Weekend update

Sounds like a SNL skit or something...........so I changed hotels to the Azura hotel. Bad idea. I was getting kind of tired of the same thing everyday, so I wanted a change. Well, the new hotel's pool is disgusting and the their internet doesn't work. So, I think I'll ask to change back this week. I'm sure the lady at work that takes care of that stuff will be pleased with me.

I thought I was going to go for a hike with a friend from work, but she called and said she was sick Friday night. Instead of going for a hike, I grabbed Sharky and tried to find a thing called "ile des portugais". I guess its the first settlement in Madagascar. However, I couldn't really find it.

Instead I ended up taking some road that turned into a super sandy road, so I stopped and turned around. I didn't want to get stuck in the sand.

Then I went back the way I came and took a right and headed around this big lake here. The lake ends at the ocean. Its pretty cool and desolate. There's just sand and water, no vegetation right there.

Hopefully next week I can go to the national park and do some hiking.

Also, I don't proof-read this stuff........so I don't care if there are typos or mistakes or whatever.

Weekend Adventure

Since I often get tired of hanging out in my hotel, I try to get out on the weekends and visit around the area. Often, I have no idea where I am going or what I may or may not see. This weekend, I decided to head to the west (I think its the west). To the west is where the lush green area of the area around Ft Dauphin, turns into desert. At least that's what I've read..........

The national road leading out of town actually gets better the further you are away from town. I also think national road means road that was built once a long time ago and was never maintained after that. Some of the pot holes are bigger than my truck!! I imagine that a war zone has fewer pot holes than here.

The scenery leaving town is beautiful. Many more beautiful mountains and lots of vegetation and the occasional river. The bridges over the rivers do make me nervous.

Along the way I saw a few cemeteries. I didn't dare get too close to them because I'm afraid it would be "fady" which means taboo or something along those lines. I also found the entrance or an entrance to le parc national d'Andohahela. I hope to explore that park in the next few weeks.

That's all for this weekend.

Jolly Ol' England

According to google analytics I have some readers in England.......just curious to find out who they are. Maybe some people from Rio Tinto??

If you're willing, I'd like to know who you are.......

This is a pic of Sharky. The name of my truck. There are 3 Malgaches inside, but I doubt you can see them.

Also, it may rain this weekend.......so I might not have any amazing adventures this weekend. However, I wanna visit the Berenty lemur preserve in the next couple of weeks.

Secluded Beach

Monday was a holiday in Madagascar versus Good Friday. On Sunday, I was invited by some Malgaches to visit a secluded beach called Lokaro. It was about a 1.5 hour drive from Ft Dauphin. Which means you didn't actually drive very far....I think about 40 kilometers, but again the roads are horrible. So, Sharky (that's my truck's name because it's white and I like sharks), 3 Malgache friends and I went to Lokaro.

The trip was interesting because they didn't really know the way....I guess they normally walk there. So, we drove past the turn off point and had to ask some locals where to go. When we finally found the right turn-off point, the road turned into sand. We are talking, deep, deep sand. The key is keep going fast.....once you slow down you are in trouble!!!

After the treacherous road, including forging a small river, tons of sand and a precarious drop....we arrived.

The beach is BEAUTIFUL.......just like a postcard. White sand, tree-lined, perfect water, etc, etc. Another thing I learned is that fair skinned people should not hang out at the beach with dark skinned people. Otherwise, you will look like a lobster.

Basically, it was the perfect way to spend a holiday........just relaxing on the beach.

Mandena Conservation Zone

Last week I emailed the lady in charge of biodiversity to ask if I could visit the conservation area that QMM/Rio Tinto has established here in Ft Dauphin. I didn't hear back for a while....then she called me on Friday and asked if I wanted to go on Saturday. Of course I said yes and then she arranged for a guy named Philo (whom I hadn't met before) to be my guide.

I picked Philo up Saturday morning and we drove to the conservation zone which is right next to the mine. This area is one of the very few remaining areas that is still forested.

The first thing he showed me was their nursery where the keep all the seeds and grow the plants. Pretty interesting, including a carnivorous plant(not a venus fly trap, but one that has kind of a pitcher to catch stuff in). I didn't feed it anything.

Then we kind of went on a walk through the forest and he showed me different plants that are endemic to the area, etc. There are some crocodiles and lemurs but we didn't see any. They have some fossa in a cage. Fossa are the "lions" of Madagascar. They are the main predator of lemurs, etc.

While we were walking I saw a small hole on the trail and I thought it was a leave sticking out of it. Philo got really excited and pulled it out of the ground and it was a chameleon. It had changed color to match the dark earth around it. In the pic it's green, but it was actually dark grey when we first picked it up.

We saw some birds, bugs, etc, etc and some guy just carrying a big piece of meat in his hand.......

It's an interesting area to go and see what Madagascar was like 50 years ago before the forests were all destroyed.

Les Malagaches

One thing I've noticed about the locals (besides the fact that they are African) is how short they tend to be. My mom and sisters and even grandma would feel right at home here. There are just midgets all around. Especially the women.....so tiny.

Next thing: a lot of the natives have NOTHING. The other day I saw a guy and his son walking in just their underwear. No shoes, no shirt, no shoes, nothing at all. Actually, I think they might have had a hatchet or something to cut wood with.

The people here walk everywhere.......and I mean they could live 10+ miles away from town and they will walk (barefoot) into town to sell fruit or whatever. Its insane. It also makes driving at night an adventure. Cause there are no lights.....and they have dark skin and there are no sidewalks, etc.

Also, they carry everything on their head and I mean everything....long pieces of wood that they cut with a hatchet, fruit, laundry, water. They have an amazing balancing ability. I saw one lady, with a baby on her back, carrying wood on her head, while walking barefoot.

I don't have any pics of this stuff yet...so I put a pic of my tour group to Mt Jmo.

La Petite Vegas

Here in Ft Dauphin, near a beach called Ankuba (not sure if that's spelled correctly) they have an..........hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........"event" on Saturday afternoons. In the small parking lot near a restaurant called Marceline at Ankuba beach they have coq fights and gambling. There are usually a few roulette wheels and some board game that looks like tic-tac toe with a number 1-9 in each square. Not sure how that's played. The "roulette" wheels is made from an old bike wheel and spins very slowly.

I've been told that there's a "casino" somewhere in town. Living here is basically like living in Vegas........well except for the opposite.

Mount Jmo

On Saturday the 4th I decided that I wanted to go out and explore now that I have my unnamed truck. So, after lunch at the beach I decided to just start driving and see what I could find. On the way out of town I was stopped by the gendarmes (national police). No probs there.

The roads here are soooooo horrendous. Just pot holes everywhere (except for the roads QMM maintains). So, you have two choices. Go slow or just go fast and take your bumps. I tried going slow but its frustrating, so I just go fast and try to avoid the huge pot holes.

I had been driving for about an hour and I spotted a mountain that looked like it would be cool to climb. Stopped and started trying to hike over to it. No luck. There was no trail, etc......but some old guy that spoke a little French pointed to where a trail should be. I walked over there and walked right past it....until some little kids started yelling to turn around. Then I finally found the trail and the kids started following/leading me.

We crossed through some rice fields, over a cement culvert running over a small gulley....kind of scary actually, cause it would have been an interesting fall. We also crossed a small river and they laughed at me because I tried not to get my shoes wet. Actually, the laughed and giggled at me a lot.

After 20 mins or so we reached the base of Mt Jmo (yep, I named a random mountain after myself). We crossed through a tiny village of about 5 huts and some more kids joined us. They only spoke Malagasy and so most things were done by waving hands, etc.

After about another hour of hiking or rather….scrambling up steep, densely vegetated slopes……I decided to stop because I didn’t think it was worth the effort, I didn’t have any water and it was getting kind of late. The sun sets pretty early now. What’s funny, is that when we turned around there was probably 5 small boys that we up on top waving and shouting at us.

The way down was much easier, because we actually followed a trail instead of making our own trail……….I wish they would have shown that to me earlier!!!

Basically, I struggled big time going up this mountain, sweating the whole way and they had jackets on, no shoes, etc, etc and didn’t make it up. The way back down was pretty uneventful. With me trying to avoid getting my feet wet. I tried asking if they had any “Maki” which I thought meant lemur in Malagasy……but I don’t think they understood. So, I didn’t see much wildlife other than a small lizard.

At the end of the trail all of them lined up for a photo……..I think they’ve done this a number of times. Then one of them asked for “argent de poche”……..which means she wanted some money. I was kind of disappointed because I thought they were just being friendly, not trying to make some money. However, a few of them followed me back to my truck and I decided to give them some money. They were so excited…….more excited than I was on Christmas morning, so that made me feel good.

Overall, a pretty cool trip.

Need a name for my truck

So, I have a little, white, diesel, crew-cab Nissan truck for work. It has 2 options: A/C and a radio. That's it. I'll get a pic up tomorrow.

But I'm asking you for ideas a name.......not sure if its male or female.

Also, it still has a spare tire, which I guess is rare since spare tires are a favorite of thieves around here.

Daily Life

So, I better post something today or everyone will stop reading......which may be a good thing.

I basically have a routine here. Wake up around 6:20, eat breakfast at the hotel (which can be hit and miss). They have pretty decent crepes (NOT crapes), but the pastries are super thick.....not light and fluffy like french ones.

Then work from 7:30 to 4:30ish. The crappy part is that I'm stuck in my little cubicle all day in front of my computer for now. However, we should start having meetings for the implementation project. That will be a nice change, I think.

Then back home, getting in around 5ish. Then relax or swim........dinner (usually at the hotel, but tonight I'm gonna try a place called Coco Beach.).....then more time on the computer studying for my CIH (Certified Industrial Hygienist) exam or writing my Masters thesis.

I spend way too much time on a computer.............

Then rinse and repeat.

The weekends, I can sleep in and go the beach or hiking.

That pic took FOREVER to load...........