Discovering Adventure: My Tsingy de Bemaraha Experience

The metal bridge stretched thirty meters across a limestone chasm, swaying with each step. Below, the forest canopy looked impossibly distant. I was halfway across when I realized I was grinning.

Last week at Tsingy de Bemaraha in Madagascar, I discovered something unexpected about myself. I actually enjoy being scared or was it the adventure that I enjoyed.

Not the jump-scare movie fear, but the calculated risk variety. The kind where you assess the situation. You trust your equipment. You commit to the next step, despite your nervous system’s protests.

The Tsingy formations look like someone took a cheese grater to solid rock. Sharp ridges, deep crevices, and bridges connecting sections that have no business being connected. Our guide matter-of-factly explained the route while I wondered what I’d gotten myself into.

But somewhere around the fourth bridge crossing, fear shifted into focus. Each step required attention. Every handhold mattered. The usual mental chatter about deadlines and emails disappeared completely.

Sometimes both myself and colleagues froze halfway across one particularly bouncy section. We were all experiencing the Tsingy de Bemaraha for the first time. Instead of impatience, we felt genuine concern for getting each other safely across. We talked to each other through it step by step. When we reached the other side, our relief was infectious.

The limestone maze demanded different skills than office work. Reading terrain instead of spreadsheets. Communicating with precision instead of corporate speak. Trusting people in ways that conference calls don’t require.

Four hours later, we emerged sweaty, scratched, and oddly energized. The group dynamic had shifted. Conversations flowed differently at dinner.

This was my first experience but surely not my last. I was not prepared adequately this time but I have learn from this experience. I’ve never been rock climbing before, and I will not start now. However, I am confident that my next trip will be another enjoyable adventure. Apparently, I’d been missing something important about calculated risk and physical challenge.

Sometimes excitement finds you in unexpected places – thirty meters above the Madagascar forest floor, discovering parts of yourself you didn’t know existed.

Would any one like to join me on the next adventure?