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Background: Formerly an independent kingdom, Madagascar became a French colony in 1896, but regained its independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held, ending 17 years of single-party rule. In 1997, in the second presidential race, Didier RATSIRAKA, the leader during the 1970s and 1980s, was returned to the presidency. The 2001 presidential election was contested between the followers of Didier RATSIRAKA and Marc RAVALOMANANA, nearly causing secession of half of the country. In April 2002, the High Constitutional Court announced RAVALOMANANA the winner.

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By mrayner
May 30th 2008

Week 4 - The Fellowship is Broken Africa » Madagascar

Me Diving

April 23 - 29 Well, this week would be great and sad all at the same time. First off, the weather started to go sideways a bit. Strong winds for three consecutive days caused dives to be cancelled, and then whole extra days off because the viz was so poor. Not great - only so many days to pass my fish test, and time was running out. Also this week there was an exorcism in the village. It seems that a young woman was possessed by an ancestor (she was speaking in tongues, including English, although she didn’t speak English [View Full Entry]

By mrayner
May 30th 2008

Week Five - Science, science and more science Africa » Madagascar

Another Sunset
Really, they never got boring ...

April 30 - May 7 Well, not too much in highlights for this week. The weather got better at the start of the week, and I quickly passed my fish test and got on to do the science that I had come to do. Fish belts, fish belts and more fish belts. It was great - if a little tiring. I didn't feel much like reaching out to people, and I was sick again - not as badly, but felt weak for most of the week. As well, more sadness. Howard left near the end of the week. He's off [View Full Entry]

By mrayner
May 30th 2008

Week 6 - Wrap up and Camion Hell Africa » Madagascar

The Last Sunset

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 [View Full Entry]

By GScharffenberger
May 29th 2008

Day 1 Africa » Madagascar » Antananarivo

Tuesday I went to sleep in a plane after leaving DC. I woke up in Paris seven hours later. Last night I went to bed in Antananarivo, Madagascar. After 22 hours of travel, I am finally home. It's a very weird feeling, being away from a place for so long but still feeling that it is home. I only lived here for four years of my life, but those four years were very crucial to my socialization and development. I have been told by many people that Madagascar has changed a lot over the past 11 years, but after taking a [View Full Entry]

By briancharn
May 29th 2008

Dats 28-30 Africa » Madagascar » Antananarivo

Day 28, Monday, May 26, 2008 The original plan today was for me to go to the university to visit the veterinary school and then for all of us to go to a Rotary meeting in the evening. We waited around until 11:30 before we finally found out that everything was cancelled and again we had nothing to do today. Kris wasn't feeling well so she stayed at Rontu's, Josh went to visit a local Rotarian who propagates plants and Stu and I took a cab downtown. Stu went to lunch with Rontu and I just wandered. I was told that [View Full Entry]

By briancharn
May 26th 2008

Days 25 - 27 Africa » Madagascar » Antananarivo

Day 25, Friday, May 23, 2008 We were supposed to go to ANGAP (the Madagascar version of the National Park Service) today but the President of Rotary International is in town so our vocational day was once again postponed. We were supposed to go to his reception that evening, but otherwise nothing was scheduled. So once again we were on our own in Ivato. We found that the TV gets BBC world news from 8-10 in the morning so we've been starting our days that way and today was no exception. The dinners and lunches seem to have ended once we [View Full Entry]

By mrayner
May 24th 2008

Andava - Acclimitization Africa » Madagascar

The Camp, Coco Beach and the Village
You can see the village on the left, with the vol huts on the point further right, and Coco Beach on the far right.

April 3 - April 8: Week One The Facilities Well, I woke up with the sunrise the first day, and man, what a gorgeous place! Just steps from our hut there is small cliff, with steps leading down to a fine, yellow sand beach - Half-Moon Bay. It's pretty much a private beach, just for the vols, and the swimming there at high tide is fantastic. The water is warm, but not too warm - 27 degrees, which would drop to 24 degrees by the end of the expedition (which, by the way, is number 37!!). The way the BV [View Full Entry]

By briancharn
May 23rd 2008

Days 22 - 24 Africa » Madagascar » Antananarivo

Day 24 - Downtown market

Day 22, Tuesday, May 20, 2008 During our first three weeks in Madagascar we have suffered a series of illnesses including traveler's gastrointestinal upset, a severe allergic reaction to bug spray and Liliane has had problems with anemia and low blood pressure. So this morning we had an appointment to see an English speaking doctor that was recommended by the embassy. The appointment was at 11AM and Phillipe picked us up at 10:30, but due to traffic, we were late. Liliane is staying in Tana with her parents so she was able to make the appointment and then returned home. The [View Full Entry]

By briancharn
May 21st 2008

Josh - Road to Toamasina Africa » Madagascar » Antananarivo

Road to Toamasina We left the capital city Antanarivo (Tana) fairly early in a nine passenger van and headed out to gather the troops for the District Rotary Conference in Tomasina (called Tamatave by the French but Tomasina by the Malagasy). No exaggeration, it took an hour and a half just to pick up the four Rotarians we were traveling with and get to the outskirts of Tana. Tana is located in the highlands plateau of Madagascar at about 4000 feet elevation and Tomasina is Madagascar’s major port located on the East coast. The first few hours drive away from Tana [View Full Entry]

By mrayner
May 21st 2008

The Fellowship of the Little Red Van Africa » Madagascar » Antananarivo

Sunset in Isalo National Park

March 30 to April 1 So, Kat, Ralf and I were up at 5.30 getting ready for the transport, which was supposed to be arriving at 6.00 am. Also at the guesthouse was Al, the brand new, just out of the box, dive manager for the expedition. It was quite funny - we were asking Al questions about Andava and his response was "I don't know, I just got here. Please, let me wake up!" or something to that effect. And, like everything Al says or does, it is much more patient and pleasent in person (the new open water [View Full Entry]

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