The last month and a half was spent in the bush village of St. Luce, where I was helping out with the organization's conservation programme. We spent part of our time there camping on a narrow penisula bordered by a river on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. Among other things, we searched for lemurs, amphibians, and reptiles, and saved an endangered species of palm. Previously, there had been only 50 Dypsis stlucii individuals left in the entire world, there are now an additional 523.
The boys and I also tried our luck fishing in the river (which has had numerous crocodile sightings). We used a significant sized chunk of chicken intestine as bait, convinced we were going to catch a big enough fish to feed everyone on camp. We didn't catch any fish, but had one bite that broke the line and almost pulled Martin into the river (okay, slight exaggeration). But you can't tell us we didn't almost catch a crocodile!
I'm back in Fort Dauphin at the moment, but will likely be heading out this week for one last epic adventure that is the taxi-brousse system of Madagascar. Three days and two nights driving up the east coast to the Capital city of Antananarivo. Stories to come.
In other news, I have decided to return to Canada a bit earlier than expected. I will be home on the 1st of August and shortly after will be moving to Winnipeg (yup, going to Winnipeg...) to start a Masters degree program at the University of Manitoba. I'm already beginning to dread the inevitable reverse culture shock of returning to the 'developed' world, especially when I'm leaving a place that I have such a deep love for. But it will be good to see friends and family again.
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