O Madagascar: Sacred Beach Lemurs 2010

[Miles]

Note to self: to avoid having papers and clothes smell like bug repellent, next time, place all containers of bug repellent in sealable plastic bags.

Just sayin'.

I think you and CB&B may have stumbled upon something. Insect repellent clothing sounds genius.

[lawgrad91]

Lavabe, glad you're there safely and thanks for the update. Good luck with the slow internet, be careful, and keep us posted!

[ArkieDukie]

Glad to hear you made it safely, Lavabe! Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures.

[Lavabe]

I am now writing from the comfort of my AC room in HOT and HUMID Diego/Antsiranana. I arrived this morning after essentially an all-nighter. My body has NOT yet adjusted to the time zone change, and I have yet to really acclimatize, so I'm taking it easy over the weekend. However, things I accomplished today:
1) Arrived in Diego & met with my main Malagasy collaborator;
2) Got my cell phone and hi-speed (hi-speed for here);
3) Sorted through my photos to distribute;
4) Bought my first Fanta Pineapple and 10 samosas.

More details later. I have to distribute some photos now before the evening.

Oh yeah... I'm going to get some yogurt, with some fresh corossol (soursop) juice. YUMM!!
Cheers,
Lavabe

[TillyGalore]

Lavabe,
Glad you arrived safely. Jet lag is a real bitch, good luck overcoming it. Looking forward to your updates, and now am craving samosas (not be confused with mimosas).

Tilly

[devildeac]

Don't the Girl Scouts make samosas...

[Lavabe]

Samosas (or are they sambosas, but pronounced SAMOSAS?) are little triangular fried vegetable & meat pies. Mostly found in South Asian cuisine, but found throughout Diego, given the large Indian/Arab/Pakistani population.

I had a four-hour system crash sleep, but have now been up a couple of hours. Still haven't adjusted completely to the time change.

Today I'll have lunch with one of my long time friends in Diego, an Arab shop owner named Zahir (pronounced Zaire). He's about 8 years older than I am, but he's a real friend. His wife is a very direct person, which I like, but is SOOO different from how most people are here. She is also a FANTASTIC cook. Will see if I can get some photos today.

Must get some time in for walking, and breaking in my new hiking shoes (not boots).

The heat AND humidity are killers. This is weird. It must be the transition in the season. Normally, this is the dry season, which means cooler temps (highs in the mid 80's), low humidity, and lots of wind. The seasonal wind (aka the VARATRAZA) has not started up yet, so the humidity is still very high. My best strategy is to get some walking around town in, but also take in some oranges from the street vendors. Well, that and a little FANTA ANANAS (pineapple).

Cheers,
Lavabe

[CameronBornAndBred]

Samosas (or are they sambosas, but pronounced SAMOSAS?) are little triangular fried vegetable & meat pies.

I'm not sure I'd trust traveling to a foreign country and eating a "meat" pie. There are a lot of animals that could describe, only a few of which I eat by choice. Not saying I wouldn't try it, I would just want to know the source.

[Lavabe]

Samosas (or are they sambosas, but pronounced SAMOSAS?) are little triangular fried vegetable & meat pies.

I'm not sure I'd trust traveling to a foreign country and eating a "meat" pie. There are a lot of animals that could describe, only a few of which I eat by choice. Not saying I wouldn't try it, I would just want to know the source.

The national animal of Madagascar is zebu cattle. Trust me... it's beef. But there's also green onion, potato, some other green (spinach maybe?), tomato, etc...

The triangle is some sort of light dough. It gets deep fried for a little bit.

Really... they are like a drug.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Samosas (or are they sambosas, but pronounced SAMOSAS?) are little triangular fried vegetable & meat pies.

I'm not sure I'd trust traveling to a foreign country and eating a "meat" pie. There are a lot of animals that could describe, only a few of which I eat by choice. Not saying I wouldn't try it, I would just want to know the source.

The national animal of Madagascar is zebu cattle. Trust me... it's beef. But there's also green onion, potato, some other green (spinach maybe?), tomato, etc...

The triangle is some sort of light dough. It gets deep fried for a little bit.

Really... they are like a drug.

Sounds tasty, i'll take beef in any country.

[captmojo]

Zebu cows in a light sauce with Fava beans and a nice Chianti. Mmmm.

[lawgrad91]

Zebu cows in a light sauce with Fava beans and a nice Chianti. Mmmm.

Yum! Sounds like a good plan for supper.

[devildeac]

Zebu cows in a light sauce with Fava beans and a nice Chianti. Mmmm.

Yum! Sounds like a good plan for supper.

That's a LOOOONNNNNG way to go for supper...

[lawgrad91]

Zebu cows in a light sauce with Fava beans and a nice Chianti. Mmmm.

Yum! Sounds like a good plan for supper.

That's a LOOOONNNNNG way to go for supper...

No Malagasy restaurants around here, so far as I know. Oh, well, I had to settle for scallops on a bed of orzo, salad, and sangria.

[Lavabe]

Incredibly fatigued again today. I'm not so worried about it, as:
1) In the last week, I've had 2 all-nighters, combined with a 4-hour sleep last night;
2) Hot & humid weather just wearing me down;
3) Unable to handle the changeover in diet.

So I had lunch at my friend Zahir's house. Zahir is a diabetic, so usually has some decent food, devoid of heavy fat, sugar, etc... I had about 8 or 9 roasted oysters in a garlic, followed by some sort of beef chop with rice, romazava (greens w/broth), pico de gailo (called tomato rougaille here), coconut water, bananas, oranges, and some arab coffee. The beef may have had more salt than I am used to. I could barely eat anything other than a salad for dinner, I was so stuffed from lunch.

Today I will have some chicken biryani at the local yogurt shop. Trying to get some dairy in me slowly. They really have good yogurt at the shop.

I think I need a good 20 hour sleep.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[YmoBeThere]

Get some sleep! Oh, that's right you're about 6 time zones ahead of us.

[devildeac]

Incredibly fatigued again today. I'm not so worried about it, as:
1) In the last week, I've had 2 all-nighters, combined with a 4-hour sleep last night;
2) Hot & humid weather just wearing me down;
3) Unable to handle the changeover in diet.

So I had lunch at my friend Zahir's house. Zahir is a diabetic, so usually has some decent food, devoid of heavy fat, sugar, etc... I had about 8 or 9 roasted oysters in a garlic, followed by some sort of beef chop with rice, romazava (greens w/broth), pico de gailo (called tomato rougaille here), coconut water, bananas, oranges, and some arab coffee. The beef may have had more salt than I am used to. I could barely eat anything other than a salad for dinner, I was so stuffed from lunch.

Today I will have some chicken biryani at the local yogurt shop. Trying to get some dairy in me slowly. They really have good yogurt at the shop.

I think I need a good 20 hour sleep.
Cheers,
Lavabe

"I think I need a good 20 hour sleep."


Who do you think you are, ILJ?

[cl15876]

Samosas (or are they sambosas, but pronounced SAMOSAS?) are little triangular fried vegetable & meat pies.

I'm not sure I'd trust traveling to a foreign country and eating a "meat" pie. There are a lot of animals that could describe, only a few of which I eat by choice. Not saying I wouldn't try it, I would just want to know the source.

The national animal of Madagascar is zebu cattle. Trust me... it's beef. But there's also green onion, potato, some other green (spinach maybe?), tomato, etc...

The triangle is some sort of light dough. It gets deep fried for a little bit.

Really... they are like a drug.

Glad you arrived safely! Beef, BTW, how do you like your beef? ;)

[cl15876]

"quote="Lavabe""Samosas (or are they sambosas, but pronounced SAMOSAS?) are little triangular fried vegetable & meat pies. "/quote"
I'm not sure I'd trust traveling to a foreign country and eating a "meat" pie. There are a lot of animals that could describe, only a few of which I eat by choice. Not saying I wouldn't try it, I would just want to know the source.

The national animal of Madagascar is zebu cattle. Trust me... it's beef. But there's also green onion, potato, some other green (spinach maybe?), tomato, etc...

The triangle is some sort of light dough. It gets deep fried for a little bit.

Really... they are like a drug.

Sounds tasty, i'll take beef in any country.

Me too, maybe, except for UK! Don't need any mad cow disease! I walked into my hotel room a few years ago and heard a news commentary right before supper about it and needlessly to say, I ended up ordering salad and fish and chips for supper!

[cl15876]

Incredibly fatigued again today. I'm not so worried about it, as:
1) In the last week, I've had 2 all-nighters, combined with a 4-hour sleep last night;
2) Hot & humid weather just wearing me down;
3) Unable to handle the changeover in diet.

So I had lunch at my friend Zahir's house. Zahir is a diabetic, so usually has some decent food, devoid of heavy fat, sugar, etc... I had about 8 or 9 roasted oysters in a garlic, followed by some sort of beef chop with rice, romazava (greens w/broth), pico de gailo (called tomato rougaille here), coconut water, bananas, oranges, and some arab coffee. The beef may have had more salt than I am used to. I could barely eat anything other than a salad for dinner, I was so stuffed from lunch.

Today I will have some chicken biryani at the local yogurt shop. Trying to get some dairy in me slowly. They really have good yogurt at the shop.

I think I need a good 20 hour sleep.
Cheers,
Lavabe

Yumm! I hope you get some sleep! It is very soo hard to adjust to time change instaneously, but when your as tired as you sound and after all that wonderful food, let the A.C. hit my face and I'm out! 20 hours of sleep sounds wonderful!