January 2010 Pioneer Diary 1: Touching down in Madagascar

Posted on 02 February 2010

Touching down in Madagascan soil for the first time truly feels like you’ve entered a special and unique place. From the slightly hair raising walk across the tarmac into the smallest arrival hall you can imagine…everything is spectacularly different from home, especially the beautiful sunshine! We met at Antananarivo airport ready to spend the night, before heading down to Fort Dauphin in the south the next day. We relished the last bed we would be in for a while…it was bliss!

Once at the Azafady campsite in Fort Dauphin, with our tents up, we really started to settle in (little tip if you go on Pioneer -you tend not to have to carry your stuff too far so you can pack a roomy tent for extra comfort!)

The camp and facilities were better than we expected, even luxurious some might say! We woke to a breakfast of bread, bananas, condensed milk and honey, then once we were settled, a delightful morning of ‘poo’ packing awaited us [packing soil for tree-planting] - becomes quite an art and all will become clear when you get here!

The next few days blew wonderfully by, a mixture of presentations from Azafady covering everything from their sustainable development projects to the dangers of dehydration and ‘perashis’ - one treat you will have to find out about once you get here. We got stuck into the art of bench making for the schools in the area - trust us your hammering, sawing and mailing skills will become second to none as an Azafady volunteer - if they aren’t already!

A few more days of rice and beans went by before the short term volunteers arrived (after a delay in Nairobi airport) to join us, and we all set off for the village of Ebikika to build our school after a short delay due to an impromptu bridge reconstruction.

It was fantastic to be out in the bush camping in the Chief of Ebikika’s back garden (All be it on a 45 degree angle…..and back to basics with the bucket showers and collecting water from the well!). Before the school building could begin we were welcomed with a song and dance by the local women’s organisation, and then invited into the Chiefs home for a very humbling welcome, from a genuinely humble man.

The build started with a vengeance and soon started to take shape.

After the first weeks work, we were treated to a party by the villagers, with a local band and dancers rocking the Malagasy rhythms and impossible dance moves well beyond the limits of ordinary human stamina! It really has to be seen to be appreciated…and of course audience participation goes without saying so remember your dancing shoes….!

The next day, our day off, we headed to the nearby village of Eshwihee to see the conservation volunteers and spend some much needed relaxing time on the beach. We travelled by dug out canoe down the river, a majestic journey punctuated by the very real possibility of a capsizing - as we desperately tried to master the balance it takes to ride in one of the traditional canoes!

All in all, the last two weeks are hard to put into words, but we will continue to try as we soak up all the goodness this place exudes everywhere we go…..