Bugs
This crazy island has them, and in a big way, unique in every aspect. As the morning sun begins to bake the landscape, the bugs get on the move with vengeance as if they are enraged by the heat. My day is spent pounding along the
Down south
I will never forget the feelings and emotions going through me as I paddled the last few kilometres towards the coast of Madagascar. This mysterious island was slowly growing bigger and bigger, palms, white beaches and the unknown. This was to be my home for the
The start leg 2
What a build up it’s been, just to get to this desolate barren godforsaken lost point of Madagascar. Eight days of travel, trouble, emotional turmoil and the long legged chicken belly, finally the most southern tip. Looking around, there is nothing. Civilisation has forgotten about this
What is hot?
Red sand, cactus scrub, bonsai Baobabs, prehistoric trees, top this with over 40 degrees of heat no wind no water and finally just add a cherry to it with a humidity of 100%. That’s southern Madagascar. Being a novice to this area it’s a quick learning
Cowboy of the sky
Sitting at Majunga airport, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the flight was early, contrary to what we were told about the unreliability of flights to outlying areas. The scream of the turbo prop drowned the entire bustle in the humid airport building, our enforced sauna.
Storms
There is a line 40km of shore of the Madagascan coast of daily storm action, as the land air flows out over the ocean, meeting the moisture laden coastal air. Building massive banks of cloud and lots of static electricity, and this then lets rip into
Madagascar
After days of relentless paddling, over 7 to 8 hours a day, all that I have had to hang on to is the reward of land some day when and where I was never sure. Each day a mind game, just to overcome a sterile visual
Madness takes its toll
Hour after hour, day after day in searing heat sometimes just less than 40 degrees. I tear my paddles trough the water stroke after stroke. Without a sound around me, except the slosh-slosh of the water as my paddles continuously break the surface. No land in
An ocean morning
Its 4:30, the morning is just starting to evolve. It's dead quiet on the ocean as the Adventurer slowly rocks in the swell. I have a reoccurring nervous feeling as I get ready to board my Kayak, a feeling that hits me every morning as I
Drift
The current has been the single biggest challenge over the past few days. Original estimates were a 1.5 knots per hour, but to our dismay we have been fighting a 4 knot drift side on. Because of this I have had a course set at 50