The streets are covered in food vendors
His looks good but I'll try hers
We sit down, in the center of town,
And start our meal with cucumbers.
Three pieces of fish, ten of shrimp,
Rice, eggs, hot sauce, don't be a wimp.
Scarf it down in the center of town,
Walk to the next stall with my gangsta limp.
Bonjour ca va? What is that?
I get five skewers with some meat and fat.
Can't scarf it down, inthe center of town
So I feed it to the feral cat.
How much you say just two twenty?
Somosas, soup, I've had plenty.
I rub my bell in the center of town,
I walk to the hotel contently.
We spent a couple days in a national park called L'Ankarana, nice tropical dry forest with some good examples of tsingy, which is sharp limestone formations with forests of succulents growing on them. Visited a giant bat cave with thousands of bats and giant stalactites and stalagmites. And best of all, saw lots of leaping lemurs. Three different species: crowned, Sandords, and northern sportive lemurs. The latter are nocturnal, and we only saw the little guys with their heads peeping out of tree cavities where they rest during the day--always sleeping with one eye open. We got much closer to the lemurs than we would have thought. As close as 5 or 6 feet. Also saw lots of birds, chameleons, geckos, and got in some good exercise--one day hiking 14 miles.
Today we went climbing at a local spot near Diego. We were a bit careless and ended up with a bag of stuff and our lunch stolen. Nothing absolutely essential, but a big bummer regardless. And we had just been starting to think that we were warming up to this town. On our moderate 3 pitch climb we had beautiful views of the bay--supposedly the second largest bay in the world after Rio de Janiero. This town in the north that has been our home base for the frist half of the trip in Madagascar--Diego Suarez--is an interesting one. It is full of old lecherous French men with beautiful young Malagasy women on their arms. Tough to stomach really. Tomorrow we head back to the capital and from there we will make our way to the west.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Lobster, limestone, and baby turtles
Trying to have a conversation here in french is like talking to Kelly. I look with a blank face, it goes in one ear and out the other, and I smile and nod. But after a little bit of work, we were able to get ourselves to the Nosy Hara Archipelago in the north of Madagascar. This is a group of tiny islands covered with white sand and tall limestone cliffs. A national park with no free standing buildings and a sacred burial site for the Malagasy. It is considered taboo to point your finger, which makes it difficult when you see animals or giving beta on climbs.
After 4x4ing for 2 hours we took a small boat across a portion of the Mozambique channel.
The idea of coming out to these islands was the first step in convincing Michiel to come to Madagascar. But it really didn't take much. ("Our" island, Nosy Andantsara, is to the left in the picture below--the cliffs are on the opposite side.)
We spent 7 days on this tiny 4 hectare island (about 10 acres), a true paradise spot. Our mornings entailed snorkeling over the reefs in the clear water observing the local marine life. In the afternoons, once it had cooled down a little, we spent a few hours sport-climbing on the limestone cliffs next to the water, taking swims to cool down. While we were out playing on the rocks, clipping bolts, the locals were out in the sea, armed with a spear catching our dinner. each night was a feast of fish, lobster, octopus, squid, rice and vegetables. We washed it down with rhum punch and beer. Man, life was tough.
On about our fourth night, the clouds gathered and rain began dumping down. From the thatched hut gazebo (where we ate our meals), I (kelly) saw something crawling out from the bushes into the sand. At first I thought it was a frog....and then I realized they were turtles! Baby sea turtles making their way to the ocean. Then the other nights as we sat on the beach watching the sunset, reading our books or drinking beer, we kept seeing more turtles.
The climbing was a great deal similar to Thailand. Overhanging limestone sport routes next to the ocean. It took a day or two to get used to it again. The routes were solid grades, 7-9 foot bolt spacings and generally 25-30 meters long. Kelly was a little rope gun, acing herself up some upper 10's and lower 11's. Teaching me how to climb.
It took a day or two to feel better from the pnemonia but it was harder to stay energetic from the drugs. not a good time to get sick, but feeling just fine now. That and the suffocating heat of the tent which made sleep a little difficult were the only potential drawbacks thus far.
After 4x4ing for 2 hours we took a small boat across a portion of the Mozambique channel.
The idea of coming out to these islands was the first step in convincing Michiel to come to Madagascar. But it really didn't take much. ("Our" island, Nosy Andantsara, is to the left in the picture below--the cliffs are on the opposite side.)
We spent 7 days on this tiny 4 hectare island (about 10 acres), a true paradise spot. Our mornings entailed snorkeling over the reefs in the clear water observing the local marine life. In the afternoons, once it had cooled down a little, we spent a few hours sport-climbing on the limestone cliffs next to the water, taking swims to cool down. While we were out playing on the rocks, clipping bolts, the locals were out in the sea, armed with a spear catching our dinner. each night was a feast of fish, lobster, octopus, squid, rice and vegetables. We washed it down with rhum punch and beer. Man, life was tough.
On about our fourth night, the clouds gathered and rain began dumping down. From the thatched hut gazebo (where we ate our meals), I (kelly) saw something crawling out from the bushes into the sand. At first I thought it was a frog....and then I realized they were turtles! Baby sea turtles making their way to the ocean. Then the other nights as we sat on the beach watching the sunset, reading our books or drinking beer, we kept seeing more turtles.
The climbing was a great deal similar to Thailand. Overhanging limestone sport routes next to the ocean. It took a day or two to get used to it again. The routes were solid grades, 7-9 foot bolt spacings and generally 25-30 meters long. Kelly was a little rope gun, acing herself up some upper 10's and lower 11's. Teaching me how to climb.
It took a day or two to feel better from the pnemonia but it was harder to stay energetic from the drugs. not a good time to get sick, but feeling just fine now. That and the suffocating heat of the tent which made sleep a little difficult were the only potential drawbacks thus far.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
It's Hot Over Here
I know we complain about cold and rainy Seattle, but this heat takes some getting used to.
After a long flight, including a 12 hour layover in London where hung out with Kelly's college friends Matt and Leda, we arrived in Kenya. We headed straight for Lake Naivasha to camp under the tree canopy next to the hippo-infested shores. We spent countless hours watching birds (to Kelly's delight).
On rented bikes, we headed into Hell's Gate National Park with fully loaded packs. (Bike seats were not meant for this.) Camped on top of the cliff overlooking the gorge and watched giraffe, zebra, Thompson's gazelle walk by down below. This is one of the only parks in which you can walk or bike among the wildlife. Kelly's favorite was the warthog, even though Michiel tells her that they are going to feel as common as squirrels later on (and tasty too). We climbed a few pitches on Fischer Tower's basalt (one of several towers in the park).
We rode motorbikes to Crater Lake, a tiny jade green lake esteemed by the Masai, the following day. And now we find ourselves in Nairobi. We've just learned that Michiel has pneumonia, which seems to be a complication from the flu the week we left. Not the easiest to travel with. Since this is a budget trip, we were able to save a dollar fifty on a used needle for the IV at the clinic.
Tomorrow we fly to Madagascar.....
After a long flight, including a 12 hour layover in London where hung out with Kelly's college friends Matt and Leda, we arrived in Kenya. We headed straight for Lake Naivasha to camp under the tree canopy next to the hippo-infested shores. We spent countless hours watching birds (to Kelly's delight).
On rented bikes, we headed into Hell's Gate National Park with fully loaded packs. (Bike seats were not meant for this.) Camped on top of the cliff overlooking the gorge and watched giraffe, zebra, Thompson's gazelle walk by down below. This is one of the only parks in which you can walk or bike among the wildlife. Kelly's favorite was the warthog, even though Michiel tells her that they are going to feel as common as squirrels later on (and tasty too). We climbed a few pitches on Fischer Tower's basalt (one of several towers in the park).
We rode motorbikes to Crater Lake, a tiny jade green lake esteemed by the Masai, the following day. And now we find ourselves in Nairobi. We've just learned that Michiel has pneumonia, which seems to be a complication from the flu the week we left. Not the easiest to travel with. Since this is a budget trip, we were able to save a dollar fifty on a used needle for the IV at the clinic.
Tomorrow we fly to Madagascar.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
