It was time. It took some coaxing; I had to promise it wouldn't shrink. With the patina of several journeys ground into the brim, Rob's travel hat went into the sink to soak. It came out clean of grime and many shades lighter, but thankfully the washing couldn't remove the embedded memories.
I'm pretty sure the first pictures this hat appears in were taken in the Solomon Islands in 1994. That was our first journey to equatorial regions, a part of the world where a hat is a very good thing to have. Then in 2001, it was on to Egypt where the hat appears in a favorite pose at Giza, pyramids as backdrop. I know Rob was glad of that brim as we watched the fiery sunset advance across the valley floor at Mount Sinai. Two years later, it came in handy on the waterfront of Rhodes where the afternoon blaze off the water lit the fishermen's boats with blue, white and gold.
Cheops looms over Rob's shoulder, Giza, Egypt
Roman ruins in Tunisia
And most recently, the travel hat was essential gear in Tunisia where the Saharan sands dazzle into mirages and climbing among the ruins in the afternoon sun can test any hat, any head.
Now washed, the well-travelled hat awaits another departure, this time to help protect against Africa sun and tropical rains and is so doing, to absorb even more memories. Essential travel gear, indeed.
As our itinerary comes together, we are learning more about how we will get around in different countries. We also realize that there will be times when we may not have web access for updating our blog. So this is an advance post about a unique train ride we will be taking in southern Madagascar.
Verreaux's Sifaka, Madagascar
We have a wonderful opportunity to explore the rainforest at Antsirabe where we hope to see lemurs, tropical birds and other fabled creatures. Then we drive south to the coastal town of Manakara (pop 35,000). Following an overnight stay, we start a real adventure as we board the narrow gauge railway that runs inland from Manakara to Fianarantsoa in the eastern highlands. It's a full day ride as the train stops at the village stations along the way. It will be "rustic", as our travel agent says, but it will give us a unique glimpse of everyday
life for the rural Malagagy people. By the end of this journey we'll be ready for a meal and a couple of Three Horses Beer, Madagascar's' own brew.
We will be working our way across Madagascar from east to west, with stops to explore the national parks as we go. Toliara will be our most westerly destination before we head along the coast to Anakao. It's during these adventures that we will be far from wi-fi connections.
To get a sense of what this leg of our journey will be like, check out this YouTube video of the train trip. The view enroute is quite amazing.
We are busy reading all things safari and learning that January in the Serengeti should be an interesting time for animal viewing.
"The extraordinary annual Great Migration of wildebeest and other grazing herbivores across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world. Over two million herbivores partake in this journey, with about 200,000 zebra and 500,000 Thomson's gazelle behind the main players... one-and-a-half million wildebeest!"
