MY MADAGASCAR
Geez, I am the only original member of this team who’s now left in the expedition!!! After the recent changed operated by our team leader some veteran Donnavventuras joined me, making me feel at the same time extremely proud but also veeeeery worried about my forthcoming performances!!! I really wish I could have reached the very end of this fantastic adventure in the good company of those travel mates who’s recently got to leave, but I am sure that these veterans will soon become just as good, kind and precious friends as the other original member of the 2011 expedition.
Luckily Madagascar is a wonderful country to discover, in spite of such a short time available – just six weeks – for our expedition down here. Still I am sure I will treasure all my exciting Malagasy memories forever! When I close my eyes I can clearly see baobab trees, those wondrous whales, the mischievous lemurs, those never-ending red dusty tracks and… of course them, my travel companions who started my very same adventure some weeks ago back in Italy. I can still hear their laughter and see their wonderful smiles as a Donnavventura team never fails to become a sort of a second family to all of us, like it or not!
And how could I possibly forget the Malagasy people and their incredible kindness and humble attitude. This is a country of many striking contrasts between the most peaceful ways of life ever and terrible poverty, between zebu-pulled handcrafted carts and flocks of smiling and cheering young children everywhere you go. Again, here you can find paradise islands and the most luxuriant tropical settings as well as never-ending savannah-like stretches of bare sands and breath-taking plateaus. No wonder Madagascar is also known as the “Continent Island”.
We really had a most comprehensive experience down here, which left me a bit “Manina”, “Nostalgic” and also terribly homesick. While my heart is breaking I can’t help thinking about all my loved ones back at home, my former travel mates and the wonderful Malgasy people we had to bid a final goodbye to.
