4th of July...oops 26th of June

The 26th of June is the Malagasy 4th of July. Not really sure what the story is behind it. However, the celebration seems pretty similar. Fireworks and voila, but no stadium of fire! The little kids also carry these little lantern type things with candles in them. Kind of cool actually, but I didn't have my camera.....sad.

On the morning of the 26th I was supposed to go to Berenty however the guy from work I was supposed to go with, disappeared. I called him the morning of the 26th and he didn't respond and I stopped by his house...not there. That sucked but I went to beach instead and ran into another friend from work and we decided to go to Lokaro the next day.

We rented quads and drove to Lokara and took a few wrong turns along the way. However we made it. It was fun. Along the way we had to cross a "bridge" by pushing the quads on logs spread over a river...yeah, that was exciting, I kept waiting for one to fall in.

I didn't bring my camera...long story. Instead, I took a picture of this family carrying wood on their heads to the market. I've been told that a bundle of wood is only 800 ariary, which is less than 50 cents.

Weekly Update

Honestly.......I don't have much to post about. Work is work.....and I need a vacation. Actually, I'm planning a trip to La Reunion (not to be confused with a family reunion), Diego in the north and another place that I can't pronounce or remember how to spell.

Rained all weekend.......so, didn't do much. I like this french restaurant in town called Mirana (that's the guy's wife's name, his name is Bernard). I eat there often, about twice a week. He has a daughter, aged about 7 and she's kind of crazy. She won't leave me alone when I eat, tries to drink out of my glass, etc. etc.

However, the 26th is a holiday, so I'm going to Berenty to see the lemurs, etc. I should have cool pics, stories, etc.

Picture is from Lavanono again. This "group" came and sang for us, with the homemade guitar and I even danced with them.

Mid-Point

Today is approximately the mid-point of my time here. While, I'm not exactly sure when I'll leave, I call it the mid-point. Actually, I think I'll know in the next two weeks when I'll go home. I prefer to finish here about August 28th and start traveling the 30th. Which means I would be back home around the 29th of September. Not that I'm already planning my vacation and thinking of the end........oops.

I decided to make a list of things that I like and dislike so far.

Likes: white sandy beaches, beautiful mountains, winters with temps in the 70's, most of the people at work, not having to clean or cook, seeing unforgettable things, unforgettable experiences, Lavanono, St Luce, etc, etc.

Dislikes: the roads (they are so horrible!!!!), cafeteria food, rain on the weekends, nothing to do at night, mosquitoes, some people at work, sometimes the beauty is ruined by the filth, nothing is convenient or easy, super slow internet.

However, this is a really good experience for 6 months, but I don't know if I could go longer than that. I see why people need a break every 3-4 months.

I'm looking forward to finishing my assignment and then taking 3-4 weeks to explore Madagascar, La Reunion and Cape Town, South Africa.

The picture is of the road leading to Lavanono. I hope to hike to Pic St Louis next Saturday.

Surfing

I tried surfing on Saturday.........yeah, it's much, much more difficult than it looks. The first problem, of many, I think was the type of board they gave me. It was a short board, about 6 feet long. I think I really need a long board, since I've never tried before. So, now I have to find a long board......hmmmmmmm, not too likely. I may end up just body boarding and calling it good. It's not like I can surf once I get back to UT.

Good news: no sharks. Even though it would be kind of cool to see one, of course not while I'm surfing. Internet is super, super slow today, so no pic yet.......

Lavanono

We didn't have work on Monday the 1st, so I went with some co-workers on a great trip. The village is called lavanono . In Malgache you actually don't pronounce the last letter of nearly every word. It's a tiny little village in the far southern desert of Madagascar. The trip takes about 7 hours on super, super rough roads. Really, it should only take about 3 hours or less because its only 250 kilometers away. However, the roads suck the entire trip.

However, it was worth it! The desert ends with some beautiful beaches....as usual. We stayed in some eco-friendly bungalows run by a french guy (Gigi). On Friday, we left after work and drove to a town called Tsiohmbe or however its spelled. We spent the night there and had tortoise for dinner......kind of interesting and tasted decent. I also eventually had octopus at Lavanono Be.

Saturday, we finished the remaining two hours. So, glad to be out of Sharky!!! The roads in southern madagascar are so rough and not maintained at all.

On, Saturday we went to the beach and I did some bodysurfing. It was really fun.

Sunday we went to the southern most point in Madagascar (Cap Sainte Marie). We also visited the grotto of Cap Sainte Marie. It was pretty cool. Kind of sandstone type area with some cool caves, etc. Also, we bought some live chickens at the market and had some people at the Cap Sainte Marie Reserve cook them for us, while we explored the reserve. Saw tons of tortoises.

I've got a million pics.......but no way to share them all. The pic is from my bungalow overlooking the ocean.

So, that's why I didn't blog for a while. I hope to surf this weekend, so maybe I'll blog about that.