A few Days in Fianar(antsoa)

Back in Fianarantsoa (Fianar, for short) after 4 nights at Ranomafana, I met up with Ernesto, one

of the Peace Corps Volunteers I met in Tana. He took me to a local bar to listen to a local band play and to meet some other volunteers and a variety of other foreigners living in the area. After several hours of trying the local beers, we headed off to the town’s hottest nightclub where, fortunately, I was denied entry due to my inappropriate dress. Apparently dirty shorts, smelly socks, and torn sneakers just didn’t cut it to gain entry. Happy to have been turned away, I stumbled back out to the street, hailed a cab, and headed back to the hotel. I spent the following day walking up through Fianar’s Old Town and then met up again with Ernesto who took me to the Peace Corps meva (rest house). I headed back to the hotel, armed with a 2-liter of coke and four packs of wafer cookies, and spent the next few hours watching the Jacky Chan and Owen Wilson classic, Shanghai Noon.

Travelling By Local Transport In Madagascar

The Gates of Hell…AKA the Malagasy Taxi-Brousse Station The following morning I spent an hour birding the camp and along the road before meeting up with Pedro. After establishing the real price back to Tana, we boarded a passing taxi-brousse bound for the nearby town of Moramanga where we then changed to a Tana-bound taxi-brousse. Unlike in Cameroon and Guinea, taxi-brousses in Madagascar are not cars, but mini-buses that ply the routes between the country’s villages, towns and cities. And nowhere else, except for maybe Kenya, have I experienced the prevalence of the “local” vs. “Vasa” (foreigner) price as I do here.

I’d been forewarned by the travel guidebooks, fellow travelers, and Peace Corps volunteers that the experience one gets at a Malagasy taxi-brousse station is, to say the least, stressful. There is seemingly no organization to the process of finding the correct vehicle that will take you to your destination. The scene typically goes like this: Before even entering the station you will be assaulted by a band of local guys asking where you are going and, at the same time, trying to take your bag(s) to ensure that you follow them to their waiting vehicle. To the unknowing and inexperienced, you will be then escorted into a makeshift office (shack) that has the name of the place you are traveling to. They will then write out a ticket for said destination that will, undoubtedly, be for an amount much more than the actual price. You will ask them when the taxi-brousse will leave and they will assure you that it will be leaving very soon. They will even point to a vehicle that is near full and tell you that you will be going with that mini-bus. As soon as you have paid, you will then be escorted NOT to the vehicle that they indicated previously, but to a different car that, when you arrive, has nor more than a couple people (if any) waiting inside. And then the waiting begins. Because taxi-brousses do not leave until full (most brousses I’ve been on have anywhere between 18-22 seats), the wait time for departure can be excruciatingly long. Eventually the vehicle will fill and off you go, squeezed into a row built for 4, but made to fit 5 across.

As was the case for my first experience with Tana’s infamous southern taxi gare (station), I arrived together with a Dutch expat who shared the taxi ride from the hostel. He’s been in country for several months and has traveled the 8-9 hour route to the city of Fianarantsoa before, so I was a bit more at ease as we drove up to the station. He was traveling with a local Malagasy who had made a reservation the previous day and I was hoping that I could get a spot on the same taxi-brousse.

As we exited the local taxi, we walked directly to the “office” of the company where he had his reservation, ignoring the local touts’ shouts of “Ou va tu” (Where are you going). We simply stared straight ahead and acted as if we neither heard nor saw them. They kept pace with us and entered the office to claim that they had indeed brought us there and would then expect a commission from the company. Florens, the Dutchman, explained that he had a reservation and was waiting for his partner to arrive and who had the tickets. I asked if there was space on the same taxi-brousse and was assured that there was. We were then shown the vehicle - a newer looking Mercedes mini-van – and were told that there would be only 3 passengers in each row and that we’d be leaving promptly at 7:30 am. Content with the ease at which everything was happening, we headed back to the office. Florens’s phone then rang and I could tell it was his Malagasy partner who was wondering why the Dutchman hadn’t yet arrived at the office of the taxi-brousse company. Over the shouting and general noise of a Third-World taxi gare, Florens explained that he was at the office and that he’d been waiting for the partner to arrive. It then became clear that a mistake had been made on the part of Florens and that he’d gone to the wrong office. Apparently there are two different offices for the same company and we were at the wrong one. We made our way over to the right office where we met up with his counterpart. Again I had asked whether there would be a space on the same brousse. At first I was told that there would be, but eventually it became clear that I would not be traveling with them. I immediately walked back to the original office to buy my ticket on the taxi-brousse that we’d been shown when we arrived. By the time I reached it, it had already loaded and was about to take off. I quickly walked into the office, asked if I would be on that same taxi-brousse, and was told that I would be. A ticket was written for me, my bag was grabbed by someone who I assumed worked for the company, and I was escorted out to my soon-to-be-departing taxi-brousse. As we reached the Mercedes I noticed that the pace of the guy with my bag did not slow down and we were soon walking past the vehicle and getting deeper into the bowels of the taxi gare.

I shouted to the man and asked why I was not getting on the Mercedes. He did not respond and just kept walking. Following quickly behind, we reached another van. The guy carrying my bag told me that I’d be traveling with this vehicle and handed my backpack up to another man on top who handled all the larger bags that did not fit inside. I made a quick look inside and immediately realized that we would NOT be going anywhere soon. Inside were three young children and a couple, who I assumed were their parents, and a young woman sitting up front. I entered the van, took my assigned seat, and waited! After 5 minutes a young woman entered and I began to count the number of people still needed to fill the vehicle. It was hard to tell, but it was going to be either an 18 or 22-seater, depending on the number of passengers that would be placed in each row. We would be waiting for anywhere between 8 and 12 more passengers! I tried to pass the time reading, but the stress and anxiety that comes with not knowing when I’d be leaving kept me from concentrating on the book. A good 20 minutes passed and eventually 2 more men arrived. Then two more people - a mother with her young son - arrived, but they were not happy with the amount of empty seats so turned around and looked for another, van. Apparently they had not yet paid for their tickets so had the option of declining to enter my brousse in hopes of finding one that would fill up quicker. A good hour had now passed and we were holding strong at 10 passengers. I then saw Florens walk by in front of our brousse. This had surprised me as he had already purchased his ticket the day before for what he’d been told was a 7:30 departure. I shouted over to him and he came over to explain that they’d been duped into believing they’d be leaving at the time indicated on their ticket. After I had left them earlier that morning, they had been taken to a taxi-brousse from a completely different company and were squeezed into the back row of a 5-passenger-across vehicle. So much for going in comfort. At 8:45 I saw his taxi pull away and pass us by. Still missing several passengers, I figured that we’d arrive much later than him and would not see each other again. It was now 9:45 am and a miracle happened. A man entered our vehicle, stuck a key in the ignition, and started the vehicle. With much commotion, people scrambled to enter the van. The side door was closed and off we went, traveling a mere 10 meters from where we started, and then stopped and told to all exit. Upon exiting, we were then, on-by-one, called to enter, starting first with the back row and then moving to the front. Within minutes we were packed and loaded and off we went. We pulled out of the station, drove approximately one mile, and then, as is always the case in the developing world, pulled into a gas station to fill up. With a full tank of gas, we were on our way south to Fianarantsoa, a mere 340 miles down the road.

Surprisingly, the road to the south was in good condition. Not long after leaving the taxi gare we were in the countryside. Nowhere in Africa have I seen such dramatic scenery that covers such a large and expansive area. Rolling hills around the capital turn to mountains and the National Hwy R7 bisects the chain of mountains with extensive tracts of rice fields and terraces stretching for as far as the eye can see.

The first populated area of any size that we came to was the city of Antsirabe, located some 3 hours south of Tana. Our taxi-brousse blew through town and somewhere to the south, in a small central highlands village made up of typical two-storied houses, we stopped for a lunch break. As the driver backed into his parking spot, I noticed that we’d pulled up next to the taxi-brousse that Florens had left in. A quick scan of the area and I found him. According to him, they’d arrived 45-minutes earlier and were about to leave. We shook hands and said good-bye and mentioned that if we did not arrive too late into Fianarantsoa, we’d go out for a drink.

Our lunch break was not so long and we were soon on our way, only 20 minutes behind Florens. We had made up nearly 30 minutes on his taxi and I had a thought that we might actually pass him. And that’s exactly what had happened. We were within 30 miles of our destination and up in front of us I saw two mini-vans stopped along the side of the road. One was a blue taxi-brousse and I immediately recognized it as the one in which Florens was traveling. Within seconds we had reached the point of the two stopped vehicles and slowly drove by. As we passed the blue taxi, I stuck my hand out the window and waved to the Dutchman. Upon passing the other taxi, I noticed two Vasas standing out on the road looking dumbfounded as they stared down at the 2 men working on their vehicle’s front left side. Passing directly next to them, I looked down and could see that the entire breaking system had been taken apart and was in several pieces. I certainly felt bad for them, but was happy to know that it was not my taxi. Closing in on 6pm, they would surely not arrive in Fianarantsoa before dark.

Pushing forward, with only a few kilometers to go, it became apparent that we would also not be arriving before dark. Fortunately, however, it was only 6:10 in the evening and the sun had just gone down. I knew that the hotel I hoped to find a room in was only a few hundred meters away, and the thought of reaching it without getting lost or mugged was soon lost. Florens’s taxi pulled in just behind mine and we quickly parted ways, forgetting the idea of getting that drink. I made my way up to the hotel, entered, and found myself happy to find that there was a room available. I dropped my things, took a quick shower, and fell asleep within 30 minutes of arrival. The 13-hour trip was now over.

Matandia National Park

Matandia National Park

Today was grueling!! Together with Luc, we arranged a 4x4 vehicle to drive us the 20 kilometers to the adjacent Matandia National Park. I woke up at 4:15 am, exited the tent, arranged my gear, and walked out to the main road, just in time to meet Luc, Pedro, and the driver for our scheduled 4:30 departure. The road to the park started off decent, but quickly deteriorated and we were soon traveling at the break-neck speed of 10 mph. It was expected, however, and within an hour and a half, we’d reached our first stop. Luc had spotted 3 Blue Pigeons high up in a tree so we got out the vehicle for a better look. We walked the road for a short distance and Luc had also found us a pair of Malagasy Pygmy Kingfishers that we had quick views of as they darted back and forth across the road. In the distance was a calling Red-Fronted Coua, but even after playing its call on Luc’s phone, it wouldn’t make an appearance. Three Greater Vasa Parrots then flew overhead. This was the first view of the GVP, which, unlike the similar and smaller Lesser Vasa Parrot, has an almost out-of-control flight pattern.

We got back in the car and drove another 15 minutes or so to the start of our trek into the forest. We bid the driver farewell and entered the forest, first walking along a very nice trail, but soon enough, Luc had us bushwhacking off-trail until we found a small, almost invisible trail leading up the side of a hill. After a good 5-minute slog uphill, Luc told us to wait and he went on ahead. A few moments later he signaled us to continue up to where he’d been standing. When we reached him, he pointed to the ground and asked us if we could see the birds. Looking down, I could only see what appeared to be leaf-litter and scattered twigs on the ground, but at closer look, it became clear that I was staring at a pair of Collared Nightjars on their day roost.

Once again, we were absolutely dumbfounded how someone could have seen these birds as they were so well camouflaged. It was obvious that he did not just stumble upon them that morning and that they had been found on an earlier date. But being creatures of habit, the pair routinely returns to the same spot each day. Perhaps they enjoy the daily visits from the groups of birdwatchers that come by each morning.

Over the next 3 hours Luc had us climbing, crawling, jumping and slipping through the forest in search of some of Madagascar’s most sought after birds (and lemurs). One highlight, for sure, was a lone Pitta-Like Ground Roller that had taken us roughly an hour to track down. After a good 30 minutes of tough walking through the forest, we reached a known spot for the PLGR. Again, Luc had us sit and wait as he circled around in front of us with the hope of pushing the terrestrial bird toward us. No luck, and we continued on. Just then, he shouted out that there was a roller in front of us at about 10 meters distance. Neither Pedro nor I could see what he could see, but with the use of a laser pointer, he was able to indicate the bird’s location and we had fairly good views for several minutes.

We reached a point where the road passed and exited the thick forest. We continued along the road for several minutes where we ticked off Madagascar Lesser Cuckoo, a bird more frequently heard than seen, and kept our eyes open for the tiny Madagascar Flufftail that lurks in the thick vegetation along the roadside. We reached a junction in the road, turned right and within 15 minutes had reached a small lake. We sat down for the first time in what must have been a good 4 hours of non-stop walking. Here we enjoyed the serenity of this forest lake and were able to enjoy good, yet distant, views of several endemic species, including Meller’s Duck, Madagascar Grebe, and Madagascar Swamp Warbler.

After the 15-minute lake visit we headed back to into the forest for another chance at finding the very vocal, yet not-so-easy-to-find Black-and-White Lemur, an animal I am quite familiar with as it is in the collection at the SF zoo. It was at this moment of returning to the inside of the forest that we had finally saw other people. Up until then we had been alone in the forest. This is definitely a major benefit of visiting Mantadia. Because it is necessary to have a 4x4 vehicle to reach and its location, only a handful of visitors that come to Andasibe-Mantadia NPs reach this section of protected area. Whereas Andasibe received 100% of the area’s visitors, Mantadia probably gets less than 10%, making it, in my opinion, much more enjoyable. Andasibe’s relatively small trail system turns into a human traffic jam as day visitors from Antananarivo race up the hill to get a view of the Indri and if you are not in the park at the opening hour of 6am, you will undoubtedly get yourself caught in the jam.

Luc spoke with the other guides and was informed that they had seen Black-and-White Lemurs not very far from where we were. We headed in the direction of an area we’d been to earlier that morning and eventually came upon a small group of people who were staring high up into the canopy of the forest. Some 25 yards up, sprawled out on a horizontal limb of what had to be one of the forest’s highest trees, was a single Black-and-White Lemur, unaware, or most likely uninterested in the fact that we were staring at it in awe from several feet below. Pedro was now feeling much better as he had now seen all of the expected diurnal lemurs of the park. He had been a great sport and extremely patient with my bird quest.

We headed back to the road where we eventually met back up with the driver and had lunch. Nothing better than canned sardines on French bread!! Somewhat exhausted from the morning’s expedition and with the day progressing on and the level of fatigue high, we informed Luc that we would not be trekking up to the ridge, as was planned, but would be content with walking the road to see if we could tick off a few of the easier birds to see. We began right away playing the recording for Madagascar Flufftail and within just a few minutes had one pop out of the dense underbrush at the side of the road for a very quick view. Not content with what we saw, we continued another hundred yards or so down the road where we picked up the call of another bird. Playing the tape again, we patiently waited until a beautiful male popped out of the bush to give us a good 10-second view. The following 45 minutes was spent searching for the elusive Scaly Ground Roller, which, in the end, we failed to see. However, of the four possible Ground Rollers at Matandia, we were able to tick off not only the Pitta-Like GR, but also a Short-Legged GR. The SLGR was eventually found after following its call for several minutes. It involved a strenuous up and down climb through thick tangled vines, but ultimately Luc had found it (I’m still not sure how he saw it) high up in a tree (not where I’d expected to see a “Ground” Roller).

After the disappointing search for the Scaly Ground Roller, we headed back to the car and started off for the 90 minute drive back to Andasibe (pronounced Ahn-DAH-see-bay), stopping once to unsuccessfully flush out a Madagascar Rail and then again for an amazing view of a Long-Eared Owl. The long day was now over and in the end, we had seen 48 species of birds, including 24 lifers, and 4 lemur species (Indri, Red-Bellied, Black-and White, and Brown).

Madagascar...A Tough Place to Travel

By no means is Madagascar an easy country in which to travel. This I knew (or at least I assumed) when I finalized my travel plans a few months back while sitting in the comfort of my apartment in San Francisco. The four weeks traveling around South Africa (AKA Africa Lite) certainly did nothing to prepare me for the hardships that will certainly follow as I traverse the “Eighth Continent”. I arrived in the country’s capital, Antananarivo (Tana, for short) at the ungodly hour of 2:30 am. Not knowing whether anyone would be there to receive me at Madagascar Underground (the newly opened backpackers hostel that claims to be the only one of its kind in the country), I decided to wait around the airport until sunrise before embarking on my journey to the center of the city.

The thought of sleeping for a couple of hours was quickly forgotten due to the seemingly high number of shady looking characters hanging around the arrivals area who, in my mind, where ready to relieve me of my valuables the moment I shut my eyes. To help pass the time, I talked with a British couple who had also been on the same flight from Kenya and who were in transit awaiting their domestic flight to the northern town of Diego Suarez.

Three hours had passed and I was surprised to see the sun rise at 5:00 am. My immediate thought was how early I would have to set my alarm each morning as I would begin my search for Madagascar’s unique wildlife. I overheard a couple from Canada saying their good-byes to their local guide and I immediately approached him and asked if he was interested in making some money by driving me into the city. He was happy to do so and soon we were on our way, first passing through the outer suburbs adjacent to the airport, then through a series of beautiful rice paddies, and finally up to the front door of Madagascar Underground. I was happy to find the receptionist inside the hostel who welcomed me in and assured me that, while all the dorm beds were occupied, I would have access to a spot within a short amount of time. (Up until this night I had spent the previous 37 nights sleeping in my home-away-from-home; my orange NorthFace tent.) I had a great time over the next 2 full days hanging out with Martin, 25-year old French guy living in Madagascar where he works for a French telecommunications company; Lisa and Eli, an Israeli couple on their honeymoon; Ernesto, a Peace Corps volunteer working and living south of the capital; and Pedro, a former sugar salesman from Brazil who as has recently quit his job and is on a round-the-world trip. Antananarivo For an African country (if you can call Madagascar Africa) Antananarivo is an nice city. Surrounded by rice fields and sitting within attractive hillsides, the capital retains a French colonial feel. Several late 19th and early 20th century buildings dot the city’s landscape, older model Citroen 2CVs act as taxis, and French is heard throughout the streets. What interests me the most, however, is the city’s people.

With a population of 2 million, Tana’s people represent a broad spectrum of skin colors. It’s Africa, but I don’t feel like I’m in Africa. Within the airport alone, I observed people who reminded me of past trips to Malaysia, Indonesia, northern Philippines, India, and mainland Africa. Andasibe and Matandia National Parks Together with my newfound travel partner, Pedro, we headed off a bit later than planned to one of several taxi gares (stations) within the city to catch a ride eastward to Andasibe National Park. The level of anxiety was high as I anticipated being mobbed by touts looking to take advantage of two inexperienced “vasas” (the term used by locals to describe white foreigners….to all my fellow PCVs and RPCVs, think “Porto”, “Toubabou”, “Blanc”, “Hey, Joe”, etc.) AND a long wait for the taxi to depart. Experience in Africa certainly helped me cope with this highly stressful situation, but, nevertheless, a visit to any public transportation station in the developing world will certainly always be a lowlight for most travelers. As our taxi neared the “gare”, we were immediately assaulted by one overly-eager man who even attempted to enter our slow-moving vehicle in hopes of earning a small tip from the taxi company for “bringing” us to them. Going on advice from a couple of Peace Corps volunteers we had met at the hostel, we told him that we were not interested and made sure to keep a strong grasp on our bags as these guys will try to take them from you and force you to follow them to their taxi of choice. This reminded me of one experience I had years ago in Babadjou, Cameroon where I had exited my taxi, looked down to notice that my bag had disappeared, and then had to run after the guy who had already placed it on top of the bus that I was not intending to take. Several inappropriate words were shouted and some light physical contact to his face eventually resulted in the retrieval of my bag. Because the taxis only leave when full, we were lucky to have spent “only” 20 minutes looking for the vehicle with the most amount of passengers, and within 10 minutes, we were off. The drive to the outskirts of the city was slow, but soon enough we were driving eastward, descending from the central plateau through beautiful countryside. More rice fields, followed by forested mountainsides, small villages of wooden houses that pressed up against the sides of the roads, and degraded hillsides soon made the experience much more enjoyable. We made a short stop in the town of Moramanga before continuing the journey and within 3.5 hours were at the crossroads of the national highway and the road to Andasibe. Pedro had already made a reservation at one of the few small guesthouses and I headed off to the “resort” across the road where I had read that it was possible to camp. Reaching the reception, I was told that they no longer allowed camping, which was a big disappointment as the resort butted right up against the forest of the national park and the hope of seeing birds and lemurs from the door of my tent had been high. After a little begging, I was told that another site further down the road, and closer to the national park entrance, allowed camping. I hitched a ride with the owner of the Madagascar Underground hostel, who was in the area guiding the Israeli couple I had met in Tana, quickly set up the tent, and spent the remaining hour or so left of sunlight birding the road back to the guesthouse where Pedro was staying. At the guesthouse’s restaurant we had dinner and met Luc, our guide that Pedro had set up in advance. We negotiated the itinerary and price, bid farewell to the Israelis and, together with Pedro, slowly walked the road back to my camp in search of any nocturnal life forms that we had hoped to see. By the time we reached my camp we had seen nothing, but I was not too disappointed as we planned a night walk with Luc the following night and my hopes were high that we would see several interesting creatures. That night, as I laid down inside my tent, I anxiously awaited the nightly sounds of the area’s wildlife. I was the only one staying in the camp so it was very quiet and the slightest noise would certainly have awakened me. Over the course of the night I exited the tent three times to see what was happening in the trees around me, with the first two occasions introducing me to the nocturnal Wooly Lemur. From the sounds they made, they must have been no more than a few feet above my tent. Using my flashlight, I scanned the trees and soon found no less than 4 pairs of glowing orange eyes staring down at me. The excitement of being that close to wild lemurs made it difficult to go back to bed, but as I knew that we were having an early start the next morning, I forced myself to return to the confines of the tent where I was finally able to fall back asleep. By 4:55 in the morning I was awake and preparing for the day’s birding and general wildlife viewing within Andasibe NP. Waiting for Pedro and our guide, I spent a good hour birding along the road between my camp and the park’s entrance where I ticked off a few lifers, including the common Madagascar Bulbul, the colorful Blue Coua, and the raucous Lesser Vasa Parrot. Luc and Pedro arrived at 6:30, we paid our entrance fees, and then entered the forest. Luc immediately picked up on several species of vangas, a bird family endemic to Madagascar and the neighboring island nation of the Comoros. While I loathe using a guide when birding, in Madagascar it is mandatory within the national parks, and I had absolutely control over this. This said, we were exceptionally lucky to have Luc, as he knew his birds, something we would find out over the next two days with him. We continued along the forest trail, ticking off new bird after new bird. When we reached a small patch of bamboo, Vic stopped, took a quick look down a small clearing, and called us over to slowly and quietly enter the area. There in front of us, roughly at eye level, was our first Bamboo Lemur clinging to a stalk of bamboo and enjoying his breakfast of shoots. We then began a short, but steep, climb up through the forest along the aptly-named Indi Circuit, excited to see (and hear) the world’s largest lemur, the Indri (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d3vFI5UpIc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eaTBoqpNEg). From his vest pocket, Luc pulled out his phone, which he uses for bird and mammal playback, pressed a few buttons, and from the phone came an audio recording of the eerie cry of an Indri. Within a matter of seconds we were surrounded by the piercing cries of 2-3 indris located directly above us. We had heard the cries the night before, but they had come from a distance away, and we were amazed by the volume that an animal this size could make. For anyone who has heard a howler monkey or a siamang vocalizing, the volume from the Indri is even higher!

Over the next 3 hours we continued walking, and sometimes bushwhacking, through the forest, ticking off new birds. As the time with Luc was drawing to an end we encountered another small group of Indris, but this time the experience was different. Having started out the day at 6:30, we were among a very small number of others within the park. But as the day progressed, more and more people arrived; some as part of a long day trip from Antananarivo. Instead of just the 3 of us sharing in the experience with this amazing animal, there were at least 10 others, and as we left the lemurs behind, we must have passed 20-30 people who were on their way up the trail to have a view. We reached a point along the trail where several people had stopped to look at something. Instead of following the group, Luc directed us into the forest, off-trail, and within 20 yards he was pointing out a Red-Breatsed Coua, a terrestrial endemic and much sought-after bird in the park. The large group of people showed absolutely no interest in birds, so we had the coua all to ourselves for a good 10 minutes. As we left the coua behind we quickly found what the others had been watching. A group of 6-7 Diademed Sifakas (thought by many to be the most beautiful of all the lemurs) was in the trees above the trail. I had only a quick look as they continued deeper into the forest and out of sight from those standing along the trail. We, however, were being led by Luc, the master of the forest, and he quickly told us to jump down into a deep gully, up the other side, through tangled vines and over protruding roots to follow the animals. Within moments we had found the Sifakas sitting together, busy feeding on seeds that covered the forest floor. Completely uninterested in us, we were able to approach within just a couple yards where we stayed and watched in awe.

Our morning with Luc was finished and in the end we had seen 26 species of birds (all lifers for me), and four lemur species (Indri, Common Brown, Bamboo, and Diademed Sifaka). The three of us parted ways and I headed back to my camp where I took a much needed two hour nap. Around 4:30 I headed back down the road to Pedro’s guesthouse where I had an early dinner and where we met up again with Luc for the night walk through Parc Mitsinjo, the private reserve where I was camping.

Almost immediately Luc had found a Leaf-tailed Gekko along the trail, quickly followed by a pair of Leaf Chameleons, and then a Snub-Tailed Chameleon. We spent the next hour and a half in pitch-blackness, guided up and down the hillsides only by our flashlights. In the end, we had seen 4 more lemur species (Hairy-Eared Dwarf, Wooly, Greater Dwarf, and Goodman’s Mouse Lemur), two Malagasy Spotted Tree Frogs, and at least one an Elephant-Eared Chameleon.

Update on Gen's Activities: July 29 to August 13

Arua, Uganda- Visit to Our New Home (July 29 to August 5): Gen and her colleague were introduced to Arua by a Language and Cultural Facilitator (LCF) who traveled with them and who hails from Arua. Along the way, Gen was regaled by sights of baboons, macaques, birds (which she couldn’t identify but appreciated), elephants, the Nile River and Uganda’s countryside, which showcased farms, traditional huts and rural Ugandans in action. She and her colleague (Janet) were greeted by their home-stay host families and shared with them afternoon tea at White Castle Hotel. Amazingly, the host families had vehicles that eased transport issue from the hotel to their respective homes. Gen and Janet had fun participating with their respective host families’ activities after each day’s formal orientation sessions with their host country colleagues. They toured local government offices and institutions and met local officials including staff members at the Arua Regional Referral Hospital. They also had Lugbarati language lessons with Alice, their LCF. They have mastered their greetings and leave takings! Awadifo saaru (Thank you very much)!

August 6 to 13: Going back to Kampala, Gen traveled with PC staff members who were in Arua for a workshop. At the end of the trip, she and her fellow passengers enjoyed tasting fruits (highlight: Atis and Guyabano) in season found along the way. It took 9 hours to arrive at the hotel in Kampala. Craig beat Gen by 10 minutes in checking into Kolping Hotel- Kampala. More orientation sessions happened including a tour of Uganda’s national referral hospital, Mulago. Mulago is a multi-building health service delivery complex which caters to all of Ugandans’ health care needs. Gen and her colleagues also visited a traditional healer and a bone-setter. The visit to Kampala ended with the Swearing-In ceremony.

Update on Gen's Activities

Orientation in Washington, DC (July 12 to 22): Gen spent 10 days in Washington, DC to prepare for her volunteer work in Uganda. Although a Returned Peace Corps volunteer (RPCV), Gen had never seen nor set foot in Peace Corps’ Headquarters (PCHQ) until this time. She became acquainted with PCHQ during her orientation as a 2015 Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) Peace Corps Response volunteer (PCRV). Her days are packed with sessions necessary to prepare her for her role as a Nurse Educator in one of Uganda’s universities. She met her doctor and nurse colleagues who are like her slated to depart in one of the 3 GHSP partner countries: Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. She also met some spouses of these colleagues who are serving as PCR volunteers. Being in DC gave Gen the opportunity to re-explore the area a little bit (we visited DC at least 10 years ago) and reconnect with friends whom she has not seen face to face for as long as 20 years like Marion, her college friend. Although Gen and Marion have stayed in touch through the years through snail mail at first, then email and most recently through FB, they have not seen each other since graduation from nursing school. They were able to connect and spent time together at Marion’s home in Charleston County where Gen ate Filipino food and sang along with Marion’s family who were having Karaoke fun- thanks to Marion’s mother in-law who was celebrating her birthday! Gen also met up with friends she met in Guyana and Zambia where she served as a PC volunteer.

Uganda-here comes Gen! (July 23 to 27): Gen and the rest of her colleagues scrambled to prepare for departure for their countries of assignments. Hand-held weighing scales were passed around several days before departure on July 23. Gen like her colleagues has amassed some more heavy nursing reference books and some basic clinical equipment. Thus the needs for the weighing scale to balance out bags. Nobody wants to be charged extra for overweight luggage on top of an extra 3rd bag on an international flight. The Malawi contingent left first early in the morning followed by Tanzania and Uganda which shared a flight from Dulles to Amsterdam. Gen was on a KLM flight all the way from Dulles to Entebbe via Amsterdam and Kigali. She got re-acquainted Amarula, a South African liqueur during the long flight and caught up some of the recently released movies. The arrival to Entebbe was less painful than expected. Despite arriving late at night- 1030pm, Gen was able o retrieve her luggage as soon as she stepped out of immigration. Thankfully, there was only one flight arrival that night which made getting out of Entebbe fast even with having 9 other colleagues who needed to get through immigration and luggage retrieval procedures. Gen and her colleagues arrived in Kampala after midnight and had a midnight “snack” of what is typically served during dinner in Uganda. After room assignments and basic logistic information, everyone went to bed around 230am, July 25 to be ready for session at 9 am of the same day. The first part of in-country orientation lasted until the 29th when they departed fro their respective work sites. In Gen’s case, she headed for Arua in the West Nile Region which is 6 to 8 hours by private or public transportation.

Entebbe Botanical Gardens - Part II

The morning started out nicely as I arrived at the entrance to the gardens, but within 15 minutes the skies to the south turned black and I was soon standing in a makeshift shelter along with 8-9 local fishermen as rain fell for almost 2 straight hours. By 9:00 the skies had cleared and I was able to get in a few good hours of birding. Only one lifer (Orange Weaver), but ticked off 6 new birds for the year, including Water Thick-Knee, Grey Parrot, African Crake, Wood Sandpiper, and White-Throated Bee-Eater. It was then back to Entebbe Backpackers to watch back-to-back English Premier League matches, including Man U's loss to Swansea.