July 26th 2013 Manakara

 

DCIM100GOPRO

The alarm (not mine) went off at 5:45.  Getting very tired of a tent and air mattress, but it will be fine for two more nights.  Breakfast was soggy rice with a large scoop of peanut butter on it.  I ate most of the peanut butter but didn’t eat much of the rice.  We decided that the morning rice is actually last nights dinner rice.  We jumped into the vehicles and headed back to Kianjavato. This was our day to follow the volunteers into the rain forest to track lemurs.  We were only going with them for a couple of hours starting at 6:30.  Some have radio tracking so they were not that hard to find.  The have been followed for quite awhile so they mostly ignored us.  When we found them, they were still balled up sleeping.  After 45 minutes or so they started to move around and I managed to get quite a few photos.  At one point, a couple came down within 5 ft of me and basically waited for me to take a few photos.  The forest is hilly and the trails are very vertical.  It was raining a bit in the morning so everything was slick.  The humidity was right at 100% so I was having a hard time not fogging up the camera or even my glasses. Back to camp by 9:15.  We packed up and were off again to Manakara.  It is about a 2 hour drive east and south of Kianjavato.  We needed to check out the place as a source of stuff.  Then it was lunch on the beach and I managed to put my feet in the water.  It was mid 70s with a nice ocean breeze.  The sand was a bit funny, very large grains, very soft.  Lunch was steak and fries.  Even had a beer with lunch. We needed to head back about 2:00 but lunch here like everything else takes forever.  We didn’t get on the road till almost 3:00, and with a stop for gas, it as after 3 before we got very far.  Back at camp a bit before 5, I got in a bucket shower before dinner.  Spaghetti and ground zebu.  One of the better meals here.  Helped Kate with her computer again, she worries about way too many things.  By the time dinner was done and a bit of conversation, it was dark.  Kieth wanted to send out a couple of quick emails so I let him use the iPad.  Once he was done, I traded a bunch of text messages with Antje before letting her get lunch and let me brush my teeth.  Mosquitos were getting the better of me so I moved back to the tent even though reception isn’t as good.  Worked on the journal for the day before calling it quits.