Traveling The World

[Kim]

In case you haven't slapped your forehead yet, Jeff, I think he's referring to Cuba en espanol.

[Gaston in Argentina]

I never have moved outside my continent:

Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia: several times in each country.- Ok, went to every corner of my country, Argentina.-

Gaston,Ar

[palmtreesforpleasure]

HMMMM

not many been to Australia

we are a friendly lot so make sure you visit

the forum members would take really good care of you

we would properly have to chaperone WAL though :laugh:  :laugh:

regards

colin

[Morabeza]

you are all so well-traveled!

I have been to:

- Portugal (Oeiras, Silves, Montijo, and Miratejo)

(almost 2 years there),

- Cabo Verde (São Vicente, Santiago, Santo Antão, and Sal Islands) (8 months)

- Spain (just Madrid) 6 hours only!

- London (just Heathrow) LOL I don't think that counts

[paulgila]

i have been to bismark,nd.! fort lincoln was pretty cool.

otherwise it was kinda dusty & depressed looking.

fargo is more my kinda town

[aussiearoids]

Been to Mexico , Guatemama and Belize but that was before my interest in plants  

Only done one more trip since then , up through OZ to Darwin , then Timor , Ambon and Sulawesi by boat.

All troubled spots now as Indonesia struggles with religous infighting . Saw Pigafetta and Areca vestiaria in habitat and some Nepenthes .

[Zac in NC]

(pohonkelapa @ Jan. 29 2007,14:08)

QUOTE

i have been to bismark,nd.! fort lincoln was pretty cool.

otherwise it was kinda dusty & depressed looking.

fargo is more my kinda town

Ewwww. Those places are too damn cold for me. Even North Carolina is too cold.

Zac

[paulgila]

i hear ya! i only go there in the summer & its either blazing hot with a million % humidity or i'm freezing to death due to some weird arctic canadian cold death-draft!and needless to say(but i'll say it anyway)there are no PALMS there!

[mike453]

(pohonkelapa @ Jan. 29 2007,16:35)

QUOTE

i hear ya! i only go there in the summer & its either blazing hot with a million % humidity or i'm freezing to death due to some weird arctic canadian cold death-draft!and needless to say(but i'll say it anyway)there are no PALMS there!

Lots of cold hardy cacti though!

[BS Man about Palms]

(pohonkelapa @ Jan. 29 2007,11:08)

QUOTE

i have been to bismark,nd.! fort lincoln was pretty cool.

otherwise it was kinda dusty & depressed looking.

fargo is more my kinda town

Wait!

Isn't that where the Bismarkia Nobilis is from ???  

[paulgila]

yes,bill,it is...a magical land of sub-zero temperatures & windchill severe enough to freeze dry a steer left on the open prairie in 7 minutes.a land where huge forests

of bismarkia nobilis cover the land from horizon to horizon,their huge silvery leaves reflecting the northern sun & blinding all who dare look upon them.

i'm just kidding.the only palms in n.d. are in shopping malls.

[Don Little]

(palmsforpleasure @ Jan. 29 2007,01:53)

QUOTE

HMMMM

not many been to Australia

we are a friendly lot so make sure you visit

the forum members would take really good care of you

we would properly have to chaperone WAL though :laugh:  :laugh:

regards

colin

Was able to visit Australia october of 05, one of my favorite places so far and definately plan to go back.  Need at least a month or two to see everything.  And your right the people were very friendly and helpful.  Patient too because they had to put up with me trying to get used to driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car and trying to convert kilometers into miles.  Visited fraser island, mt cootha, among others.

[MattyB]

I've only been to Mexico.  Not much money growing up and we we're lucky enough to get to go to Disneyland (2 hour drive) a couple of times as a kid.  Maybe as I build my financial empire, someday I'll be able to travel a bit.  I'm going to visit Uncle DeanO in Hawaii in a couple of months!  whooppeee. No, I've never been, should be mucho funo.

You guys who have traveled extensively are truly blessed.  I have a few friends that, not only have they never been out of So. Cal., rarely ever leave the ghetto.  It's a whole world of it's own right here in the USA.  I don't recommend traveling there though without an experienced guide.

[Zac in NC]

Well good, MattyB and I have the exact same list. Whoo hoo!!!!!!

Zac

[Alan_Tampa]

I've been to Cleveland...

Alan

[bgl]

The approach to travel in different countries is interesting, especially among younger people. I mentioned on the old Forum that we had two young Swedish men stay with us back in May, for about 9 days. One of them is the son of an old classmate of mine. They had spent 7 months in Australia, and were on their way back to Sweden. Interestingly, for young Europeans (for instance) Australia has a unique visa program, where you can get your visa extended for a certain amount of time if you spend X amount of time working on a farm to pick fruit! Which is great for these young travellers, since they typically need a little bit of cash anyway, so it's a win-win situation.

Anyway, thru these two young Swedish men (about 22) I found out about a Swedish travel-diary Forum, which I also check on a regular basis. The people who sign on there are typically planning a trip, and they have all sorts of questions. When someone has a question about Hawaii, or the South Pacific, or some airline, I try to answer. We've also had a few of these young people stop by here (and spend the night). Two couples were here in Nov 06. Both were around 22-27 years of age, and neither of them married. This is VERY typical of young Scandinavian couples. Getting married just doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary!

Anyway, I'm getting off topic, as usual   ... One of the couples had sold just about everything they owned, and they left on this 10 month trip that would take them to the USA (East & West Coast, with a side trip to Jamaica in between), Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia (for 6 mos or so), Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), India and then back to Sweden.

This is VERY common. Not only that, but once back in Sweden, they typically begin to plan for their next long trip, usually 10-12 months into the future. Their reasoning: "I've better do all these things before I turn 30 because after that I may not be able to."

The most common destinations: 1) Thailand, 2) Australia and 3) the USA.

[Morabeza]

Bo-Göran,  One day I would like to do what those guys are doing as well, before I turn 30! .  I will just have to make sure someone can take care of my plants!

[older-grow]

My list is small: Czechoslovakia - 3 weeks,  West Germany - 3 visits 1 week each, Austria - 13 months, Belgium - 1 week, and Poland - 28 years (born  there).  Chicago (USA) 1 week, Nebraska(USA) - 10 months, Northern California - almost 20 years.    Hey, Palmtrafficante - you are the only one  having been in Poland - tell mi more exactly about it. Wish you all travel much more than I have.

[LJG]

(bgl @ Jan. 30 2007,19:21)

QUOTE

The approach to travel in different countries is interesting, especially among younger people. I mentioned on the old Forum that we had two young Swedish men stay with us back in May, for about 9 days. One of them is the son of an old classmate of mine. They had spent 7 months in Australia, and were on their way back to Sweden. Interestingly, for young Europeans (for instance) Australia has a unique visa program, where you can get your visa extended for a certain amount of time if you spend X amount of time working on a farm to pick fruit! Which is great for these young travellers, since they typically need a little bit of cash anyway, so it's a win-win situation.

Anyway, thru these two young Swedish men (about 22) I found out about a Swedish travel-diary Forum, which I also check on a regular basis. The people who sign on there are typically planning a trip, and they have all sorts of questions. When someone has a question about Hawaii, or the South Pacific, or some airline, I try to answer. We've also had a few of these young people stop by here (and spend the night). Two couples were here in Nov 06. Both were around 22-27 years of age, and neither of them married. This is VERY typical of young Scandinavian couples. Getting married just doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary!

Anyway, I'm getting off topic, as usual   ... One of the couples had sold just about everything they owned, and they left on this 10 month trip that would take them to the USA (East & West Coast, with a side trip to Jamaica in between), Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia (for 6 mos or so), Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), India and then back to Sweden.

This is VERY common. Not only that, but once back in Sweden, they typically begin to plan for their next long trip, usually 10-12 months into the future. Their reasoning: "I've better do all these things before I turn 30 because after that I may not be able to."

The most common destinations: 1) Thailand, 2) Australia and 3) the USA.

I always admire Europeans for their ability to do this. I can not count the number of Europeans I have meet on my travels that sold everything, packed up and left for a year or two. Many even have kids they travel with. I meet one German couple that actually had a child on their 5 year travels. They found a spot, worked, and had the child. Got it to an age it could travel and started again. In this case he was a dive master in Cabo. Americans simply are too far behind in this regard. Few travel and even fewer go outside the US. Australians also have a great desire to travel and can always be found world-wide.

Now that I have a house, job, wife and kids, everything changed. While very happy, it is never like the times I lived out of a backpack and had no real obligations. Now days travels are limited to two week trips. Not 6 month long 'walk abouts'.

There is so much to learn out there. I truly believe if Americans traveled like Europeans and others, our world view might change.

[Kim]

(MattyB @ Jan. 30 2007,17:47)

QUOTE

I've only been to Mexico.  Not much money growing up and we we're lucky enough to get to go to Disneyland (2 hour drive) a couple of times as a kid.  Maybe as I build my financial empire, someday I'll be able to travel a bit.  I'm going to visit Uncle DeanO in Hawaii in a couple of months!  whooppeee. No, I've never been, should be mucho funo.

You guys who have traveled extensively are truly blessed.  I have a few friends that, not only have they never been out of So. Cal., rarely ever leave the ghetto.  It's a whole world of it's own right here in the USA.  I don't recommend traveling there though without an experienced guide.

MattyB's comments and Bo's about the young Swedish people traveling for months at a time have me wondering about how people get started traveling.  (And Matt, you

are going to be amazed by Hawaii, even the air is different.)

If your parents traveled a lot and took you along as a child, it would be perfectly natural to continue on your own as an adult.  But if that wasn't the case?

A few posters mentioned that some of their trips were work-related.  Others have traveled primarily for vacations.  Others haven't ventured too far yet.  Maybe some don't even like to travel.

Somehow I caught the travel bug early, and worked and saved to be able to travel, while a lot of people I knew had absolutely no interest or curiosity about going abroad.

I think a lot of Americans do travel; I see them everywhere I go.  But it's certainly much easier in Europe, where you can drive a short distance and suddenly be in another country where they speak a different language, eat different food, and have different architecture, and might have different currency!  It's just not that different and exciting going from, say, Oregon to Washington.

Anyway, I'm guessing there are a lot of good stories behind these lists, and I wouldn't mind hearing some of them.  That's an invitation...

[Zac in NC]

Well, my family never traveled too far but once I got to be an age that I could travel by myself, I did. The palm bug hit first and my first inclination was to go somewhere that palms grew well and had wild species. I guess the first real traveling I did, I took a long weekend trip to New Mexico with a friend and after that, I wanted to be traveling!  This first trip ( out of the country) was in May of 2005, when I took a trip to Texas to meet up with Richard Travis and Palmazon to take a trip into Mexico. I have had the travel bug ever since. I wish I could do that traveling like the Swedish guys. I guess that is something to think about. Maybe I should pay off the student loans and then travel for a year or two before I start back to school?  See the world while I can enjoy it and before settling down. Its something to think about.

Zac

[bgl]

Kim,

I'm sure your theory about getting used to travel at an early age has a lot of validity. I'll elaborate, but have to leave in a couple of minutes, so I'll pick up where I left off when I get back. Soon!

About travel stories - great idea! But let's start a new topic in the Palapa, so we have one that's dedicated to that topic, instead of further polluting this one! If nobody else gets around to it, I'll do it in an hour's time or so, when I'm back.

Zac,

Something to think about!

Bo-Göran

[Kathy]

(bgl @ Jan. 30 2007,22:21)

QUOTE

The approach to travel in different countries is interesting, especially among younger people.cash anyway, so it's a win-win situation.

... One of the couples had sold just about everything they owned, and they left on this 10 month trip that would take them to the USA (East & West Coast, with a side trip to Jamaica in between), Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia (for 6 mos or so), Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), India and then back to Sweden.

This is VERY common. Not only that, but once back in Sweden, they typically begin to plan for their next long trip, usually 10-12 months into the future. Their reasoning: "I've better do all these things before I turn 30 because after that I may not be able to."

The most common destinations: 1) Thailand, 2) Australia and 3) the USA.

So true how culture breeds desire to travel!

When I was in college in Los Angeles, my aunt always arranged for her "visitors from abroad" to come stay with me to see Southern California (I was living in West Los Angeles a couple of miles from the beach -- great dive for a young visitor).  I was always stunned at their approach to travel -- just pick up and go, because the job or school will be there when you come back!  And that was huge about the job issue -- We cannot do that in the US, just leave a job for months to travel.  (And one of my visitors was from Sweden - - I remember she knitted what looked like $200 sweaters in the course of a day for whoever asked!!)

Anyway, as a child I didn't do much more than camp, but thanks to these college visitors I did decide to travel after college, even by myself....

But aside from much of the US, Canada and Mexico, I've yet to begin to touch my "to do" list....Many stories from those travels so far, though!  They've definately changed my views on life!

[bgl]

Kathy,

You're so right about the job issue. Today most people in Sweden (and elsewhere in Europe) have 5 or 6 weeks vacation a year, and getting some additional time off (without pay) is often not a major issue.

And Kim,

the general outlook in Scandinavia (for instance) is very simple: if you're on vacation, you're "supposed" to go some place. You don't just stay at home. Some people will just go to their summer cottage by the lake or in the countryside, but many (probably most) will go abroad. Back in the 1950s and 60s people would generally just visit other countries in Europe, primarily in the Mediterranean, for the sun & beach, but today lots of them go far away. When the tsunami devastated Thailand etc., there were more Swedes killed in Thailand than any other (foreign) nationality. That disaster was the most severe one to hit Sweden in modern times, and it happened thousands of miles away! Comparing the size of the population to the USA, it had much more of an impact than 9/11 had here in this country. But Thailand is still one of the most popular places for Swedes to visit. It's about a 10 hour nonstop flight.

Personally, I made my first trip abroad when I was 11, when my parents drove to Germany on vacation, and I still remember that trip vividly. After that we drove to many different countries in Europe every summer, typically the entire month of July, when my Dad had 4 weeks vacation. When I say "my first trip abroad", I'm not counting Denmark. Copenhagen (and Denmark) at that time was a 90 minute boatride from my hometown of Malmö, and we would go over there many times every year, so that was no big deal. We had relatives there, and we would also go over there for other reasons (Tivoli, the Zoo, or just to enjoy the big city feeling of downtown Copenhagen). Today, BTW, there's a bridge & tunnel connecting Denmark and Sweden. When I get off the plane at Copenhagen Airport, I take the escalator one level down, and catch the train. 12 minutes later I step off at the first station in Sweden and my sister lives 3 minutes away!

Bo-Göran

[JD in the OC]

Canada

Mexico

Bahamas

Germany

France

The Netherlands

England

[older-grow]

Hi, Bo-Goran. In your post#56 on Jan.30,2007,22:21 by bgl you are mentioning of Swedish travel-diary Forum. I'd like to get address of this forum for my son, who is also around 30 years old and will be very willing to find out more about travelling the world. My address  jozef_skowronski@yahoo.com

[bgl]

Hi Jozef,

That's public info so I can put it here:

www.resedagboken.se

Just like with this Forum anyone can view the posts, but in order to be able to respond you need to sign up. Most of the posts, probably 98% or so, are in Swedish, but you can certainly post in English as well, and you can probably navigate the size without too much of a problem with only rudimentary knowledge of Swedish. Let me know if you (or your son) need assistance with that!

Aloha,

Bo-Göran

[kylecawazafla]

Wow I like all the talk about Sweden, one of my favorite countries. I am still in High School in the US, but was invited (and went) to Hvitfeldska Gymnasiet in Goteborg, Sweden. I was very dissapointed of how international the people were there, and how all of them were multilingual, therefore not letting me have a chance to learn Swedish. Anyway, I have gone to High Schools in South Africa, Sweden, California, Washington, and Florida, and plan to finish up in Germany this June and July.

Anyway, places I have visited and spent a while in are:

USA (27 states, lived in 3)

Canada

Germany

South Africa

Malawi

Costa Rica

Mexico

Sweden

England

Austria

While I was in these places I did small weekend trips or drove/boated through:

Mozambique

Netherlands

Norway

Denmark

Lesotho

France

Nicaragua

And then when I was an infant:

Cape Verde - and then a layover 2 years ago

Namibia

Botswana

Zimbabwe

[bgl]

Kyle,

Wow, that's an impressive list for someone so young! Sounds like you've had a very interesting upbringing. And you're right - if you want to learn Swedish (while in Sweden) you need to be very determined, because most people (especially the younger generation) are eager to speak English (and other foreign languages). I lived in Göteborg (briefly) many years ago, but my hometown is Malmö, about 180 miles to the south.

Bo-Göran

[ania]

Russia

Hungary

Czech Republic

Slovakia

Great Britain

France

Sweden

Germany

Syria

Algeria

Egypt

Indonesia

Japan

Hong Kong

Morocco

Norway

The Netherlands

Jamaica

The Bahamas

Mexico

Bermuda

Canada

Guam

Hawaii about 13 times. It feels like home.

[kylecawazafla]

(bgl @ Feb. 04 2007,18:28)

QUOTE

Kyle,

Wow, that's an impressive list for someone so young! Sounds like you've had a very interesting upbringing. And you're right - if you want to learn Swedish (while in Sweden) you need to be very determined, because most people (especially the younger generation) are eager to speak English (and other foreign languages). I lived in Göteborg (briefly) many years ago, but my hometown is Malmö, about 180 miles to the south.

Bo-Göran

What part of Goteborg were you in? I was in Tynnered/Frolunda but took a train in every morning. Have you ever been to the new Världskulturmuseet that they have? My "dad" there knew some of the founders, so I got to have a behind the scenes tour of it, and also helped them label their palm trees. Other than the palm house in Trädgårdsföreningen, that was the only place I could find palm trees. I really wish I didn't have to go back though... I would have stayed in Sweden.

[bgl]

Kyle,

We lived in one of the little valleys that run south out the downtown area. Forgot the name (this is MANY years ago!) but it was just a couple of miles away, and there was a major park to our immediate west. Worked in an office building on the south side of the harbor, close to downtown. Havn't been to either of the two places you mentioned, but if and when I get back there I will certainly keep them in mind. Came thru Göteborg a few years ago (on my way to visit Volvo Aero Engines in Trollhättan) and spent the better part of the morning downtown. Like many other cities in Europe, downtown is of course mostly pedestrian, and very nice. Incidentally, at the botanical gardens in Lund (southern Sweden), Copenhagen and Berlin they also have some nice indoor palm and cycad collections. Not nearly as impressive as Kew of course! (And the collection in Lund is pretty modest).

Bo-Göran

[jonimic]

Here is my list of travels, but I'm only 38 right...

Most of them had to do with surfing (I'm a film director...), and that sure ended up making me mad about growing palms...

Océania:

Australia, 1986, 95, 98, 99, 2000, 2006

Fiji, 1997

Tahiti, 1997, 2005

Tuamotu, 2005

America:

Brazil, 2000

Hawaii, 1988, 89, 90, 92, 93, 97, 99, 2005

Mexico, 1998, 2004

United States, 1988,89, 90, 92, 93, 95, 97

Asia:

India, 1986

Indonesia, 1995,96

Maldives, 2004

Singapore, 1995

Thailand, 2006

Uzbekistan, 1997

Europe:

Crête, 2000

France, I live there…

Germany, 2006

Greece, 2000

Ireland, 1996

Italy, 1996

Monaco, spent my youth on the French riviera

Netherlands, 1990

Norway, Lofoten Islands, 2004

Portugal, 1981,96

Russia, 1993, 1997, 2006

Spain, every year…

Sweden, 2004

Switzerland, 2005

United Kingdom, 1981, 1990

Africa:

Cape Verde, 1998

Madagascar, 1995

Morocco, 1986, 2005

South Africa, 1998

Réunion Island, 1992, 93, 94, 95

[Kim]

jonimic--

Bienvenue a Palmtalk!

[bgl]

Hello Jonimic,

Welcome to the IPS Forum! You have a fascinating list there, with lots of interesting places. But not too much surfing in Uzbekistan I'd guess....  And between Lofoten and the Maldives in 2004, those are certainly two extremes!

Aloha!

Bo-Göran

[Jeff Searle]

Jonimic,

     I noticed you are one of the few it seems like, that has been to Madagascar. Would you be willing to share any info. to all of us on what the conditions were like 10-12 years ago. I was there recently, and was just wondering. Madagascar is the most talked about country currently, with all the new and exciting palm species coming out.

Jeff

[Kelern]

Well, not many frenchs on this forum so let's be the second one to share my experience over the border, i went to

Ireland

Britain (lived there for two run wild years)

Spain

Portugal

Belgium

The Netherlands

Germany

Czechian republic

Austria

Switzerland

Italy

Greece

Canada

Usa

And New Zealand which was IMO the most beautiful country. And people there kept asking me why so few french to visit NZ? I was thinking myself thanks to the french secret services who put bomb on a certain boat....

I have been twice in the Usa especially in California. The first time, in 1991, I visited by my own Oakland Palmetum just after the big freeze and met Dan Sekella who was gardening there. The second time, in 1998 (big freeze again ??? ) I was there with the IPS french chapter and stayed at Darold Petty's place in San Francisco. He is a very nice man, very friendly. I remember  his beautiful Nikaus and Parajubaea cocoides.

More than travelling, I think it is essential to live in one different country for a while and learn a different language.

[Mats]

Well, I can't match Bo or Jonimic, but my list includes:

Mexico  many times, have spent over 2 years there total

Canada  multiple times

England  multiple times

France  multiple times

Netherlands  multiple times

Belgium  multiple times

Iceland  '72

Luxembourg  '72

Germany  '72

Austria  '72

Switzerland  '72

Yugoslavia  '72

Bulgaria  '72

Turkey  '72

Iran  '72

Afghanistan  '72

Pakistan  '72

India  '72

Nepal  '72

Greece  '72

Colombia  '74, '75

Peru  '74, '75

Ecuador  '74

Brazil  '74

Lived in Hawaii from '78 to '86

Cuba  '91

Costa Rica  '91, 92

Belize  '92

Guatemala  '92

El Salvador  '92

Panama  '92

Kenya  '93/'94

Tanzania  '93/'94

Uganda  '93/'94

Zaire  '93/'94

[jonimic]

Hi everyone, thanks for welcoming me on the board.

No, Bo-Göran, there's not much surf in Uzbekistan...I went there for an absolutely crazy heliskiing trip, but I did see a few Trachycarpus fortunei planted in Tashkent, the capital.

Jeff, I spent two months and a half in

Madagascar in 1995, and yes, it was really hard to go anywhere then. Tananarive was a mess, the country was in the middle of a great depression (that had started in 91...), and the people then thought it was actually getting better, which was probably true.

I went there with my then girlfriend now mother of my two sons Gladys, who was born in Madagascar but left the country when she was 2. She had never been back since.

We started in Tananarive, visiting the botanical garden and gathering as much info as possible on the palms we would be likely to see around the country. Dranfield's Palms of Madagascar wasn't available then, and a lot of confusions where between supposedly different generas that ended up being just one : Dypsis. I remember gathering infos on such exotic now obsolete generas as Vonitra, Neophloga, Chrysalidocarpus...

We then started our "Tour of Mada" with Tamatave, on the East Coast. We saw many palms of course, in town mostly exotic (Roystonea, Sabal, Livistona...), but in the surrounding forests, many delicate species of Dypsis, enormous clumps of wild lutescens, and the amazing Cycas thouarsii growing near the beach.

We went back to Tana, and headed south from there, towards the South West Coast (Tulear). On the way down, we stopped in Ambositrae, the village where Gladys was born. Yes, she is a rare Gladys ambositrae...! And of course, we didn't see the famous palm! We didn't even know it existed yet... But I remember seeing many trunked palms on the way, especially Dypsis decipiens, some really massive specimens even grown in some villages. We reached the Isalo massif, an amazing place for palms. This is where you start seeing Bismarckias in the savannah like vegetation. There're basically the only plants growing there with a few Hyphaene coriacea and grass. In the massif, after a great hike, we saw Dypsis onilahensis growing off cliffs. Also a Ravenea sp.(glauca?) And finally, one of the most majestic (well named palm...) sight of the whole trip, a group of Ravenea rivularis growing directly into a pond, with about a meter of water above the trunk base. Very wet...

In Tulear, we saw a lot Phoenix, mostly dactylifera, some reclinata var. madagascariensis.

From Tulear, we crossed the country (four wheel drive and a guide...) south tomake it to Fort Dauphin. This is where you come out of miles of very dry forest, with Didieraceas and succulents of all sort everywhere, (I think ravenea xerophylla grows there...), and enter a lush tropical vegetation as you get closer to the coast. We saw Dypsis decaryi growing in a protected zone, really beautiful...

Then we went inland in some dense primary forest and saw so many different kind of palms, some huge with no trunks, some delicate dypsis species of all sort and height, and even gathered seeds of the extremely rare Dypsis sainte-luceii.

After the south, we went back to Tana and took a flight to Nosy-Be, home of the very sought after Dypsis ampasidavae, and the very commonly grown Dypsis madagascariensis. Then went back on the main island to Mahajanga, we saw amazingly big Borassus sambiranensis near Ambanje.

We ended our trip in Diego Suarez, up North, and visited the famous Tsingys where we saw many Hyphaenes and some nice trunked Dypsis species in very dry forest.

We took photos of course, but digital cameras were not really on the market then.

Voilà...I hadn't talked about that trip for...years! I tell you one thing though: you have to go to Madagascar. It is the most amazing place on Earth for anyone who loves Nature. Plants, animals, people, everything is just so beautiful and so different there, it's a must.

Have a nice day

[bgl]

Jonimic,

Sounds like an incredible trip to Madagascar! Thanks!

And Kelern,

Welcome to the IPS Forum! And I agree, New Zealand is a breathtakingly beautiful country. For its small size, there can't be too many other countries that can rival its variety of scenery!

Bo-Göran