Tag Archives: Madagascar

Review: Air Austral Mauritius – Antananarivo

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Normally I am the sort who wants the absolute cheapest flight from A to B and if I can’t use miles or earn miles then I don’t care which airline it is on.  But this was one time where the punctuality was crucial to our plans and we couldn’t afford for an airline to be late or even worse – cancel.  I had done my homework after reading of Air Madagascar’s reputation on Trip Advisor and tracking their on-time stats on Flightstats.  The odds were heavily against this flight being remotely on time or even arriving on the same day!  So I made a very unusual decision for me, I paid around $100 more per person to go with an airline that had 98% on-time performance on this route – Air Austral.

Flights MRU-TNRI should also point out that I had no flexibility on days.  I had moved this trip forward from 2015 to 2014 and had to cut a few things back so it was essential that we fly on Monday and have a full week in Madagascar.  We would have been happy to fly on Air Mauritius if they flew on Mondays but they didn’t.  A flight delay could mean we would lose 2 out of our 7 days in Madagascar.

The flights themselves were spot on time although we had to change planes in Reunion. Since Reunion is part of France we also had the protection afforded anyone on an European airline.

We boarded right on time and I managed to get our carry-on backpacks on board as carry ons.  They do have a weight restriction and my heavy camera gear put us over the limit but I didn’t want to check the expensive camera and lenses.

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One last look at Mauritius.  The flight time was around 1 hour on both segments.

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This is Air Austral’s business class although I can’t see why anyone would pay the extra on such a short flight.

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This is the departure lounge at Reunion.  There are a couple shops and a cafe.  We had less than an hour between flights and the Madagascar flight also was right on time.

IMG_4853 IMG_4854I didn’t take photos of the 2nd flight as it was identical to the first one.  There were snacks served on board and neither flight was full so we each had an empty seat next to us and were very comfortable.  We arrived right on time at Antananarivo and were able to do our full itinerary in Madagascar and that was all that really mattered to us.  Air Austral is a good airline overall and we were happy with the service.

 

Birds Of The Indian Ocean Islands – Field Guide

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This is where I messed up.  Since I live in Australia, I thought I could save on shipping and buy this book in South Africa or Mauritius and have it on hand for birding in Madagascar.  I couldn’t find it anywhere!  What I should have done was buy the Kindle version to save on shipping and at least have something to refer to after birding in Madagascar.  Don’t make the same mistake, if you are Madagascar bound, this is the best birding guide book available.

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

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The Hoopoe (Upupa epops) is a colourful bird found across Afro-Eurasia, notable for its distinctive “crown” of feathers. It is the only extant species in the family Upupidae.

IMG_3944 IMG_3956 IMG_3903There are 9 sub-species and I have seen 3 of them, all in Africa.

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They were very easily seen in Satara Restcamp in Kruger National Park, Ankarafantsika in Madagascar and several places in Tanzania.  The Wikipedia map shows just how widespread they really are!

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LEARN MORE ABOUT HOOPOES

Wikipedia

Birdlife

ARKive

VIDEO

Great close up action and you can hear the sound he makes!

 

Did I Achieve My Birding Goals In Africa?

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During the planning stages of “The Mother of all African Adventures“, I was targeting areas in which parrot species could be found along with many other bird and mammal species.  I will copy the targets here and give you the results to show how goal planning can affect your trip.  Of course the trip will be blogged in detail over the next few months.

I have copied below the parrot species I was targeting which represent 17 out of the 24 species that are found in Africa and the neighboring island nations.  Successes will be highlighted in lime green.

PARROT SPECIES FOUND IN AFRICA

1. Rose-ringed Parakeet – Psittacula krameri.  We have seen them in several places in India and feral populations in Europe.  Not a priority but may see them during the trip.

Result:  Not seen on this trip.

2. Mauritius Parakeet  – Psittacula echo.  Habitat in Black River Gorges National Park, easily driven from hotel in Mauritius.

Result:  Seen well in Black River Gorges National Park.

3. Gray Parrot – Psittacus erithacus.  Has large range but many places difficult, expensive or possible unsafe to travel to.  Easiest place to see them near Star Alliance airport is in Ghana at Kakum National Park.

Result: Only a pair seen flying at a distance in Kakum National Park.

4. Greater Vasa Parrot – Coracopsis vasa.  Madagascar endemic, easiest place to find them near Star Alliance airport is Andasibe National Park.

Result:  Seen well at Ankarafantsika National Park.

5. Lesser Vasa Parrot – Coracopsis nigra.  Madagascar endemic, easiest place to find them near Star Alliance airport is Andasibe National Park.

Result:  Seen well at Ankarafantsika National Park.

7. Black-winged Lovebird – Agapornis taranta.  Found in Ethiopia.  Slim chance to see them if there is a long layover at Addis Ababa.

Result:  We had a scant hour of early dawn light to try to find them on a brief layover and failed to find any.  Needed more time!

8.  Red-headed Lovebird – Agapornis pullarius.  Habitat not easily accessible, best chance is in Ghana.

 

Result:  Poorly seen in dense foliage at University of Ghana, Accra.

11. Fischer’s Lovebird – Agapornis fischeri.  Found in Tanzania, targeting them in Arusha, Tarangire and Serengeti.

Result:  Seen well near Ndutu Safari Lodge on Serengeti border.

12. Yellow-collared Lovebird (Masked Lovebird) – Agapornis personatus.  Found in Tanzania, targeting them in Arusha, Tarangire and Serengeti.

Result:  Seen well at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

14. Grey-headed Lovebird –  Agapornis canus.  Madagascar endemic, easiest place to find them near Star Alliance airport is Anatanarivo’s Tsimbazaza Park.

Result:  Seen at Ankarafantsika National Park.

15. Red-fronted (Jardine’s) Parrot – Poicephalus gulielmi.  Targeted in Arusha National Park and possible Ghana.

Result:  Seen at a distance at Arusha National Park, Tanzania

16. Cape Parrot – Poicephalus robustus.  Southern coast of South Africa.  Will try to find them as close as possible to Port Elizabeth.

Result:  Seen well in King William’s Town, South Africa.

17. Brown-necked Parrot –  Poicephalus fuscicollis.  Subspecies of Cape Parrot.  Have seen in Magoebaskloof, planning on return visit.

Result:  Seen well at Magoebaskloof, South Africa.

18. Brown-headed Parrot – Poicephalus cryptoxanthus. Easiest to find in northern Kruger National Park.

Result:  Seen well at Pretoriuskop Restcamp, Kruger National Park.

19. Red-bellied Parrot – Poicephalus rufiventris.  Found in Tanzania, targeting them in Tarangire.

Result:  Seen well at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

21. Meyer’s Parrot – Poicephalus meyeri.  Several subspecies spread out over southern and central Africa.  Best places to target them are northern South Africa and Tanzania’s Tarangire and Serengeti.

Result:  Seen well at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

24. Senegal Parrot  – Poicephalus senegalus.  Wide-spread in West Africa but easiest place to see using Star Alliance airports would be Shai Hills, Ghana near Accra.

Result:  Seen briefly at Shai Hills, Ghana.

By “seen well” I mean that the bird stuck around long enough to have a good look and get photos.  In some cases, all we could see were birds flying rapidly through the trees or scrambling through foliage.

FINAL TALLY

17 out of 24 parrot species targeted.

15 out of these 17 were seen.

11 out of these 15 were “seen well”

That’s actually not bad when you consider how unpredictable wild birds can be, and it only happened because I did TONS of research to give myself the best possible odds!