Lots and Lots of Photos!!

Lunch at the Snorkeling Spot, Tani Kelley, (Barracuda, Zebu/Beef, Coconut Rice, and Potato Salad)

A Lemur Friend from Tani Kelley

 Forest Friends

 On Top of the Mt. Passot

 I think he was eyeing the banana in my hand

 The photogenic children of Madagascar

 Daily evening boat ride from Ampangorina (the local village we taught at)

back to camp

 The photogenic animals of Madagascar

 Sitting in the village getting ready to teach

 Local restaurant in Ampangorina

Landvest selfie in front of tsingy rock formations 

at the north of mainland Madagascar

 Kitten checking out my GoPro!

 Snorkeling with Sea Turtles!

This kid walked up to us with a chameleon on a stick!

The chameleon then proceeded to climb all over us :)

Update from the United States

Hey everybody,

I made it back home in one piece (and with all my luggage!) and it feels very surreal. 10 weeks ago, I was on a tropical island 11000 miles away, and it feels like yesterday. I would like to thank everyone that helped me get there and back (and kept me alive while in the country) :) The trip has been an incredible experience and I hope to be able to return to the country sometime. Madagascar is truly a tropical paradise!

I will attach some more pictures from the trip, now that they have been downloaded to my computer. Look forward to a lot of pictures!

Sam

Update as a forester

Hey everyone,

I'm officially in the forest program! I did a bird survey yesterday and now I'm doing a walk to the top of Lokobe today! My toe is healing successfully and I am able to do everything again. My cold is pretty much gone, but I am still making sure I'm drinking plenty of water.

I am learning a lot of common and scientific names for various species and will have a test on them, probably next week.

I had a really fun time at the resort last weekend and was able to get a really good nights rest on a very comfortable bed. The breakfast was fantastic (and included); and, it was the first time I've had fried eggs since I've been here. I also visited an art bazzar and bought several cool things (surprises of course).

Next weekend I think I am going to go quad biking one more time, and split it this time to make it cheaper. There are quite a few of us that want to do it, so it should be a pretty fun weekend.

I will update later with pictures.

Love,

Sam

Photos 2

Photos

Update Part 2

This update consists mainly of answers to some of Kevin's questions, as a lot of them are either questions you can Google or are plain ridiculous.

As for this weekend, I think I will have to make 2 trips to Hellvile, due to my toe. I will make sure to record all of my fees incurred by this incident in my phone in order to get as much of it back as possible.

If I ever return to a place like this, I want it to be in a similar capacity, since now I know how expensive tourist trips can be. I really can't believe that my trip is more than half over already, but I am excited in some aspects to come home.

From my experience the past couple of weeks, I think I am going to taxi Busse to TNR. Most of the new people we got two weeks ago did that and I don't think Air Madagascar are running any flights at this point. Taxi Busse is also apparently a good way to see the landscape, which can be exciting.

Whilst quad biking, me and my friends found a restaurant/resort that we are going to stay at next weekend. We got a deal with the owner to stay there for $15 for the night, which includes breakfast. That Sunday as well is a music festival that could be a dud, but its free so we will probably check it out.

The camp is probably 60% meat eaters and 40% veggie, many of who are only veggie because the meat option sometimes lacks in veggie. They have been giving us more vegetables, so I don't think I will be switching.

I have bought some things in the local villages and Hellvile, but that will remain a secret until a later time :). I know where I'm going to get my vanilla and possibly pressious stones, but am waiting until later to get those.

The Landvest hat has yet to come into pictures but I do plan on getting pictures in it so stay tuned. (Maybe a lemur selfie?)

Love you all,

Sam

Update Part 1

Hey everyone,

Let's start this one with an update about my toe. I think I will have to continue doing teaching for a while since I'm not allowed to get it wet or put shoes on still.

This weekend, my plan is to stay in Hellvile for Saturday and come home on the boat at 4. Sunday I was going to stay in camp, but I have to go to the doctors again. I am recording all of my visits and am going to have them sign something to give to travel insurance.

I did buy flip flops and I think they will last until the end because they seem to be pretty sturdy. I am going to update the blog right after this with a pictures only (if WiFi will let me).

My favorite food so far has to be a banana curry I had with some grilled chicken and vegetables. So far, I have not gotten sick from any food, so keep fingers crossed. I have also had some fantastic seafood and fresh squeezed juices.

The stars are incredible (one of many things I will miss when I come home). I do use my phone a lot to look at constellations and am starting to learn the locations of them and planets in the southern hemisphere.

Looks for part 2 and 3 to come very soon!

Love,

Samuel

July Update

Hey everybody,

I just got back from the hospital and not a lot of new news on the toe. It's clean and the infection looks like its going away. I have to change the bandages every few days and go back to the doctor in a week. I also see that dad sent me an email about 3 days ago, so I will answer his  questions (and add detail of my own).

I didn't hike up the mountain on because I'm not supposed to do any hiking or walking with socks or  shoes. I just bought sandals in Hellvile for 20000 that will hopefully last the rest of the time. The sandals I brought ripped a few days ago, so I bought flip flops.

Lemur fur (or at least their hand) is like a soft felt, and really tiny. It was really fun to hold :) The roof of my hut is wood. It has rained the last few nights, but not at all during the day. I just bought Betadine for my toe at the pharmacy for 8700, so I will use that instead of polysporine to clean it. I haven't asked about a taxi to Tana yet, but I know how to get one and who to ask.

I am in the southern hemisphere, which means I get to see a whole new set of constellations in the night sky and planets I would normally not be able to see. The toilet water does not spin the opposite way here because it doesn't spin. When you flush, its filled with water vertically and drained.

I'm not sure on the height of the mountain, but I know the water is about 22-25 C. It's a lot more pleasant than the Pacific to swim for a long time in and a lot safer (less massive waves). The coral is very sharp and so are the sea urchins (which are the ones that will really injure you if you step on them). The coral is a myriad of colors and is very beautiful.

I have seen the same snake twice now, the hognose snake (leohederidon madagascarisis). It is the only poisonous snake near us, and the poison only is enough to give you a bad headache for a few days. There is a huge European tourist population, but especially at bars, where you will see old French men with Malagasy girls (mid 20s some of them). Finally, I have talked to the police. I was stopped when quad biking, but just had to show my passport. Our taxis have been stopped several times, where the driver just bribes them and moves on.

I haven't seen a bill for July, but I will email Kyle and check. I will keep you all updated with my toe as well.

Love,

Sam

Photos

Update

Hey everyone,

I'm sitting in the hospital, waiting for a doctor to look at my foot. I let it dry out, so it looks a little better. I should be able to get some stronger antibiotics for it, cause it does look a little swollen.

Enough about my injury... The rest of last week went really well. I'm glad I'm switching to forest, so I can get a different viewpoint for five weeks, and I'm really excited to start hiking (once my foot heals). I haven't been able to do a lot of hiking since my program limits me to go to certain areas, so this is very exciting.

The camp itself is really put together well. We just had a new person move in to our hut and expect 1 more, so space is going to be tight for a few weeks. The food is really good, but I am lacking in vegetables occasionally, so I am going to buy some canned corn or beans at the supermarket in Hellville when I get the chance.

The dri-fit clothing is incredible, and I have only had to wash my clothes once. You can pay for the staff to do it, but since it is just adding laundry soap, water, and a little elbow grease, I didn't need any help.

Last weekend I went quad biking around the island (Nosy Be) and went up the mountain (Mt pasad I think, spelling is incorrect for sure). Ben, the German guy I went with, flew his drone and I took some really cool photos. I meant to use my GoPro, however, it was not charged. If I go again with other people, I will for sure capture some cool footage.

Attached are photos from 2 weekends ago, so enjoy!

Until next time,

Sam

Update from late June

Hey guys,

I don't know when this will go through, but its almost July and boy have the weeks flown by! I'm almost done with my teaching program already, and getting ready to start my forest one.

Teaching has been really fun! The kids are very cute and I'm getting to know them better. I'm learning more Malagasy phrases to help me fit in better and getting to know the locals in the village.

I went to the lemur park (one of them) and saw some wild lemurs as well as a 200 year old tortoise named Napoleon. I also went to Tana Kelley to go snorkeling and caught some really cool GoPro footage.

I'm planning to go into Hellville again this weekend so I will talk to you guys then or sooner. My phone is about to die and I want to get this out before that happens.

Veloma,

Samuel

Restaurant in Ampangorina

Hey Everybody,

I'm writing this to you from a restaurant in Ampang, the largest of the villages on Nosy Kamba where a lot of the teaching takes place. I was supposed to be in class right now, but they have exams for their other classes so I don't have class until 4 pm local time (6 hours from now). I'm finding its pretty common for classes to be canceled (that is, have 2/3 of the kids classes) for various reasons.

Tomorrow I should be going to Hellville to make money and get my passport copy verified. I will be getting 500 MB so I should be able to do hangouts and update blog more regularly.

The weekend was really fun. I went to Nosy Be with a bunch of people and we hiked to a waterfall (I used my GoPro for the first time!) and we hung out on the beach and found a really cheap place to stay as well as our new favorite restaurant in Ambadaluk (the town near Hell vile). We will probably go to Hellville again this weekend to hangout because it has a lot of good places to eat.

I will keep taking lots of pictures and make sure to use my gopro when I go Snorkeling.

Talk to you guys later,

Sam

Mbola Tsara!

Wow! What a start to this trip! I apologize for not updating this. Im sitting in Hellvile at a restaurant where there is WiFi, so I can actually update this. If I have time before my teaching today I probably will go buy data from one of the many orange shops in Hellvile.

I love the teaching program! The kids (mostly) are well behaved and the village where I am teaching is really cool. There are lots of food to buy and lots of cool handcarved items. Everything is handmade and sew and pretty cheap too! Today I'm teaching the staff at the CNRO (the oceanographic institute) and kids at a school on Nosy Be. The other village is on Nosy Komba and is just a short hike over the rocks and beach.

I'm making lots of friends at camp and have two French Canadian and a Scottish roommates. I have to speak mostly English in class but I have speaking French with some people at camp. I think of a bunch of us are going to go to Nosy Be this weekend and explore the island,and maybe go to a place known for seeing turtles. I have yet to see a lemur but when I do I'll have either camera with me.

The food is really good at camp and we get meat or fish everyday, which is also really good. I had some doughnut like stuff in the village for really cheap (200 Ariary) where was also the place that I found they have as low as 100 Ariary (I will try to bring back some with me for collecting)

This trip so far has been incredible and a true culture shock. I learned like 70% of the country lives on less than 2 dollars a day. I have been learning some Malagasy phrases to help me look less like a vazahar (white person, not sure if I spelled it right).

A plus tard,

Samuel

Hotel in Tana

Last night was my first night in Madagascar. I arrived at the hotel at about 1 am and even driving thru the capital for 5 minutes was a massive cultural shock. Houses lines the road to the hotel and there were people on the streets, even at this time. This morning I will take a plane from Tana to Nosy Be and be picked up my organization!

Until then,

Samuel

P.S. The picture is my room in Tana

Bonjour!

Hey everybody! I'm currently sitting in the Paris after the 2 hours of looking for my gate. It was fun to look over France as I flew into CDG. The towns and houses looked almost fake, the way they all fit together in each town.

I have about 1 hour until I leave and about 11-12 hours until I'm in Madagascar! I will try to Hangout or Hangout call when I'm in my Hotel in Tana.

Au revoir,

Samuel

Pre-Departure

Hey everybody, this is my first post! Thank you all for doing so much work for Team Sam! I should be posting to this once or twice a week.

Samuel