Friday Destination Dreaming # 17
Madagascar
I'm a travel consultant, for those of you who didn't know. For the past decade I have been working in this service industry, living vicariously through other people's trips. I fell into this business after circumnavigating the globe in 1996 and then living abroad in Ireland, where I literally begged American Express Travel to let me work there for free in exchange for 'training'. I'm desperate to escape this job, but not because I've lost any interest in travel. I'm just tired of my income being based on sales and putting up with abusive clients. They make up a small part of my customer interaction, but just enough to really screw up a day.
Therefore, my travel inspiration comes from the places that people choose to visit, rarely the people that visit them! Lately, Madagascar seems to be a popular destination, despite the expense of getting there (over $2000 from the U.S.). The most I've known of this country is that it is home to the largest Lemur population(?), and there's a silly movie about a community of animals on this island, or something like that.
80% of Madagascar's flora and fauna are only found on this Indian Ocean island. Of course, this destination has more than forests and furry animals to attract its' many visitors. This is the 4th largest island in the world and was originally settled by both Africans and Asians. It has seen the usual mix of outside influence and colonization from the Arabs, Portuguese and French. The capital, Antanarivo, actually looks like a city in Eastern Europe...
In Summary, this seems to be the perfect destination to encourage you to do overland exploration, discover new fruits in the open markets, go bird-watching and lemur spotting in rainforests, hike through deciduous woods, swim in many a sandy beach cove, and never forget to stop and smell the orchids.
I'm a travel consultant, for those of you who didn't know. For the past decade I have been working in this service industry, living vicariously through other people's trips. I fell into this business after circumnavigating the globe in 1996 and then living abroad in Ireland, where I literally begged American Express Travel to let me work there for free in exchange for 'training'. I'm desperate to escape this job, but not because I've lost any interest in travel. I'm just tired of my income being based on sales and putting up with abusive clients. They make up a small part of my customer interaction, but just enough to really screw up a day.
Therefore, my travel inspiration comes from the places that people choose to visit, rarely the people that visit them! Lately, Madagascar seems to be a popular destination, despite the expense of getting there (over $2000 from the U.S.). The most I've known of this country is that it is home to the largest Lemur population(?), and there's a silly movie about a community of animals on this island, or something like that.
80% of Madagascar's flora and fauna are only found on this Indian Ocean island. Of course, this destination has more than forests and furry animals to attract its' many visitors. This is the 4th largest island in the world and was originally settled by both Africans and Asians. It has seen the usual mix of outside influence and colonization from the Arabs, Portuguese and French. The capital, Antanarivo, actually looks like a city in Eastern Europe...
In Summary, this seems to be the perfect destination to encourage you to do overland exploration, discover new fruits in the open markets, go bird-watching and lemur spotting in rainforests, hike through deciduous woods, swim in many a sandy beach cove, and never forget to stop and smell the orchids.
posted by mrsgreen at 9:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home