Salama (hello in the south)! The next day we left the
highlands and flew to Ft. Dauphin, which is on the Indian Ocean on the south
coast of Madagascar. We could have
driven, but it would have taken days because the roads are very bad. Ft. Dauphin and the ocean were great! We met
Sam, another volunteer, and spent 2 days on the beach and a little bit of time
shopping in the town. We had lots of
fresh seafood including oysters (only Brian), shrimp, lobster and fish. One restaurant owner proudly showed us a
plate with 2 very large, very raw squid he had acquired that day. We had lunch
at a hotel on a cliff overlooking the beach and the ocean. The hotel has an infinity pool that looks out
over the ocean as well, so it was very cool. Breakfast at our hotel was also
great, I loved the jam made with fruit and vanilla.
From Ft. Dauphin, we took a 3 hour van ride to go about 54
miles to Berenty. The road is the major East-West route along the coast, and while
it was paved at one time, most of the asphalt has washed away and it’s now
rutted and pot holed clay. In the rainy
season, it is sometimes impassable. We
passed through a few small villages, where people waved at us, and we passed
taxi brousses loaded with people. One
had chickens in cages on the roof and another had a goat! People headed to or from market I’m sure.
Berenty is a private reserve and most documentaries about
lemurs were filmed there. Berenty is in
the spiny forest. I am not a desert
person, but the plants in the spiny forest are very cool. There are also baobabs there, but not the
giant ones that you see in pictures. The ring-tailed lemurs at Berenty are very
used to people, so they come right up to the open-air restaurant. In fact, they will hop up on your table and
steal food if you don’t watch them. The
sifakas there are also pretty used to people, and while they won’t come as
close as the ring tails, they are around and you can watch them interact. The sifakas walk on their 2 hind legs with
their arms raised in the air when they are moving around and crossing the road,
very cute to watch.
We did 3 hikes in Berenty, morning, afternoon and night and
saw bats, chameleons, lizards, an owl, and 4 or 5 different types of lemurs. Since it is a private reserve, they also have
a few things in enclosures – turtles and a crocodile. It s a very cool place, worth the 3 hour
drive!
After the 3 hour drive back to Ft. Dauphin, we had dinner at
a restaurant on the beach. The next day
we flew back to Tana where we spent the afternoon and early evening. Then Brian, Nicole, and I left Alex to spend
the rest of his vacation with Sarah, and we headed to the airport to fly to
Paris where we would spend another 3 days.
It was a lovely transition back to the developed world and a nice break
in the 24 hour trip.
Sarah, it was great to see you talk so easily and fluently
to everyone, friends and strangers, and to hear your friends talk about
you. You have obviously touched the
lives of the people with whom you work.
Misaotra (thank you) to Madagascar, Clark, Sarah and all of her friends
who gave us such a great trip!
Veloma,
Donna
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