Tsy tiaku moka/Tsy taiku moka

Translation : (“si tia-ku mooka”) I don’t like mosquitos/ (“si thai-ku mooka”) I don’t defecate mosquitos.

Tip: don’t get them confused. People look at you funny.

Well, I have been in Madagascar for about a week, and it already feels like a lifetime. Skipping through the plane ride (though the Reunion Island was lovely, and I wouldn’t mind actually spending some time there), I got to Tana (shortened from Antananarivo) feeling completely knackered. First impressions – Tanzania! While I think that Tana has more charm than Dar, spreading over a series of hills, the headquarters of MBP were a posher version of the HQ in Dar.

The drive down to Kianjivato (“Kian-zivatu”) was a snapshot of the country in a number of ways – first, I kept on dozing off so every alert moment was discontinuous with the former, and secondly it brought us from the high plateau of Tana through the meandering hills/mountains, to the lovely area of Ranomafana (“Ranu-mafana”- as you may have gathered o’s sound like u’s here), which is one of the biggest national parks in Mad.

Before rambling on, quick facts:

• Mad has the highest rice to person ratio… and imports 40% of it.
• Since the 2009 coup, there are 4 presidents, and over 120 political parties… not so stable.
• I have seen in a single tree, two species of lemur that both are on the 25 most endangered animal list.
• There is an aye aye project starting here. So not only will I see an aye aye, but I may even get to touch one! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH – very excited Helene.
• Mosquitoes suck balls. Fact.

Camp – I’m within biking distance of a small town, but 2 hours away from internet. It’s a posher version of the one in TZ, still bucket showers at the moment, and a lovely long drop for a toilet, but with grand designs for the future (think deck, bread machine, solar powered showers and a blender). I sleep in a sleeping bag, in a tent, in a box, just like a little Russian doll. As predicted, rice, rice, and a little bit more rice. There is a bit of novelty in that we have some meat, and, get ready for it: rice for breakfast…mmmmmmmmmm...

As for the work, it goes like this: imagine the steepest hills you can, like the one from Swanpool to Gylly for the Cornish folks, fill them with dirt, vines, thorns, spiderwebs, diagonal trees and whatnot. Then try to run through them at top speed while staring up at the treetops to see black and white flying squirrel/cat hybrids (or black and white ruffed lemurs) jump/sail swiftly from one to the other. It’s quite dry at the moment, so "feasible", but I think that the rainy season may more be along the lines of a board of "Snakes and Ladders"… Especially since currently the lemurs seem to be testing the new recruits' stamina by going straight up the hill, picking at a leaf, then deciding that actually the one at the bottom was much nicer. Oh yes, and you have to know where they are at all times seeing as every five minutes for 2 hours you have to note what they are doing. And this up to 4 times a day.

Now don’t get me wrong, like all animals, after a bit of running about, they rest and sunbathe (and I can't wait to get a good picture of them sunbathing); so sometimes you sit for hours at a time in one spot, staring at this little dude sleeping… while munching on bread, peanuts or petit beurre, talking shit, or learning Malagasy. And icing on the cake:unlike all the other behaviour studies I’ve done before, lemurs don’t seem to give a shit about how much noise you make.

The two girls who started this out, (having followed the little buggers for 10 weeks), are heading out today, leaving Megan and I completely to our own devices for the next 6 weeks until Ed comes back with 7 people including a 12 yr old American, a professional photographer, two other crazy people working on Prolemur simus for 9 months,… but until then, it will just be us two and a bunch of Malagasys (Malagasys, not people Simon). Way to land in the deep end. Hopefully, if we don’t die in between, we’ll be coming back to town (though one on the beach, woop!) on the 9^th, a day after my birthday with perhaps some slightly more exhilarating stories than “how to make your life go completely topsy turvy within two weeks”.

P.S. Mail should go through, packages apparently less so… Phone calls are to be pre-arranged using my O2 number (text) to set a date and time (preferably between 5 and 7 UK time), and calling my lovely little Malagash number: +261 344 168 650, and emails can be sent ad lib, but don’t expect a hasty answer. Also, skype without (maybe with) video will also be available at times... talk to me people!

P.P.S. GIANT LAND SNAILS!!!!