Home again

For those to whom it escaped notice, I am back at home. I will write a little more about my travels, including the little holiday I took, going the long way to the airport (2 weeks). Thanks to all those who read this while I was away!

Christmas

Christmas was a very welcome break after a hectic scheme. It started well, with lots of hanging out on the beach with Tahina. Then I was struck down with a super high fever. I did a malaria test and thankfully it was negative. It took a couple of days to recover from that, but I wasn't well for all of the rest of the Christmas break. That put a bit of a spanner in the works for some of my plans, but we still had fun. A few of us went to Ambinanibe for the day. This is a village with a cool beach that is good for surfing, just a short taxi ride south of Fort Dauphin. We took some food and bought some fish to cook while we were there.

I also went to Andohahela for the day. This is a few hours drive west of Fort Dauphin and is a park with transitional forest (lots of spiny forest influence, cactus and succulents etc). There was a beautiful river valley (although very dry) and some fantastic pools to swim in. The road was very bumpy but it was a good day.




For the actual Christmas day festivities we went to Sarah B and Rachel's house. We all pitched in with the cooking and the preparations for an amazing feast. Roast potatoes, mango stuffing, BBQd zebu fillet, veg in bechemel sauce, trifle... It was amazing. Washed down with a very rare glass of red wine. It was perfect. We started in the morning and stayed there all day. After all the food we went to sit on the roof to watch the sunset.

It was back to Rachel's for New year. This time it was a smaller gathering. Myself and Tahina, Jojo and Mampy, Dan (Pioneer coordinator) and Rachel. Amazing food yet again. Another rare treat, vegetable lasagna! Containing some (still slightly crunchy) aubergine and courgettes, beans and topped with zebu cheese. Made in a giant saucepan it was nearly a foot deep. Amazing. We ate it all and then had to go and lie down on the floor for a while to digest as we waited for midnight to come round.



Christmas went by all to quickly. It was slightly dampened by my being a bit ill for most of it. But Tahina looked after me and I was surrounded by lovely people in this beautiful place. Not a bad Christmas!

11th November

This was the week we said goodbye to nearly all the volunteers. They left on Wednesday, piled into a 4x4. Only Dan was left. Nessa went back as well because she had been sick for ages. And Hoby left for some days off. it was very quiet in camp. In the conservation club in the afternoon Paula came to speak about Stitch Sainte Luce. Paula is an amazing woman who helps Sarah Brown run the project. By the end of the class everyone wanted to be able to embroider.

Thursday was officially Dan Day. As our only volunteer for a day we let him decide what he wanted to do. So in the morning we just hung out at camp and then he went for a walk with his camera. We worked in the afternoon and in the evening we did a herp sweep where we found 114 individuals!

On Friday morning I stumbled out of my tent and headed for the long drop. Bleary-eyed I got as far as putting one foot in before my brain clicked something was wrong. There was a tree boa streched accross the sanplat! It was the first sighting of what would turn out to be a resident in camp. After lunch Nessa came back with 2 new volunteers. They were lovely. Craig and Vanda, a couple from the UK. They arrived as me and Dan were colouring in our props for Saturday's Conservation Club.

"Endangered Animals of the World" went down a storm with the kids. Followed by a good English class and a fun night walk in the evening. Sunday at the beach where I sat in the sea with Sarah Brown for ages and then got a lovely call from my parents! Inh the afternoon I cut Dan's hair. He is very brave...

Monday came round and it was S7 week again! It was a good week and it didn't rain. I think that may have been a first. We did the usual lemur transects and herp sweeps and also some Phelsuma behaviour. Phelsuma antanosy are the critically endangered day gecko found in S7. The first one we studied fell in love with Craig.

We came back to base camp on Friday and spent the afternoon making our planets to teach the kids about the solar system. It's funny, sometimes, making these classes, especially when we are in S7 and we have no books and have to rely on our knowledge. I think we did quite well. We made a space ship and everything! It was a great lesson. Lots of fun. In the evening we went out to the bar in Sainte Luce, the first time I'd ever been.

On Sunday we went to S17 and has a long hike through the forest. We saw some lemurs and a Uroplatus during the day (which is always amazing). Then we walked up the long beach and had a quick swim before heading back home for a late lunch and a nap.

A couple more days of work and we headed back to Fort Dauphin. All the ACP gang went out for a lovely meal. It was goodbye to Dan and Craig and Vanda. A sad day.


For the last 2 weeks of scheme we were joined by the Pioneers who were a lovely bunch, as well as 2 new volunteers, Kelsey and Sindre. I was able to put up my advent calendar that Abi sent me (the chocolate contents long-gone, of course) and it almost felt festive, along with some carols. It felt good having camp full of people and we had a great time.