, nobody grows anymore rice here.  A few small fish can be collected from the … Continue reading

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Merry-Go-Round, Madagascar Style

In retrospect, the kids somehow look terrified.  But they were having a great time, I assure you!

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Heartbreaking

As in many parts of the world, when you drive around urban areas of Madagascar, people will tap on your window asking for money.  Frequently these are little people.  There are many theories about how to respond – sometimes the … Continue reading

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Children of the Street: Ankorondrano

A group of about a dozen kids gathers on a small patch of green with a few benches and trees.  Basically a large roundabout.  Imagine an oblong Dupont Circle, except Starbucks is 3,000 miles away.  The sound of traffic is … Continue reading

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Children of the Street: Ambohijatovo

In this third installment on a project Anne and I are involved in, we assist “Zanaky Ny Lalana”(Children of the Street) at yet another location.  This week we went to Ambohijatovo, one of the ten locations where Malagasy volunteers for “Teach for … Continue reading

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Love Your Neighbor

Truth be told, we didn’t ask to come to Madagascar just for the lemurs – although they’re a pretty nice bonus.  A big reason we came here because we want to try and make a difference, somewhere, in someone’s lives; … Continue reading

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Children of the Street: Ampefiloha

Last week I posted about a new project Anne and I are involved in – assisting the NGO “Teach for Madagascar” via a group of street photographers called “Zanaky Ny Lalana” (Children of the Street).  This week we went to another … Continue reading

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Children of the Street: Anjezika

“Zanaky Ny Lalana” is a group of street photographers that was brought together about a half year ago with the goal of highlighting the challenges faced by some of Madagascar’s most vulnerable inhabitants.  I don’t exactly have much in the way of … Continue reading

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Travels in Madagascar: in and around Ampefy

Ampefy is a little town about 100km west of Antananarivo, in a landscape dominated by volcanic landforms – many of the surrounding hills have the telltale conical shape of dormant volcanoes.  There are a few hotels in town, but we … Continue reading

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Scenes from a Moving Car: Antananarivo Commute

When I first got to Antananarivo I would stare out the window during the commute to work, and started taking pictures with my iPhone through the window of the shuttle. The water in the rice paddies has dried up significantly … Continue reading

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Getting Lost in Antananarivo, Just a Mile from Home

Less than a mile from our home is a lake that functions as a water catchment area during the rainy season, but also offers a running trail, a place for young lovers to escape, a livelihood for a small informal … Continue reading

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Madagascar’s Saha Forest Camp: An Eco-sperience! Part 2.

As the title suggests, this is a continuation of my previous post, wherein I describe Saha Forest Camp and its surroundings…in case an orientation is needed! We’re not serious hikers. But our local guide had done a good job so … Continue reading

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Madagascar’s Saha Forest Camp: an Eco-sperience! Part 1.

A couple of hours north of Antananarivo, at the end of a rutted, slick red clay road that meanders for about 10 kilometers eastward from the town of Anjozorobe, where the winding rice paddies finally end in a jumble of … Continue reading

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Madagascar’s Mantadia National Park: the Lemurs

Normally when we go on a trip somewhere, we end up with 6-10 really good photos worth sharing, which give an overall impression of the experience.  But I have been stalling on this post because the number of close-up lemur … Continue reading

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First Photowalk in Tana

We’ve had a few weeks to settle into the groove here in Antananarivo (pronounce “tananarive” but more frequently shortened to “tana”) and so we figured it was high time we got out and about with our cameras.  There is so … Continue reading

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