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Over at the Canadian headquarters in Antsiranana today. They've set up shop in a nice villa overlooking the sugarloaf in the middle of the harbor/bay. Probably the most picturesque spot they could find. Nice day today!! 88 degrees, but the humidity is down.

THIS is where Tilly would rather be... a beautiful view, lemurland, and... egads, how do I get my NASCAR today?
Cheers,
Lavabe

Lavabe wrote:Over at the Canadian headquarters in Antsiranana today. They've set up shop in a nice villa overlooking the sugarloaf in the middle of the harbor/bay. Probably the most picturesque spot they could find. Nice day today!! 88 degrees, but the humidity is down.

THIS is where Tilly would rather be... a beautiful view, lemurland, and... egads, how do I get my NASCAR today?
Cheers,
Lavabe

You know me so well. Pictures???

Off to Ankarana Massif tomorrow with the Canadians. I'll be camping there until Sunday. I guess I'm looking for lemurs and asking about folklore. The Canadians run a very lowkey operation. They're about as lowkey as colchar. ;)

In other news, looks like once I'm back, I'll have settled on a field site for research this summer. Looks like it is indeed the sacred beach site after all. The negatives include mosquitoes and lack of water, but the site is fairly well protected. The other site I was thinking of has a lot of odd problems this year, as a neighboring family has decided to plant rice right up to where we were thinking of camping. So much for a water supply! Also, it looked like there might have been a security question. It looks like the tourist industry and speculation is going nuts up there. Word on the street is that French business types will be putting up beach resorts where there is currently forest. This is weird, considering that the tourist industry is in freefall right now, here in Madagascar. Then again, it's hard to judge the rumor mill over here... but I'm not taking any chances.

Meanwhile, the biggest problem seems to be the rosewood timber industry. Some of this appears in a recent issue of Smithsonian (or is it Scientific American?), and is also described in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_lo ... Madagascar

We'll see what happens. Can't wait to be in the woods in about 10 days or so. Beach lemurs, here I come!
Cheers,
Lavabe

Lavabe wrote:Off to Ankarana Massif tomorrow with the Canadians. I'll be camping there until Sunday. I guess I'm looking for lemurs and asking about folklore. The Canadians run a very lowkey operation. They're about as lowkey as colchar. ;)

In other news, looks like once I'm back, I'll have settled on a field site for research this summer. Looks like it is indeed the sacred beach site after all. The negatives include mosquitoes and lack of water, but the site is fairly well protected. The other site I was thinking of has a lot of odd problems this year, as a neighboring family has decided to plant rice right up to where we were thinking of camping. So much for a water supply! Also, it looked like there might have been a security question. It looks like the tourist industry and speculation is going nuts up there. Word on the street is that French business types will be putting up beach resorts where there is currently forest. This is weird, considering that the tourist industry is in freefall right now, here in Madagascar. Then again, it's hard to judge the rumor mill over here... but I'm not taking any chances.

Meanwhile, the biggest problem seems to be the rosewood timber industry. Some of this appears in a recent issue of Smithsonian (or is it Scientific American?), and is also described in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_lo ... Madagascar

We'll see what happens. Can't wait to be in the woods in about 10 days or so. Beach lemurs, here I come!
Cheers,
Lavabe

Thanks for the update. Lemurs rule!

Chiggers have competition for most annoying itchy insect:
SAND FLEAS!!

Lavabe wrote:Chiggers have competition for most annoying itchy insect:
SAND FLEAS!!

Ouch! And Ick! Did you bring along many tubes of Lanacaine?

Lavabe wrote:Chiggers have competition for most annoying itchy insect:
SAND FLEAS!!

Did the bug spray infusion in the clothing wear off?

And do the lemurs wear speedos and itty bitty bikinis on the beach?

OZZIE4DUKE wrote:

Lavabe wrote:Chiggers have competition for most annoying itchy insect:
SAND FLEAS!!

Ouch! And Ick! Did you bring along many tubes of Lanacaine?

Insect repellent doesn't work when you walk through irrigation canals that feed rice paddies.

The sand fleas come from the sandy surface upon which I pitched the tent. They targeted my waist band.
Chiggers targeted my ankles.
Some mystery insect (ants?) targeted my right upper arm.

And I now have my second bout of the runs.

Well, at least I have AC and the World Cup to watch.

Things I learned in Ankarana: "GAGA" (e.g., Lady Gaga) in Malagasy means amazing/surprising.

This is supposed to be fun. My wish for you is to feel much better and for the bugs to disperser NOW.

Bug bites are itchy inconveniences one puts up with, and they actually rank pretty low on the scale of things (none of the bites has been from an Anopheles mosquito). So far, everything is pretty good over here, but I'll feel a whole lot better on Saturday, when I get to go to the beach site. I'll be returning next week to go to my old field site in Mt. d'Ambre, but after that, it's going to be the whole time at the beach site.

Lavabe, hope you are feeling better and are over the insect bites and tummy ailments.

On the weight loss front: Again, I normally blimp up just before leaving for Madagascar. I started out at 258. Current weight is 238. That's about 20 lbs, making it something like 5 or 6 lbs/week. The key here is that I have VERY few snacking opportunities, and when I do snack, it's something like peanuts, bananas, or oranges. I also have a lot of rice in the diet, and have cut down on the fatty meat. Oh... and one major thing: LOTS of exercise. Having said that, I had a huge meal at the farewell dinner for the lead Canadian last night: chicken biryani, broiled parrotfish (?) in a soy and carrot sauce, yogurt, sambosses, and lots of guava juice. This on top of a huge lunch at the university.

Today, my favorite Yemeni, Hassan, is making me hamburger and fries for lunch. He offers a "milk sheik," but I won't go THAT far. Will let you know how it goes.

Bad news: Looks like I killed an Anopheles mosquito today. I don't think it got me (no blood in the splatter). First one of the year. Hopefully it was an Aedes.

Cheers,
Lavabe

I need to go on the Lavabe Madagascar Diet. Write a diet book - that's how you can make your million dollars!

I'd like to go to Madagascar. What a wonderful way to lose weight!

I'm in for the Madagascar weight loss plan, too.

Lavabe wrote: I started out at 258. Current weight is 238. That's about 20 lbs, making it something like 5 or 6 lbs/week.

You lost 'em.
I found 'em.

I've justed posted a new photo album on facebook.

Getting ready to go out in the field tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Lavabe

Lavabe wrote:I've justed posted a new photo album on facebook.

Getting ready to go out in the field tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Lavabe

Oh! Thanks so much for all the facebook pics and the terrific notations. Looking forward to more. Be safe.
Love, Ima

Pics are great Lavabe. Really enjoyed taking a look today.