Market Day

Here are a few pictures of my market in Vondrozo on market day.

Weathering the Storm



            This past week I experienced my first big storm in Madagascar as tropical storm Chedza passed across the island. A storm formed in the Mozambique Channel and crossed the island, exiting in the SudEst.  The storm caused fourteen deaths, displaced tens of thousands, and caused countless damage in Madagascar.  Many parts of the SudEst, mainly the coastal areas, were flooded up to the roofs of the houses.  I myself, living in Vondrozo, did not have to worry about flooding as much since my area is very hilly and most of the water simply flows down.  This flow of water does cause one major problem, which was the cause of most of the deaths, and that is mudslides.  There was only one major mudslide in Vondrozo and although it did not injure anyone it blocked the road into town.  The

Tratry ny Taona!

Tratry ny taona (Happy New Years)! This week I brought in my first New Years in Madagascar.  I spent a few days with some of my friends in Loharano, a resort 30 miles north of Manakara.  It is located on the shore of a lagoon on one side, with the ocean only a minute walk on the opposite side.  The water level in the lagoon, we were told was not normal, was very low; it only came up to our knees when we were in it, which was great.  We were able to take advantage of the water level being so low by playing a few games of ultimate Frisbee in the water.  The ocean, on the other hand, was a different story.  It has to be the strongest ocean I have ever been in.  The water level

A Tropical Christmas

            I have been asked to write what I did for Christmas in Madagascar, but since I did not do much this post will be short.  Having spent the week previous to Christmas in Tana on a business trip, I spent the day before Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Eve itself in a hellish attempt to try and make it back to Vondrozo for Christmas.  There were no brusses going from Tana to the Sud Est, which is unusual, so I caught what would be the last brusse out to Fianar.  Arriving in Fianar the following morning, Christmas Eve, I found out that there were no more spots on the brusses going to Farafangana, but was able to find one seat going to Manakara.  So calling ahead to Manakara, where
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