Finished for now

With mixed forecasts, talk of the train derailing and the road in poor condition from Manakara we decided to finish our first half of the expedition in Manajary.  We are just under half way around Madagascar and will be returing to finish our circumnavigation next year.  Our journey back to the capital with the kayaks has gone smoothly so far.  The kayaks were carefully tied to the roof of a taxi we arranged to get us to Madagascars second city, Fianarantsoa.  The 5 hour journey took us past pristine rain forest and raging rivers.  We hope to leave the kayaks at the hotel and take time to explore the interior of the country before we fly back on the 10th.  The last week of paddling along the beach went smoothly.  The surf was always there but was not too big to land and launch through.  The winds stayed on our tail and we spent around 9 hours a day covering good distance.  We only landed at the end of the day to limit the number of times we had to tackle the surf.  On the whole the expedition has gone amazingly well and we have seen so many spectacular places and met so many friendly people.  We are both very much looking forward to the rest of the journey.  On our return we will upload a gallery and a report on the expedition.  Thanks to everyone for their support.
Simon and Phil

madagascar update

30-12-2007

Had a call from Simon a couple of days ago but haven't been able to get to a computer till now. All's good with both of them and they are making sound progress. They only have 150 KM to their get out and have about a week to get there, so as long as they have no bad weather between now and then we should be seeing them back home by mid January.

Happy New Year everyone:)