Blogs from Antananarivo, Madagascar, Africa - page 6

Day 15, Tuesday, May 13, 2008 We set off for the southern portion of our Madagascar visit. We drove to Antsirabe in two 2 hour trips. In the middle, we stopped at Ambatolampy for lunch which was a typical Malagasy affair and took about 1.5 hours. When you combine the slow French restaurant style with Malagasy mora-mora, meals can take forever. After lunch, we went to see an aluminum smelting operation. They bring in bags of metal scraps and hand sort them for the aluminum parts. They then melt them down in big outdoor melting pots heated by wood fire. They make a mold using damp ash dirt, open it, remove the original, close it and then pour in the melted aluminum. They then break down the mold and start all over again. We were planning ... read more

Day 9, Wed, May 7, 2008 We were supposed to go to ANGAP today, but were given a rest day instead. ANGAP is the organization in Madagascar with the task of protecting the national parks - I hope we get there eventually. I went to an internet café in the morning while Josh and Stu went for a run which required an elevated level of situation awareness. Later, Josh, Stu and I ran some errands and got multivitamins at the pharmacy. It rained for the first time today and it was spectacular. There were intermittent torrential downpours then drizzling on and off all day. We had been told that we could get a cheap cell phone that would call the states for much less than our US phones. The big carrier here is Orange so we ... read more

Day 8, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 We left early to go to the University of Antnanarivo to meet the University President and department heads and then visit with some of the departments. Unfortunately, once we got there the President had been called away, so we met with the Vice-Dean and someone from the English Department and the Forestry Department. The University is in the process of switching from the French system to the British system and converting teaching from French to English. The University has 25K students, the majority of which are Masters students which is apparently something different than a masters student in the states. We then got a tour of the English Department and spoke with some of the students so they could practice English. We then went to the Forestry department and spoke ... read more

Just to let you all know, I am currently in a private game reserve with my parents in the Transfrontier Park (which includes Kruger) in South Africa, sitting in the most luxurious lodge I have ever, and most likely will ever, stay in my entire life. But taking you back almost a month now, things weren't so luxurious. We began our first adventure in Madagascar on a 5 hour minibus ride with our guide, cook, and other trip-mate Markus on a road that took us from Antsirabe to Miandrivazo, a small town 160km from the west coast. The first night was spent getting to know each other over a few beers at our hotel, and getting excited for the paddling, cycling, and hiking ahead of us. The following day, the five of us, plus 2 boatmen, ... read more

Day 1, Tues., Mar 30, 2008 We arrived safe and sound in Madagacar after a mostly uneventful series of flights. When I arrived in Sacramento to check in, I was told that I was booked to Atlanta and no further. I called Tina Bythe (GSE coordinator) and then RITZ International (travel agent). I was assured that all was OK so I had a teammate check m bag so that at least that would make it to Antanarvivo (tana) then boarded the flight to Atlanta. When I went to check in for my flight from Atlanta to Paris, they printed my ticket with no problems. Either the system between Delta and Air France didn’t communicate or Tina took care of everything while we were in the air. However, Josh’s bag didn’t make it. 32 hours of travel ... read more