Lazy Sunday

Lazy weekends at the beach in Fort Dauphin are hard to beat. Sun, sea, surfing and lounging.

Lounging on the beach with Lisa

"Zay" a new bar on Ankoba beach right next to the sea. A five minute walk from the office and our second home.

Bed-loungers at "Zay" on Ankoba beach

Flav's brother Yvon trying on new beach wear

14 days left of sunshine.

Start the Clock

I hate calenders and count downs. They fill your head with numbers when you should be concentrating on just enjoing yourself but heyho..human nature is not known for its flawess logic and so it is that I have found that over the past few weeks I have entered the zone of the count down.

I’ve been on this big red island for 15 months now with only a 2 week break in the UK last Christmas. I am expecting my arrival back in the UK to throw up a few issues with integrating back in to western society but for the moment I am focusing heavily on soaking up as much as I can from my last few days here (19 days from today).

Work in the office has stepped up a few notches with several reports for funders being due at the same time which keeps me good and busy!

Spare time is taken up by sunset drinks at freedom to watch the sunset, surfing (still can’t stand up), meals at Chez Bernard and trying not to dwell too much on thoughts such as “I wonder how many more times I’ll get to do this before I go back to the UK?”. Not a very constructive or positive way to look at things!

The single biggest thing I will miss from being here is the people. Both the Malagasy people in general and the vazaha friends I have made over the past year or so. You have to rely on people so much more out here for support and you go through some bizarre and sometimes scary situations together. As a result, you form incredibly strong friendships with people out here in a very short space of time. It’s hard to imagine that I won’t be seeing these people who are like a family to me on a regular basis in a few weeks time.

I have come across situations I would never have imagined coming across whilst I have been here. The political crisis, cyclones, serious illness in myself and in friends and seeing how Malagasy people approach these difficulties with a smile on their face a shrug of the shoulders and joke makes you think long an hard about how you respond to the same situation. That attitude along with the incredible generosity and community spirit that you’re a part of here in Madagascar is something that I’ll never forget. I hope some of it has rubbed off on me!

Leaving Madagascar at the same time as me is Lisa Carrier (bag) from Lemur Venture. Whilst I am sad for her that she’s going to leave something that she loves doing, I am delighted that there’s going to be another flat broke and uncouth young female not too far from where I live that I can go and act childishly with. She’s been an absolute star and I know I’m going to miss my sidekick a lot when we head off.

I don’t want this post to turn in to a reflective, morbid and snore-inducing piece so I’ll keep it short. I am so looking forward to seeing friends and family (and how pale you will all be, ha ha!) but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little apprehensive about how I’m going to fit in to the UK mid-winter with no money and with most of my friends living a fair way away.

So, please have patience when you see me if I waffle on for too long about stories from a far and distant land and please don’t be offended at the way I will devour and inhale a roast dinner, a fried breakfast, crumble and custard, cheese and biscuits or fish and chips given half a chance. Remember that it's been a long time!

The last few weeks

Over the last few weeks I have been steadily beavering away in the office and managed to piggy back two trips to the bush. I went out to visit the pioneers in Volobe a few weeks ago. It was very surreal going back to the bush and not being involved in any way shape or form with the running of the scheme but it was so good to be back in Volobe and to just be able to sit back and enjoy being there without feeling guilty that I should be doing something or other.

My second bush trip was out with the Lemur Venture volunteers to the forest at Petriky. Petriky is one of only three remaining parcels of littoral forest left in Madagascar (with St Luce and Mandena, where Rio Tinto are already mining ilmenite being the other two). The main reason for my trip was to provide a bit of extra support to Lisa (who is more than capable but two pairs of hands are better than one).

Azafady had an extra Lemur Veture volunteer for the second half of their scheme. This extra volunteer's visit is due to the recent announcement that Azafady have been chosen as the Prix Pictet 2009 Commission Project. The Prix Pictet Commission is an annual invitation for a photographer, chosen from the Prix Pictet shortlist, to produce a series of images by visiting a region where Pictet & Cie are supporting a project or group of projects related to the theme of the award. For 2009 Pictet & Cie will support Azafady's work in Madagascar. The images made for the Prix Pictet Commission 2009 will be shown in London in early 2010.

It is an amazing opportunity for Azafady. Not only will the pictures taken in Madagascar in January 2010nshowcase Azafady's work on afforestation in Madagascar, but the photographs taken by this year's winning photographer are to be made into a coffee table book which will be sent out to ALL the banks investors and shareholders. Fingers crossed this opportunity will raise the profile of Azafady still further and may lead to more funding opportunities which would make a huge difference in the current economic climate.

So, back to Petriky. Lemur Venture were there to conduct a population census on the Ring tailed lemurs who live in the forest. Because the area is due to be mined, Rio Tinto have carried out extensive research on the flora in the area, but for some reason no research has been done on the fauna in the area. The forest of Petriky is approximatey 700 ha in area and in 5 days there I did not see a single ring tail. It was very hot and the trails are all 6 inches deep in hot sand. My patience did wear thin at times! The night walks were much more fruitful with loads of mouse lemurs and fat tailed dwarf lemurs scampering about in the brush and there were plenty of snakes, bugs and beautiful flowers to hold my interest during the lemurless days!

The forest at Petriky lies alongside a huge brackish lake. No bucket showers for Sarah this time!

Cacti flowers

The forest at Petriky. The forest has only been protected for the past 2 years and as a result is severely degraded in places. There are hardly any trees with a diameter above 20 cm as the forest has been used so intensively by local communities that trees never get the chance to grow any larger. Our local guide told us that local people are still hunting and eating the lemurs in the area.

Male snake...I forget the species


Female snake of the same unknown species as the male above

Pill Millipede eyes. No lemurs results in novel means of entertainment.

I have also moved house! A new wave of lovely volunteers meant that I could move in to my own little house in the grounds of the Azafady office. 24 hour internet access!

My new house. The bottom floor is an office, the upper floor has two rooms where I now live.

Bedroom in the background, sitting area in the foreground. Cosy!

As you can see from the picture it's made of traditional Malagasy materials which mans it is very well ventilated and wobbles a bit in the breeze but it has withstood numerous cyclone seasons so I'm not too concerned!

5 weeks today I'll be eating a jacket potato with cheese and beans with a big piece of gammon and probably feeling very disorientated. The next few weeks are going to truely fly.