Random Musings

Hi everyone, I am writing from an internet cafe in Antsirabe, Madagascar. Marc, Mamy and I made our way up here yesterday. When we last talked I was finishing up two days in the Ranomafana rain forest with some hiking and lemur spotting. From there we headed north up the RN7 to Ambrositra, a small town with some great craft markets. We visited the St. Benedictine church and bought some cheese that the nuns make and then we spent a night in a hotel there and then yesterday headed north again to Antsirabe. We arrived yesterday afternoon and spent some time walking around and checking it out. We paid a hotel yesterday to use their pool and spent a nice hour being cooled off. So Marc and Mamy left this morning for Tana. Marc is headed to Paris and then back to San Fran in time for MLK day. Have I mentioned what a blessing he has been? Mamy will then turn around and head back down here tomorrow morning and pick me up and then we will head south. This is the plan that I worked out with Mamy-

Jan 15- Mamy picks me up in Antsirabe and we drive to Ambalavo and then spend the night in Ambalavo.
Jan 16 - visit the paper factory in Ambalavo in the morning and then visit the Anja National Park. In the afternoon depart for Isalo National Park and arrive there at
night
Jan 17 - visit Isalo National Park in the morning and do some hiking. In the later afternoon drive down to Tulear and spend the night in Tulear
Jan 18 - take a 4WD from Tulear to Ifaty and spend the day and night in a bungalow on the beach and just relax
Jan 19 - take the 4WD back to Tulear and have Mamy take me to the Tulear Airport for a 2:30 flight to Tana.
Jan 20 - spend a day and night in Tana, visit Solofo and Anza
Jan 21 - fly from Tana to Nairobi and maybe see the Chelangas
It`s kind of packed with a lot of movement for the rest of my trip and I do wish I had an extra day in Ifaty, but I wouldn`t of even had this kind of plan if it wasnt for Marc and being able to travel with him for so long, so no regrets. I know sometimes I don`t go into a lot of detail but I wanted to spend this post talking a little bit about the things I have done, how I am living, etc.
How I am travelling: so you have already heard a bit about the taxi brousse ride. Its a pretty neat system. People show up at the taxi brousse station early in the morning to buy a ticket or inquire about one already reserved. As you drive into the station people start jumping on or into the taxi to try to get you to go with their bus service. Its totally scary and overwhelming. I just kept my eyes down and left Solofo do the talking. The taxi brousses going long distances usually leave in the morning. You are assigned to a vehicle depending on the route. Mine was a red minibus with seating for 15 including the driver. Your luggage or bags get tossed on top and wrapped in plastic to protect from the weather. The bus only leaves when its full. So I arrived at 7:00am and the bus left at around 8:30. The ride was uneventful though I can imagine they get very dicey. The drivers go very fast and use the horn a lot to get people to move off the road. They pass on hills, on curves; on almost anything. Its a very efficient way to travel but I can see how it can be dangerous. The other way that I am travelling is by car. Mamy has a Peugot and Marc would sit up front and I would be in the backseat. Its my preferred way of travel - better than a tour group because Mamy knows the people and places well and we can stop at will - and safer and more relaxing then a taxibrousee because we have more freedom.
What I am eating/drinking: very well, actually. A typical malagasy meal includes a protein, a shitload of rice, a bowl of almost broth and sometimes a drink of the boiled water from burnt rice. The Malagasy eat a lot of fish and meat, mainly zebu. For the most part I try to eat fish and I love it. Le filet de poission comes with one or two full little tilapia that I have to debone and remove the head. You mix some of the broth with the rice to make it less dry and then eat it in the same bit with the protein. It`s really good if you like fish but Ive swallowed quite a few bones so far. The zebu is also delicious. Eating the rice has gotten old but one of the nice things about having been a colony of France is that there are some decent options. Ive been able to incorporate a lot of vegetables into my diet. Marc pointed out that none of the salad is cooked, but since Ill be in Africa for 10 more weeks, I need to just start eating all the food now and take any sickness as it comes. With Mamy i have been able to get some fresh fruit too. In Ranomafana Marc and Mamy had like 5 kilos of mangos and then we bought a pinneapple and then had a feast of it. Very fresh and very good. Drinks are pretty basic here. i drink a lot of water and everyahere carries bottled water. There is some local Malagasy wine but I have heard its not good. They make one beer here by Three Horses Beer - THB. They also have a drink called Fresh and its like a shandy. Very tasty and like 1 percent alcohol. Also in terms of cost, sometimes rurally its 2000 ariary and other times its 10000 ariary, which is like 1.50-7 dollars. Pretty amazing.
Where I am sleeping: this is also surprisingly good. In Tana it was a pretty western hotel by myself. Each room has been a single with a private bath and all have had some kind of hot water. The bathrooms usually have a sink, toilet, and then a very european shower which is like a little area with a drain and a handheld showerhead. The best places are the ones that have a little holder on the wall the hold the handheld shower piece. It makes it like a regular shower and that is sooo nice. Traveling with Marc has been nice too. We stay in mid-budget places which are actually really nice places for around 12-20 dollars. The rooms have had twin beds since Marc and I share a room. He has been soo good about it but sometimes it is awkward with the bathrooms. Ex. last night the room had a bathroom with clear doors ....I expect Mamy will be arranging the same kind of places for me. Sometimes they have mosquito nets and sometimes they don't but the bugs havent been too bad. Ranomafana was great because we had this bungalow high uip in the side of a hill and we could overlook the rainforest. The steps up were tiring but we had a great view.
Laundry and clothes- iI had only brought 2 pair of capris, one pair of pants, and one skirt with me, along a with a lot of tshirts. This has been pretty good for me and I havent needed anything else EXCEPT that i only brought two pairs of socks and one pair isnt even a freaking match .... Most people do their own wash here. This has been a little hard for me especiallywhen hiking because clothes get so dirty and Im not to great at washing. My new way of improvising has been to get into the shower fully dressed and scrub my clothes down as I shower. Sometimes it works and other times not so great. At some hotels you can pay to have clothes hand washed and I did that with some extra smelly things today. It costs about 4 dollars for 8 items.
Weather - the weather has been pretty good. Very hot, into the 90s each day and then with spurts of heavy rain everynow and then. The rain cools everything down and last night it was a bit cool for me. The sun is usually shining and the clouds are amazing during the day. Marc and i watched a storm come in last night and it was amazing with the lightening and all the clouds. Very beautiful.
Povery and village life: We see tons of poverty as we pass through the villages and when we are staying in the towns. Village life is extremely basic. No electricity, maybe some running water from a local pump. The roads, if near one of the fewmajor roads here, are paved. Otherwise they are dirt and very poorly maintained. In the east during the rainy season the roads get wiped out often. We`ve seen many instances where bridges have been washed out too when large cyclones have hit the east coast. The towns, though definitely 3rd world, have almost anything you could need. Cell phone credits to add minutes to a SIM card, markets, clothes, tools. The meat especially is very fresh - in some cases Marc and I have waited over an hour for food because they took our meat orders and ran to the market to either kill the animal or get that cut of meat from a butcher. Many children begging. I cant say that I am used to it, but it doesn`t surprise or scare me as much now. Ive become somewhat cynical too - each town has its own scam that the children employ and its hard to maintain a balance between recognizing their poverty and ignoring them so they will leave you alone. Its very hot during the day and when not working people are just sitting around. The main work seems to be outside labor - the countryside is beautiful and green with tierred farming and rice fields - but both of these methods are just degrading the land and causing erosion. I see a lot of women working in the rice fields and its very strenuous and backbreaking work. Its an interesting juxtiposition - typically beautiful surroundings with extreme poverty.
Language - I definitely couldnt be here without Marc and Mamy. Marc has a basic grasp of french and it has helped us when out walking alone; but Mamy is the best resource because of his Malagasy. Now I dont even try and in some regards its good. I dont have to talk with the beggars or barter. It makes things a lot easier for me to just keep my head down and keep walkiung in odd situations.
Communication- I am able to visit internet cafes in Madagascar but the connection is very unreliable and not good enough for pictures. As I sit here we have lost the connection and I am just saving this to a worddocument in hope I can retrieve it later. I also have a cell phone and I am willing to put a lot of money into that because its my best way of getting to the outside world. Its all SIM based and i have a number for Nairobi, Madagascar; and I will have a 3rd in Tanzania. Its usually easy for me to call out, but it costs a lot and I expect people to call in. Depending on that connection it can be immediate or not at all and sometimes frustrating.
Finally; I am going to finish with some interesting things so far - People travel by bike a lot here, which is convenient and crazy because of all the hills. I have seen many many things transported by bike, including one bike with many children, one bike with a live baby pig wrapped in straw on the back, bikes carrying tons of items for the market. Marc was remarking how it is possible to just pick one tiny piece of malagasy life and by just looking at that little piece you see so much. In Ranomafana there are a lot of leeches because of the water. In rivers they have huge leeches but in the forest there are just small leeches. I had a few on my arms and legs and it drove me crazy but i was okay. HOWEVER later in the shower as I was fully dressed and washing my clothes i noticed that my pants pocket had a lot of blood on it - and then realized very far down on my bikini line there was a blood swelling, a very telltale sign of a leech. So it was gone; but I had a freaking leech down my pants. And one last thing which still makes me laugh - we were in Ranomafana and I have taken to going barefoot a lot - not in the rain and not in big villages; but out in the rural areas. But I was standing on the porch of this restaurant and started to take my shoes and socks off and then all of a sudden starting thinking all western and turned around to apologize for being rude and was it okay to take my shoes off? and realized that almost no one around me was wearing shoes and the staff was kind of looking at me with a blank stare like I was crazy. it was just very comical for me to have that experience.
Okay, Im off. Mamy is coming back for me tomorrow and we head south. I hope everyone is doing well. I had seen my brothers comment about the Ravens playing on Sunday and wasnt even aware until yesterday that he was referring to the Super Bowl. I definitely dont miss football here but im glad for my brother that the Ravens won!
Take care, Veloma,
Ann