Craziest Day Ever!

So we had our lemur study trip this weekend in Ifotaka. We spent three nights and four days camping in the spiny desert studying different field research methods. We observed lemur behavior, habitats and population densities with various research methods. I got to see a pack of ringtail lemurs kick a pair of Sifaka lemurs out of a euphorbious tree. It was pretty cool. The forest here is very spinney, hence the name. Nearly all of the trees have spines covering them, and three are lots of cactus and spike filled bushes. That combined with the intense heat and sun make it a very rugged climate to spend 4 days in. We also didn’t have the best water source. Just after swimming in our grimy water hole I saw a heard of Zebu cattle walk up and poop in the water. We were also getting our drinking water (that we boiled and iodized before drinking, thank god) from a 2 foot deep well, about 5 feet from the edge of the pond. I decided to rinse off with some boiled water after I saw that. Other than the water situation (drinking rice flavored hot water in the desert is definitely a “character building experience”) it was a lot of fun. We also learned some sweet field science methods.

The last day of the trip was probably the craziest day of my life. I am going to keep this short because the story is way better in person. This is the brief synopsis. I woke up, killed a chicken that we had brought to eat for lunch, had 7 parasitic sand felas removed from my feet with a safety pin and a tweezers, studied Lemur habitats, swam in Zebu shit, was stung by a scorpion, was healed by a vodo witch doctor, took lots of western meds, and was almost feed the scorpion’s tail as medicine. It was freaking crazy, ask me about it some time.

Now we are back in Fort Dauphan. We leave for the village stay on Sunday. I am going to be staying in a village of all Malagasy and no French speaking natives. It will be just me and one other girl from the program, Elizabeth, someone who I am friends with, though not one of my closest friends in the group, it should be good to get to know her. I don’t know if that was a real sentence. Anyway the town is a fishing town in the south, only a few km from the ocean and I might get to go fishing in a dugout canoe. I am also pumped to learn the local dance as well. We leave on Sunday and get back the next Saturday. For my ISP I am thinking of studying carbon preserve construction methods in the tropical rain forest carbon preserve in the north (Makira) and then applying it to a literal forrest 2 days drive down the coast (Foule Point near Tamatave). Either that or studying wilderness recreation and how it could be used to teach middle class Malagasy to look at the forests as more than a resource but as something with intrinsic value.