Fishermen with their morning catch at Ramena beach near Diego Suarez (it is squid).

Hello friends,

I've been lazy lately by posting copies of group emails, I know, I just haven't found the time to write up a blog entry.

My travel plans have changed a bit. We're no longer taking the pura aventura route and taxi-broussing/cargoshipping to Nosy Be. The taxi brousse would have been fine, but we couldn't find a reliable boat to take us to Nosy Be in less than 72 hours. We instead bought 1 way plane tickets and plan to return by boat and car, as originally planned.

My topic for the ISP has also changed a bit. I am currently studying the changes in traditional fishing practices since the political and economic crisis of 1991 when President Ratsiraka was deposed. Madagascar changed into a free market economy and this caused a bunch of changes like large scale/ industrial fishing (Japanese) fleets being allowed to fish MDG's waters, toursim and development, just to name a few. this has affected local traditional fishermen a lot so that's what I'm going to be focusing on. It's still really interesting to me, but a bit more on the economic side than I'd prefer.

Anyways, I will be spending most of my time in a little village on the west side of Nosy Be called Djamandzary. I will be staying at the house of a couple of missionaries I was put in contact through from Tana. Their names are Lynette and Dries (from South Africa) and they're very sweet. They don't live walking distance from Djamandzary so I plan to rent/buy a bike and use that as my mode of transportation. Hopefully this will give me a little daily exercise too and keep me in shape. I should say GET me in shape since I am, by no means, close to being in shape at this point. Lemur on the "tsingy" (rare sight)

My health is much better, I just may have a few friends in my belly (intestinal parasites...) so I tend to hang out near toilets.

Me (with my eyes closed) on the "tsingy"

This last week was hectic. We had important assignments due every other day and we all could barely keep up. Not to mention there was some sort of computer shortage in Tana this last week and you had to fight to use one at the internet cafe. I managed to get everything turned in on time (with some very close ones) and am entirely exhausted at this point. I just need a very good nights rest.

Yesterday, Josh and I went Shelly and Hennie's house to have a BBQ and it was really nice to get away and do something different and get our minds off the last week of work. I ended up sleeping there after watching an american movie "Hitch" and I was given a VERY comfortable queen sized bed all to myself. It had a REAL mattress and I was in heaven. Ironically, I couldn't sleep well because I wasn't used to the comfort. That was really the reason! because otherwise I was ready to pass out. I'm feeling about the same right not so I don't think I am going to write much more.

Actually, I'm going to stop here and add some pics. Love you all,

Sandra

Fisherman in his pirogue at sunrise from across Nosy Be, Tanikely and Komba

My host family in Diego Suarez

COPY OF GROUP EMAIL SENT OUT:

Dudes and Dudettes,

How are you? I hate that question.
We are finally back in Tana. Diego Suarez, as you already know, BARF. Nosy Be, WOW! I mean, really, wow... From Diego Suarez we drove down several hours south west to a national park where we saw the "tsingy", huge (and very sharp) limestone formations rising from the dense deciduous canopy, it was more than impressive. We also had the rare opportunity to view lemurs on the tsingy, nimbly jumping from stone to stone. Don't worry, I got pictures. Then we explored a huge cave where we could see fruit bats and insect bats, but we mostly just smelled their poop and watched out heads. Due to a local fady, you're not allowed to walk in with your head covered, so no helmets or hats...I don't really mind the no helmet thing, but a hat would have been nice. :) Another interesting fady is that ethnic groups other than the one of the region (Antakarana) and especially the Merina (found in the highlands, Tana area) aren't allowed to enter the caves. This is because, way back when, the Merina had used the caves to hold Antakarana prisoners. Some Malagasy fadys seem ridiculous to me, but this one I could respect to a certain degree.

We camped near the park for 2 nights and then travelled a few more hours to the coast where we took several speedboats to a peninsula across from Nosy Be. The ocean was about 5 steps from our tents, at high tide and at sunrise and sunset you could see the silhouettes of all the surrounding islands, like Nosy Be, Nosy Komba, Nosy Tanikely, to name a few. It was spectacular, except for the first afternoon when I had a high fever and could only lie down. Eventually I threw up and that felt a lot better. To escape the sand fleas and the heat we would take a dip in the ocean or the mangroves (crystal clear water) on the other side of the peninsula. The next morning we travelled an hour to Nosy Iranja (i-ran-za) which is actually two islands connected by a coral-made sandbank.That is, a REALLY white beach. We did a bit of snorkeling as a practice for those who had never tried, had lunch, and then had a lecture on the beach about marine ecology, I think. The truth is I was really distracted by the hermit crabs.

Okay, the next day was the best part. We went to Nosy Tanikely in the morning and snorkeled for hours. Tanikely is a reserve and there is so much to see. There was live coral EVERYWHERE and I couldn't help but touch some of it and sea cucumbers, tons and tons of fish like trigger fish, parrot fish, barracuda, rays, butterfly fish, clowns, needle fish, gobies...wow, it was an overload. I almost bumped into a small squid about the size of my hand. He was sitting there staring at me and if I came too close it would back away a bit but still stay relatively close. When I would back away, it would follow me, haha. A cute and curious creature. There were also green sea turtles and olive ridley turtles, I saw at least six and would swim down along with them. I also got a bit daring and held onto their shells as they swam, though if my hands were in reach of their mouths they could have snapped them off. This email is going to be all about snorkeling if I don't stop now.

After Tanikely, we travelled to Nosy Be, known for "normal" tourism and sex tourism. It's a very dark island, spiritually speaking, and I would despise it if it weren't so darn beautiful. We had lunch with a South African missionary couple and that was really nice to have fellowship in such a random place. They were fighting chicongoonia (I'm totally spelling that wrong), which is a virus like malaria. There has been an epidemic, I think I may have already mentioned it, that started in Reunion and the Comoros. It must have reached Nosy Be a while ago because about 60 % of the population (so, every other person) has already had it. It is only really dangerous to older people and to infants, but there is no treatment for it and there is no way to prevent getting it. Anyways, who cares, I got Malaria.

Yeah, I did. I probably contracted it in Diego Suarez, that filthy mosquito ridden unearthly and depressing city. The afternoon I had the high fever on the beach was probably related, but the malaria really kicked in our last night in Nosy Be. I was out having dinner and I got really really tired and dizzy and sweaty and had a terrific headache. When I went back to our hotel room I checked my temperature and I had a 103.4 or .5. I took a cold shower and passed out until the next morning. I still had a fever when I woke up and I was covered in sweat, I could barely walk to the bathroom (where I would pee poo, sorry guys). We were travelling back to Tana that day and my academic director was asking me if I wanted to stay an extra night in Nosy Be until I felt I could travel. I chose not to so we left and I made it back to Tana fine, though I only remember bits of the trip. I had a fever throughout the flight also. We talked to a doctor and she recommended I take Cuartem which would deal with the malaria within a few days. I'm feeling much better today, but it's still a relatively constant state of delirium and fatigue. I'm eating a sandwich as we speak, which would be my first "real" food in 2 days, let's hope it goes down well. Also, I'm returning to Nosy Be on Saturday for my ISP, I would appreciate prayer that I be 100% or close to that before then. Speaking of which, I have a ton of work to get done so I better get to that before another bout of fever smashes me. Mom, I'm doing much better, don't worry, malaria runs in the family...Har har, malarious...

Love you all!

-send Ray 10 Zebras.