Thursday 27th December Tana Airport 13:06 (UK), 16:06 (Madagascar) In approximately 54 minutes I will be heading down the runway and leaving this Fair Isle. A month has passed very quickly and I feel I have done a lot, seen a lot, learnt a lot, and changed a bit. You know, I think I have managed to slow down. Just a little bit, but I am fine with dead time now. There has to be some time in which nothing particular happens and in which you have time to be with your thoughts and yourself. I have never previously been content [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sunday 23rd December La Refuge, Tulear 15:32 (UK), 18:32 (Madagascar) Taxi brousse versus 4x4?! Taxi brousse!! Some people may not relish the idea of a 16 - 24 hour ride in an oversized school bus, and to be honest I wasn’t particularly liking the thought, but after going through 4 x 4 ride to Andavadoaka from Tulear (7.5hrs) and then back (via a pirogue ride to Morombe (6 hours) and a 12 hour wait in Morombe) by taxi brousse (16 hours) I conclude that taxi brousses are the best. These long journeys are what travelling should be about. Yes, it took [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sunday 23rd December La Refuge, Tulear 14:34 (UK), 17:34 (Madagascar) I am going to write two entries today - one on my reflections of site and one on the most exciting 36 hour journey to Tulear from Andavadoaka. I am back in that town again - the town that some how sucks you and prevents you from leaving - but this time I have a flight to catch to Morondava, midway down the West coast - so this time only 38 hours here - Yay! My time on site has gone so quickly. It has been great to finally get to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Thursday 13th December 2007 Coco Beach, Andavadoaka 18:52 (UK), 21:52 (Madagascar) Firstly, I'd like to say hi to Fiona's dad if he is reading this. Thanks for listening in! Now for the update: After feeling like death for 2 days and having half a day completely in bed, with toilet dashes, I am better and feeling fantastic for it. Everything is great now. Once your world has been rendered insignificant due to some raging bacterial battle going on somewhere between your oesophagus and lower ileum, when it final appears again it looks amazing. I thought a walk would kill me [View Full Entry]

---

---

Wednesday 12th December 2007 Andavadoaka 06:47 (UK) / 09:47 (Madagascar) Blue Ventures Research site Finally I have arrived and I feel awful. I think I must have picked up something up in Tulear and for the first time in all the travels I have done I have a traveller’s belly; nausea, fever with hot and cold, exhaustion and becoming friendly with the toilet that type of thing. So last night I gave in and succumbed to the antibiotics - then commenced an all night battle in my stomach, which was fun. I can’t wait to feel better and to enjoy eating [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tuesday 18th December Coco Beach, Andavadoaka 18:26 (UK), 18:26 (Madagascar) Tonight was a really fantastic night at the BV camp. It is the penultimate night for the volunteers here in Andavadoaka and to see them all off the women’s association of Andavadoaka came to give us a farewell. There were at least 20 women there. It has been the first time that I have seen so many women of the village together. Normally it is the men that BV interacts with - fishermen etc. They sang and danced for us, spoke to us and then gave us a cake (with icing [View Full Entry]

---

---

Monday 17th December Coco Beach, Andavadoaka 16:09 (UK), 19:09 (Madagascar) I really should change the clock on my computer but I quite like being reminded that I am 3 hours in front of all you UK people. So when I get up at 6am I know you are all safely wrapped up in bed, probably in 2 duvets now it us getter close to mid winter - the winter solstice nears - and I go off for an early morning snorkel in water no colder then 25ºC. Not that I am being too smug. And now I am winding down before [View Full Entry]

---

---

Numero huit Saturday 8th December 2007 Tulear - Chez Lala - still! 13:53 (UK) / 16:53 (Madagascar) A week has passed and I am still in Chez Lala. It has gone quite quickly really and I have had done a lot whilst here; meetings with ADES, with the IHSM, with BVCO past site coordinator, writing a new project proposal for the Morondava project, collecting money, spending money, trying to get some form of exercise, walking a lot, dodging lecherous men, arranging for transport, eating lychees, thinking about lychees and life (interchangeable really). On a side lecherous men note, I have d [View Full Entry]

---

---

Numero sept Thursday 6h December 2007 Tulear - Chez Lala - still! 17:00 (UK) / 20:00 (Madagascar) I thought today I would write about my reflections on Tulear. I have spent nearly a week here now and a lot of things have changed from 4 years ago. A lot of things still remain the same: 1. Walking in the street - I had completely forgotten about this but here it is so difficult to just walk down the street. It was the same before. As you walk along ‘Pus pus’ drivers come out of nowhere, people on bike hurtle towards you, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Numero 6 Wednesday 5th December 2007 Tulear - Chez Lala 17:43 (UK) / 20:43 (Madagascar) Today has been a computer intense day; 8am until now (with Lychee breaks). Working in this heat my brain is feeling too exhausted to write much, my eyes feel slightly crossed - I hope they’re not. But anyways I thought I’d write about lychees today; I like them a lot and I’ve been thinking about them a bit- not the most commonly thought about fruit I bet, so I thought I’d give them a thought or two. I like lychees - now possibly more than grapes, [View Full Entry]

---

---