Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Borneo Solo Travel

480101_4753758434443_947782817_n537190_4826894942810_571421490_nIn the winter of 2012-13 I began my travels in Madagascar, the 4th largest island landmass, located off the coast of East Africa. My intention for traveling there was to film the dances in the villages of Southern Mada, and to take film footage and photos of several species of lemurs, in particular the Sifaka, or dancing lemurs. 430821_4701910138268_107133599_nI began by spending 2 days in Antananarivo, or “Tana”, both to acclimate and to make a few travel arrangements/contacts. I flew to Ft .Dauphin, and took the 8hr 4WD drive trip to Berenty Reserve, where National Geographic and David Attenborough filmed these lemurs. I was lucky to also get some footage of village dances. From there I traveled to Cape St. Marie to see the eggshells of the extinct Aepyornis, a bird 574748_10200159317318214_209009246_nwhose rookeries lined the windswept cape beaches and grew to a height of over 10 ft. tall. Traveling north to Tulear, and then on to the reefs of Western Mada, to scuba dive and to learn about the subsistence fishing villages of the nomadic Vezo fisherman. Heading inland, I photographed and fimed the Indri-Indri, and ten traveled north to Nosy Be for photos of chameleons and Black Lemurs. 58879_10200101225345951_1936901807_nFrom Mada I flew to Mauritius to film the Sega dances, and was there to witness the Tamil tradition of Cavadee. 261312_10200101233306150_1802051964_nAfter this I traveled to the Seychelles, where I was lucky to film the til end of their Carnival, scuba dive with mating octopi, and visit the land tortoise sanctuary. The island is home to the Coco de Mer, an unusually shaped coconut (!), and after visiting the Valle de Coco de Mer, to a side trip to 479861_10200159377439717_1140302005_nthe small islands of La Digue and ——for more scuba diving and kayaking. From the Seychelles I traveled on, via Dubai, to the Maldive islands, spending one week on Embudu Island and one week on a live aboard for some of the best scuba diving I had ever experienced. 733774_10200266921208244_1774566760_nI was able to film the Bodu Beru drumming dance, and to visit one village where there had been a tsunami the year before, so repairs were still being made. Next I traveled to Sri Lanka for several weeks, and visited the 220px-Rainbirder_-_Leopard_(1)coastal areas near Hikkaduwa, in hopes of spotting the Sri Lankan Leopard, and take boat trips out of Mirissa to see the Blue Whales. Leopard photo by Steve Garvie. After this I flew to Cambodia, to visit Angkor Wat, outside Siem Reap, and film traditional dance in the capital city of Phnom Penh.images-1