Mora, Mora

While bobbing up and down in the Indian Ocean at midnight this past Thursday, I decided that I can’t actually imagine a better place to study and explore than Madagascar. My experience here has been absolutely incredible, and my group’s 5 day excursion this past week just further convinced me that I made the right decision in packing my bags and heading to the absolute furthest point away from my home in California.

Our excursion began on Tuesday with a 5 hour drive to a small town called Moramonga, where we had a yummy lunch at a restaurant called “Coq d’Or” (if you speak French, you understand why I snicker) followed by a visit to the Musee de la Grendarmerie, where we saw lots of cannons and random confiscated objects including strange love potions deemed dangerous by the police and a picture of a man who weighed 900 pounds. Following Moramonga, we were supposed to head to Andasibe National Park, but a recent cyclone caused the park to temporarily close and we were forced to modify our schedule and head straight to the coastal town of Vatomandry, a further 4 hours of driving. Suffice it to say, I felt car sick for one of the very few times in all my life as we wound our way up and down steep mountain roads to reach our destination, which wasn’t helped by my overeager classmates love of ludicrous riddles with impossibly difficult and implausible answers.

 When we finally reached Vatomandry, our first introduction was a stunning view of the Indian Ocean. Our giant Vazsha Van (“van of foreign white people”) literally drove us onto the beach where we piled out and discovered that we would be staying in bungalows that were literally on the sand. The massive beach was almost completely deserted except for a few locals fishing, and we were all out of our minds with excitement about spending 3 days hanging out and having class in such as incredible location.

Vatomandry is stunningly beautiful, but also so humid at times it feels like there is no air. This, coupled with the distraction of the beach, made it difficult to want to have lessons, but anticipating this, our lovely SIT staff scheduled times for observation and exploration instead of our usual lectures and discussions. We were able to visit the market and buy various trinkets, and also spend a lot of time relaxing and reading in the sun. One of the best parts about Vatomandry from a tourist perspective is that it truly has that feeling of being undiscovered. Until a year or two ago, the roads from Tana to that part of the coast were almost impassible, and therefore little to no tourist infrastructure, especially for international visitors, exists. This is great if you enjoy beach spots that aren’t packed with people (in this case any people), but it is also hard on the local people who want to encourage visitors to take an interest in the region and contribute to their seemingly stagnant economy. Our group paid a visit to the mayor’s office, and the official we spoke with encouraged us to spread the word about Vatomandry and share our experience with others who may want to visit. So here it is, if you ever come to Madagascar, add Vatomandry to your list!

On Friday morning, we all packed our bags again and hopped in the Vazsha Van to head to the now open Andasibe National Park. Because of the restructuring of our itinerary, we were actually lucky enough to arrive in Andasibe Village in time to explore the surrounding area and go for a hike before our official tour of the park on Saturday. Andasibe is at a fairly high elevation, and we all felt relief from the intense sun and actually felt a bit cold for the first time since arriving in Madagascar. We stayed right in the heart of the village, which allowed us to interact a bit more with the local people who live adjacent to the park. Emma, Cassandra, and I met a group of about 20 children who essentially mobbed us after we watched their soccer game demanding to know who we were, where we came from, and if we had cell phone numbers to give them. They were very rambunctious and fun to talk to, and it was one of those times that I wish my Malagasy extended beyond the ability to say “hello, how many teeth does your cat have?”

After exploring the village area, our program director Rolland hired two guides to lead us on a night walk though the public part of the park. Using headlight lamps and our skills of stealth, we spotted a few mouse lemurs high up in the trees jumping around. Out of the 23 lemur species in the park, only 6 are active during the daytime so we were all happy that we got to see some of the other varieties and learn a bit about them.

The next morning, we left bright and early to go on a 3 hour lemur trek through the protected part of the rainforest where our wonderful guides led us off the path and deep into the jungle to locate the Indiri lemur, the largest lemur in existence, sleeping in trees. I spent at least part of the trek sliding down muddy hills in my sneakers because my feet were so covered in mosquito bites that I couldn’t handle my hiking shoes. Nevertheless, my then dirt covered butt was worth it to see the lemurs in their natural habitat, calling out to each other in an eerie tone that carries several hundred feet into the jungle. It was probably the first time that I can recall being in an actual rainforest, and it was really incredible, giant spiders and all.

The only minor glitch this past week besides excessive utilization of my feet by mosquitoes as a buffet, was the announcement by ex-president Ravalomanana, currently in exile in South Africa, that he was planning on returning to Antananarivo on Saturday. As my pacifist director put it, that would be “disruptive”. Rolland, by the way, would also most likely refer to his pants as being on fire as “disruptive”. For those who don’t know, the ex-president was ousted in 2009 for excessive corruption and was replaced by the current president, DJ Andry (the young president was formerly a DJ in Tana before becoming mayor and then president). There is a large divide in opinion over who has the right to rule, both here and internationally. However, my host father informed me upon my return to Tana that the South African government denied Ravolomanana access to the airport and prevented his return, which for now has left all calm here in the city. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that things stay calm, even though I must say it is fascinating to see political upheaval in action!

This next week our group will once again be stationed in Tana, before we head out on our 2 week stay in a rural village in the highlands. I wish everyone luck at home and abroad, and will keep updating! Check facebook for photos if you are interested!