Friday, October 03, 2008
Graduation
Graduation day saw Mum and Dad come up from Bracknell and Alex dash up after half a day at work for a late afternoon ceremony. We were lucky with the weather, since the preceeding and following days were very wet but the sun appeared for the occasion. It was quite a long ceremony with the chancellor, Chris Patten, having a chat with quite a few of us in the process of conferring our degrees. The day was topped off with a really nice meal in a fish restaurant on the quayside at North Shields
Summer 2008
The summer seems to have flown by and before we knew it I had started work
We managed to spend to spend a week in Turkey straight after finishing exams. We hired a car for the week and managed to get out and about visiting lots of interesting places as well as managing to sample the local sea food and relay (briefly!) on the beach!!!
We managed to spend to spend a week in Turkey straight after finishing exams. We hired a car for the week and managed to get out and about visiting lots of interesting places as well as managing to sample the local sea food and relay (briefly!) on the beach!!!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The end of Medical School!!!!!!
Exams finally came to an end on the 10th of June with a fairly horrendous final clinical exam. However, the elation of finishing was increased by Alex's impromptu visit to Newcastle, bearing Champagne and dinner. Having already made plans for the evening, we went out to meet lots of my course mates in Jesmond. Its a good job that Claires husband Morrow was also out to entertain Alex, since there was a lot of swapping of exam horror stories!
We didn't have to wait long for results, although the 11th of June has to be one of the longest days of my life. Unable to bear the prospect of sitting at home waiting for results, Claire and I went for the shop till you drop approach and went off into town in search of bikini's, shorts, ball dresses, wedding dresses - you name it we looked at it!!!! By 1 o'clock the nerves had well and truly set in. The results were due at 2 - and still they weren't out...but by 3 it was finally over. Our 4 years at Medical school were finally over. All my friends were safely through too. The distinction was just the icing on the cake!!
Most of the 12th of June was taken up with graduation ball preparation - nothing like leaving it to the last minute to buy a dress Claire - although we did bump into alot of the graduating medics in the metro centre that morning!!!
Graduation ball was an ace evening. It was held in Hardwick Hall, about 45 minutes away in County Durham. It was an excellent evening of wining, dinning, dancing....... and playing on the dodgems!!! The presence of the later definitely won the evening over for Alex. He now wants to investigate how much dodgems would cost to have at the wedding - wishful thinking i 'd say!!!
We didn't have to wait long for results, although the 11th of June has to be one of the longest days of my life. Unable to bear the prospect of sitting at home waiting for results, Claire and I went for the shop till you drop approach and went off into town in search of bikini's, shorts, ball dresses, wedding dresses - you name it we looked at it!!!! By 1 o'clock the nerves had well and truly set in. The results were due at 2 - and still they weren't out...but by 3 it was finally over. Our 4 years at Medical school were finally over. All my friends were safely through too. The distinction was just the icing on the cake!!
Most of the 12th of June was taken up with graduation ball preparation - nothing like leaving it to the last minute to buy a dress Claire - although we did bump into alot of the graduating medics in the metro centre that morning!!!
Graduation ball was an ace evening. It was held in Hardwick Hall, about 45 minutes away in County Durham. It was an excellent evening of wining, dinning, dancing....... and playing on the dodgems!!! The presence of the later definitely won the evening over for Alex. He now wants to investigate how much dodgems would cost to have at the wedding - wishful thinking i 'd say!!!
May 2008
With finals looming, a majority of May was taken up studying while trying to retain my sanity at the weekends. The month started with a mass invasion of Newcastle for May day bank holiday. Anna and Ben, Tom and Gareth and Suzy and Harry all arrived in Newcastle on the Friday night, surprisingly early considering it was both a bank holiday weekend and a long way (Oxford, North wales ......). We went off to Kielder biking on Saturday. It was an excellent ride with both Suzy and Anna demonstrating acrobatic falling off. The trip was ended by an impromptu trip north to Scotland since Tom and Gareth had landed themselves in the middle of nowhere without considering the need for petrol to get them back again. Even getting to this northerly petrol station was a tight call!!! Cath and Alex arrived after a days DIY in Sheffield and we all went out to china town for a fab meal! On Sunday, not really feeling i could justify a whole weekend without revision, I packed them all off for a days riding at Innerleithen. I felt quite pleased with my decision to stay behind while i was working/ watching the rain lash down outside, until they came home with tales of glorious sunshine in Scotland!!!! We rounded off the weekend with a trip to Hamsterley on the Monday. A fun trip round the black run was rounded off nicely with dinner in the pub!
Most of the rest of May consisted of revision with the odd day off here and there. Alex's parents came to visit. They spent half the day exploring Newcastle with Alex before i picked them up form town and we all headed off to the coast near south Shields for a beautiful walk encountering the coast line, lighthouses, wind mills and spectacular views across the countryside, enhanced by the flowering rape seed crops.
Most of the rest of May consisted of revision with the odd day off here and there. Alex's parents came to visit. They spent half the day exploring Newcastle with Alex before i picked them up form town and we all headed off to the coast near south Shields for a beautiful walk encountering the coast line, lighthouses, wind mills and spectacular views across the countryside, enhanced by the flowering rape seed crops.
On bank holiday weekend, Alex went karting for Billy's birthday. A good day was had by all, although Alex was some what put out not to have won the race. We finished the day with a brief outing to the pub and birthday cake. We also went up to Northumberland on the Sunday with Billy and Lou to explore the Couquet gorge. It was a fun walk, although i did get quite a lot of abuse for not reading the guide book before setting off rather than just looking at the location - not only did we end up fording a river which was somewhat less than empty but also ended up walking across a firing range while the red flags were flying!!!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
April 08
April has certainly had a marital feel to it this year. It started off with us finally setting a date for our wedding, June 09.
The first weekend, Alex headed off with the boys for Marcus's stag weekend. A fun weekend was had by all, with paintballing, football, cricket and quite a few gallons of ale.
The second weekend in April, we headed down to Cotswold's on the Friday night to have a very fine birthday dinner with Jenny at her parents house. After all the abuse I get when i go to Scotland for feeding Sam random tip bits, Jenny really has no leg to stand on with the amount of food her parents dogs were given from the table!!!!! We then headed down to Bristol for James Ho and Sam's wedding. It was held in a very pretty house overlooking the Severn estuary and welsh hills. It was lovely to catch up with people that we hadn't seen for ages, as well as meet the new arrivals (Ger and Sarah's son Thomas). It was a very fun evening of dancing (despite the fact Alex kept on claiming to be too young to know half the music - clearly lying!!!) and the Chinese lanterns that were sent off across Bristol were very pretty!
By the third weekend, it was time for some more DIY in Newcastle. We spent the weekend finishing off lots of bits and pieces that needed doing. Although, we never seem to get quite as much done as hope and Sarah then spent most of the following week finishing stuff off ready to get the house valued. Thankfully its now on the market so just hoping that someone wants to buy it.
The last weekend in April, we headed off to the south coast, near Eastbourne, for Emma and Marcus's wedding. It was in a beautiful barn near the sea. Marcus's emotions got the better of him throughout the service (and we all thought it would be Emma in tears!!!). The weather was amazing throughout the day so we were able to sit out in the sun, drinking champagne and catching up with friends since most of the Sheffield Uni canoe club oldies were there!!!!! There was an amazing BBQ dinner before 3 hours of hours of energetic barn dancing. Since there was an outdoor swimming door just outside the barn, it was hardly surprising that a few people ended up in the pool towards the end of the night. Nor was it surprising that it was Alex that initiated such antics!!!!
On Sunday, we cleared the hall and packed away an impressive amount of left over alcohol. We then went for a walk along the cliff tops before starting the trek back to Sheffield/Newcastle.
The first weekend, Alex headed off with the boys for Marcus's stag weekend. A fun weekend was had by all, with paintballing, football, cricket and quite a few gallons of ale.
The second weekend in April, we headed down to Cotswold's on the Friday night to have a very fine birthday dinner with Jenny at her parents house. After all the abuse I get when i go to Scotland for feeding Sam random tip bits, Jenny really has no leg to stand on with the amount of food her parents dogs were given from the table!!!!! We then headed down to Bristol for James Ho and Sam's wedding. It was held in a very pretty house overlooking the Severn estuary and welsh hills. It was lovely to catch up with people that we hadn't seen for ages, as well as meet the new arrivals (Ger and Sarah's son Thomas). It was a very fun evening of dancing (despite the fact Alex kept on claiming to be too young to know half the music - clearly lying!!!) and the Chinese lanterns that were sent off across Bristol were very pretty!
By the third weekend, it was time for some more DIY in Newcastle. We spent the weekend finishing off lots of bits and pieces that needed doing. Although, we never seem to get quite as much done as hope and Sarah then spent most of the following week finishing stuff off ready to get the house valued. Thankfully its now on the market so just hoping that someone wants to buy it.
The last weekend in April, we headed off to the south coast, near Eastbourne, for Emma and Marcus's wedding. It was in a beautiful barn near the sea. Marcus's emotions got the better of him throughout the service (and we all thought it would be Emma in tears!!!). The weather was amazing throughout the day so we were able to sit out in the sun, drinking champagne and catching up with friends since most of the Sheffield Uni canoe club oldies were there!!!!! There was an amazing BBQ dinner before 3 hours of hours of energetic barn dancing. Since there was an outdoor swimming door just outside the barn, it was hardly surprising that a few people ended up in the pool towards the end of the night. Nor was it surprising that it was Alex that initiated such antics!!!!
On Sunday, we cleared the hall and packed away an impressive amount of left over alcohol. We then went for a walk along the cliff tops before starting the trek back to Sheffield/Newcastle.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
March 2008
Yet more time seems to have run away from us since we last posted anything.... March was a busy month, with alot of travelling around the country! Sarah went up to Scotland for Emmas hen weekend. Staying in a stunning house with amazing views in the Scottish borders, we went mountain biking at Peebles which was impressive to say that most of the girls of the hen weekend were not bikers. This was followed by lots of wine and lovely food back at the house before the hula hooping and dancing started. Sunday was more of a sedate day where we went for a walk before heading south. The boys had been having fun back in Sheffield without us and had made us of the opportunity to drink alot of beer and go biking!
Since my Easter hols had then started, I managed to head down to Bracknell to surprise my Dad for his birthday. As well as starting the revision, I also managed to see my friends Sarah and Mike (and heard about their exciting baby news) as well as a few trips round some bridal shops with my mum! Alex headed down to my parents on Good Friday and from there we headed off to Cornwall to see Si and Helen. We thought it was a bit of an ominous sign since it snowed all the way from Bracknell to southern somerset but thankfully the weather in the south west was considerably better. While Si worked on the Saturday, Helen, Alex and I visited the lost gardens of Heligan. No longer lost (!), these gardens had some cool tropical plants including banana plants growing in them. We went out for a lovely Chinese in the evening, with copious amounts of accompanying wine!!!
On Easter Sunday we headed off to the National seal sanctuary where they try to rehabilitate injured seals before rereleasing them into the wild. This was followed by a quick trip to Coverack (where both Alex and I had spent childhood hols) before the worlds most competitive game of monopoly! Easter Monday involved a kayaking trip down the Fowey estuary, although the other 3 we definately more enthusiastic about the flat water paddling than i was, fish &chips in Fowey and then a cycle ride up to the Eden project and back (although we didn't actually go in). More competitive monopoly ensued!
Si and Helen were back a work on the Tuesday so Alex and I headed up to Dartmoor. Although the river Dart was a little low to paddle, we managed a fantastic bike ride taking in 5 river crossings (despite the stepping stones not really protruding out of the water in places). Then it was back to Sheffield for work/revision.
Since my Easter hols had then started, I managed to head down to Bracknell to surprise my Dad for his birthday. As well as starting the revision, I also managed to see my friends Sarah and Mike (and heard about their exciting baby news) as well as a few trips round some bridal shops with my mum! Alex headed down to my parents on Good Friday and from there we headed off to Cornwall to see Si and Helen. We thought it was a bit of an ominous sign since it snowed all the way from Bracknell to southern somerset but thankfully the weather in the south west was considerably better. While Si worked on the Saturday, Helen, Alex and I visited the lost gardens of Heligan. No longer lost (!), these gardens had some cool tropical plants including banana plants growing in them. We went out for a lovely Chinese in the evening, with copious amounts of accompanying wine!!!
On Easter Sunday we headed off to the National seal sanctuary where they try to rehabilitate injured seals before rereleasing them into the wild. This was followed by a quick trip to Coverack (where both Alex and I had spent childhood hols) before the worlds most competitive game of monopoly! Easter Monday involved a kayaking trip down the Fowey estuary, although the other 3 we definately more enthusiastic about the flat water paddling than i was, fish &chips in Fowey and then a cycle ride up to the Eden project and back (although we didn't actually go in). More competitive monopoly ensued!
Si and Helen were back a work on the Tuesday so Alex and I headed up to Dartmoor. Although the river Dart was a little low to paddle, we managed a fantastic bike ride taking in 5 river crossings (despite the stepping stones not really protruding out of the water in places). Then it was back to Sheffield for work/revision.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
February Biking weekend
Emma, Marcus, Cath and Alex all headed up to Newcastle for a weekend of biking on the 15th Feb. We had a relatively quiet night on the Friday, eating a large dinner, we then sat and chatted for the rest of the evening.
On Saturday, we left Flash with Cath at home to do some work and headed off to the newish biking route up at Kielder water. It was beautifully sunny and a whole lot less windy that when we were there in the Autumn and there were stunning views from the top of the trail. The single tracks we also quite technical so there was something to entertain everyone, with both Emma and I pushing each other to ride stuff that we might not have otherwise done!!
On returning to Newcastle, we collected Cath and Flash and headed off to Tynemouth for a very entertaining walk along the beach.
We headed into town on Saturday night, to an all-you-can eat Chinese and Mongolian buffet called Kublah Kahn. It was a good choice after our days strenuous activities. We headed to the quayside afterwards for a few drinks before returning home.
On the Sunday we headed down to Hamsterley forest. Alex and I had previously had a good days riding here but it was a little disappointing to find half the red route was closed so there was limited amounts of single track riding. Never the less, it turned into a bit of a mechanically fated trip since Alex lost a brake block, Emma's jockey wheel fell off, Cath managed to do something very special with her chain and Marcus had managed to get a puncture before we even left Newcastle. He then managed to top it all off by riding off the side of a hill when he hit ice at 63 km/hour and ended up in a fallen tree about 10 m below the track. Thankfully he escaped with only minor grazes.
We finished the day off with a walk through the woods with flash, taking in the children's adventure playground on the way!!!!
On Saturday, we left Flash with Cath at home to do some work and headed off to the newish biking route up at Kielder water. It was beautifully sunny and a whole lot less windy that when we were there in the Autumn and there were stunning views from the top of the trail. The single tracks we also quite technical so there was something to entertain everyone, with both Emma and I pushing each other to ride stuff that we might not have otherwise done!!
On returning to Newcastle, we collected Cath and Flash and headed off to Tynemouth for a very entertaining walk along the beach.
We headed into town on Saturday night, to an all-you-can eat Chinese and Mongolian buffet called Kublah Kahn. It was a good choice after our days strenuous activities. We headed to the quayside afterwards for a few drinks before returning home.
On the Sunday we headed down to Hamsterley forest. Alex and I had previously had a good days riding here but it was a little disappointing to find half the red route was closed so there was limited amounts of single track riding. Never the less, it turned into a bit of a mechanically fated trip since Alex lost a brake block, Emma's jockey wheel fell off, Cath managed to do something very special with her chain and Marcus had managed to get a puncture before we even left Newcastle. He then managed to top it all off by riding off the side of a hill when he hit ice at 63 km/hour and ended up in a fallen tree about 10 m below the track. Thankfully he escaped with only minor grazes.
We finished the day off with a walk through the woods with flash, taking in the children's adventure playground on the way!!!!
January 2008
January passed by very quickly. It was nice to be back in Newcastle, working in a hospital only 20 minutes away. We spent quite a bit of time cracking on with decorating the hall, landing and stairs. Our plan is to sell my house in Newcastle as I will be moving back to Sheffield in the summer as I have a job somewhere in the South Yorkshire region.
Amidst the decorating we managed to fit in helping Ben move up to Leeds and the following weekend, attended Ben and Phils house warming party. But for once we could not be blamed for the complaints they recieved from their new neighbours!
Amidst the decorating we managed to fit in helping Ben move up to Leeds and the following weekend, attended Ben and Phils house warming party. But for once we could not be blamed for the complaints they recieved from their new neighbours!
Friday, February 22, 2008
30th Birthday, Christmas and New Year 2007
The Christmas holidays were a welcome relief, more so because it marked the end of a long and exhausting autumn spent in the hospitals of deepest darkest Cumbria! It was nice to finally be back in my house for more than a couple of nights since the beginning of May!!!!
The holidays got off to a surprising start when I ended up in North Wales for a "quiet weekend" away with Alex, only to be welcomed by canoeing and biking friends from university days past and present! It appeared that Alex had spent the best part of 6 months organising a surprise birthday weekend for me! I had a wonderful weekend catching up with people, some of whom I had not seen for years. I was very touched by the effort people made to come with some people travelling from Inverness, Cornwall and London. We managed to get out biking on the Saturday, only loosing 1 out of 30 people while out was an achievement although it maybe a while before he lives it down! We were staying in a large old house in Snowdonia that is owned by a mountaineering organisation. It was perfect for a large party and the drinking commenced amid various challenges including some crazy climbing of the building. Sunday was a beautiful day and half the group walked up Moel Eilio (opposite Snowdon) with my mum and Alex's parents while half of the group headed off to a biking venue near Chester.
The holidays got off to a surprising start when I ended up in North Wales for a "quiet weekend" away with Alex, only to be welcomed by canoeing and biking friends from university days past and present! It appeared that Alex had spent the best part of 6 months organising a surprise birthday weekend for me! I had a wonderful weekend catching up with people, some of whom I had not seen for years. I was very touched by the effort people made to come with some people travelling from Inverness, Cornwall and London. We managed to get out biking on the Saturday, only loosing 1 out of 30 people while out was an achievement although it maybe a while before he lives it down! We were staying in a large old house in Snowdonia that is owned by a mountaineering organisation. It was perfect for a large party and the drinking commenced amid various challenges including some crazy climbing of the building. Sunday was a beautiful day and half the group walked up Moel Eilio (opposite Snowdon) with my mum and Alex's parents while half of the group headed off to a biking venue near Chester.
We spent the 2 days before Christmas at Alex's parents and Christmas day and Boxing day at my parents. Both Alex and I were full of the joys of flu for most of the 4 days but never the less had a lovely time feasting and catching up with the families. We then headed up the M1 from London and kept going and going and going........................until we got just north of Inverness!!
The first day we spent biking in the clouds at Learnie red rocks, JP and Jenny's local single track although Jenny spent the day healing the highlanders post Christmas ailments!!! On the Saturday we paddle the Blackwater, another of their local runs running through Strathpeffer. We then packed up all the toy and headed down to the cottage we had hired in Glen Moriston.
Sunday was spent on the world mountain bike cross country course at the Nevis range. 1 lap was quite enough for Jenny and I, so while the boys went off for a second lap, we took Sam up the mountain in a Gondola and went for a walk at the top. The path was very icy and we had great fun throwing snow balls for Sam to fetch although he didn't quite get the fetch bit and just ate them all!!
Jenny and JP both had to work on New Years eve, so Alex and I went walking for the day with Sam on the Sleet peninsula on Skye. It was a nice surprise to arrive on Skye and the torrential rain we'd had for the journey to be replaced by beautiful sunshine! We did 2 walks, one to a castle on the west coast and the second down to the point of Sleet, where Alex and Sam had great fun on the beach playing fetch in the sea!
We then went back to the cottage and had a big New years eve dinner with Jenny and JP, before seeing in the new year amidst lots of fun games and the customary glass of wine or two! We then spent New years day paddling the lower Roy in what could only be described as low water - but fun none the less.
Wednesday saw Jenny, Alex, Sam and I going on one of the most random bike rides I have ever done. We had headed off to Glen Garry searching for some single track biking. Not quite what we ended up with - we couldn't find the biking and asked a local for some directions. He clearly had no idea what we were on about but suggested a nice ride along forestry tracks to an abandoned settlement. Nothing had prepared us for how recently the house must have been left since there was a big blue trampoline in the garden, vehicles in the garage (including 2 amphibious craft) etc etc. We had great fun exploring and amused ourselves on the trampoline. Not what Sam made of it all but I think Alex was surprised by my trampolining skills, not having known I had learnt to trampoline when I was younger!!!! In the afternoon we walked in the forest near our cottage and were very surprised when Sam disappear only to reappear in very close pursuit of a stag!
The rest of the week was taken up with biking around the 10 under Ben route at the Nevis range. Not as good as the other route there and not as well signposted. We ended up doing the 2nd half first then the first half and using the world cup downhill course as an escape back to the car park - a perfectly reasonable proposition in the middle of winter but we'd have been less keen if there had actually been downhillers around that were likely to have come screaming up behind us! We also went to Abriachan and the Balnain bike park - in the snow. It certainly made an interesting ride at Abriachan. My bike didn't even make it off the car at Balnain - superskinny elevated snowy platforms - not really my thing!!! Alex had fun scaring himself on some of the trail though.
We then headed back to Inverness to meet up with Jenny and JP, who had spent the last 2 days at work. We headed up to the Highland wildcat trails at Golspie which was excellent before heading back down south after a fab weeks holiday!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
It's been a while.
3 month's have passed since we landed back from Madagascar. And we've not yet had a relaxing week-end with nothing to do.
Lot's of exciting things have been happening and we'll try to update this ASAP.
Till then.
Lot's of exciting things have been happening and we'll try to update this ASAP.
Till then.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Madagascar Pictures
I've just recieved some photo's from Sarah - the captions might be slightly wrong ;-)
The girls in Church with the host families.
The washing machine!
The beach.
Home for the first 4 weeks.
Room Mate!
The girls in Church with the host families.
The washing machine!
The beach.Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Queens Palace (or not)
Just had a very afternoon. Set out to visit the queens palace with jen ad 5 of the other english students here and one of the malagasy doctors who is an interne in surgery. The doctor organised a bus to take us there and back and off we went..............
After about 25 minutes one of the girls points out that the bus is headed in the opposite direction and it seemed that the queens palace party had been lost in translation and we were heading for the Kings palace 45 minutes out of tana. Having rectified the bus's direction we headed back into tana but by the tile we got there the palace had shut so we wandered around on top of the hill looking at the views of tana (surprisingly attractive from afar!) and ended up in a terrace bar drinking beer and watching the sun go down, all very civilised.
After about 25 minutes one of the girls points out that the bus is headed in the opposite direction and it seemed that the queens palace party had been lost in translation and we were heading for the Kings palace 45 minutes out of tana. Having rectified the bus's direction we headed back into tana but by the tile we got there the palace had shut so we wandered around on top of the hill looking at the views of tana (surprisingly attractive from afar!) and ended up in a terrace bar drinking beer and watching the sun go down, all very civilised.
Antsirabe
Last weekend I headed south from Tana to Antsirabe for the weekend with 6 of the french medical students that are living in out accomodation. The journey took 3 and a half hours to 160 km along roads across the haute plateau.
Having decided on a restaurant called the pousse pousse to eat in, choosen from the guidebook, we headed there accompanied by a collection of pousse pousse drivers intent on our custom. IN the end, two of the boys offered the men a ride in their own pousse pousse's and pulled them to the restaurant given they were so intent to follow us anyway. However, on arrival the main courses were 8000 arary each (2.20 pounds) and they decided it was too expensive (!) so ended up walking a full circle around town with a following of pousse pousses and ate in a restaurant opposite our hotel for 6000 arary for a main course, with accompanying poubelle rhum! After a long week in A&E I was quite glad when the 2 people I was sharing a room with decided to call it a night.......the others headed off to the local disco!
Saturday morning started early with Franck and Fanny deciding to hire bikes and cycle to thermal springs. Sounded like a good idea so was happy to go along with their plans. Franck had found some decent bikes ti hire (these ones even had v brakes that worked!). I was more than a little surprised that once we had hired the bikes that they turned around and said it was a 63 km round trip given that they were dressed in jeans! Did a bit of a rush job on food and water buying and we set off.
It started off with an interestingride out of town, through a market, avoiding pousse pousse, taxi, bikes and pedestrains followed by what seemed like an entire batallion of soldiers who were more than surprised to be overtaken by vazaha on bikes! However, we only made it 3 km out of town before Francks derailleur broke in such a spectacular fashion that it took out half the spokes too! He managed to get in contact with the hire shop who sent out a boy on a bike to replace the broken one, which actually arrived very quickly for a country where everything is moramora (slow!).
It took us the rest of the morning to get to the thermal baths - which were quite literally lots of stone baths sunk into the ground, enclosed by little huts and had hot water running into them. The source was a similarly impressive (!) pipe running out of a stone wall in which all the local were washing their clothes!!!!!!!
WE then started the climb back up to the nearest village - quite steep, midday african sun - just what we needed. In the village we ate in a very malagasy restaurant. Rice, a few bits of meat on a small plate and a bowl of sauce to pour over your rice. This wasnt too much of problem having lived with a malagasy family for a month but both fanny and franck seemed a little confused by it all and hardly ate any of their lunches!
After lunch, Fanny got the taxi car back to Antsirabe (with bike) while Franck and I had the long uphill ride home with a detour round some pretty lakes. WE left out a small section of the ride and only did 55 km but by this point we had both had enough, especially given i had a mans saddle. i did fair slightly better than Franck who had had to tie his fleece over his sadle half way home and had so me interesting sun burn!
Late afternoon we walked around some of the saturday markets in town, learning from oneof the pousse pousse drivers that our friendshad returned to the hotel at 3.30 am so we were quite glad not to have waited for them to do stuff in the morning!
On sunday, we wandered around the artisan market whch was fun and also the precious stone stalls. Seems you can get most stones of varying shapes and sizes and colouts to get set as various peices of jewellery at very low prices - so if anyone has any requests, let me know and i'll see what i can do. Export regulations seem to suggest we can export 1 kg of stones each!
Headed back to Tana in the afternoon, ate dinner in town before heading back to the accomodation!
Having decided on a restaurant called the pousse pousse to eat in, choosen from the guidebook, we headed there accompanied by a collection of pousse pousse drivers intent on our custom. IN the end, two of the boys offered the men a ride in their own pousse pousse's and pulled them to the restaurant given they were so intent to follow us anyway. However, on arrival the main courses were 8000 arary each (2.20 pounds) and they decided it was too expensive (!) so ended up walking a full circle around town with a following of pousse pousses and ate in a restaurant opposite our hotel for 6000 arary for a main course, with accompanying poubelle rhum! After a long week in A&E I was quite glad when the 2 people I was sharing a room with decided to call it a night.......the others headed off to the local disco!
Saturday morning started early with Franck and Fanny deciding to hire bikes and cycle to thermal springs. Sounded like a good idea so was happy to go along with their plans. Franck had found some decent bikes ti hire (these ones even had v brakes that worked!). I was more than a little surprised that once we had hired the bikes that they turned around and said it was a 63 km round trip given that they were dressed in jeans! Did a bit of a rush job on food and water buying and we set off.
It started off with an interestingride out of town, through a market, avoiding pousse pousse, taxi, bikes and pedestrains followed by what seemed like an entire batallion of soldiers who were more than surprised to be overtaken by vazaha on bikes! However, we only made it 3 km out of town before Francks derailleur broke in such a spectacular fashion that it took out half the spokes too! He managed to get in contact with the hire shop who sent out a boy on a bike to replace the broken one, which actually arrived very quickly for a country where everything is moramora (slow!).
It took us the rest of the morning to get to the thermal baths - which were quite literally lots of stone baths sunk into the ground, enclosed by little huts and had hot water running into them. The source was a similarly impressive (!) pipe running out of a stone wall in which all the local were washing their clothes!!!!!!!
WE then started the climb back up to the nearest village - quite steep, midday african sun - just what we needed. In the village we ate in a very malagasy restaurant. Rice, a few bits of meat on a small plate and a bowl of sauce to pour over your rice. This wasnt too much of problem having lived with a malagasy family for a month but both fanny and franck seemed a little confused by it all and hardly ate any of their lunches!
After lunch, Fanny got the taxi car back to Antsirabe (with bike) while Franck and I had the long uphill ride home with a detour round some pretty lakes. WE left out a small section of the ride and only did 55 km but by this point we had both had enough, especially given i had a mans saddle. i did fair slightly better than Franck who had had to tie his fleece over his sadle half way home and had so me interesting sun burn!
Late afternoon we walked around some of the saturday markets in town, learning from oneof the pousse pousse drivers that our friendshad returned to the hotel at 3.30 am so we were quite glad not to have waited for them to do stuff in the morning!
On sunday, we wandered around the artisan market whch was fun and also the precious stone stalls. Seems you can get most stones of varying shapes and sizes and colouts to get set as various peices of jewellery at very low prices - so if anyone has any requests, let me know and i'll see what i can do. Export regulations seem to suggest we can export 1 kg of stones each!
Headed back to Tana in the afternoon, ate dinner in town before heading back to the accomodation!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Lake Itasy
Having had a bit of a cold at the end of last week i couldn't really face a weekend of kayaking and wild camping with Jen and Em so decided to go away with some of the other students that we are living with: 2 English med students, 2 french med students and 2 french nursing students.
We got a taxi brousse (sort of like a minibus but smaller and no leg room!) from Tana. The journey, heading west, took 3 hours but there was beautiful scenery all the way there. on arriving in Ampefy we found some lake side bungalows called the terrace. Everyone was pretty blown away by how stunning the surroundings were and we sat for a while on the veranda and watched the sun set on the little lake and all of the locals fishing from their piroges. We had an amazing meal in the terrace restaurant that evening and sampled the delights (or not) of various local flavoured rums, ranging from vanilla, ginger, pineapple, apple or house, with varying degrees of strength!!!!!!
Saturday morning started with breakfast in the sun on the veranda before heading off to see the chute de la lily (a local waterfall). 4 of the group decided to walk while 3 of us hired bikes. The bike itself was an experience - back to the days of cantilever breaks that actually may as well not have been fitted for the use they were when trying to stop!!! We cycled 4-5 km up the road along the side of lake Itasy (3rd largest lake in Madagascar), watching the locals swim, fish from piroges or just working in their paddy fields. Then the off road track started. It was by this stage that i was beginning to appreciate why i ride a full suspension bike when i go riding in the UK. The vibrations through the handle bars was very tiring, and actually managed to give one of the French boys blisters on his hands! We had to ask the way a few times when the track bifurcated and generally people were very helpful. There was one point however when some local boys pointed us down the wrong track. It didn't take us long to realise as the track was almost impossible to ride along due to the massive gulley's - guess they were just paying us back for refusing to take up their services as local guides!!!!! After about 5 km we had to leave our bikes with some locals and carry on one foot.
The falls themselves were very impressive and about 18m high. There is zip line that we could have taken across the waterfall but that experience will have to wait for another time.
The ride back from the falls was also eventful. No sooner had we set off than the saddle on my bike broke! The metal clamps that hold the saddle on to the seat post broke through the plastic of the saddle so i had to sit on the metal clamps all the way home, and i still have the bruises to prove it! Back at the bungalows we made use of the complimentary piroges. It was very entertaining watching everyone struggle to make them go in a straight line, in fact some of them just went round in circles!!!!! I think people were quite surprised and a little frustrated that i wasn't having such problems, especially as they had all taken the boats out in pairs and i had one by myself. Knowing how to use the paddle as a rudder and having on occasions paddled a open canoe may have helped with that!
Dinner that evening was a little disappointing, maybe because we had been spoilt the previous night, but having decided to try somewhere new, my poulet roti and chips turned out to be a chicken wing and few chips while vegetable soup turned out to contain meatballs - not great when the girls ordering it was a vegetarian!!! However we made up for it by returning to the previous nights restaurants for pudding - banana flamée. Having had such a small main course, pudding then extended to a a pancake as well much to everyone else's amusement - or maybe it was just the rum they were drinking again!!!!!
On Sunday morning we all headed off on foot for the island of the virgin Mary - which contrary to the title isn't an island but is attached by bit of land protruding out. The walk was very much like the Madagascar i had expected to see having read the guide books - the tracks were bright red mud and very dusty, surrounded by very lush vegetation and the lake side had many many paddy fields. Yet again the locals (all of whom seemed to be chewing sugar cane) greeted us and some even stopped us to a chat and we ended up having a short game of football with their young children, with the ball being made out of plastic bags and elastic bands all entwined.
There were stunning views over lakeItasy from the top of the hill on which the virgin Mary monument stood. All of the surrounding hills are extinct volcano's and the lake itself being one of the former craters. The walk back turned out to be slightly shorter for 3 of us. Since one of the girls had very sore feet we were lagging behind when we saw all of the locals taking a short cut across a very narrow path raised up across the paddy field. It was certainly an interesting deviation especially when we had to nip through someones garden at the other end (strangely they were only too happy to be accomodating) and the others were quite surprised to come across us in front of them when they finally caught us up after taking at least 20 minutes off the walk back!
Not sure that the trip back to Tana is one i want to repeat in a hurry - particularly with the taxi brousse driver that we had; Slightly hairy would probably be an understatement when describing the speed, over taking and the general driving on the wrong side of the road when approaching bends in order to get the racing line!!!
We got a taxi brousse (sort of like a minibus but smaller and no leg room!) from Tana. The journey, heading west, took 3 hours but there was beautiful scenery all the way there. on arriving in Ampefy we found some lake side bungalows called the terrace. Everyone was pretty blown away by how stunning the surroundings were and we sat for a while on the veranda and watched the sun set on the little lake and all of the locals fishing from their piroges. We had an amazing meal in the terrace restaurant that evening and sampled the delights (or not) of various local flavoured rums, ranging from vanilla, ginger, pineapple, apple or house, with varying degrees of strength!!!!!!
Saturday morning started with breakfast in the sun on the veranda before heading off to see the chute de la lily (a local waterfall). 4 of the group decided to walk while 3 of us hired bikes. The bike itself was an experience - back to the days of cantilever breaks that actually may as well not have been fitted for the use they were when trying to stop!!! We cycled 4-5 km up the road along the side of lake Itasy (3rd largest lake in Madagascar), watching the locals swim, fish from piroges or just working in their paddy fields. Then the off road track started. It was by this stage that i was beginning to appreciate why i ride a full suspension bike when i go riding in the UK. The vibrations through the handle bars was very tiring, and actually managed to give one of the French boys blisters on his hands! We had to ask the way a few times when the track bifurcated and generally people were very helpful. There was one point however when some local boys pointed us down the wrong track. It didn't take us long to realise as the track was almost impossible to ride along due to the massive gulley's - guess they were just paying us back for refusing to take up their services as local guides!!!!! After about 5 km we had to leave our bikes with some locals and carry on one foot.
The falls themselves were very impressive and about 18m high. There is zip line that we could have taken across the waterfall but that experience will have to wait for another time.
The ride back from the falls was also eventful. No sooner had we set off than the saddle on my bike broke! The metal clamps that hold the saddle on to the seat post broke through the plastic of the saddle so i had to sit on the metal clamps all the way home, and i still have the bruises to prove it! Back at the bungalows we made use of the complimentary piroges. It was very entertaining watching everyone struggle to make them go in a straight line, in fact some of them just went round in circles!!!!! I think people were quite surprised and a little frustrated that i wasn't having such problems, especially as they had all taken the boats out in pairs and i had one by myself. Knowing how to use the paddle as a rudder and having on occasions paddled a open canoe may have helped with that!
Dinner that evening was a little disappointing, maybe because we had been spoilt the previous night, but having decided to try somewhere new, my poulet roti and chips turned out to be a chicken wing and few chips while vegetable soup turned out to contain meatballs - not great when the girls ordering it was a vegetarian!!! However we made up for it by returning to the previous nights restaurants for pudding - banana flamée. Having had such a small main course, pudding then extended to a a pancake as well much to everyone else's amusement - or maybe it was just the rum they were drinking again!!!!!
On Sunday morning we all headed off on foot for the island of the virgin Mary - which contrary to the title isn't an island but is attached by bit of land protruding out. The walk was very much like the Madagascar i had expected to see having read the guide books - the tracks were bright red mud and very dusty, surrounded by very lush vegetation and the lake side had many many paddy fields. Yet again the locals (all of whom seemed to be chewing sugar cane) greeted us and some even stopped us to a chat and we ended up having a short game of football with their young children, with the ball being made out of plastic bags and elastic bands all entwined.
There were stunning views over lakeItasy from the top of the hill on which the virgin Mary monument stood. All of the surrounding hills are extinct volcano's and the lake itself being one of the former craters. The walk back turned out to be slightly shorter for 3 of us. Since one of the girls had very sore feet we were lagging behind when we saw all of the locals taking a short cut across a very narrow path raised up across the paddy field. It was certainly an interesting deviation especially when we had to nip through someones garden at the other end (strangely they were only too happy to be accomodating) and the others were quite surprised to come across us in front of them when they finally caught us up after taking at least 20 minutes off the walk back!
Not sure that the trip back to Tana is one i want to repeat in a hurry - particularly with the taxi brousse driver that we had; Slightly hairy would probably be an understatement when describing the speed, over taking and the general driving on the wrong side of the road when approaching bends in order to get the racing line!!!
Arrived in Antananarivo
We arrive in tana just over a week ago. We are staying in a big house that is a 5 minute walk from the military hospital which is quite convenient. There are 30 other french qnd english medical students living in the house. We are currently in a room for 10 people which is noisy to say the least. The bathroom facilities are also a little stretched with us sharing 3 showers and 2 toilets, but at least its a step up the ladder from our accomodation in tamatave.
During the 1st week, jen and i worked in internal medicine while em did A&E. Alot more of the medicine is in french here which is really very hard work for me but both Jen and Em seem to be picking things up very quickly given their better linguistic skills! The hospital is very different to that in tamatave as it is not a public hospital and everyone has to pay for their treatment. Despite the increased level of medical interventions available things are still very basic compared with western standards.
This week all 3 of us are working in a&e. This is going to involve me taking a history from someone in french as well as work out what treatment to given with very limited intervention from any of the doctors here. Just a little daunting. At least my 24 hour shift is tomorrow night so i can get it over and done with at the beginning of the week.
During the 1st week, jen and i worked in internal medicine while em did A&E. Alot more of the medicine is in french here which is really very hard work for me but both Jen and Em seem to be picking things up very quickly given their better linguistic skills! The hospital is very different to that in tamatave as it is not a public hospital and everyone has to pay for their treatment. Despite the increased level of medical interventions available things are still very basic compared with western standards.
This week all 3 of us are working in a&e. This is going to involve me taking a history from someone in french as well as work out what treatment to given with very limited intervention from any of the doctors here. Just a little daunting. At least my 24 hour shift is tomorrow night so i can get it over and done with at the beginning of the week.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Andisibe National Park
Having been out for a farewell meal on Friday night with our Malagasy host families, we left Tamatave on Saturday morning at 6.30 am! Just as we had arrived in torrential rain, we departed in similar conditions!!! We took a taxi brousse to the national park: the taxi was destined for tana but Jens host had convinced the drived to take us up to the national park which was only about 3km out of the way but a significant distance with all our luggage. Em and Jen, having not read the guide book, were adamant that the driver should take us to the gates of the national park rather than the village a further 1km up the road. Unfortunately i couldnt persuade them otherwise and it wasnt till the taxi had driven off that they realised why i had wanted to go to the village - that was where all the accomodation was! So with all our worldly goods and the worlds most uncomfortable rucksack we went off in search of accomodation, still in the pissing rain!!!!!
We found some very nice bungalows with hot showers that were reasonably priced, deposited our bags and headed off to the park, for what we hoped was a bit of lemur spotting!!! No such luck. the best time to see the lemurs is first thing in the morning as they sleep in the afternoons. So instead we had a walk round an orchid park where there were also a lots of chamelens and gheckos.
Despite being a very small village, the restuarant in the evening was packed with vazaha (white people)!!! The meals were also very good. We headed back for an early night as we had an early start on Sunday morning. Not sure I had factored being woken by the noctural lemurs calling to each other in the middle of the night and then finding it very hard to get back to sleep.
WE arrived at the park at 7 the next morning to see the lemurs. The tracks into the forest started out quite wide and gradually got narrower and narrower. There were lots of things to see and the guide was very good at pointing things out: for examples plants that are used as herbal medicine treatments for fatigue and rabies etc. During the 4 hour walk we came across 2 groups of Indri lemurs (this is the only park in madagascar where this very endangered species of lemur lives). They treated us to their morning song which was a very loud and eerie call but very distinctie as none of the other lemur species calls in this way. The 1st group were very content with eating their breakfast while the 2nd group were much more lively and were jumping around between trees above our heads.They looked a little like giant Koalas wearing panda suits!!! While we were out we also saw some of the nocturnal lemurs that were trying to sleep - not sure they were all that impressed to be woken up!!!!!
After the park we went off to catch a taxi to Moramanga - this is always a bit of a hit and miss activity if you want to get somewhere for a certain time since the taxis only leave once they are full. 2 hours later the taxi was full, but then proceeded to continue picking people up all the way to moramanga. There were 23 seats in the minibus sized taxi - there were at least 40 of us by the time we arrived in Moramanga!!! Rather entertainingly, 8 of the other people on the bus were french medical students working at the military hospital in Tana and they were living at the residency where we were headed for. Very convenient, because not only did they make sure that the taxi between moramanga and tana took all 11 of us before selling the last 3 seats but they then showed us to the accomodation in Tana!!!!!
We found some very nice bungalows with hot showers that were reasonably priced, deposited our bags and headed off to the park, for what we hoped was a bit of lemur spotting!!! No such luck. the best time to see the lemurs is first thing in the morning as they sleep in the afternoons. So instead we had a walk round an orchid park where there were also a lots of chamelens and gheckos.
Despite being a very small village, the restuarant in the evening was packed with vazaha (white people)!!! The meals were also very good. We headed back for an early night as we had an early start on Sunday morning. Not sure I had factored being woken by the noctural lemurs calling to each other in the middle of the night and then finding it very hard to get back to sleep.
WE arrived at the park at 7 the next morning to see the lemurs. The tracks into the forest started out quite wide and gradually got narrower and narrower. There were lots of things to see and the guide was very good at pointing things out: for examples plants that are used as herbal medicine treatments for fatigue and rabies etc. During the 4 hour walk we came across 2 groups of Indri lemurs (this is the only park in madagascar where this very endangered species of lemur lives). They treated us to their morning song which was a very loud and eerie call but very distinctie as none of the other lemur species calls in this way. The 1st group were very content with eating their breakfast while the 2nd group were much more lively and were jumping around between trees above our heads.They looked a little like giant Koalas wearing panda suits!!! While we were out we also saw some of the nocturnal lemurs that were trying to sleep - not sure they were all that impressed to be woken up!!!!!
After the park we went off to catch a taxi to Moramanga - this is always a bit of a hit and miss activity if you want to get somewhere for a certain time since the taxis only leave once they are full. 2 hours later the taxi was full, but then proceeded to continue picking people up all the way to moramanga. There were 23 seats in the minibus sized taxi - there were at least 40 of us by the time we arrived in Moramanga!!! Rather entertainingly, 8 of the other people on the bus were french medical students working at the military hospital in Tana and they were living at the residency where we were headed for. Very convenient, because not only did they make sure that the taxi between moramanga and tana took all 11 of us before selling the last 3 seats but they then showed us to the accomodation in Tana!!!!!
Friday, July 06, 2007
The medicine In Tamatave
We spent the first 2 weeks of our stay here working in a clinic on the outskirts of Tamatave. A majority of the work load was for children mainly who had infections of one sort or another. Unlike the UK all the children are treated as if the infection is bacterial and a whole random assortment are dealt out; All children with a cough get cotrimoxazole. In addition all of the children are treted for worms every 3 months as they have a big problem with it here.
All medications have to be paid for although they seem quite cheap by western standards: 1 antibiotic tablt costs 0.5 pence. Despite this there are many people who cannot afford the medication.
The second set of 2 weeks we have been in the local hospital, mainly in the paediatrics department. It is quite sad as there is usually at least 1 death per day. The treatments and investigations here are very limited which doesnt help. However the single most common problem is that people dont bring there kids in till they are very very sick because they are worried about the cost since many cannot afford to pay. For example 1 child was taken to their GP in january and diagnosed with meningitis, given a prescription for antibiotics but the parents couldnt afford the antibiotics. 6 months on the child has the most enourmous hydrocephalus (water on the brain). The child needs to go to tana to have a shunt put in to drain it but the parents cannot afford the 4000 arary bus cost of getting there (3500 arary = 1 pound). So we are currently giving it antibiotics and draining 50 ml of fluid off its brain every few days knowing full well that its not going to cure the problem, confounded by the fact the parents have now run out of money for antibiotics. Thats a pretty standard example of medicine here.
All patients have to provide someone to stay with them and look after them, as well as providing all the sheets for the bed and implements to eat with and out of. the relatives then fetch rice in their own saucepans from the hospital canteen.
In addition its not helped by malagasy beliefs - if the parents dont think the newborn children will survive they dont buy it clothes, medicines etc etc.
All medications have to be paid for although they seem quite cheap by western standards: 1 antibiotic tablt costs 0.5 pence. Despite this there are many people who cannot afford the medication.
The second set of 2 weeks we have been in the local hospital, mainly in the paediatrics department. It is quite sad as there is usually at least 1 death per day. The treatments and investigations here are very limited which doesnt help. However the single most common problem is that people dont bring there kids in till they are very very sick because they are worried about the cost since many cannot afford to pay. For example 1 child was taken to their GP in january and diagnosed with meningitis, given a prescription for antibiotics but the parents couldnt afford the antibiotics. 6 months on the child has the most enourmous hydrocephalus (water on the brain). The child needs to go to tana to have a shunt put in to drain it but the parents cannot afford the 4000 arary bus cost of getting there (3500 arary = 1 pound). So we are currently giving it antibiotics and draining 50 ml of fluid off its brain every few days knowing full well that its not going to cure the problem, confounded by the fact the parents have now run out of money for antibiotics. Thats a pretty standard example of medicine here.
All patients have to provide someone to stay with them and look after them, as well as providing all the sheets for the bed and implements to eat with and out of. the relatives then fetch rice in their own saucepans from the hospital canteen.
In addition its not helped by malagasy beliefs - if the parents dont think the newborn children will survive they dont buy it clothes, medicines etc etc.
Last weekend in Tamatave
Our last weekend in Tamatave proved to be quite different to that which we may have anticipated!!!!
On the Friday lunchtime we had a phone call from Marc who was the englishman who owned the restaurant in foulepoint the previous weekend. We arranged to meet up for lunch and ended up going to the Bateau Ivre which is Tamataves poshest restaurants!! It turns out that his dad and step mum own the restaurant so we had a very posh lunch with them. They then invited us back for dinner with them. We returned for dinner where we also met the american couple who had set up the local captive breeding programme for lemurs and also the english couple who currently run the park. It was a very nice evening with massive platters of delicious fruits de mer and very very nice puddings!!! We stayed at their house on Friday night which had all the mod cons of living in western society.
The best thing about it all was the warm water on tap - I would like to say that Jen and I had had hot showers but hosed down with hot water would be a more accurate description after Em had managed to break their shower. Quite how we'll never know but she claims it fell apart in her hands!!!
On the saturday we went out to the lemur reserve. It was a 4 km walk from the main road where the taxi dropped us but the walk was very interesting with a local village where all the children greeted us as we passed through. There was a local quarry as all the locals were sat by the side of the road chipping big rocks down into stones 1 to 2 cm big ready for collection. There was also lots of beautiful plants and the road ran up the side of the river.
The park itself contained lemurs that were being bred in captivity as well as lemurs that had been released into the wild. In the late afternoon they all came down from the tree canopys and got really close. 1 cheeky lemur squeezed through the mesh into the enclosure with some captive lemurs in (the holes in the mesh being no larger than the palm of my hand). It then ate all the food in the pot and promptly left again. Another one was in the tree about 0.5 m above our head and held down its hand as if to touch us!!!!! There were also tortoises, cameleons and snakes in the park, although thankfully all the snakes here were captive!
We had a very amusing ride home in a very old renault 5 van with wooden bench seats in the back. Jen and I were too talk and kept hitting our heads on the ceiling so sat at the back with our heads stuicking out the top since the back door and ceiling didnt meet by about 40 cm. We had just dropped Em off and were on our way back to Jens when the van broke down among much smoke etc coming out of the engine. It was at this point we decided to walk the rest of the way!!!
The roads around tamatave are far far worse than any of the roads out of town come across out here. There are the most enormous holes in the road and all the vehicles, bikes, lorrys and pousse pousse swerve around all over the road to avoid the worst of the holes. As it rains so much here, the holes are often very large puddles so quite often end up wadding through them when they stretch all the way across the road. According to the locals the president and the tamatave mayor dont get on so the president has given no money for the upkeep of the city for many years which is why the roads are so bad. Apparently the mayor has just been put in prison and replaced so hopefully things will improve here soon.
On the Friday lunchtime we had a phone call from Marc who was the englishman who owned the restaurant in foulepoint the previous weekend. We arranged to meet up for lunch and ended up going to the Bateau Ivre which is Tamataves poshest restaurants!! It turns out that his dad and step mum own the restaurant so we had a very posh lunch with them. They then invited us back for dinner with them. We returned for dinner where we also met the american couple who had set up the local captive breeding programme for lemurs and also the english couple who currently run the park. It was a very nice evening with massive platters of delicious fruits de mer and very very nice puddings!!! We stayed at their house on Friday night which had all the mod cons of living in western society.
The best thing about it all was the warm water on tap - I would like to say that Jen and I had had hot showers but hosed down with hot water would be a more accurate description after Em had managed to break their shower. Quite how we'll never know but she claims it fell apart in her hands!!!
On the saturday we went out to the lemur reserve. It was a 4 km walk from the main road where the taxi dropped us but the walk was very interesting with a local village where all the children greeted us as we passed through. There was a local quarry as all the locals were sat by the side of the road chipping big rocks down into stones 1 to 2 cm big ready for collection. There was also lots of beautiful plants and the road ran up the side of the river.
The park itself contained lemurs that were being bred in captivity as well as lemurs that had been released into the wild. In the late afternoon they all came down from the tree canopys and got really close. 1 cheeky lemur squeezed through the mesh into the enclosure with some captive lemurs in (the holes in the mesh being no larger than the palm of my hand). It then ate all the food in the pot and promptly left again. Another one was in the tree about 0.5 m above our head and held down its hand as if to touch us!!!!! There were also tortoises, cameleons and snakes in the park, although thankfully all the snakes here were captive!
We had a very amusing ride home in a very old renault 5 van with wooden bench seats in the back. Jen and I were too talk and kept hitting our heads on the ceiling so sat at the back with our heads stuicking out the top since the back door and ceiling didnt meet by about 40 cm. We had just dropped Em off and were on our way back to Jens when the van broke down among much smoke etc coming out of the engine. It was at this point we decided to walk the rest of the way!!!
The roads around tamatave are far far worse than any of the roads out of town come across out here. There are the most enormous holes in the road and all the vehicles, bikes, lorrys and pousse pousse swerve around all over the road to avoid the worst of the holes. As it rains so much here, the holes are often very large puddles so quite often end up wadding through them when they stretch all the way across the road. According to the locals the president and the tamatave mayor dont get on so the president has given no money for the upkeep of the city for many years which is why the roads are so bad. Apparently the mayor has just been put in prison and replaced so hopefully things will improve here soon.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Independence day
We ended up having a 4 day weekend since independence day was on Tuesday 26th June. We went down to the beach on the Monday night and watched fireworks that were set off over the sea. It was absolutely rammed with people. The roads were also busier than I have seen them before. We got a cyclo posse home (richshaw thing pulled by a bike) which was eventful to say the least - the rider fell off twice, was almost knocked off by several cars, his brakes on the bike didnt work so stopping in the traffic jam with a trailor on the back was interesting. The final straw was the blow out puncture we had on the pousse at which point we got out to walk.
The independence day celebrations involved whatching alot of people, service men and local workers be honoured - they gqve out over 220 medals.................. They then a procession of lots of groups of people including school children, scouts, police, health care workers the disabled etc etc. It was topped off with a very nice lunch at Moniqes house and we then spent the afternoon waiting for some perormance to start............ African time though as was supposed to start at 3 ans still hadnt at 5.15 when we gave up waiting.
Hope everyone at home is well and surviving the flooding. Hope yur head doesnt hurt too much today Si and that u dont get left with too bad a scar for the wedding photos!!!!!!!!! (Having problems accessing uni email so if you want to mail me use sarahlouisepotter at gmail dot com
The independence day celebrations involved whatching alot of people, service men and local workers be honoured - they gqve out over 220 medals.................. They then a procession of lots of groups of people including school children, scouts, police, health care workers the disabled etc etc. It was topped off with a very nice lunch at Moniqes house and we then spent the afternoon waiting for some perormance to start............ African time though as was supposed to start at 3 ans still hadnt at 5.15 when we gave up waiting.
Hope everyone at home is well and surviving the flooding. Hope yur head doesnt hurt too much today Si and that u dont get left with too bad a scar for the wedding photos!!!!!!!!! (Having problems accessing uni email so if you want to mail me use sarahlouisepotter at gmail dot com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
