Week 1

I have been here for a week now and I am loving it more each day, if that's possible. I have been in town all week and won't get out to Sainte Luce (where the forest is) until this Friday. I have been busy, though, studiously attempting to familiarise myself with the herpetofauna (that's frogs and snakes etc) of Sainte Luce. There is lots of work to be done for the major upcoming event that is World Environment Day. That's the 8th of June people so start your preparations! It's a busy time here in the ACP department of the office. (ACP = Azafady Conservation Programme).

I have also had a great weekend. On Saturday I went fripping. A fantastic verb (to frip) that means buying second hand clothes from the local market. It is a place of adventure and amazing fashion finds (I'm sure some pictures will be making it up soon). After a morning hunting with Abi, a fellow research assistant, we and our purchases headed for Ancuba beach, one of the larger stretches along Fort Dauphin. Swimming and sunbathing. Bliss. The beach was the site for numerous games of football, so getting to the sea involved a watchful eye and good timing. The water was great and the local surfers put us to shame with their talents. An indulgent late lunch of zebu kebab was just what I needed. A few of us met up again for dinner and a film and a generally chilled evening.

Yesterday I went to Nahampoana reserve with Abe, a short-term English-teaching volunteer. The reserve is a short (but bumpy) taxi journey outside Fort Dauphin on the road to Sainte Luce. A guide, Dauphin, showed us around the reserve where we saw 3 of the 4 species of lemur, frogs, chameleons, tortoises, crocodiles (separated from us by a sturdy fence) and all sorts of plants. It was brilliant. We decided to walk back to town, meeting lots of people on the way and saying "salama" (hello) more times than I thought was possible. After a bit over an hour we reached lanirano, a lake outside town. We stopped for an indulgent late lunch at a fancy lake-side restaurant. After lunch we strolled, significantly slower, back to town. On the way we passed the pioneer's campsite. It has moved since I was here 11 years ago. The old one was completely abandoned. The building had no roof and it was quite sad. A final slog up the hill back home for a rest and reflection on a brilliant day.

Coming up this week: Moving house, paper mache and more preparations for World Environment Day and heading to the forest!