Terra Nova Travel

Professional trip designing for the inquisitive, independent and intrepid

Masoala National Park, Madagascar

Masoala Forest Lodge is located on Pirate’s Cove within the national park boundaries as are about 2 other operable lodges. Owned by Pierre Bester and his second wife, Maria, one immediately has a sense of pride of ownership. Originally from So Africa Pierre, along with his German wife, bring a sense of vahza (foreigner) order to the relaxed Malagasy world. There is very definitely a marked difference in the clientele who stay in a lodge which is largely due to international marketing. Zoo Zurich has created a Masoala rainforest exhibit . It also doesn’t hurt that the lodge was used for as the offset “trailer” for BBC One’s “Planet Earth” which was visited by none other than David Attenborough himself! Masoala attracts Brits, Americans and Swiss while the French owned Lodge Arcol caters to the French and the neighboring Tampolo Lodge to the Italians. The Masoala Forest Lodge’s accommodations are in safari style canvas tents of raised platforms. The camp operates on a generator with power switched on in the mornings and evenings only. All activities, meals, nonalcoholic beverages and laundry are included. While the staff are local villagers, they do retain several interns for a season. Sam from New Jersey is here for his gap year. Dex is So African from the Durban area and Melissa is from the Netherlands. While they tend to the kayaks, snorkeling and other administrative duties, the housekeeping and kitchen staff are employed from the village. The guides are brought in from Maroansetra and engaged for the full duration of one's stay. My guide, Felix, is a local man who learned English from a Peace Corp worker named Nancy. Felix name is very apt as he has a happy/jovial disposition which actually seems to be a pervasive characteristic of most of the islanders that I have met.

 
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