Today is our second last night in Madagascar its hard to believe its over!!! weve all had such a great time. We have just finished our r and r phase on ile saint marie but than we decided to change islands and went to an island off ile saint marie called ile aux nate which was amazingly beautiful!!! the ocean was so clear and the water was filled with tropical fish like clown fish and fish that look like dory from finding nemo.
On the last night in Ile aux nate we celebrated marcus's birthday we got him off the island by chucking him in a perogue (small canoe like boat) with singyee to go round the island. While they were doing that we set up all the tables along the beach and around the tables where candles in the sand it look fantastic. All the girls wore there lambohoas (serongs) and when the boat was coming to shore we sang happy birthday!! it was definitly a night to remember.
Our flight is leaving on Friday at 2:00 malagasy time on flight 0100 i think, it should arrive in Melbourne at around 9:30 but you never know with our luck!!!!
see you soon *
Courtenay
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Coming to an end!
Hey all,
we have just finished our last treking phase through Ranamafana national park it was amazing we saw all types of lemurs and insects we even got to hold a pink snake. before our trek we were doing our project and we didnùt quite get to finishing it but we gave all the schools baskeballs, tennis balls, skipping ropes and stationary ect. they loved them! the toilet block waslooking pretty good when we left and i learnt how to build a wall out of clay missmatched bricks and dirt! its alot harded than it looks trust me!
Playing with the children we defenitly my highlight of the project phase we all fell in love with playing games and learning there language. The girls got in touch with their African side by getting the Malagasy girls to braid their whole heads.
We have got off the bus from Ranamafana to Antanarivo so we are now staying in a hotel which is a nice change from the tents. We are now all really missing the everyday items that we were so used to at home like milk, our own beds and especially WESTERN food!!!
Tommorow we are heading to Tamatav which is a tourist town on the coast we are staying there for 2 nights before catching a boat to Ill Saint Marie for our last phase R and R!!! so we are all gearing up to relax on the beach we have saved a lot of money for the end of the trip and we have two birthdays one of them is our leader Marcus's and the other Mrs Gowlands so we are going to have a big celebration (hopefully).
be back in Aus soon
love Courtenay
we have just finished our last treking phase through Ranamafana national park it was amazing we saw all types of lemurs and insects we even got to hold a pink snake. before our trek we were doing our project and we didnùt quite get to finishing it but we gave all the schools baskeballs, tennis balls, skipping ropes and stationary ect. they loved them! the toilet block waslooking pretty good when we left and i learnt how to build a wall out of clay missmatched bricks and dirt! its alot harded than it looks trust me!
Playing with the children we defenitly my highlight of the project phase we all fell in love with playing games and learning there language. The girls got in touch with their African side by getting the Malagasy girls to braid their whole heads.
We have got off the bus from Ranamafana to Antanarivo so we are now staying in a hotel which is a nice change from the tents. We are now all really missing the everyday items that we were so used to at home like milk, our own beds and especially WESTERN food!!!
Tommorow we are heading to Tamatav which is a tourist town on the coast we are staying there for 2 nights before catching a boat to Ill Saint Marie for our last phase R and R!!! so we are all gearing up to relax on the beach we have saved a lot of money for the end of the trip and we have two birthdays one of them is our leader Marcus's and the other Mrs Gowlands so we are going to have a big celebration (hopefully).
be back in Aus soon
love Courtenay
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Madagascar so far!
hello there,
it's been a while since i've blogged on this! the keyboard here is really different and it's so hard to type!
since we've been here, we've seen so many things that you couldn't imagine. we arrived in Tana on sunday to find that the airpoprt was extremely small. Travelled to our hotel and we saw really great scenery. On monday, we travelled on a bus from Tana to Fianarantsoa, that took us ten hours; we slept at a hotel and then set off for Ranihera, we're we started our trek in Isalo national park. Isalo is such a beautiful place! We saw lemurs a boa constrictor, camillions and an owl. We also swam in the pools of the waterfalls.
That night most of the group watch the stars as the sky was so clear that night! there were literally billions of stars. I saw my first shooting star and it was amazing, we also saw a couple of satellites and that was fun.Today we are back in Fianarantsoa, wondering around looking at the markets, they have some really interesting things to buy and eat. We bought some postcards and some of us sent them today, so we hope you receive them! Anyway, i better be off! time to get ready for lunch, see ya!
Singyee
it's been a while since i've blogged on this! the keyboard here is really different and it's so hard to type!
since we've been here, we've seen so many things that you couldn't imagine. we arrived in Tana on sunday to find that the airpoprt was extremely small. Travelled to our hotel and we saw really great scenery. On monday, we travelled on a bus from Tana to Fianarantsoa, that took us ten hours; we slept at a hotel and then set off for Ranihera, we're we started our trek in Isalo national park. Isalo is such a beautiful place! We saw lemurs a boa constrictor, camillions and an owl. We also swam in the pools of the waterfalls.
That night most of the group watch the stars as the sky was so clear that night! there were literally billions of stars. I saw my first shooting star and it was amazing, we also saw a couple of satellites and that was fun.Today we are back in Fianarantsoa, wondering around looking at the markets, they have some really interesting things to buy and eat. We bought some postcards and some of us sent them today, so we hope you receive them! Anyway, i better be off! time to get ready for lunch, see ya!
Singyee
Madagascar update
We have arrived in Fianarantsoa after a 5 hour bus trip;
Most ppl speak french here
we have stopped at an internet cafe but i dont know how many more we will stop at + this 1 had skype but i dont know my family skypes passwork
we went 2 Isalo National park in Ranahira, It was awsome swimming in the cascade nymph: black pool and blue pool;
Our leader Marcus + a lot of other ppl got sick but recovering fast;
The locals are awsomely friendly over here;
they play a lot of basketball!! and rugby n soccer;
They guides are wacko and r great fun 2 talk 2 and play soccer;
they are called the scorpions because of their mad tshirts;
the locals are all trying to find work and they all know each other and they whistle to alert mates;
the plane delay was a bit of a hastle but wasnt too bad.
we r doing the project nxt switching it with the village trek to give ppl time to recover,
Food over here consists of lychees; rice; bananas and bagets;
avaior;
josh
aka grand prix D
Most ppl speak french here
we have stopped at an internet cafe but i dont know how many more we will stop at + this 1 had skype but i dont know my family skypes passwork
we went 2 Isalo National park in Ranahira, It was awsome swimming in the cascade nymph: black pool and blue pool;
Our leader Marcus + a lot of other ppl got sick but recovering fast;
The locals are awsomely friendly over here;
they play a lot of basketball!! and rugby n soccer;
They guides are wacko and r great fun 2 talk 2 and play soccer;
they are called the scorpions because of their mad tshirts;
the locals are all trying to find work and they all know each other and they whistle to alert mates;
the plane delay was a bit of a hastle but wasnt too bad.
we r doing the project nxt switching it with the village trek to give ppl time to recover,
Food over here consists of lychees; rice; bananas and bagets;
avaior;
josh
aka grand prix D
Fianarantsoa 29th
Hi we are here in Fianarantsoa a major town in the south of Madagasca, so far we have had a bit of bad luck we had a 19 hour stop over in Bangkok. and just a few days ago some of us have been sick with a tummy bug. The worst hit is our leader Marcus who has been in bed with an intestinal infection. Even with these set backs we are still having a good time the living habits of the people here are amazing and they all live on very little it has made us all think of how lucky we are in Australia. Because of our bad luck we are switching our trek with our project so this week we will be living in a little village and helping them build a sanitary block.
Hoping everyone is well
We dont know when well next see a computer but well try keep in touch!
Courtenay and the team!
Hoping everyone is well
We dont know when well next see a computer but well try keep in touch!
Courtenay and the team!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Update
Very quick message to say that we have arrived safely in Tana after long delays in Bangkok. We are all safe and well and enjoying the amazing differences of Malagasy culture. Up at six this morning to buy fresh breakfast on the streets. About to leave for a ten hour bus drive to Fianarantsoa to start our trek tomorrow. Keep in touch.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Group Post from Airport
We've got to Melbourne Airport safely (was there ever any doubt about that? :P) and we're currently waiting for our flight to Bangkok - couldn't resist the 20 minutes internet time for 2 dollars. Build up day was really helpful, a lot of us needed equipment and sometimes had to get rid of things *deemed* excess (but I really did need those-)
Missing all you parents already!
The Team
Missing all you parents already!
The Team
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