Sainte Luce, The Island Adventure: Part One

Surprise!

Yes this is a sneak attack blog.  Well ok more like things went crazy here like they always do and now Ive ended up back in Fort Dauphin instead of being stranded out in the bush.  Guess I have some explaining to do...

Wow im not even sure where to start...at the beginning I guess...

So I flew back to Fort Dauphin last Monday.  Flight was bumpy as always but I did sit next to an interesting man who was coming here to make a film for UNICEF.  Stayed with my host family for a couple of nights it was nice to see them and kind of feel like I was home.  Also hiked the giant mountain here in Fort Dauphin! We went up to see it at sunrise and could see the whole bay it was really beautiful, cant wait to show you all pictures! Oh yea so that was with Joe and Elise (and a random Malagasy guy with a meat cleaver who was our "guard") Guess i need to rewind a bit.  So Elise is in charge of all logistal things and basically everything at Sainte Luce but shes really chill and fun so hang out with and then Joe is a British student who is the supervisor of the camp at Sainte Luce.  So basically Ive just been hanging out with them.

Ok anyways...so on Wednesday we headed to Sainte Luce in a lobster car.  The mystery of the lobster car has been solved! It is actually a truck with a big case in the back that the pack with ice and then drive out to get lobster and fish to take back to Fort Dauphin.  So just imagine a pickup truck pumping malagasy music with a ton of backpacks, jugs, rice bags, a big tribal looking drum, and other random things straped to the top.  At one point inside there were 7 people and a small child.  Four of us crammed in the back with the kid on a lap and then two in the passenger seat and then also there were 4 guys sitting on the back/roof with all the stuff. Illegal much? Nahhhhhh. But you know whatever gets you there. Not sure how the guys on the back hung on though it was a pretty bumpy ride but overall it wasnt too bad.  It did suck though that I had to pay double for being white. Wasnt too thrilled about that.  But the car took us there to a village and then from the village we had to row across a lake in a pirogue.  Well of course the pirogue would have crazy holes in it so we had to scoop water out with buckets but once again it got us there.  Then hiked in about half an hour to the camp. Camp is nice and simple.  Its suposed to be an ecotourism resort in the future but right now theres just one hut (there was another but it got knocked down in teh cyclone) and a table and a cooking area.  But man is it beautiful! Its such a unique place! On one side there is a river and then you walk through the forest across a dune for about 10 minutes and its the ocean! Its the best of both worlds I dont think I could have picked a better spot! I decided to do my independent study project on birds so i wake up pretty early and birdwatch.  Birdwatching isnt my favorite thing in the whole world but the birds are really pretty and im getting better at identifying them so its getting more exciting.  Explored the island its pretty awesome.  Walked along the beach and through the villages and saw pretty much everything in a crazy 6 hour long adventure one day.  But then the rain started, which is why I am here typing this to you.  So its been raining out there pretty much for the last 4 days and when it rains you cant really do much, especially not birdwatching.  So we were just sitting around...playing cards, reading, swatting away the crazy armies of ants and flys, doing a whole lot of nothing...that was actually pretty rough...way to much time to think and it was starting to make me pretty homesick again. But then yesterday we got a call that we should try to get out before the roads flood.  So began another crazy journey.  Oh yea also some jerk guy stole our holey pirogue and then went and told Eric's girlfriend and brother (eric is our cook, he doesnt talk much but man can he cook!) so basically we know he stole it but cant do anything about it.  anyways we were stuck out there with no way across the lake. so we hiked through the rainy forest to the lake, waited there for about an hour till a kid who looked about 12 years old showed up in a tiny pirogue, bummed a ride across the lake, only to find that the car that was supposed to be there at noon of course was not there.  So we proceeded to sit in a hut for the next 10 hours.  I kid you not.  It was a verrrrry long 10 hours of my life.  But it was Eric's girlfriends house and she was nice and fed us and all.  Also we bought some coconuts and a small child just climbed up this coconut tree like a ninja and kicked the coconuts down for us that was pretty crazy.  Anyways we sat around for a long time waiting for this car.  Eventually gave up and went to bed there in their hut but then the car actually did show up at around 10 (which is really late for here) and so we crammed in there and headed to Fort Dauphin.  Probably the most terrifying car ride yet it was super bumpy and the roads were pretty flooded and the driver was reckless to say the least but it got us here.  So tada! Now im staying here in Fort Dauphin at this really nice house that is owned by the guy whos land I am camping on.  Its right on the beach and they even have an oven so im really excited im going to try to bake something later...But Ill probably just be here until the weather clears up, probably head back around Friday...

Man I feel like that was a really frazzled story sorry if it was hard to follow.  Oh yea i forgot about Beno! Beno is the guard out there and hes really funny. He doesnt speak any english but hes like a big overgrown kid and hes obessessed with spicy food and hes just kind of entertaining to have around.  Yea so at camp its just me, Joe, Eric, and Beno.  I do miss the other SIT kids havent really been in touch with them much but im looking forward to seeing them again.

Anyways thats Sainte Luce.  At times it does feel like being stranded on a deserted island with crocodiles onone side and sharks on the other with no boat of the island (really, there are sharks and crocs)  but at others its like your own beautiful private forest where the rest of the world doesnt exist.  So I flip-flopped between those two mindsets a bit.  Its only really bad when im sitting around with nothing to do I dont mind when im tromping through the forest or birdwatching...  But anyways ill go back out there for another 10 days and then i just have to write up my project and then im done! Ill actually be home one month from today! Man thats crazy! Exciting but kind of sad all at once.

Oh yea and we saw some collared brown lemurs there! Except they were in the part of the forest that we are technically not supposed to go into without paying.  But we might have gotten "lost" and stumbled across the lemurs :)

Ya so I guess thats about it for now.  Lifes always a whirlwind adventure here.  Miss and love you all!