end of the first phase

written on 22nd Dec
Back in Tulear after having been more or less 'stuck' in Andavadoaka for the past three months. While I've been there, I've kind of got used to the remoteness, the lack of news and village life. It's sort of a novelty then to find myself in a town with wide streets, with concrete streets (Andavadoaka just has sand) and with modern communications - like internet and mobile access again. More importantly, there is a choice of restaurants with a choice of meals. I had ice-cream for the first time today since leaving home. My tastebuds are still recoveirng from being overwhelmed with the pleasure of it. The last week has been pretty full-on. I managed to make it down to the epi-bar for only the second time this expedition and had a fab time dancing with staff, volunteers and a couple of the local villagers. They always play the same songs each time - and often more than a few times each night - and it's great fun to just lose yourself and dance along. Malagasy dance music is pretty joyful and easy to dance to. Then the final reminder about our remote we've been came with the journey offsite on the camion. It was my first, as, if you'll remember, I took a 4x4 onto site. The last three journeys have all taken over 24 hours. Thankfully, our camion did not break down and was able to take the coast road (using the term 'road' loosely). We left at 4pm on Thursday - just 11 hours later than planned. Things were pretty good for the first four hours - there were only 4 volunteers willing to take the truck out of there - the rest wanted to go on 4x4s - plus 6 staff, a few bags and our two boat engines. I sat on the top of the bags for a while looking out ahead. We drove through the spiny forest, with fabulous views of the baobabs and some cactuses which were definitely greener than when we'd come through 3 months before. I saw some cool birds, and a few lizards and enjoyed the breeze. :) The views really were spectacular. The driver negotiated the sand pretty well - aided possibly by whatever liquid (togagash probably - local spirit that's not too far removed from petrol) he was drinking out of his plastic petrol can. Once it got dark, the novelty wore off and I started to feel cramped and uncomfortable. After 5 hours, we stopped off at Salary for some food and I had a bit of beer, which helped get me to sleep when we got back into the camion. Slept off and on while the truck bumped along the road, each bump jarring my joints. We finally arrived here in Tulear at 5.30am this morning and have been enjoying the delights of having clean non-sandy sheets since then. All the staff have been talking about Tulear in very disparaging terms - apart from the food aspect - but actually it's not too bad. It's just a town. It reminds me a lot of Indonesian towns - wide streets, palm trees, heavy humid air and open fronted shops. There are lots of street stalls selling clothes and a market with more fresh fruit and vegetables than I've seen in the last three months. My senses feel quite overwhelmed with the stimulation - there seems to be so much to look at and to take in. There isn't actually much traffic - though of course there are a lot more motorised vehicles than Andavadoaka. But actually a lot of people seem to cycle around too so it isn't as polluted and noisy as many cities can be in Asia for example. The other thing that's marketedly different from most Asian cities that I've visited is the Malagasy version of the rickshaw. In India and Thailand they have cycle rickshaws, as well as motorised ones. But in Tulear, the carts are just pulled along by people. The little seats can fit two vazaha (tourists) or about four malagasy people, depending on how comfortable you want to be. There is a wooden pole from each side of the seat which the 'driver' holds and uses to pull the little cart along. I know lots of tourists felt uncomfortable being cycled around by someone else. So, being pulled along by someone - who is running down the street - is even more psychologically uncomfortable, if not physically uncomfortable. I'm finding the heat pretty unbearable - just walking fifty yards takes it out of me, and leaves me covered in sweat. I can't imagine pulling along two full-grown human beings in a cart behind me as well.

So... That's where we are right now. We're leaving Tulear in two days for Ifaty - another beach resort. We aren't really up to doing much travelling or even much sightseeing. We just want to chill out for a few days in a nice room with a few luxuries and see some nice scenery. Ifaty probably won't be as pretty or as simple as Andavadoaka but we won't be able to work there. Even here Tulear, we were planning to have some time off, but of course with staff around wanting money or various things, it doesn't quite work like that.