Visit from family/Vacation

November was quite an exciting month. Right around Madagascar’s election on the referendum, my parents flew into Tana to start their travels through Madagascar. I was a little nervous, because we as volunteers were supposed to be on “Standfast,” a precautionary security measure in response to potential activity such as protests in regional cities. So we were not supposed to leave site on election days and for a few days afterwards in order to avoid large groups of people.

Fortunately, the first part of my parents’ trip was to come up to my site to visit me, which worked out well. It was very quite in my area and we had no problems with protests or political events. My parents actually stayed at my house for a few days, which was quite an experience. I enjoyed playing host for the most part, as I haven’t had many visitors at my site, and it was really great for them to meet all of my Malagasy family and friends. Of course none of us really enjoyed being the constant center of attention, but that’s bound to happen when you are the only white people living in a small African town. My parents also brought really awesome gifts for my friends and for all the kids, like toothbrushes, world maps and music cds. I think the Malagasy really enjoyed their “voandalanas” from America.

After visiting my site, we went up to Vohemar for a day and met up with the education Peace Corps Volunteer there. It was great timing, because we were able to take her out to dinner for her birthday. We ended up back in Sambava on the last day and got to take a tour of the regional hospital there, which had a surprising amount of resources such as an ultrasound and an x-ray machine. We were also able to pick up some Chinese medicine patches there for my step-mom’s back, which was very sore from the long plane ride over. We stayed at a nice hotel and spent some time on the beach before heading to Tana for the rest of our trip.

After flying to Tana, Herilala, our Malagasy tour guide, met us at the airport and took us to the nicest hotel I have stayed at here in Madagascar. It was absolutely beautiful with an outdoor pool, a sauna, free internet and a patio overlooking the city, where you could dine al fresco. The next day we drove out to Andasibe national park and stayed at the Vacona lodge. We spent the next few days hiking around the Mantadia and Andasibe park areas spotting all sorts of lemurs: the Indri, Diadem, Eastern Woolly, Bamboo, Goodman’s Mouse… Then on to Nosy Be.

After arriving at the airport we took a taxi to a really nice resort on the beach. There was a pool and a pizzeria and chairs on the beach where you could relax and soak up the Malagasy sun. Sunday evening on the beach was really neat, because all of the Malagasy families like to stroll along the beach and watch the live music and dance performers or sit in outdoor cafes or play beach volleyball or soccer; it was great people watching. While we were there we also took some day trips to two smaller islands of the island of Nosy Be, Nosy Komba and Nosy Tany Kely. The boat trip was beautiful, but the islands themselves were very touristy and kind of artificial. Not my favorite part of the trip, but still enjoyable. The seafood was amazing for sure. We also met up with a Peace Corps Volunteer there who had studied at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where my parents live!

Our next destination was Berenty Reserve, out towards Ft. Dauphin, so we flew from Nosy Be to Tana and then to Ft. Dauphin. After arriving in Ft. Dauphin we had a vehicle pick us up and drive us through the desert out to the Berenty Reserve, where we could explore the spiny forest and spot some ringtail lemurs. The drive out there was depressing, because the poverty was so widespread and desperate and there was an incredible amount of deforestation. The one river winding through the landscape was dried up, brown and muddy, yet people were still using it as a water source because it was the only option they had. There were also acres and acres of native spiny forest that had been cleared away for sisal plantations where local Malagasy workers are exploited for their labor. We passed some mining communities along the way and a warehouse where donations from the World Food Program are stored when they come through the area each year.

When we got to Berenty, we were greeted by a pack of Ring-tailed lemurs. They were even climbing on the porch and the roofs of our cabins. The flora and fauna in the reserve were absolutely amazing: octopus trees, baobabs, mouse lemurs, dwarf lemurs, civets, fruit bats, white sifakas, brown lemurs, all sorts of birds and probably some other things I can’t remember. The night walks under the starry southern sky were my favorite part.

On our way back through Ft. Dauphin we spent an afternoon on a lovely beach and met up with some other Peace Corps Volunteers in the area. We ended up at a bar overlooking the sea cliffs with a gorgeous view of the sunset over the water. The next morning we were off to Isalo National Park.

Isalo was absolutely amazing, although it really made me miss rock climbing. There were beautiful rock formations dispersed across a dramatic desert landscape. Some of the faces and cliff-sides looked like they might offer some great routes, although I don’t think the public is allowed to climb in this particular national park. Isalo made for some wonderful hiking nonetheless. Apparently the Malagasy tribe in that region, the Bara, has a practice of burying their dead in caves among the cliffs. We were able to spot some places where the Bara people had scaled the rock faces in order to find the perfect spot to put the bodies of the deceased to rest. They had also piled many small rocks up in front of the opening to mark which specific caves were occupied tombs.

One of our hikes led us through some rice paddies out to a canyon, and another brought us to a natural pool out in the middle of the desert. It was like a little oasis where we could take a refreshing swim next to a small waterfall. We were tired after all the hiking, but the beautiful scenery was well worth the journey. The resort we stayed in was also very nice. I got a chance to play some clay court tennis and some pool with my parents in addition to enjoying some wonderful food among a the dramatic setting of the desert and rock formations.

Isalo was a great way to end our journey through Madagascar, although I was sad for the wonderful, relaxing vacation to end. It was unfortunate that my parents had to return to the states so soon, but I enjoyed spending the three weeks with them here in my country of service and I hope that they do decide to come back again next year, as they had promised.