Comments on: Madagascar Mayhem – Survivng 24hrs of Complete Adventure and Total Chaos

By: Lisa E

Lisa E — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:08:00 +0000

Oh my god…what a story. You are so lucky to have survived both incidents. I can imagine that the swimming after the fire felt blissful somehow. And then, the accident the next day. How scary.

What makes this real for me is that I’ve been in some close calls while traveling by bus, mini van, etc. Also, a friend of mine (back in our Ecuador days) was in a bus accident that was serious. Her leg was smashed/broken and the driver died. And so, what you described (the accident) is something I worry about when I travel because I’m most often in developing countries, where vehicles aren’t maintained, the drivers are often crazier and the risk tends to be higher.

Anyway, thanks for sharing this and in such great detail. While we all love to travel and crave adventure, it’s an important reminder that things can and do go wrong. There are fires, accidents, etc. It doesn’t mean we should stop traveling–just that we should be aware of its realities (just as in life).

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Hey Steve, Yeah I was a little on edge for a few hours, and our next few days were spent relaxing in another beautiful camp ground. Taking in the sights and doing some nice relaxing walks (without the fires of course). As you found out in Thailand, driving in third world countries can be a little dangerous at times, but this accident could have happened anywhere. Luckily there was no one else on the road at the time. I’ve been involved in a few accidents over the years whilst traveling, but nothing like this one. Thanks for your comment.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:34:00 +0000

Wow, what a crazy story! You’re lucky nothing bad happened. I can only imagine how tense you all were at the end of this experience. Some downtime and a few beers would be in order after this.

I had a close call for a car accident in Thailand. I was in a van with a bunch of other passengers and a car cut us off. We screeched to a halt and barely missed them. I could see tire marks on the ground afterwards.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:32:00 +0000

Hey Guys, Your probably onto something there and I maybe should have given the fire a bit more respect before enticing our guide to start the trek in its general direction. From our vantage point down below, the fire didn’t seem to bad. It turned out to be quite large and burned allot of the park over a couple of days. Thanks for stopping by.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:29:00 +0000

Hey Jakobuz, Running from the fire the day got the adrenaline pumping and the anxiety levels up, but the car crash was over in a split second and I didn’t really have time to think. It wasn’t until a few hours later that it all started to sink in. Thanks for your comment mate.

By: Andrea and John

Andrea and John — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 01:41:00 +0000

How scary! Fires really have to be respected…after living so close to the devastating Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia and seeing the effect they had on the communities there and the lives lost, I really have an appreciation for the dangers. Very well-written account!

By: Jakobuz

Jakobuz — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:48:00 +0000

wow, I can imagine this was very anxious at that moment, luckely it all ended well. Anyhow it’s really an exciting blogpost!

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Hey Guys, Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I suppose when your in the middle of a situation like that, instinct is all you have. There’s no time to think, only act. Looking back on the whole ordeal, it was quite an adventure, and it was just one thing after another. In the end we were quite lucky and it could have been much worse.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:26:00 +0000

Hey Laura, Yes it was quite an adventure and I believe we were all quite lucky none of us suffered any serious injuries (or worse). Liza had a few bruises, the worst being a large bruise on her cheekbone. I had a black eye and Anghu the driver got a nasty bump to the head. Other than that, we were all fine. Thanks for stopping by.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:22:00 +0000

Hey Katrina, It’s was quite strage, but only a few hours after the accident we were relaxing in another beautiful national park (Andringitra National Park) surrounded by massive cliff faces and tall mountains. We spent the next 3 days there just relaxing and taking in what had just happened. Anghu our guide also continued on with us.