Summer Vacation, Part 2: Madagascar!

Next stop, the beautiful island of Madagascar where many of the plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world. The people are friendly and very proud of their diverse culture and country, however, it is also an exceptionally poor country.

Madagascar's landscape is stunning and varied throughout the country although there is evidence of deforestation everywhere, as a nation, they are working on conservation of flora and fauna.

Terraced farming throughout the year in villages that dot
the countryside.

Each flooded plot belongs to one family.  There are three
growing cycles per year with different plants grown in each.
Rice is the main plant grown and is eaten with every meal.

This sandstone formation in Isalo National Park
is called the turtle!

The rainforest is along the east coast of the
island and is home to most of Madagascars
 lemur population.

Although the landscapes we saw were breathtaking, the animals...wow! We saw so many different types of lemur, chameleons, geckos, birds and even insects!

Indri Lemur.

Mossy leaf tail gecko....can you find it?

An ants nest hanging from a branch.

Brown tail lemur.

The nocturnal mouse lemur.

A tree frog spotted at night.

Diademed sifaka lemur.

Can you spot the two collared nightjar? There are two of them.

The smallest frog ever!  It can fit comfortably on a dime!

Parson's chameleon is the largest chameleon species found on
Madagascar.

A very small chameleon.

This chameleon started out all blue and then slowly
changed to yellow then brown the more we took it's picture!

Two damsel flies with iridescent wings.

A satin leaf gecko that looks like a leaf!  Can you spot it?

These little guys are the nymph stage of the flatid leaf bug!

The ring tailed lemur was one of the few lemurs we saw on the
ground.  Most of the lemurs were in the trees.

A gorgeous yellow chameleon.

Look at this cute little bug!

And of course, the infamous
Madagascar hissing cockroach!

Our trip wasn't wasn't just all about nature, we also met and saw amazing people!

An aluminum workshop that uses all recycled materials to
make pots and pans.

The way some people travelled around the towns.

A local catholic school with about 50 students
in one class!

Making bricks from clay.

The ease of carrying anything on ones head!

These children are playing with a handmade toy cart.

Zebu carts are the way to travel!

Handmade paper with decorative flowers
made out of individual petals.

The locals weave silk from the cocoon of their silkworms to
make shawls, scarves and blankets.

Ms. Lazar and I had an incredible three weeks in South Africa and Madagascar. It was truly a trip of a lifetime for me! I can't wait to share my experience with my classes!

Two very happy teachers!

What did you discover this summer?

Summer Vacation, Part 1: South Africa

I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer and what a summer it has been!  I was very lucky to go to South Africa and Madagascar with Ms. Lazar this past July.  Wow!  Did we ever have fun!

Amazing mountains in South Africa.  On the left are the Three
Rondavels seen while driving on the Panoramic Route.

Our first safari was at Kruger National Park which became South Africa's first national park in 1926 and is one of the largest national parks in the world. It is winter in South Africa, but that actually made it easier to see the animals - less vegetation to hide behind!

A hyena...they are much bigger than I thought they would be.

We saw some amazing birds.  This is a lilac-breasted roller.

A male nyala.

So many impala everywhere!  

A red-billed hornbill.  Zasu!

This baby elephant was so thirsty!  In the foreground you can
see oxpecker birds resting on hippo's!

We also spent several days at Karongwe Private Reserve, west of Kruger National Park, where we had morning and night time safaris!

Spotting this leopard in the tree completed us finding the
big five: lion, elephant, rhinoceros, African buffalo and leopard!

Wandering wildebeest.

I must confess, I had a bit of an obsession photographing the termite mounds!

Incredibly, I was able to walk to within 15 feet of these
resting cheetah.  Amazing!

Perhaps my favorite moment on the safari! This pregnant lioness
woke up, roared and started walking right towards me in the
safari truck! My heart was pounding, I was SO nervous..okay scared!
But five feet away from the vehicle, she turned and walked into the bush!

Spotted eagle owl seen on our night safari.

Martin, our tracker, looking for the elephants.

Elephant tusk markings on a tree.

Elephant spoor (tracks) found in the sandy soil.

We found the elephants in the high grasses.  We could hear
them, but we couldn't see them! 

Later in the afternoon, we found about 16 elephants
enjoying a snack.  It was an incredible sight!

Stunning mama giraffe with African tick birds on her neck and head.

The king of the jungle...well bush...resting for the night.

A stunning start of the day!  The sun rises and falls very
quickly in this part of the world.

African buffalo.

I love the zebras.

Before heading off to the second part of our African adventure, Ms. Lazar and I went to Soweto. 

Just outside of Soweto, we saw the stadium where the 2010
Fifa World Cup was held. It's modeled on the shape of a calabash -
an African cooking pot!

Soweto township has over 1.5 million people
living there.

These three kids followed us on our walk
 through one neighborhood in the township.

A pre-school that was painted by volunteers the day before
which was Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday.

It was sad to leave South Africa: the people,
landscape and animals.  A truly incredible experience.

What have you discovered during your summer vacation?