Author: Harriet Denison
4. Hand Built Roads
On our travels through Bhutan, I became fascinated with the country’s road building. Even in 2007, I could see that the challenge of carving roads from the steep mountainsides with poor equipment meant constant maintenance. During our tour, we passed every phase of road development, from construction crews digging the roadbed out of the steep […]
5. Gross National Happiness
On our long drives, Pema talked with us about his country’s history and values, and the complexities of modernizing such an insular society. His comments helped me understand Bhutan’s unique culture and history. For centuries, self-sufficient Bhutanese people lived in isolated valleys connected to their fields and other villages only by steep mountain paths. In […]
6. Moving Toward Democracy
Bhutan held its first countrywide general election in December 2008, a year after my visit and after the coronation of Fifth King Jigme Khaser Namgyel Wangchuck. I hoped the transition to a democratic constitutional monarchy would help diffuse the internal tensions. The elected members of the new parliament agreed that the conflict between the Drukpas […]
Introduction to Madagascar
A few months after my 2001 tour to Antarctica, I shared lunch with four new friends from that trip. After thoroughly discussing our previous excursion, reminiscing about the exciting times and difficult moments, someone boldly asked, “Where to next?” Immediately, I said, “Madagascar!” And another friend chimed in, “Yes, Madagascar!” It was the lemurs that […]
1. Northwest Madagascar
Travel to Madagascar was an arduous trip by modern standards, including two, ten-hour flights and a long layover in Paris, yet I was excited for almost three weeks of adventure. We were jet lagged when our tour group of fourteen birders arrived in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar and its largest city with 5.4 million […]
2. Ankarafantsika National Park
Our three a.m. wake-up call the next morning came all too early. Mark had arranged for passable breakfast snacks for the bus ride, and most important, coffee. We drove southeast from Majunga, located on the western coast of Madagascar, and inland about 64 miles toward Ankarafantsike National Park. Before humans inhabited Madagascar, tropical dry forests […]
3. Traveling to Southern Madagascar and the Lemurs
After one more night in Majunga, we were back on the plane headed for Fort Dauphin, 620 miles to the southeastern coast of Madagascar. Three days at Berenty Wildlife Reserve promised a good dose of lemurs habituated to people, plus an introduction to birds of the dry southern climate. When we changed planes in […]
4. Among the Lemurs of Southern Madagascar
My initial search for lemurs went unrewarded when we first drove into Berenty Private Reserve. Later, I learned that lemurs like certain vegetation for protection and food, and they have routes and territories that do not include the drive into the reserve. However, when we stepped off our bus into the magical world of Berenty […]
5. The Spiney Forest of Southwest Madagascar
After retracing the rough four-hour drive from Berenty back to Fort Dauphin, we took an hour flight to the southwest coastal town of Tulear. The spiny forest and its unique birds awaited us near the coastal village of Ifaty, another hour north by bus. Both towns are located on the eastern shore of Madagascar about […]
6. On the Road to Isalo National Park
After leaving the spiny forest, we had a couple of long drives ahead of us before reaching Ranomafana National Park on the eastern coast of Madagascar. Along the way, our guide Mark had several interesting stops planned to break the trip into manageable stretches. On the ninth day of our trip, we left Ifaty to […]