Madagascar 2006

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Down to Summery "My impressions of the Earthwatch portion of the trip"

Web-version of my Earthwatch Madagascar Daily Journal
(...) denotes orginal text removed, please ignore

(...)

In SFO, the AA counter woman had never heard of Air Madagascar . That was not very comforting. Although I felt better about it once I realized she had also never heard of Madagascar . She was pretty intrigued by it though and asked me a few questions, which I think resulted in me getting a better seat on the Chicago to Paris leg. Thankfully, AA has an 'agreement' with Air Madagascar so she was able to check my luggage all the way through to Madagascar . I hope that this means it will get there and I don't have to get my luggage in Paris and check-in again. Although with a long layover, I would have plenty of time. I hope Air Madagascar can do the same thing on my return. It is easier and I will have a short layover on the return.

I only found two books that remotely intrigued me to read on this trip. I like to read books that relate to where I'm traveling. Fiction or not, it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, I could not find any books that looked good for Madagascar . I ultimately got two travelogue style books. One is a woman who traveled around researching and gathering information on traditional folklore and oral history. She details the history of folklore and the different styles, language usage, etc, as well as describes her own journey as she gathers this info. Unfortunately, I don't think she is a very talented writer so it is very difficult to get into the book. It is more like reading a textbook. (...) I hope the next one is better.

After a non-eventful and non-food flight to Chicago , I had a short layover before getting on the long haul to Paris . I got some food and relaxed a bit before they started boarding. I didn't have to change terminals which was nice. The SFO AA counter woman gave me a nice window bulkhead seat, so I was looking forward to some good, as good as possible, sleep and some movies. After our last international flight to NZ in December where we were treated to Tivo-style personal video screen in every seat, I kind of expected it. At least the old school individual screens with different channels and continuous running movies - I got neither. It was the old old-school: common large screen, and one movie at a time. Food was standard fare, nothing special, but not particularly terrible.

Paris time is one hour ahead of Madagascar time. I had already set my watch to Madagascar time in advance, so I could begin to adjust as quickly as possible. I find that traveling in itself for so many hours is exhausting, so the time change is only part of any lag I might feel. I'm looking forward to getting to Tana and hoping my pickup is there(...). I suspect that I will be pretty beat by then and although it will be 5 or 6 am when I get to the hotel, I'm guessing I may just want to sleep. Essentially, I will have ended up doing two overnights on a plane in a row.

I thought that the Paris airport was bigger and better set-up, like other international airports I've been in. My only other experience here was not hanging out at the airport but leaving immediately and getting on the train. There were no decent stores or food shops. I thought for sure, there would be a respectable bookstore where I could peruse and maybe even find a Madagascar guide book since I neglected getting one before I left. I thought I would even take a shower and feel refreshed and at least clean, but there are not even showers, at least none that I could find.

(...)

Then as the new gate people arrived, I considered requesting a seat change. When I checked in at the Paris Air Madagascar desk, I got an isle seat. When I requested a bulkhead or exit window, the guy didn't look very hard and told me none were available and the flight was full. This seemed odd to me when checking in eight hours in advance. In addition, I didn't care for all the French and snickering that him and is co-worker were having. However since I did have a front row, row 7, I decided I may end up with something worse. If, from my insistence, I got a terrible neighbor, or otherwise crappy seat, I would curse myself, so I decided to leave it be. Plus, I justified, an isle would be better for leg room and for standing up whenever I wanted.

Now convinced I would like my seat, I boarded when called. The plane had a 2-3-2 seat configuration and I was in the middle section on an isle seat. They did all the announcements, occasionally repeating one in English, then closed the door and pushed off - I had no neighbors. An entire row! I looked around and the plane certainly wasn't full, there were plenty of empty seat. Some people started looking at my row, so I thought for sure someone in the two seat rows would get up and sit in my row to spread out more. No one moved into my row. Once the seat belt sign went off, I waited a couple more minutes, and still no one moved.

So even with a bit of social guilt remaining, I proceeded to sprawl across my seats. I lifted the armrests, piled up all the skinny pillows pulled a blanket over me and crashed out. I woke up for a drink and two meals. During that eleven hour flight I got the best sleep I had on probably any other plane - ever. Granted it still wasn't the best sleep, but I definitely was able to get in a few deep sleep segments which is what I really needed. I was even more thankful as we prepared to land and I realized I was pretty alert and aware, not in that weird zombie like daze after too many hours awake, traveling and time change.

The system in the Tana airport is far from advanced. I would rate it a step above Tonga , but not by much, even more confusing is that only a small portion of the signs are posted in English (everything is in French). You can still figure out what things are if you use a bit of language logic and common sense, but it just takes more effort and concentration.

It took an excessively long time for a small jet ¾ full of people to be manually processed and reviewed by several officials. I quickly got my bags after that, went through customs who wanted me to open my pack and did the comically common check of my well packed dense backpack, looking only at the top few items, touching the top a bit then waving me on. He didn't even want to bother with the duffle once he discovered it was zip-tied, even though I invited him to cut it open.

I was very thankful to see a man holding a sign with my name on it waiting for me in the crowd of touts and other pickups, even while going to him, I was approached by several people wanting to provide me with something. Two guys insisted on taking my push cart, argued with each other while they both pushed it with one hand each, until one finally gave up, and the other proceeded to inform me that I should give him a little something for his help. They all waited with me, the cart pusher and Luva, my pickup guy, while I waited in line to exchange money. The rate I got was2070A = 1USD. Exchanging $520, I was an instant millionaire! Money rates and new bills also confuse me for awhile, until I can sit down and look them over and become familiar with the values. In my sleep deprived state and tons of money in new unfamiliar bills, I was hastily trying to calculate and figure what to give the cart pusher to get rid of him.

Again, the cart pusher reminded me that I should give him a little something. With 5000 or 10000 notes available, I opted to give him 5000, about $2.50 for his few minutes of pushing my cart for me. He got greedy and kept pointing to the 10k bill, saying I should give him that one instead. I kept saying 'no' while he kept asking in different ways. I realized that the taxi ride in Tonga really made me a little harder to these things.

In the past, I would have probably given him more for two reasons: it is easier and you are left alone faster, and I would feel like although it is a little money for me it is a lot for them. Recent experiences however have made me realize that, Americans in particular, become targets for scams because of these attitudes and our lack of haggling. I don't mind being generous, but I do mind getting scammed or swindled when I am a visitor in what I think is a friendly and beautiful place, it just leaves a bad feeling. Therefore, I stood my ground, right or wrong in the amount and left it at what it was.

Of course it helped that I had a driver pre-arranged, so I wasn't worried about not getting to where I needed to go. Luva graciously explained the different bills to me and made small talk about Tana while we drove to the hotel. His English was good, with a heavy French accent.

The hotel was everything I thought it would be according to its webpage. The site represents it well. I had to wait a bit, over an hour, for my room to be ready, but considering the early morning arrival, I didn't complain. I paid Luva the 27k for the ride (rounded it up to 30k) and we discussed a possible day trip on the 21 st , before I leave, to the nearby national park of Andasibe . It is a bit pricey at $125, so I will try to find someone else in the group who wants to go and split the cost with them. Otherwise I don't think it is worth going solo. I would also have to pay for the park entrance and getting a park guide.

I took a shower, washed my clothes (good opportunity I couldn't pass it up) and took a few hour nap. It took me awhile to fall asleep, but once I was, it was even more difficult to wake up. But I knew I needed to move around, find some food, internet etc, before going back to sleep until morning. From around 2pm to 5pm I took care of the above. The restaurant I went to on the second story street side right near the hotel was packed, lots of French tourist and smokers. I reviewed the menu for something familiar in the all-French menu. I communicated cappuccino great and struggled a bit on the sparkling water (but now I know the local brand is 'cristal'). The food part was a challenge. Only knowing at best a few words in each description, I knew whatever I got would be a mystery. I opted for a cheese baguette with something else in it. The something else turned out to be ham. I knew the baguette and cheese would be good though, since everything so far seemed French style. It was tasty. (...)

After my meal, I went to the internet in the hotel. It was cheap but slow for "DSL". They must share the line with all the connections in the hotel and internet café computers.

This gave me an opportunity not only to send off an 'I'm safe' email but to also surf a bit on Madagascar . I feel at a real disadvantage at not having a guide to reference. I'm cursing myself for not getting one at home, and assuming I would find one in the Paris airport. I looked up the park Luva talked about going to, tipping customs and a few other Madagascar tid-bits.

For the short bit I've been out and about in public, I've found that everyone assumes I speak French. They will start talking to me or asking me questions and I have no idea what they are saying unless I can gather it through context, body language and environment. An interesting situation to be in. Even when I make it clear I don't speak French they will still try, or blend in English and French.

In Paris I kept looking around at the other travelers, trying to guess who else might be on the Earthwatch trip. Yet ultimately, I don't think anyone else on the trip was on that plane. I'll be curious to see how they got here and when.

There are two things I think I did wrong so far: I definitely should have brought a guidebook, and I feel I should have brought more money. I was trying to be conservative and not carrying around so much, but now that puts me on a budget. We will see how that works out at the end. I do have the slightly more expensive option of putting my last night's hotel stay on Visa. I will keep that in mind as I spend. I also learned that Madagascar money (MDA / ariary) is not convertible, meaning whatever I'm left over with I can't change back into anything else.

With a 10 hours bumpy ride ahead tomorrow, I'm going to get plenty of sleep tonight.

I decided to put the room on the visa, being worried about not having enough money to do what I might want to do along the way. Both nights, the 6 th and the returning 20 th got charged at a total of 72 euros, so the visa charge, if any, was not as bad as I thought it might be.

I woke up early, around 5am , and realized my alarm clock was on the fritz, or has a dying battery. Good thing I woke up automatically. The hotel was surprising quiet all night considering how bustling it was during the day. (...)

While I checked on breakfast availability, I finally ran into another trip member, Jennifer. (...) We were both relived that we finally met someone not only on the trip too but also who spoke English. She was actually on my flight over, but in the preceding 24hrs of getting to and staying at the same relatively small hotel; we had never once seen each other.

The plan was to meet at 7am in the hotel lobby for our Earthwatch provided transfer. Since it was only a bit after 6am we went and had breakfast. A few minutes to 7, I gathered my pack and duffle from my room, checked out, and met a bunch of other people waiting.

Now it was all seven of us waiting. Through much confusion, lack of an Earthwatch staff member (as described and expected), and poor communication, we ended up killing time until about 8 or 8:15 when it was finally realized that our non English speaking driver had been there the entire time waiting on us.

Our crew is:

All seven of us, our luggage, and our driver snuggled up in a mini bus and proceeded to get out of town. From the beginning, the roads were a bit curving and I wasn't feeling too good. (...) Listening to the constant talk was draining me and I focused on drowning it out and looking at the once in a lifetime scenery rather than the talking.

(...) We stopped for a toilet break, a fruit purchase and lunch.

Since we didn't leave town until about 8:15 we didn't arrive at the center until after dark. I think sometime around 7p. We met Summer, briefly discussed the immediate plan of eating, mini-briefing and sleeping in the dining area for one night so we wouldn't have to set up in the dark.

By nine o'clock everyone but me was crashed out.

The towns and people along the way really remind me of Uganda in a good way. The houses have a different style though, tall rectangle buildings with small windows. The roads away from Tana are filled with more people and animals than cars. The roads are in much better condition in Madagascar (so far) and the people seem kind (...).

Tomorrow we set-up our temporary houses and do a mini forest walk, maybe I'll see my first wild lemur.

They have a nice locker setup here so I have somewhere to stash all my electronic gadgets.

(...)

 

Two good quotes from my fellow travelers:

"I feel no guilt"

"Treat him how you would treat him if you were friends, because one day you may be."

 

Written Thursday AM:

Yesterday I didn't write, journal or otherwise.

Yesterday we setup our tents on the hillside above the center. It is a healthy walk to the campsites, first up and out of the center, then up the road just a bit and then straight up the hillside, like half the approach to the Grotto (climbing area), for a few steep minutes. The sites are well cut and maintained. Some of the sites still had tarps set up over the site from the previous group, so I was able to use that and not have to set up a tarp. I quickly set up my tent and semi arranged all my stuff before heading back down the hill to meet up for a short forest hike to get used to the forest. At 10:30 we headed out of the center and to the park entrance. We started the walk on a main tourist trail, then due to some lemur sightings headed off trail a bit.

We ended up seeing 4 types of lemurs:

The lemurs were amazing to watch, however it is similar to watching the monkeys in the trees in Africa , if is difficult to see them well and you are always looking up. One of the last lemurs we saw was the critically endangered golden bamboo lemur.

After the walk, we did a quick lunch then went to the park manager official's office to be introduced and given a welcome speech (a political thing that the center needs to do with all visiting 'researchers').

Then from about 3-6 or 7 we had lecture. The first lecture was from Anna the director of the center. She spoke about the center and its purpose and general facts. Then from Summer on the particulars of lemurs and her research and what we are gathering data for.

Essentially the idea (or at least my perception and understanding of the idea) is that there are two closely identical patches of forest differing only in that one is defined as 'pristine' being original untouched forest and the other, near the center, has experienced some selective foresting. The research is to determine the effects this has on the lemurs of the NP and why. She has discovered that the lemurs in the pristine forest are thriving and the other non-pristine area lemurs are sustaining but not thriving. They suffer from high mortality before reaching maturity. For the last couple of years she has been gathering data on how much they eat of what over a period of time. She hopes to be able to see the reasons for the difference with this information. Our tasks therefore over the next week and a half will be to watch the lemurs and record exactly how much, what and how long they eat for.

We split up into two groups, one for the morning crew and on for the afternoon crew.

The morning crew has Vivian and her son Zander along with Ed. The afternoon crew has Jennifer, myself, Rebecca and her son Zeph.

 

Written Thursday PM:

Most of us woke up pretty early, early enough to have gone out in the AM group, I had a relaxing breakfast then, after the am crew left, did some laundry in hopes of keeping up with the pace of dirty clothes and I caught up on some writing.

So far I would recommend bringing more food stuff, not necessarily candy (like I did) but food like peanut butter, powdered milk... there are certain things they just don't have. I've felt a lot of the meals are missing enough protein, even by lower standards and particularly if you are vegetarian.

In the afternoon, after lunch, we headed out to the forest with Summer. We found group one still napping and grooming each other, but not yet feeding. Within probably about 30 minutes, they were off in search of leaves. The lemur chasing began. Thanks to our great local guides and local researchers, we were able to track them and keep up with them. When they stopped to eat, Summer instructed us on how to record each eating session in a log book. Slightly more complicated to do than it sounds. The task is simple enough, but try watching a small sized animal in a rainforest in the trees and counting how many bites of a certain leaf or fruit he takes with some sort of accuracy.

At about 3:30 the lemurs decided to take another nap earlier than usual so after waiting around for awhile to see if they did anything else, we headed back to the center.

We also had to gather samples of each of the plants or fruits that the lemurs ate. When we returned we filled out another logbook with details about the samples we gathered, weighed the samples and placed them in a drying oven.

The entire group was pretty tired that night, the hiking is pretty exhausting. After dinner we all dragged ourselves up the hill to crash out pretty early (around 8p). I read for a bit, and then organized my stuff for the next day before going to sleep.

(...)

Friday we will go out on opposite shifts on our own.

 

Written Friday:

Today I woke up a little earlier since I'm on the am shift today. At breakfast, we found out the Summer became sick overnight as well and Katherine was no better.

After breakfast, we raced up the trail with our guides and local researchers and found the lemurs in their sleeping tree. They groomed and shifted around for about an hour before beginning their leaping around for food. We did more of the same as Thursday afternoon. The main differences were that they ate a bit more, but took their time getting started, and there were tons of tourists that were in the way, making all kinds of noise.

Most people seem to prefer the morning shift, but I'd have to say I enjoy the evening shift better so far. We came back for lunch, and then worked on our samples, while the afternoon group went out.

It was sunny all morning and was still warm and sunny after lunch so I did more laundry, after making sure my other pants were dry. It takes a couple (or three) days for anything to dry and this is the dry, warm and relatively sunny season. Making sure I had something to wear tomorrow, I washed my clothes from today's hiking and my socks and liners.

I uploaded my pictures so far and am a little disappointed. First, it is very difficult to take pictures of small animals up in trees of a rainforest. Their faces are mostly dark so that makes details difficult and they often get too much back lighting. In addition to all those photography issues, since we are doing a 'job', my main objective cannot be to take pictures.

Tomorrow we go for a day-off hike in the Pristine Forest to see the difference. We should see lemurs there too as well as be able to see the difference in an untouched forest and the selectively logged forest we have been in so far.

(...)

 

Written Saturday:

This morning I woke up early again and talked to Pat a bit at breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised to learn she is quiet the storyteller. She has tons of great stories and tells them extremely well.

On the previous two other brief meetings, I noticed a few of the group members very enamored of her, to the point where I was kind of turned off. After talking over breakfast and then again on the trail all day, I found her to be a really cool and likable character.

Today turned out to be the second sunny day in a row with no rain. We left the center at 8am and started the long slow hike to the pristine forest.

Pat took her time, stopping frequently and explaining different things. It was an incredible hike. We went up and over at least three mountains and got to the lunch spot around 1pm . We saw only a couple lemurs, but tons of other wildlife and plant life.

We heard wonderful stories from Pat during the day as well.

The hike was approx 7km each way: very hilly, rough terrain but on a trail.

In summery we saw:

My legs ached by the time we got back and my feet were tired of those boots. I'm happy that tomorrow we are going to the village and shopping / sightseeing, my feet will be happy to be in Tevas.

There were a lot more leeches out today and I frequently found them on my shoes trying to work their way either in or up. We have been told the leeches are very mild right now and only two in our group have had a leech actually attach to them, so far. We are all taking precautions though. I have my sock liners and then wool socks that I tuck my pants in. About half of the group has gaiters they wear. It's a pain at night when you have to boot up just to get to your tent...but better than checking for leeches I suppose. If someone was coming at any other time of the year, I think I would recommend getting the gaiters, they seem to be useful.

 

Written Sunday:

So far the only recommendations I would have for stuff to bring, that I didn't, is peanut butter and powdered milk. I realized most of the stuff I brought, with the exception of about 5 protein/sports bars, is sweet junk food, and actually what I'm craving more of is protein and milk in my coffee.

(...)

Once again while traveling, I'm feeling dumb and stupid for not knowing a second language, I feel like I need to prioritize it, work it into some goal I really want and do it. I think it is more difficult for me to learn than perhaps other people, but I don't think it is impossible, I just need to really want to do it and have some motivating force. Perhaps the idea of living somewhere Spanish speaking will get me going, but I'm not even sure of that when and where.

 

Written in the Afternoon:

Today was our in town day to walk into the main town, look around, have lunch and then get driven back up, otherwise an hour and a half walk back to the center. The walk down was very nice. We stopped at the most touristy looking (and only) t-shirt shack in the city, which is right at the beginning of town and we all got something. I got a t-shirt for Chris and vanilla bean for Lori. Then we walked to the museum, which was mildly interesting. They had a gift shop with more traditional items and hand embroidered shirts. I got a shirt for myself, hand carved bamboo (three for me, one for mom), a hand carved lemur, and some postcards, which happen to all be pictures taken by Summer.

Then we walked through town, to the end where we had lunch at a restaurant/hotel called Manja. I got crayfish and sauce, which was good except ultimately it was a wrong choice simply because of the effort needed to get so little meat and the mess it made, plus too much hand eating. I supplemented it with some tasty yogurt.

After lunch, summer showed us where the public hot spring and pools were. I decided to come back to the center with her at 2:30p rather than walk around more, which is what I think everyone else is doing until the next ride at 4p. We have a night walk today at about 5p and I wanted to write, read and chill for a bit. (...)

I would like to go back to town next weekend, with nothing better to do and buy some honey and whatever else I can find.

Tuesday or Wednesday three of us will be hiking back to the pristine forest to stay there for the rest of the week to gather data there. It looks like it will be all three kids: Zeph, Zander and Jennifer. That will leave Vivian, Ed, Rebecca and I to do the two shifts from the center. (...)

Jennifer sounds interested in doing the other park, so I think we will do that on our last day.

Also starting tomorrow at the research center there will be a huge group of approximately fifty people. A big conference is being held here at the center, this will shut us out of our lockers during the day except for breakfast, lunch and dinner times.

 

Monday

Last night before dinner we did a night walk in search of mouse lemurs and the civet. We went out about 5p, walking in the light of dusk. We saw a couple mouse lemurs during the walk in and a really cool large stick bug, which I got a good photo of.

Once we reached our destination of a picnic table in a small clearing amidst the guava patch where the civet is knows to visit we looked for mouse lemurs more intently and found them. They were very difficult to photograph particularly with every one else also trying to photo them and making noises to scare them. Our guide was very knowledgeable and was one of the first guides here with Pat in 1980-something. I think his name is Ameal ??

Then the civet came out to eat a bunch of guava near the picnic table, which I suspect the guides placed there for that purpose while we were busy with the mouse lemurs. The civet was not too frightened by all of us or our flashlights and cameras. He was very cute...something between a cat and a weasel. On our slow walk back in the dark we looked for chameleons, frogs and other wildlife, we saw a bunch of very small chameleons...or rather Ameal saw them and patiently pointed them out to us.

Today, Monday, I go out in the afternoon with Ed and Jennifer. Because of the large meeting taking over the facility, we will hike out early, have our lunch in a research hut and then start our work.

(...)

I slept in later than usual this morning and was a little grumpy over breakfast, I think because it was rushed (because of the conference) and I didn't get to relax. So I'm glad I'm going out this afternoon and with a relaxed group, it gives me time to chill this morning and be by myself.

Pat asked if we wanted to go work in the lab on parasites. Ed and Jennifer were both very excited about it, so I am able to have some peace time...or so I thought. I keep being shuffled around because of the group that here needs either what I'm sitting on or the space I'm in. I think our status of high-paying volunteer researchers was just demoted.

 

Tuesday

Yesterday we did the afternoon walk. It started at noon with a walk to the research hut, just a bit up the main entrance trail to eat lunch which would be brought in. Ed, Jennifer and I walked in with Katherine who was meeting Nicky. Lunch was not brought in until 1:15 , leaving us, particularly the girls who had a lot of work to go do and were both very hungry, a bit grumpy.

Interestingly this time was a great opportunity to speak with Katherine and Nicky about the quirks and 'real' lifestyle of the ValBio. I didn't realize that researchers have to pay to be at a center and apparently the ValBio just recently increased their rate to an unusually high and unwarranted amount for the services provided. At a rate of $27 a day for non PhD's (...)

Emily was kind enough to offer me some of her yogurt, as my main complaint has been the severe lack of protein, or for that matter any substantial breakfast food. The breakfast usually consists of (usually stale) white baguettes, butter, and jam. So I feel full of stale white bread, but no substance.

Carter is going to town on Wed and I will have her buy me some yogurt to repay Emily as well as to get through the next few days before I make it into town.

Jennifer and I are going into town on Sunday so I'll get a few more then as well for Sunday through Tuesday.

We hiked up to group three, having been watching group one on our previous trips. Group one has a male, female and a newborn. Group three has four lemurs, no babies.

The hike was substantially harder than the previous hikes, not including the hike to the pristine forest. It was very steep and very long. Eventually we made it to see them. The morning team did not have much luck, only getting a couple of feedings in before lemur nap time, but it is much warmer than is typical.

Shortly after we got to them, they preceded to leap around and away from us to find food. We bush whacked to keep up with them and they eventually settled high up in some trees to eat. Occasionally they came low and would leap right by us, but generally, when eating this group stayed pretty high on Monday afternoon.

The hike down, although at least not up, was still a bit brutal since it was on the hot and humid side.

After showers, etc we waited for dinner, of course having to keep out of the way of the conference folks. Dinner, due to the fact we were having a conference people plus us fancy dinner, was not until 7:30 . All of the researchers were hungry, sleepy and grumpy by then. The dinner was better than average, but since it was buffet style, it was a bit of mayhem to get food.

Ultimately, with a bit of drama, the decision was made about who would be going to the pristine forest for three days of roughing it and research. The two boys would go. Jennifer decided to stay to do more parasite research with Pat and Vickie also decided against going with her son.

(...)

This morning Vicky, Jennifer and I set out at 7:30 after breakfast to revisit group three.

It was pretty much a repeat of the day before, although, thankfully, the typical weather for this time of year has returned. It is much cooler and cloud cover, I expected it to rain in the afternoon like our first few days but as of 4p no rain and actually less cloud cover, but still cool.

The hike in seemed especially brutal. I think I do better in the afternoon. Vicky wants me to switch shifts with her on Thursday so she can be here when Zander gets back in the afternoon. So I may trade both days with her so I can be in the afternoon for at least Wednesday and Thursday.

On the return, Jennifer and I stopped at the little restaurant on the road and got fries, 'fretes' and cokes, thinking lunch would not be until 1ish again. They were good, and only 6kAr (~$3).

When we got back, about 12:30 our lunch was already being served, but just the beginning. So we quickly got settled (out of the leech socks and boots and into flip flops) and joined. It was actually probably the best lunch to date. The veggie option was fresh, excellent, steaming hot macaroni and cheese. Since I wasn't particularly starving, having just had fries and coke, it truly was very good.

Dinner time tonight should be relatively normal since the conference peeps are leaving, but the boys, Katherine and Nicky won't be here...I think I'll miss them. They all have a good fun and positive energy.

 

Wednesday

Dinner was later again for whatever reason and we were supposed to have a cake for Vicky's birthday but it didn't make it out. We had a thin crunchy cheese and onion pizza...fairly tasty considering.

This morning over breakfast we all talked about the next few days. I'm going to do, as planned, the afternoon on Thursday, so I'm looking forward to sleeping in a bit and relaxing in the am. On Friday I'll hopefully go up to group 4 in the afternoon just to look at them. Gouo four is the group that the girls are studying and taking sound recordings of. Saturday is undetermined at this point and on Sunday Jennifer and I will head to the town again for lunch, shopping and general meandering.

If Vicky and Zander spend Saturday night up in the forest, they will hike out the back side, meeting us and our ride Sunday at about 5pm to get back to ValBio.

Monday we are doing a general look see at the group, no data collection. We will be split into two groups, each visiting two groups...I think. Monday afternoon we pack. Monday night we party. Tuesday early morning we leave for Tana. Tuesday night we eat at an Italian restaurant with Summer.

I need to call Luva and arrange, if still possible our Wednesday day trip to Andasibe Park . If that works out then early Wednesday we would drive there, hike to see the Indri Lemurs and then drive back, arriving early evening. Have a quick shower and change and go to the airport for our 9:40pm flight to Paris .

-whew- I think after all that I will sleep on the plane.

We went out to group three. Thankfully, they were a bit closer, but although I wasn't feeling sore, as soon as we started going up at the very beginning I felt it and was lagging on the hike in. Jennifer decided not to go out. Vicky went in the am instead of the afternoon. Summer joined us to get some recordings to use in a radio show on NPR.

This afternoon was once again sunny and exceptionally warm. When we got back after shower, lunch and sample logging, I did some laundry in hopes of it drying by tomorrow and sat in the sun with my second book, which I like much more than the first.

The downside of going out in the morning is that I'm tired and not motivated to do much in the afternoon. Finally around 3pm I found Jennifer and Vicky and we all had coffee (me) and coco (them) and that perked me up a bit. Jennifer was bored and Vicky had fallen asleep in a chair reading. Now that I'm a bit more perky, I can type a bit before dinner. I did not get any pictures of lemurs today; they were too high or far away.

 

Thursday

Today I traded with Vicky so I go out in the afternoon. I slept in a bit, which means until 6:45 .

After breakfast everyone left for the field and the conference people came, I entered data for Summer until about 10:30am. At about 10am, in the room with all the books and computers where I was, someone was sticking a metal screwdriver in the circuit breaker to try to fix (?? - don't ask!) a fuse. Snap, crackle, pop...we had flames, sparks and a bunch of smelly. As a result, all of the electricity in the center went out. So, with no electricity I entered data off my laptop's battery for another half hour or so, then I read until close to noon when I started getting ready for the field.

(...)

We hiked slowly out to the research hut to get lunch. Knowing lunch would be late again, we took our time. Jennifer and I went first, Rebecca was sending off her husband on a tourist tour and then would meet us there and Pat was verifying her lunch was also coming, and then would meet us.

By 12:30 we were all there listening to Pat's wonderful stories until lunch finally appeared at 1:30 . We were one lunch short, but it worked out ok because two lunches of peas and pasta can easily be split three ways.

Group three decided to check on the far end of their territory pre lunch. We hiked all the way back to the primary forest line, then up to the ridge where they were. The hike was not as difficult as past days for two reasons, first because, although longer, it was not as steep and second because Pat was there and as a result we walked slower and talked more.

Once we finally made the ridge, the lemur group started leaping back over to the front side of their territory, eating a bit on the way but moving a lot. I saw two of them play for the first time which was cool. At about 4p they settled down in a sleep tree on the ridge we've seen them on other days, proven by the piece of bark that Jennifer wrote on and we found on the ground. We hiked back slowly.

It was sunny again today, we thought it might rain in the afternoon because some clouds showed and we even heard thunder but no rain in the afternoon. The morning and early afternoon was quiet sunny and almost hot. After a shower, I met Zander, Ed and Jennifer up at the restaurant for a crepe and soda, since dinner was not until 7 (read: 7:30+). We heard about his adventures out for the past few days. A bit later Zeph, Rebecca and Hunter (her husband who has joined us since Wed, but was staying at a hotel) showed up and added more wilderness stories.

After dinner, we got a lecture on environmental education from a local person. It was a great talk, but we were all very tired. I wish they had the talks earlier or on the weekends or on half days. After dinner, most people don't want to hear a two hour lecture, regardless of how good it is.

It rained a little during dinner and maybe overnight, but just a bit.

(...)

Carter came back wed night from Finar with a small tub of local store honey and six yogurts for me. (20k A)

(...)

 

Friday

Thankfully, I have afternoon again. I really like having the morning to laze around. I think I hike better and enjoy my free time more.

The three girls have all taken half days today, I think in order to get ready for their upcoming departure. Emily is going home and Kathleen and Nicky are relocating.

It look like rain today, much cooler in the morning and the clouds are darker and lingering but no rain as of 8.30.

Plan is to do a couple hours of data, then have lunch in the forest again, which means lots of waiting for lunch,then go up and see group four with Emily. I think Jennifer may be going as well. Group four is a large group with a couple babies and juveniles so they should be fun to watch and hopefully get some pics.

 

Saturday

Yesterday we ended up having lunch at the center instead of 'in the forest' which turned out to be just as quick, or rather not quick but not any slower than waiting at the research hut until 1:30 for lunch to get there. The lunch at the center is better, so the time being equal it was a good call. Then Jennifer, and I along with Emily, Katherine, Nicky, a local research who's name I forget and our research guides went up to group four. It was Emily's last day in the field before going home on Monday so I think it was a more relaxed day for them. It was the best day in the forest for me. The (lemur) group was much more fun to watch. And of course getting to view them, rather than 'work' was cool. The group has two new babies and is rather large at 8(?) members. There was a lot more noise and activity with the members. We were also very fortunate to see three wooly lemurs trying to sleep on a tree (...) They were right on the trail and we would have walked right by them if one of the guides had not noticed them with his sharp eyes. Emily shared some treats with the guides at the end as a little going away celebration/thank-you. I managed to get a couple decent baby pictures.

 

Sunday

Yesterday was a boring / relaxing day. The morning spent in the sun. I had washed some clothes, so I watched those dry, wrote a lot, read a lot.

After lunch, Jennifer and I went down to the river and walked around, jumping on boulders and looking at the incredibly large spiders and their impressive webs. We didn't see any other wildlife. The rest of the evening was pretty boring. Basically killing time waiting for dinner and waiting for bedtime. When reading is the only option of something to do it can get a little old.

This morning we had a lazy breakfast with just a few of us. Pat joined us and told us entertaining stories (as usual) of past Earthwatch groups.

For the past .5-1 hour while writing, I have been very distracted by a very large spider that has been exploring the laundry hanging over the rail nearby. I felt like something was over there, turned around and there was a huge (easily a couple inches in diameter) spider literally hanging out. After I took some pictures and watched it for awhile, I went back to writing, yet am constantly having to turn around and make sure I know where it is and that it is not sneaking up on me.

Today we are headed back into Ranafamona to eat lunch and shop. It is a small village/city but Sunday is market day and it is something to do. I'd like to get some more food and snacks as well as see what kind of souvenir stuff I can find there to spend some money.

 

Monday

Yesterday we went into town around 10:45am , walking down since the weather was nice. It was all of us except Rebecca, Zeph and Hunter, who planned to meet us somewhere down in the city. First stop was at the restaurant/hotel recommended by Pat for lunch called Cent'rest, just past the museum. It was a good lunch, as usual, the preparation took a long time, but that is to be expected since they make it when it is ordered rather than having stuff sit around - which is fine with me. Then we headed to the downtown area to shop in the market. Unfortunately, it started to rain and the people in the center were packing up their goods. We wondered around the little stall shops a bit and bought stuff, Jennifer bought the most, having to buy a large handbag just to carry everything. (...) By about 3 we were all done. I bought some honey to put in my nalgene, a cool small pot for a plant, some BoLo (cookie things) and 4 Roberto chocolate bars (which my memory liked better than reality). In Tana I'll try to find some of the better 70% dark chocolate bars.

Pat gave a talk about Ranamafona after dinner. She had some cool pics from the 80's when she first came, discovered the golden bamboo lemur, and set up the park.

It rained again last night.

This morning we woke up a little early to do our last field hike to check up on each of the groups. (...)So Jennifer, Ed and I went to check on group 3 and 2 with the radio tracker. We finally found group three, and it also started to rain. We lingered a bit finding all four members, they were mostly snuggled up resting in the cold and rain. Then we went off to find group 2 with no luck. It was still raining and the leeches were a little more active. We came back around 11am had a shower and lunch.

We had originally planned on doing an orchid reserve hike tour thing in the afternoon (...) I opted out as did everyone but Vicky and Zander. (...)

Meanwhile, Summer suggested we could sleep in the office/library tonight of we wanted to pack up our tent stuff, which worked out great because I was dreading having to wake up extra early to rush pack and be down the hill by 6am .

So in the light, in between rain showers Jennifer and I packed up and brought everything down to the center.

(...)

Last days in Madagascar

The last two days were so incredibly rushed that I never had the opportunity to write them up. Regretting not spending more time in Madagascar and wanting to get the most out of my time there, Jennifer and I opted to go to Andasibe to see and hear the famous Indri Lemurs. We hired the driver who had picked me up from the airport the first night. Very early in the morning we did the drive, he arranged an excellent guide for us. We saw and heard the Indris as well as other wildlife. Then after a meal at the hotel near the park, we headed back to Tana. The traffic in Tana on the return was horrid, so we were left with very little time for a very quick shower and change of clothes before we went straight to the airport to board our 10:40p flight to Paris .

Although the day was very hectic with too much drive time, I'm so glad I did that side trip. I would have liked to been able to spend a few days there.

Jennifer, Ed and I were all on the same flight to Paris . We lucked out since the plane was only about ¼ full...a rarity these days! We each picked an entire center row and crashed out. Best night's sleep I've ever had on a plane.

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My impressions of the Earthwatch portion of the trip:

The Earthwatch provided meals were definitely hit or miss, rarely mediocre: we had some really good meals (relative to our circumstances of course) and curiously lacking meals. Same chef I'm told, and the menus are 'approved'.

The protein was definitely in shortage if you are a vegetarian (or are choosing to go vegetarian while in Madagascar for health reasons). The concept of being vegetarian for the locals simply means you eat vegetables, and no meat.

For example, one day at lunch the meat-eaters got rice and beans, and the vegetarians got pasta and peas. Another lunch was a tasty tomato sauce potato salad and grilled assorted cut veggies. All good, but lacking any protein.

The atmosphere, in my limited time and experience there, as well as input from long term people there, seems just as schizophrenic as the meals. Although Earthwatch is a 'working vacation', there is no doubt that we provide income to the center; it is one of the appeals of accepting Earthwatch groups to a research site. Sometimes it seemed we, and other 'guests' were treated like guests, while other times it seemed we were in the way and treated as second class guests. To clarify, we were never treated rudely and I never felt truly unwelcome. It was just that our level of welcomeness seemed to change from person to person and at different times during the stay.

The fieldwork was really amazing and for me an enlightening experience of what researchers do and how a project develops. Having the time with Summer and Pat was also amazing as they are a wealth of knowledge and great stories that as a tourist you would not get.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, this particular Earthwatch group consisted of all Americans. Although it was a great group and I enjoyed each of the people there for their uniqueness, when I travel I love meeting travelers from other countries. I know enough Americans with their strong opinions and cultural humor in America . I find travelers from other places tend to be more chill, more positive and bring their own opinions and culture to the conversation. I found too often (most of the time) the conversations would revert to American conversations, which I could hear anywhere back home (particularly in the Bay Area), about colleges, politics and who knows who from where. My understanding however, is that this was purely coincidental and often groups are from various countries.

Some popular questions I'm already getting are:

First off Earthwatch trips are expensive, so I would recommend the trips only if you have a larger budget and the tax deductible benefit helps defer the high cost. I would certainly recommend investigating different trips since it seems no two projects could ever be the same. I'm sure if I had picked the cheetahs in Namibia or the penguins in south Africa over the lemurs in Madagascar my experiences would be completely different for each one on all levels.

I'm hesitant to recommend or not recommend the Madagascar trip in particular. If there were a way to visit Ranamafana and stay at the center as a guest for a week and then do other stuff in Madagascar I would highly recommend it.

If time and money are on your side then I would recommend doing the Earthwatch trip first, then going about to other places in Madagascar on your own.

If you only have two-three weeks, in retrospect I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the trip by traveling around to different parts of the country solo rather than do the Earthwatch trip. Although I would have missed the opportunity to really get to know Ranafafona and the researchers there.

The stay at the center was also very mentally relaxing. As there is a lot of down time to read and write and you aren't traveling around having to figure out the daily life stuff. This can be good and bad of course: too much extra time gets a bit boring and tedious. So I don't think that really answers the question as to whether or not I would recommend this particular trip, however I think it gives some of what I think are the pros and cons.

Would I come back to Madagascar ?
For sure! From almost day one, I regretted not arranging more days here. Particularly considering how much it cost me to get there in both time and money. There is so much to see and different areas and climates. It is a relatively easy country to travel around in and is cheap. It is not even really necessary to come with a plan. The people are exceptionally friendly and if you speak French or are good at picking up languages, (Malagasy) then it will be even friendlier.

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