Lac Anony Weekend and other stuff

So, I have done a good job keeping the blog updated. Not sure why. A week ago I tried frog legs. Actually, honestly tasted just like chicken. If you would have told me they were small chicken wings, I would have believed you. The next day at work we had save the frogs day.......I felt bad. So, no more frog legs for me.

I went to see some frogs at work in our protected area.....but they only had some in bags. Kind of disappointing. I'm back at my original hotel, but I found out that I may have to go back to hotel #2 which I don't like. Grrrrrrrrr.

I was supposed to go to the Andohahela National Park with the guide who took me to Mandena Conservation Zone. However, I called him the night before and he said that his new born was sick and he couldn't go. I was pretty disappointed because we had Friday off and I had planned on this trip for a while. Friday, I just hung out at the beach, did some studying, etc. Nothing noteworthy.

Saturday morning, I called a co-worker to find out what time people play basketball at the this little church. She then invited me to visit Lac Anony. I think that's what its called. She said it was 2-3 hours aways and I could come back the same day.

I met up with her and her son and another family around 10:30 and we took off. I drove alone in my truck, which was fine and just rocked out to my music. Thankfully, my truck plays MP3s.

The road was rough and LONG.....just like all Malgasy roads. We stopped in a city along the way, but I don't know the name of the city, for lunch. I was scared of the food.....lots of flies around, but they said that they have eaten there before and did not get sick. So, I tried a tiny bit and I'm still alive.

We drove through a large sisal plantation to get to the Lake. Actually, one spot was pretty hairy. It was a large drop off with a tiny path to the side that was covered in cactus. So, we had to hack away the cactus to clear a path.

This area reminds me a lot of Utah. We even ran across a large pack (not sure what the right word is) of crickets. Its very dry and with similar vegetation. Well, they don't have sagebrush, but still very dry and barren. The picture is at sunset of the lake. It reminds me a lot of many other lakes around Utah. Its a brackish lake. We stayed in an old hotel, that had no water or electricty. Actually, I planned on coming back the same day, but it was like a maze getting to the lake, so I didn't dare go back in the dark. Oh well.

On Saturday, we arrived around 4:30 PM and basically just set up tents for the kids and found out who ran the "hotel". It was 40,000 ariary for 2 rooms. Which is only about $20. Pretty cheap. I was scared that I would be eaten by spiders or mosquitos, however the insect nets seems to have spared my life for the time being. I forgot to take some pics of the hotel though....too bad.

On Sunday we just kind of hung out on the beach and played in the lake a little. A bunch of little local kids ventured down and played with volleyball with us in the water. They were soooooooooo excited when they saw the ball. I'll have to admit, they were a little clingy at times. But very kind. One of them had a cool hair cut, long in the front and 90% of the rest of his head was buzzed.

I almost forgot, I think I found where all of our donated clothes go to. At the city where we ate lunch, they had piles and piles of clothes on the street. I'm not sure if you had to buy them or not. I think I found a pair of my old spider man underwear there........let me know if you donated something and now want it back!

The way back, we tried a different route and avoid the perilous drop/cactus way. It seemed a little smoother and less hazardous. I'm sure I've forgotten other things and I've got a bunch of photos I wish I could share. Oh well.

I'll try to post more "stuff" later this week.