Week 6 - Wrap up and Camion Hell

---

May 8 - 15

Well, the rest of this week (or rather, the last four days as we left BV on the 12th) was also science. Dives during the day, and data entry on the computer at night. And we got everything we needed to do for the expedition done, with a day to spare!

I was feeling better for most of this week, but then, on the last day of diving, I was ill again. I dove, but upchucked at the end. Ick. It was a shame too - the dive was fantastic, at a site that doesn't get dove usually because it's too fragile. Well, a bittersweet ending to the diving, but the job got done, and that's the main thing.

The other highlight this week was the "Condom Play." As part of Becks educating the village, she and Taylor (the Malagasy scholarship student) wrote a short play about why you need to wear condoms to prevent STDs. It incorporated me, playing the ever popular syphillis ("farasisa" in Malagasy), Al, playing the gonorhhea crab, and Tori playing the AIDS shark ("SISA" in French). It was a great success. Not sure how much of the intended message got out, but the villagers had a hoot watching us!

Also did the one and only night dive there this week. We need to finish the dive just before dawn (in case an evacuation is needed) so we were up at 3.45 am to do it. But it was peaceful, as all night dives are, and Jon's camera lights attracted a huge school of fusiliers, small silvery fish, that decided that the lights meant they had to jump up and hit us in the face, mask, BCD, everywhere. It was very, very cool.

Things that I miss from BV:
- the sunsets
- the sunrises
- the sound of the waves feet from my bed
- swimming
- relaxing in the sun
- diving
- the ecolodge beach (a little ways away from the village - just gorgeous)

All in all, I can't say how much I enjoyed the experience. I need to absorb it still, but that will have to wait until I get back home, I think.

The rest of the trip, well, was hell. We waited for the camion to arrive all day on the 12th, and it finally did around 4.00. With tearful fairwells, we left just as the sun was setting. In a drive which should take 2 hours, but took us 5 due to getting stuck in the sand, we made it to Morombe. There, we stayed the night and then left at 9.00 the next morning for a 15 hour trip down to Tulear. The pics have already been up, and I don't want to relive it again, but I've had better rides.

The following four days in Tulear were sad too. Saying goodbye to everyone one by one as they left, and then leaving myself to go to Tana. Far too sad. Saying goodbye to too many people on this voyage of mine.

But, Tana was fine and Tulear was good (vegetables, vegetables, vegetables, and lots of cheese). A quick hop to Joburg and then another flight to Cape Town. And my Madagascar adventure was over, with the African one to begin.

---