The length of this post is fairly ridiculous

I tried to upload some pictures, but the internet here is far too slow to allow for any success.

30/10/2010 To those of you who’ve been awaiting news from Madagascar, my sincerest apologies for the delay in posts. We’ve been pretty busy lately, and quite frankly, whenever I’ve had down time for the last week or so I’ve had other things I’d rather do than prepare a blog entry. But now here I am, typing away and trying to remember everything I’ve wanted to write about over the last 20 days.

So to start, our ten day trip was fantastic. We made it pretty hitch free to the beach at Ifaty, we only had to get out of the bus and push it out of a sand dune once; our driver, Duda, was outstanding. The place we stayed was called the Bamboo Club, and was just a scattering of bungalows across the shore. The west coast beach of Madagascar is nothing like any other beach I’ve been to. When we arrived at the beach, we all jumped out of the bus and ran off to check out the bungalows, put on our swim suits, and then dashed towards the ocean (a full 50 meters away from the most distant bungalow). Having just spent around 3 hours in a sweltering hot van with 18 other people I was eagerly expecting to dive into a refreshingly cool expanse of ocean water.

I was, however, surprised. By the time I reached the water 4 of our group was already about 25 meters out, thigh-deep in the almost disconcertingly warm ocean. I went out and inquired as to whether it got deeper further out, and was responded by the return of 2 other students who’d already walked another 50 meters out to sea only to find the depth had reached around waste level. We eventually decided to venture away from the shore and see what there was to see. Mostly, we discovered a ton more warm ocean water, but also came across a massive sea slug that took about 8 attempts by 3 different people to actually pick up (because slugs are gross and no one really wants to touch them). It was pretty neat though, and despite my initial surprise the warm water ended up being fantastic in contrast to the cooler temperature of the hotel pool.

That first night, our English TA Hannah enlightened me to the presence of bioluminescent organisms in the water that will light up if you kick the water around. It was incredible being 5 meters out into the ocean, ankle deep in comfortably warm water, with a clear sky and incredible stars overhead, and a kick of your feet bringing to view spots of light in the surrounding water.

The next 3 days were spent at the beach doing beach things and generally having a great time. Day 1 we all went snorkeling along Madagascar’s west coast barrier reef which was great. We had that afternoon free and all dispersed to try out various activities. It was a tough decision; spear fishing, horseback riding, wind surfing, diving for those who had their license, or another trip out to the reef for more snorkeling. I eventually opted for a second round of snorkeling along the reef.

The second day went to learn about the dry forests of the area and about native tortoises that are being hunted and illegally exported. We managed to fit both stops into the morning and were once again given the afternoon free to do with as we pleased.

The third and final day’s activity was a boat ride to a fishing village about 10 km down the shore, but it took about an hour to get there by boat. We spent most of the day there exploring that stretch of the beach, climbing the awesome mangrove trees – honestly the best climbing tress I’ve seen, maybe ever – and general tomfoolery in the water. They cooked fresh fish and lobster for us for lunch, in addition to a huge pot each of rice, stewed veggies, and a bean mush sauce (which was actually pretty good despite that thoroughly unappealing description).

Each day we also had ample down time, to just hang out around the bungalows, swim, and get persistently harassed by the local people who were trying to sell us various souvenirs. It was fairly entertaining if you weren’t the one getting mobbed by 6 women trying to sell you lambas. “Good price! Good Price! Dix mille ariary!” which, it turns out, is absolutely not a good price.

Side note: Franck, one of our TAs is awesome. He’s hilarious, loves Tupac and rice, and just caught a fly off of the wall with his bare hand and crushed it (they’re present in aggravating abundance). Who knew we had a “Malagasy Jedi” as a TA.

After our fourth night at the beach we regretfully packed up and loaded back onto the bus. Aside from a stop to check out a mangrove forest, a stop to try (but fail) to help out another bus that had gotten stuck in the sand dunes (I failed to mention, the roads in Ifaty are mostly just beaten sand paths which may have been paved of some sort at some time), a stop to push our own bus out of a sand dune, and a stop for a roadside picnic lunch of bread, canned meats and veggies, and cheese we spent the whole day traveling back East to Isalo National Park.

We spent 3 nights at our hotel in Isalo. Each day we hiked into the park and learned about the biodiversity and culture, and were generally awestruck by the incredible canyons and massifs. No words are adequate to describe the majesty of Isalo park, but as we rounded a particularly memorable corner and were faced with a view of kilometers of rock formations and flame-resistant trees I was overcome by an urge to just run off and explore the park forever (a bit of a hyperbole, but it was awesome in the most literal definition of the word).

The first day we were taken into two canyons and over a few expanses of desert. The contrast between the desert and the gallery forests (oases) along the streams was astounding. The second day took us over some really incredible rock formations and to a natural pool oasis where we went swimming there (it was so refreshing after hiking over an hour up and down giant granite and sandstone massifs) and had a picnic lunch in the park.

That evening we went to “the window” which is a huge tourist destination, but understandably, because it’s absolutely beautiful. The main attraction there is a natural rock formation that has a hole in rock face which frames the sun as it sets, so we watched the sunset there – though not through the window, there were so many vahaza (Malagasy for “visitors” – as a white person in Madagascar you get used to hearing this word as you pass, especially as you pass children) taking pictures. Instead we all scattered and climbed various rock outcrops to watch - and it was spectacular.

While the window and hikes were incredible, the first two nights in Isalo I found to have been the most memorable of our time there.

The first night – the night we arrived – was unreal. The whole situation was simply absurd. We were standing in the middle of the desert in Madagascar, on the side of The road where there was no artificial light within 500 meters of us. The skies overhead were clear and the stars were unbelievable but kilometers in the distance we could see the lightening and dark foreboding clouds of a thunderstorm blowing in across the desert. The wind was doing its best to blow us over and while it failed on that front, it did manage to blow a massive tumble weed right past us where it got lodged in a roadside shrubbery. Following some investigation I discovered that the branches of tumble weed are entirely covered in thorns and not good to grab with your bare hands in the dark.

The second night the storm arrived. According to Dede, our Malagasy trip coordinator, it rains in Isalo once every three months, – it’s a desert, right – that’s four times a year. The whole evening prior we watched as the clouds rolled in and the sky darkened. There were two storm fronts that seemed to be converging on our hotel, around 6:20 the horizon was obscured by the approaching storm and the skies were periodically ignited with cracks and flashes of lightening. And then the rain began. Within 30 seconds it was literally a torrential downpour. We all darted inside to grab our raincoats and close the windows and then returned to stand in awe of the storm which raged on around us.

A few of us put our rain gear to the test and stood out in the storm, simply loving the experience and fully engrossed in the power of the rain storm as it pelted down all around us and against our rain coats. Thunder and lightning threatened to tear apart the sky with their ferocity, but my favorite part was hearing each fresh torrent of rain before it arrived. The sound of pounding raindrops would suddenly grow louder and we’d look out into the darkness, expecting to see it approaching like a herd of zebu (I don’t know if zebu travel in herds in the wild, but oh well), and a few moments later we’d feel it, the drops would grow larger and fall harder, it was like Zeus had turned up the water pressure.

The truly spectacular thing was the duration of the storm. In temperate Pittsburgh we certainly have our fair share of thunderstorms, but they never last. After half an hour of standing in the rain it was time for dinner, hail had made a presence mingled in with the raindrops, and it didn’t seem likely that the rain would let up any time soon. We headed into the dining room (our rain gear had been mostly successful) and truly appreciated the electricity and roof over head. For at least an hour during dinner we heard the rain pummeling the roof above us, saw lightning flashing out the windows, and heard claps of thunder as the storm raged on. By around 9:00 when we had finished dinner the rain had receded to a persistent drizzle and the previously hard dirt ground had transformed to mud. Storms in the desert are fantastic.

The third night in Isalo was overcast with lightning illuminating the sky with startling frequency, however the rains didn’t return. It was fantastic to watch, and despite several attempts of long exposure photos it was just not something that could be captured on film (by an amateur such as myself, at least).

The final day of our 10 day trip was spent traveling. We stopped back in Fianar for a meal and to briefly use the internet, and then made our way back to Ranomafana and ValBio. It was great to be back at our rainforest home, though the cool air was a bit shocking, as we’d been graced with 80+ degree weather for our entire trip. The contrast between the East and West coast of Madagascar is astounding; the mountain range which runs North-South down the island creates a distinct rainshadow which was fantastically apparent as we traveled across the country.

A few days later we were to start our Independent Projects, so we spent the time winding down from our trip and getting our methods ready and guides sorted out for our research exploits into the forest. That Friday 3 students and one of the TA’s left for Valo, the primary forest where they would be following a group of Propithecus edwardsi (Sifaka lemurs) for their research projects. Two days later 2 of the people who’d been at ValBio researching mouse lemurs headed home (to Finland) and suddenly ValBio seemed very empty.

It was incredibly different from the rest of the time we’ve spent in Ranomafana; in fact it was the first time since we all met at the airport on September 10th that we haven’t all been in the same general vicinity. In addition to our decreased numbers people always seemed to be missing since everyone’s independent work had us on different schedules and in different places around Ranomafana. The general atmosphere and ambiance was certainly different, things were far quieter than I’d ever experienced in ValBio, but it was an enjoyable change of pace.

Another side note: Writing this blog is taking all morning, so I’ll inform y’all of entertaining happenings. Primarily that Tiff (another student here) and I recently decided that y’all is actually an extremely useful contraction, and it’s a shame that it’s not more widely used and is generally looked down upon.

On Tuesday Pat Wright, the founder of Ranomafana National Park and Centre Valbio, arrived. She is fantastic. With her, she brought several copies of a book “Madagascar, The Forest of Our Ancestors” which she, someone named Cryil Girard (who illustrated the text), and photographer Frédéric Larrey just recently completed creating. It’s a really incredible book, and I’m terribly eager to purchase one for myself.

Anyway, 2 nights ago (Friday, the 28th) we had a party at ValBio to celebrate the completion of her book, the news of several large grants coming through for Ranomafana, and a successful reproductive year for the critically endangered Prolemur simus (Greater bamboo lemurs) in Ivato – a nearby and worrisomely fragmented forest. We ate dinner by candle light – though only because the power went out for the beginning of the meal– had a brief intermission whilst everyone present was proved themselves science geeks and crowded around a parasitic worm that had just emerged from a cricket, and then had live music performed by the ValBio chef Solo. I intend to spread his music around when I get home, it’s pretty awesome.

The music eventually changed to Malagasy dance music played from someone’s computer, and we all got up to be sufficiently shown up by the Malagasy’s incredible dancing skills. It was tons of fun. I personally had to be a party-pooper and go to bed early because I had a sunrise transect to do the next morning which required that I wake up at 3 am in order to get to the stream before the sun rose. Ouch.

Yesterday the students who’d been doing their research in Valo returned, they were all tired and pretty disgusting (they hadn’t showered since they left a week prior), but it was great to have everyone back again. Today most of us have the day off from research, and tonight there’s a huge ball/party in town. It’s apparently the yearly big party in Ranomafana and so tonight we’re all getting dressed up in our “smart outfits” as Hannah, our English TA, put it and heading down to town for the ball.

Tomorrow we’re having another party here at ValBio because it’s Halloween (so many parties!). We’re all really excited and have been brainstorming feasible costume ideas for weeks. Pat Wright invited around 70 Malagasy locals to the party, which is fantastic, I’m really eager to see what costume ideas they come up with. Apparently they were fairly baffled by the concept of Halloween, which from an objective perspective is a completely sensible reaction to a holiday which the purpose is to dress up like a fool and give candy to children lest they try and trick you.

Monday is the Day of the Dead, a national holiday in Madagascar, so we’ve got the day off to catch up on data entry and whatever else we may need to do. Come Tuesday we’re to get back to work on our independent research projects. We have another week to collect data, then a week to work out our statistics and prepare the presentations of our results. This week I’m headed out to Valo with 5 other students and will be doing a transect of a different stream out in the primary forest. I’m hoping to see some really cool things while we’re there, in addition to getting some really good data, of course.

On the 15th we leave Ranomafana for the last time, drive 14 hours through and beyond the capital city Antananarivo (where the airport is) for a couple days exploring a national park in Northern Madagascar. The plan is to return to Tana on the 18th, present our research presentations on the 19th, have a day and a half to be Vahaza in the capital city, and the night of the 21st we’re headed back to the airport to catch our flight that leaves at 1am. But I’m not thinking about any of that now. Madagascar’s great. I’m never leaving. . .

2 of 10 days.

10/10/2010. So today is day 2 of our ten day trip across Madagascar. Yesterday we hit the road at 6:30 am, had a brief stop in the nearby town of Fianaratsoa (Fianar) and then continued on towards our first destination. We stopped in a dry (semi-natural) forest to see some ring-tailed lemurs, (scientifically known as lemurcota, but preferably referred to as lemurcutea. Har har.) climb up some giant boulders, see some awesome caves where people used to live, and see some awesome tombs where their bodies still reside.

We made one more stop at a local paper factory where they showed us how Malagasy paper was made and decorated with local flowers. The results of their work were beautiful, and several of our group spent a good amount on souvenirs and gifts for family and friends. From there we drove on to our resting destination, had a great meal at our hotely (restaurant+hotel) and a fun night hanging out after dinner. Most importantly, we had beds. After a month+ of "bed" referring to a 2 inch thick inflatable mattress pad it was like sleeping on a cloud. It seems like we're getting spoiled on this trip.

Today was mostly just a ton of driving. We left early in the morning again, and 8 hours of driving and a few notable sights-seen later we arrived here in Tulear. The air smells of saltwater (among the other smells of a Madagascar city. . .) and sand is strewn about the edges of the streets - we've all be eagerly awaiting the chance to hang out on a beach and swim.

But first sights seen:
-Boabab trees! Awesome; some fun facts - store water in their massive sized trunk; can reach 25 meters tall; 10 meters diameter; have no means of seed dispersal - likely used to be dispersed by now extinct megafauna.
-Dust Devils. Less exciting, still cool.
-Dry spiny forest. Pretty crazy, largely because it was extremely isolated in an otherwise desolate desert landscape.
-Crazy plateau ridge. This was just neat looking.
-Some forest fires. . . Actually not cool. But worth mentioning, I suppose.

So the rest of our trip is spent mostly in 2 locations. Tomorrow we're actually arriving at the beach where we'll be spending 3 days. We've apparently got really nice bungalow's rented for our stay in Ifaty, and lots of opportunity to view and learn about the dry spiny forests of Madagascar. After our stay at the beach, the plan is to (reluctantly) pack up and head back on the road (which we drove on all day today) to our destination in Isalo. We'll be spending 3 days there hiking around the granite outcrops and dry forests.

Day 10 is spent in transit back to Centre ValBio in Ranomafana, and then we're off to the races performing our independent research projects.

This past week blew by as a result of a full schedule and anticipation for this trip. Monday and Tuesday included a hike up to the primary forest - which was incredible- and the rest of the week was spent writing up our research proposals.

There's a group of people studying lemurs, a few people are doing cultural projects, and a few of us are doing transects. My plan is to take some surveys of the riparian zones in the forest, comparing the levels of animal activity during different times of day. But I'm mostly thrilled for the chance to spend so much time in the forest.

Time for dinner here though. Headed to a beach-side restaurant! Veloma!

[A clever title]

3-10-2010: I’ve added dates to these posts since I’m clearly not posting weekly. I’ve taken to European documentation of the date though (day-month-year), it honestly makes so much more sense.

More noteworthy news, however: Class work is done!

Yesterday was our final for the primate ecology class. This week was pretty tough, it was supposed to be a field course, but we only got into the field once, really. That was disappointing, but the material was fairly interesting even though our instructor tried to fit entirely too much into a week long course.

School related things aside – Madagascar is still great. We finally got rained on (in the rainforest, go figure) about 3 days ago, and it’s been raining or patchily overcast since then. I can’t complain though, up until then we’ve had nothing but sunshine since we arrived here (with the exception of the day we arrived). I’m only mildly worried that the rain will be accompanied by the presence of leeches. Yuck.

Last night the staff here threw us a party for the end of the class/a few birthdays that fall around the present date. It was a ton of fun, the cook here is in a band and they played for us during dinner. They made zebu (Madagascar cattle) steak and frites – because we’re American and people have been craving fries – but I got fried zucchini as the vegetarian option (still delicious).

Still more interesting news: Tuesday one of us tried cliff diving. Unintentionally.

So I feel like I should provide some background for this story:

1.The topography here is entirely comprised of hills. People think Pittsburgh is hilly – psshh. The roads are all windy because they curve between (what I consider) mountains, and are therefore frequently are bordered on at least one side by drop offs.

2.The roads often have 50 cm deep ditches/trenches dug for drainage about a meter from the actual road.

3.Monday was the first birthday we had to celebrate here. Though we celebrated mostly celebrated on Tuesday and last night (Saturday).

4.The Gite – a bar/restaurant that’s a bit up the street. They serve food, but we only usually get for drinks, crayfish, and fries.

5.It gets dark at 6:30 here – always. There is no day-light-savings time here, so the sunrise time varies drastically, but the sunset does not.

6.There are no street lights. Except for the headlights that appear when cars come zooming around the windy Malagasy roads.

7.Cars ZOOM. They go so fast, it’s absurd. There are no speed limits, really, and if there are they aren’t enforced.

And Distracted. . . Fun facts about driving in Madagascar:

a. There is pretty much only one road. That we’ve driven on, at least.
b.The road is wide enough for 2 cars, but not much more.
c.The driver is on the right side.
d.If someone is driving slowly, they will get passed.
e.A single-friendly beep is used to signify any intention.
f.Pedestrians are generally not reason a reason to yield.

Well anyway. On Tuesday we had all gone up to The Gite after dinner to celebrate Tim’s entrance into his 20th year of life. Because we had class the next morning, people meandered back to ValBio (maybe 250 meters) in small groups whenever they were ready to leave. Unfortunately, not enough of us had the foresight to bring headlamps/flashlights when we headed up there around 6:00. By the time the second to last group was ready to head back, all of the lights had returned to the research center with other people. It’s not a long walk, so no one was really worried about it – plus, it was dark and cars have headlights – assumedly providing ample notice of their approach and time to get out of the way.

That assumption was correct. When a bus came rushing around the corner the group of people saw it, a general alarm of “car!” was sounded, and people leapt to the side of the road. Unfortunately, the side of the road at that particular point of the walk was around a particularly sharp bend in the road. The ditch that is usually present for drainage was absent in lieu of a 6 meter drop off through some shrubs into a passing creek. However as I said, it was dark and they hadn’t a headlamp.

The student in question saw the car coming and apparently made a superman-style leap into the non-present ditch.

Luckily he caught himself on a tree about 3 meters down and wasn’t injured except for some bruises, scrapes, and scratches. Someone rushed back to ValBio for a headlamp and rope and they pulled him back up to the road. The next day he was able to laugh about it, although he was lamenting the loss of one of his sandals. And now we’re equipped with a plethora of “don’t jump off the cliff” jokes that certainly won’t get old for a while.

Otherwise things have been pretty standard. We’ve got a 2 day hiking trip a primary forest planned for beginning of this week, followed by 4 days to write our research projects proposals and perhaps perform some pilot studies. Another day off and then we’re headed out for a 10 day trip/tour of Madagascar!

Overall stress levels are down and morale is up, the rainforest is beautiful as always and hopefully the sun will rejoin us for our hiking trip tomorrow!

And breathe.

18-9-2010: It’s been just over a week since our group of 13 (including the Resident Coordinator) departed from the airport in New York, but as these things go, it feels like it’s been a month at least. We’re all pretty well situated, finally sleeping through the night, and between the lectures and seemingly endless readings I’ve been ceaselessly enjoying the abundance of wildlife that surrounds us, of course.

It’s crazy that we’ve only been at ValBio for a week. Our campsite is about a 200 meters from the research station, and requires our ascent up a massive hill, but it already seems like home and I’ve yet to lose any fascination with the passing forest each time I make the climb.

Our classes are interesting. Some more than others, inevitably, but all ecology or research related. It took a while to get used to the Malagasy accent, but I caught on quickly as nearly all of the lectures thus far have been taught by the Malagasy researchers here. The days are packed, breakfast starts at 6:30, class from 9-11:30 and 1-4. But we’re on Malagasy time, which is to say that those numbers are actually irrelevant. Class is split between lectures and field work – the latter obviously is the preferred aspect of the course as it hardly seems like work romping through the woods observing and learning about the wildlife.

Outside of the time we spend in class we’re kept busy with an endless supply of readings that, although tedious, are generally interesting and very informative. We’ve been receiving crash courses on how to efficiently read scientific articles, how to write our own, (as a written report is the final requirement of our Independent Research project), Malagasy culture, and some brief lessons on the language.

The first course on Biodiversity and Field Research Methods is already approaching an end – our final is next week – and then we plunge right on into the next class, Primate Ecology.

Our two TA’s are great, one is a native Malagasy and the other from England. The accents delight me, not to mention the personalities that accompany them (they’re certainly each unique characters). Our resident coordinator started out on a bit of a power-trip which made for some bitter feelings, but things have cooled down and now here we are; eager to enjoy our first day off in Ranomafana. The plan is to head into town – about a 6 km walk downhill – spend the day there checking out the town, using the internet (posting this), and hopefully relaxing in the pool (filled with natural hot spring water).


Well shucks. It’s a week later. Whoops.


9-29-2010: Turns out the computers in town can’t read files in .docx format. So as it goes, I got there, was thoroughly intimidated by the French keyboard and an entire blog post to write from scratch, and decided not to post.

And now it’s Wednesday night. And we just concluded the first course of this program today. We’ll see how the exam went, but I’m having a great time in general. Spirits seem to be up, especially with the end of the first course and a prospective night of fun and not reading/studying ahead of us. Right after the exam a group of us headed down to the nearby village (about a 10 minute walk) to buy some peanuts from the locals. 3,800 ariary later (exchange rate is 2,000 ariary to 1.00 USD, so approximately $1.85) we were headed back to ValBio with a half full garbage bag of local edible legumes.

But let’s back track.

Sunday was just what we needed. No one accomplished any work, but we all thoroughly enjoyed exploring town, a few of us went into the pool which was fun, but crazy crowded. I also got real sugar cane for the first time; delicious, but easy to get sick of.

This week through today was quite eventful. Stress was progressively building as the course final approached and we all realized that we weren’t going to complete all the readings. Monday was a full day of lectures, but that evening the first travel illness hit. It was like an epidemic. One by one kids started falling ill. 4 by the time we were headed to bed, a 5th in the middle of the night. The next morning we were 8 healthy, 6 ill, and one more on his way down. By lunch the health ration was 1:1, with two feeling distinctly under the weather. Luckily people only got better from that point on, and my vitamins did their job – I didn’t feel anything but paranoia most of the day.

So now we’re just relaxing for an evening. The cooks made “pizza” tonight, it was delicious, though not quite the pizza as you’d expect in the states. All the food here is delicious though. There’s a lot of rice, inevitably, but luckily I love rice. We get a three course meal 2 times a day, plus a giant breakfast. Noms Now we’re watching Madagascar (appropriate – right?) to de-stress before course two begins.

Tomorrow starts course #2 – Primate Ecology. We’re all trying not to preemptively worry about it, as it’s taught by our very sarcastic, resident coordinator, and we have about a textbook sized stack of scientific articles to read in the next week (at least 250 double-sided sheets from the campus computing labs), joy.

Overall things are great though. It’s only rained once so far, and everyone’s getting along really well. We’ve seen a ton of chameleons, some frogs, and few bats, lots of spiders and other bugs, about a gazillion moths, and of course a variety of lemurs. I’ve taken to walking around the campsite looking for anything interesting before bed, it’s wonderfully serene, the stars are incredible when it’s clear, though the nearly full moon has limited the star gazing since we arrived.

I’m planning on going for a hike to the primary rainforest on our day off this weekend instead of heading into town (where the internet is) so I’m sending this with a friend to get posted; hopefully the internet works out – it’s quite unpredictable and incredibly slow. Everything’s lush and green here, but I certainly do miss the colors of autumn. I just hope it’s not getting too cold up there in the Northern hemisphere – we’re just entering the equivalent of summer here.

And now to depart with some Malagasy vocabulary: Veloma vazaha be!! Mandrampihaona!