Chasing Winter

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Madagascar Week 3

Sunday June 25, 2006 - Needless to say I didn't get much sleep with the music pumping, but got up and headed down to the beach to take in some sun. Was relatively unimpressed with this place, as it's supposed to be so popular yet wasn't that attractive. We saw Darren and Emily again before they left and agreed to try to meet up in Tana later in the week. The weather was warm but not too warm and the tide was so far out that I didn't even swim. I did discover that the sunscreen I had purchased in South Africa and that I was only now needing was less than satisfactory in that it was incredibly thick and hard to spread. Afterwards I went back to the hotel to take a cold shower before it got cold outside only to find that the water didn't work until after 5pm, so they got me some water from somewhere and I did another cold bucket shower. Even stranger was that I could see out the window the whole time and was busy looking to see if anyone was looking in. So strange. Had some dinner there and just made it back to the room before the terrible live band started, but don't worry - I could hear them without difficulty from my bed. All night long.

Monday - Today was Madagascar's independence day and made even more fun by cold and rain. It was not a beach day but rather a wear your fleece and feel sorry for yourself kind of day. Cold beach days? What is this? Read a lot and that was about it. Oh, and had several sneezing fits to fill in the gaps. I did have the honor of attracting the unwanted attention of a sleazy guy who spoke little English and was always around. Pleasure.

Tuesday - Woke up to a clear but cold morning. Started out doing some laundry in freezing cold water with numbing hands. Decided it would definately be a beach day no matter what the weather. Was going to have breakfast but there wasn't really any food to speak of in the restaurant as the holiday the day before prevented people from planning. Headed off to the beach where we spent several hours in the sun but cold due to the ongoing wind. It was a nightmare whenever the sun went behind a cloud. But I got my beach day - and sand everywhere. Finally got some food at dinnertime - some calamari in garlic. Made it an early night.

Wednesday - Got up early at 5:30am to wait for a taxi back to Toliara. It was freezing out and once the sun came up we got a ride in an open air taxi where we spent the next two hours freezing our butts off. Unbelievable. In Toliara Marina checked into a hotel, and as I would be leaving that day, I just threw my things in her room in the meantime. I walked down to the bus station to pay for my seat later that day and confirm that I had a seat up front near the driver by the window. Checked email and then had some lunch before going back to her room to collect my things and say good-bye. Walked back to the taxi-brusse station and waited for my ride to begin, which although fully packed didn't leave on time. I had to use the bathroom and had a guy lead me to a place where it was possible but unpleasant. Started the ride around 4pm and wouldn't arrive in Tana until after 10am. Made for an interesting night. We stopped in Ilakaka, the sapphire town, for dinner. I went in to the restaurant and found a French guy from Ifaty. He wanted to leave but was worried about me being alone in this scary town at night. I let him go after I showed him my taxi drivers and the rest of the taxi was in there. I made an avocado sandwich and had a piece of cake and then we were on our way again after another scary bathroom stop. There was plenty of music and I listened to everyone signing in the back, especially the kids. Then the English music came on at 11:30pm and I busted out with all I had. They played Lional Richie, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses, Aerosmith...it was an embarrassment of riches. I sang at least until 2am. Then I felt sick. By 2:30am I was not so discreetly throwing up into my breakfast sandwich bag. This I needed to put in another bag as it started - you guessed it - to leak onto my pants. Lovely. I'm a lucky girl. I spend the rest of the ride trying not to move or think about being sick. Definately didn't sing.

Thursday - Once we got to Tana I got a cab and on the way back to my hotel discovered that my shampoo was leaking in my pack. Even better. Once settled I cleaned myself up, then my pack. Spent some time in the internet cafe and then met up with Darren and Emily in the evening for an hour. It was nice to catch up again. On the walk back to the hotel I managed to see a unk of meat strapped to the back or a motorbike and then went and got myself some Chinese food. Needed an extra blanket at night for the cold but took a super hot shower to warm myself up beforehand.

Friday - Today I got up early and ran some errands as I would be leaving for Andasibe, my last national park in Madagascar. When I got back to the hotel Marina was already there. I wasn't sure if I would see her again, but we got about 10 min before I had to get going. Took a cab to the taxi-brusse station and got in a taxi to Moramang where I had to get a second one to Andasibe. Stayed at a nice place Marine recommended which was more expensive but I had my own little chateau kind of set-up, though not my own bath. Had some dinner and a nice long hot shower to try to warm up. Spent the evening reading my book and staying warm under the covers from both beds. It rained all night.

Saturday - Woke up early and had to walk 1.5 km in the rain to get to the reserve, so was completely drenched when I got there. The reason I went to this particular park was to see the Indri, the largest lemur left in Madagscar that also has the distinction of making a very whale like call. Very eery and I was excited to finnaly hear it. Once I arranged for a guide, named Hermann, he told me that we would probably not hear them calling since it was raining. That put me in a terrible mood right off. He said that there are two Indri families in the area, but that family 1 hadn't been found for a couple of days so we would go to family 2. We found them pretty easily around 8am and they were still asleep. Laziest lemurs ever. Another group came by and since they were still sleeping, we went off in search of other things and planned to come back to see them later. We managed to find a huge bright green chameleon, which in retrospect wasn't that hard as it doesn't move very far and is usually in the same general location every day. But it was beautiful. And finally not raining, so I was able to get a photo. We also saw 4 sleeping wooly lemurs, and a family of brown lemurs that we watched for some time. While we were watching I noticed that my pants were taking on a lovely blood-red hue and remembered about leeches. Tucked my pants into my socks but it was too late. I had three leech bites/marks by the end, though I never saw the actaul leeches responsible. I did however find several others on me at different points that day that hadn't yet attached. After the brown lemurs we went back to watch the indris who has woken up by then. One of the nearby groups had a guide that played a tape of indris calling. They call in order to define and protect their territory, so this got a response - a few of the indris did call and it was a crazy sound to hear. I felt bad that they were tricked into it, but it was still quite cool to hear it live. Very much like whale song. It was a family of five and two of them called. After a while we headed out and took the long way back. And thankfully - we ended up finding the other Indri family of four accidentally - and no one else was around. I even got some photos. And as I was taking these photos, they came in closer! Three of the four followed each other in a line, bounding at me through the trees so that at one point I could have literally touched them! I was even a bit nervous to be so close, but wow. And they look like huge black and white teddy bears! It was really the best part of my whole time in Madagascar. Wow.

After I finished I had to hike it back to the hotel, collect my gear, and stand on the road in the rain waiting for taxi-brusse to pick me up. About 15 minutes later I got one. Everyone looked at the sopping wet white girl and seemed surprised and thought it was so funny. But since I don't speak French I'm only guessing. Got the ride back to Moramang where I had to wait about 45 mins for another taxi-brusse while the driver ate lunch. People even started asking me what was wrong with my leg - they were looking at the bloody leech marks on my pants - but I didn't know how to explain. Made it back to Tana where I had some dinner and got to bed.

Sunday - Got up early today - it's the Madagascar way - and made my way to Shop-Rite, where I bought some snacks for the journey to Egypt as well as a basket/purse to carry them in. Wandered around looking for souveneirs with no luck and ended up checking email for a bit and spending some time eating lunch and planning in the Hotel Colbert, the wonderful luxury hotel where Darren and Emily stayed. Eventually made it back to the hotel, got some dinner, and came back to find Kuba was staying in the bed next to mine. I knew he should be there that day but it was a such a treat to see him and catch up. He told me all about his crazy two weeks and how he got so sick in the middle of nowhere and had to be tested for malaria, which he didn't have. I repacked my bag as we chatted and then we talked to some volunteers in the room before calling it a night around 11pm.

Monday - Woke up early and showered before Kuba and I wandered around the town looking for pastries. Walked all over but needed Shop-Rite, and they didn't open until 8:30am. Killed some time, got the food, and then walked back to the hotel in a frenzy as I was planning to leave for the airport at 9am. We unfortunately had three children beggars who followed us all the way back, including where we got lost trying to get away from them. It was awful. I got back to the hotel, got everything together, and we ran downstairs where he got me a cab (Kuba speaks French) and I said good-bye to him as the beggar kids kept begging. Awful. Took a crazy ride to the airport where I then bought a few things with my leftover money and got on the plane to Cairo via Nairobi.

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Comments

[steve s]

madagascar
Jen, I'm glad you got to see the Indris up close, but the rest of your time in Mad. sounded so rough that I will scratch it from my future travel plans. You certainly have grown strong, and sarcastic, along the way. I admire your courage and tenacity. I have been surprised by how cold it was there and in Africa. By the way, it was 107 F. in Eugene, Or. yesterday, but a delightful 70 F. at the gorgeous coast. I'm glad I'm here for now.