January 24, 2009

Greetings all, I have just returned from a brief, but eventful trip to Madagascar. Allow me to regale you with some of my adventures. I departed for the red island only three days after returning home from winter break. I was tired and I was sick, and I certainly did not feel like getting back on a plane or riding in a car for multiple days. But the time was nigh so I packed my bag, attempted to get my life in order, and off I went. By the time I reached South Africa, I was feeling pretty tired but at ease. I was looking forward to this trip (albeit with a bit of trepidation), and I thought about all of the people and the countryside I would soon be seeing. My spirits were not even broken when my bag failed to arrive in Antananarivo. I had made it to Madagascar and I was ready to take on our brief but intense field project. However, my bag still had not arrived by the time we needed to depart for the field. This was most unfortunate since I am apparently not a normal Malagasy size and I had worn a pair of pants that were literally disintegrating on the plane. What to do? I managed to scavenge some pants, shirts and socks at the market and from my colleagues, Emilienne and Laurie, but underwear was more difficult. At the market I found what I thought might work, but when Emilienne asked me, “oh, do you like men’s underwear?” I realized I would need to keep looking. At this point you might be wondering how on earth I managed to conduct field work without any supplies. Well, by an incredible stroke of luck, I left a large bag of field supplies in Tana in 2007. That meant I had almost everything I would need except clothing, a plant press, a tripod, and a sleeping bag (not too bad). Having more or less outfitted myself, we headed south towards our final destination, Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve.

Now January is the wet season in Madagascar. It is also the unbelievably hot season. Our first experience as we headed towards Beza was the heat. The rain did not affect us until later. Our driver, Tsima, made record time and got us to Beza Mahafaly in a day and a half. This was somewhat at the expense of Laurie and me, who were seated in the back of the car. The road between Antananarivo and Beza is long and very windy, and Laurie and I spent a lot of time in each other’s laps. That said, I was very glad for the quick ride because it gave us a bit more time to try to complete or gargantuan “to do” list at Beza.

The reserve was as I remembered it, hot and dry, but now there was some extreme mud, and the vegetation was much more lush. We commenced with my plant project. The goal of this project (which I started to years ago) is to try to quantify isotopic variability within and between plant species in relation to seasonal moisture, proximity to a large arroyo, and disturbance. This trip heralded the second part of the project and we spent several days finding all of the trees that we had marked in 2007, resampling them, and then removing their tags. Our team moved with incredible speed and efficiency and I was extremely pleased. We even found most (but not all) of our marked trees. It seems that outside of the reserve, local people decided that they did not like my tags, and pulled them down.  I spent my afternoons fighting the wind as I tried to organize my herbarium specimens, and then Laurie, Emilienne and I tackled updating the osteologic collection. Lots of digging up old buried lemurs, sifting through the dirt, scrubbing bones with toothbrushes, soaking bones in ammonia and water, and then labeling and cataloging the bones after they had dried. So many bones! I learned a lot about preparation of bone specimens. Although I spent a lot of time with dead lemurs, there weren’t too many living lemurs for me on this trip. Apparently ring-tailed lemurs and sifakas do not visit the camp as often during the wet season as they do in the dry season. I did wind up seeing all four lemur species that live at the reserve, and I also got in a few hearty lemur laughs.

Halfway through our seven-day stay at Beza we got a taste of the wet season. The wind picked up and grey clouds filled the sky. I was overjoyed at the cooler temperatures and had no idea what a rainstorm could be like. First it began to drizzle, and then the skies opened up and down came the rain. A true torrential downpour. Laurie, my herbarium specimens and I were stuck under a raised thatched roof working area that leaked. We kept waiting for a break in the storm. We waited, and waited and waited and waited. The ground around our covered area disappeared as it was covered by water. Looking out across the camp, all I could see where trees and buildings sticking up out of an instant lake. I was very glad that our tents were also raised above ground level. The rain didn’t stop but we decided to make a break for it nonetheless. The soil was super slippery and sticky under the water so it was slow going. Don’t fall, don’t lose a shoe, don’t drop the herbarium specimens. Finally, laughing, we made it to a building with a solid roof. Actually, once we were under a covered area that didn’t leak, it was pretty relaxing and beautiful looking out over the flooded camp. It made me feel like I was sitting on a porch in a bayou. The pattern of afternoon rain continued for the remainder of our days at Beza. However, after that first day, I was much more prepared.

Our visit to Beza Mahafaly was short and intense, and all too soon it was time to return to Tana. I slipped on a skirt and bade what was left of my field pants goodbye as I deposited them in the garbage. They had really done me proud. I would have had some serious problems if they had decided to rip at the beginning of our trip. Now, they were in tatters and decidedly not wearable. We tried to pick a time when our tents would be dry and we packed up and headed up the road. But because of the rain, the “road” was now much wetter and stickier than it had been on our arrival, and it was slow going. We would go about 20 feet and get stuck in thick mud. Tsima would clamber out and attach our winch to a tree, and free our car, and then we would go another 20 feet and repeat the process. Thank goodness for that winch, I am not sure what we would have done without it. Emilienne pointed out that there were little turtles in the puddles in the road and I watched with amusement as they cleared out of the way of our approaching cars. These turtles could really book it. Can you imagine a turtle running? It was like looking at a sped up version of a normal turtle and I had trouble believing that they were actually moving as fast as they were. Finally, after eight hours, the endless mud rutted road ended and we all climbed out for a stretch. Ah, paved road, you have never felt so smooth!

Our trip back to Tana went quickly. We stopped for a beautiful sunset photo shoot at the edge of Isalo National Park, and Laurie and I picked grass samples every time we stopped for a pee break. Back in Tana, we had a few days to tie up loose ends. Our first day back, I learned that my bag had finally been found and arrived in Tana that very morning (only two weeks late). I was so overjoyed. Although I could clearly have used my clothing and supplies during our fieldwork, there were things in my bag that meant a lot to me and I had had a tough time coming to terms with the idea that I might never see them again. I literally jumped up and down I was so excited. We dropped off the mound of plant samples and specimens that I had collected for export, and we had a lovely dinner with some Malagasy friends.

Just two weeks in Madagascar. This certainly was a productive trip. Thinking about all of the details that could have gone wrong, and about everything we accomplished makes me dizzy. I owe a lot to my fantastic colleagues and to our good luck. On my way home, I was very nervous about checking a bag, and was careful to keep as much important stuff on me as possible. But no bag troubles. We did get stuck in a very intense rainstorm while boarding the plane in Tana so the first part of my journey home was decidedly damp. So much so that the passport control in Johannesburg was curious why my passport was wet. Other than that, smooth travels. It is so good to be home. And now it’s time to get back to work in my “real” life. Things won’t be very exciting for awhile I am afraid, but never fear, you will hear from me again when I have something worth reporting.

Happy New Year to you all.

Brooke