"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better, it's not...." said the Lorax

It's already December? I've managed to stay busy enough at site to not get out much to see the rest of the country yet. It was time for a break before I got too burnt out, so I ended up going over to the west coast for some vacation time.

I spent the last week in Morondava, a laid back little beach town on the Mozambique Channel. All the boats look like pirate ships, the people are from the Sakalava tribe and speak a slightly different dialect of Malagasy than the one I'm used to, and it's hotter there than you could even imagine. I've never sweat so much in my life without even moving, but that's what I get for going to one of the hottest parts of Madagascar at the hottest time of year. There are a couple of PCVs living in Morondava. Molly, a volunteer that was in my group during training, and I spent a night in the Kirindy Reserve where you could barely step without seeing an iguana or a gigantic snake and bright blue and turquoise butterflies led the way on all the hiking trails. We spotted six different kinds of lemurs. My favorite was the sifaka that jumps around on the ground and through the trees. We even got to see a fosa... but unfortunately no giant jumping rats.

We also made it to the Avenue of the Baobabs right in time for a gorgeous sunrise. I think baobabs might be my favorite tree ever. Somehow I feel a bit like the Lorax working in Madagascar saving the Truffula Trees.

Anyway, now I'm back in Tana, doing some business in the capital, and waiting for the next plane to Maroantsetra on Monday. I have to fly to either Maroantestra to the north or Tamatave to the south to get back to my village. And from either airport it's a 2 day taxi-brousse ride on a terrible road with several ferry boat crossings. I chose Maroantsetra this time so that I could visit another volunteer's site and help her paint a mural before heading back to my home in Soavina hopefully in time for Christmas and New Years.

My next trip will be in February when the new Environment trainees arrive. I'm hoping to be one of the trainers. My specialty at site has been building cookstoves (which I've now built over 40 with several cooperatives in the Mananara region), so I'd like to train the new volunteers on some of the techniques I've learned. I'll probably take another vacation in the southeastern part of the island while I'm already out of Mananara. There's a train ride to the coast that sounds like a fun adventure. But who knows, plans are always changing, and I'm still practicing my patience and flexibility every step of the way.

Cyclone season is coming up here soon. I'm not sure what that means for me considering my house is made of sticks and leaves and I'm only about 3 miles from the Indian Ocean. But don't worry, I've got a sturdy umbrella.
No, but seriously, it is possible I'll be stuck at my site for several months because the "road" washes away into the ocean. There is a sturdy building in my banking town where I can go if my roof flies away or something.

Right now though it's lychee and mango season. There are lychees everywhere on the east coast. Yum! Everywhere you look someone is eating a lychee. People carrying branches full of lychees as a snack while they walk to the rice fields is a common sight. There aren't as many mangos where I'm at in the east, but there's a ton here in the capital and over in the west. So I'll be thinking of you all over there in the states freezing your butts off while I eat my tropical fruit and lay out on the beach. ;-)

Stay in touch. No really, I mean it. I miss you....
Where are all those letters you people promised?!

Here's the address again, in case you haven't scrolled down:
B.P. 36
Mananara-Nord 511
Madagascar