Tana to Tamatave

I awoke with a start to the sound of my alarm clock. For a moment I felt totally disorientated, then I remembered. I was in Madagascar! It was 5am and I just had time for a quick shower before leaving for the airport. Today I was going on to the city of Tamatave (also known as Toamasina).

The MFG office is in Tamatave and the conservation programme takes place at two sites – Parc Ivoloina (about 12 km north of Tamatave) and Betampona Special Nature Reserve (about 50 km further on from Ivoloina). My plan was to spend a couple of nights in a Tamatave hotel while I settled into the Madagascar way of life and purchased some supplies, then to move on to Ivoloina, where I would stay at the MFG’s International Conservation Training Centre. During my time there I hoped to travel up to Betampona for four days, meeting up with the MFG’s Research Director, Dr. Karen Freeman (who is also a great friend). Karen was scheduled to give me a tour of the projects currently taking place in and around the reserve. I would then return to Ivoloina in plenty of time for the annual meeting.

The flight to Tamatave took just 45 minutes. From the air I could see the depressing extent of the environmental degradation which threatens so many species with extinction. Signs of tavy (slash and burn) and illegal logging were common. As we approached the airport the plane banked steeply over the Indian Ocean. Such a vivid blue! Far below I could see many of the little fishing boats called pirogues.

MFG driver Dada kindly collected me from the airport and drove me to my hotel. Hotel Ocean 501 is right by the Indian Ocean and I had a wonderful view of the beach from my room. There was a cooling breeze which gave some very welcome respite from the 30C plus heat.

I was joined on the terrace for lunch by MFG Programme Manager Maya Moore and the ecoagriculture programme coordinator Christof den Biggelaar. We chatted about some of the current projects and discussed future plans. Maya also shared some worrying news – Karen (who was overseeing research at Betampona and who was also to be my host at the reserve) had fallen and injured her leg. Karen suspected that it was broken and the team were trying to find a way of getting her down for emergency medical treatment. Betampona is at a high altitude and is pretty isolated. There are no roads and access is via a long and very steep climb. It might be necessary to airlift her out. Maya promised to keep me informed as and when she received further news.
After lunch we went to the MFG office and I met some of the Malagasy team. It was so lovely to meet people about whom I have read in reports and newsletters. Christof was going into town to buy some supplies and he invited me to go along so he could show me where to go and how to get around. He hailed a ‘pousse-pousse’ which is like a rickshaw pulled by a bicycle and we took the main road into Tamatave centre. The roadsides were crammed with stalls selling fruit, car parts, furniture, newspapers – everything you could think of! It was very busy. 2000 Ariary got us to the town centre and then we walked. We went to the supermarket and also the market, where there was so much lovely fresh produce: pineapples, mangoes, watermelons and several fruits that I have never seen before. Christof then decided that the best way for me to find my feet was to leave me to explore and to make my own way back! I felt rather overwhelmed by the strangeness of everything initially but it was no use getting into a panic. I took a deep breath and struck out on my own. I felt ridiculously pleased with myself when I found the post office and bought some stamps. Tomorrow I must get some postcards. I managed to flag down a pousse-pousse and used a mixture of sign language and poor French to ask the driver to take me back to my hotel. It did feel a bit nerve-wracking at first but to my relief I recognised several landmarks en route and I arrived safely. I now felt more confident about getting around and despite all the cautionary tales in my guidebook I had so far experienced only courtesy, friendliness and honesty from the Malagasy people.
That evening I dined on fresh grilled fish washed down with local beer before retiring to my room. Just as I figured out how to put up the mosquito net all the lights went out (not an unusual event I soon discovered. I am therefore writing my diary to flickering light powered from a very noisy generator that appears to be sited right outside my bedroom window!
I’m exhausted after an eventful day so I don’t think it will keep me awake. Tomorrow I must venture into town to buy supplies for my stay at Ivoloina.