Bevolo and the Dog

A sad day in Fort Dauphin

2011-03-10T19:10:00.000+03:00

Yesterday was a sad day in Fort Dauphin. Extraordinarily, two buildings have collapsed on the same calm dry day, one killing 30 men and the other killing 6 and injuring 8 others.

Both buildings were modern. One the sorting shed at the port, the roof of which caved in.... and the other was a brand new office block being constructed for the Cnaps (tax) office, which was apparently having additional foundations added after 4 storeys had already gone up.

Us vazah (white strangers) in town are often amused or at worst frustrated by the traditional fomba (taboos/traditions) that exist here. One of these is the ritual of killing a beast before you start to build anything .... a chicken for posts / a sheep for a wall / a cow for a house. I have never known why this was taken so seriously until now.

Apparently Tolagnaro (the Malagasy name for Fort Dauphin) means 'old bones'. The whole town is built on the site of an ancient burial ground - these are sacred places that any stranger and certainly vazah are not welcome in. The gossips in town are now convinced that these new buildings didn't respect the traditional fomba before they started construction .... and the ancestors have now shown how cross they are.

I for one will continue to be respectful of this tradition... and can only hope that those responsible for these buildings safety are generous to the families that these 36 men leave behind.

2010-07-29T17:32:00.000+03:00

In haste...

A big thank you to everyone who voted for Ailie and Azafady ... we have won a place with the Vodaphone World of Difference! Ailie will be heading out to Fort Dauphin in September to spend a year working with Azafady's community health department in their fight against AIDS and STIs:

http://www.facebook.com/worldofdifference?v=app_10531514314&ref=ts

For more about Azafady's work do visit www.madagascar.co.uk

Also a fabulous BBC radio program that you may like to listen to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t4qbd/Crossing_Continents_Madagascar/

Although the BBC reporter did not make it down to the south of Madagascar, her assessment holds true and even more urgently here... Madagascar's people really need the world to keep visiting and trading with them, if they are going to get through this time of political upheaval.

The sun is shining here even if it is our 'winter' so I must go find one (of the many) empty sun loungers and go soak up some rays!

Political rant with apologies!

2010-07-09T01:45:00.000+03:00

Oh my goodness I can't believe how long it is since I have put up a blog! Sorry to my faithful readers (especially YT!).

So what has been happening? Well to be honest, not a huge amount of any world significance here in Fort Dauphin - although if you follow media headlines you would think that it was chaos over here. All I can say is that I am now feeling officially cheesed off by politics and especially politicians! They seem incapable of realising (or should that be caring?) what their squabble over the Presidency and hence the loss of international aid and support is doing to Madagascar.

For those in the Anglophone world who may have missed it - in May there was unfortunately another incident in Antananarivo (the capital) - a small break away group of police were suppressed with force by the army. I think that the police were complaining about corruption within their ranks, although their reasons were not widely reported (unsurprisingly). This lead to headlines on the BBC of 'Gun battles in Madagascar'. You can have a read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10130758.stm. The incident, although really minor in the grand scheme of things, has seriously affected tourism again and hence is another blow to Fort Dauphin and normal people here in sleepy southern Madagascar. The few tourists that were arriving have now dwindled to just a trickle. So many local people are now out of work that the whole town's economy seems to be slowly grinding to a halt which is really sad to witness...

So what are Fort Dauphin's locals doing - fighting, demonstrating??? Not a bit here!! Other than grumbling to each other a bit, people just get on with life as best they can. The council arranged some fun events in the run up to the 26 June to celebrate 50 years since Madagascar became independent from France (including a surf competition arranged by us, supported by the council, Azafady's Mampisina project and Mark from Straing who all gave some great prizes - thank you!). Even on the 26th itself lots of people were out having a happy time, but noticeably few of them had any money to spend. The Kermaisse (the bars & stalls that pop up each year at this time) was only half the size of last year. Poverty I am seeing, yes, but have I seen anything that would worry me for my safety? no!

Now I love the wonderful Gasy trait that they would rather talk than fight. I just wish that the international media (and embassies to some extent) would look outside the capital Antananarivo and stop making the whole of Madagascar sound quite so dangerous! This is simply putting off the tourists, that places like Fort Dauphin rely on, from visiting Madagascar at all ... which ultimately makes things far worse for poor people in rural and coastal areas who are now really suffering the impact of the lack of trade & aid, a whole lot more than people in the capital ever will.

The plan at the moment (although dates may well be postponed again!) is a constitutional referendum on 12 August, parliamentary elections on 30 September and presidential elections on 26 November... but these are currently being organised without international observers or support so I don't know if these will help stabilize the country or simply give the ruling classes yet more to squabble over. Most normal people don't really care who is the President, they just want stability so they can get on with their lives without politics making things even harder for them.

Advice and a small plug as Surf Born Naked would love a bit more business to come this way too!

Trust me, it is still absolutely fine to visit southern Madagascar! Take a few sensible precautions as you pass through Antananarivo (in the same way that you would if you were visiting London or any large city) - the airport is a 40 minutes drive outside the city so you don't even have to visit there, stay near the airport and fly south asap! If you want to visit Antananarivo or any other city - just avoid crowds, don't flash your cash or belongings, have a good guide and don't travel at night or on your own.

I recently chatted to a couple who were here on their honeymoon, they have had a wonderful time - they have had the pick of the waves, beaches to themselves and the choice of accommodation. The only impact the politics has had on their holiday was that their internal Air Madagascar flights were delayed a bit... This is the land of 'mora mora' (slowly slowly) so just program into your trip some flexibility and all will be fine!

Come over - this is the Great Red Island, the 8th continent of the world, the countryside spectacular, the beaches are beautiful and the waves will take your breath away... and at the moment you will have it pretty much all to yourself - now how's about that for an offer!!

Blackie and life

2010-04-19T14:30:00.000+03:00

Well what has been happening here recently?

The sun is still out - I love April it is the perfect month here... not too hot, not too windy and the winter southern swells are beginning to kick in so Samson is very happy with the waves! He has been busy with lots of surf lessons down at Baie de Sainge - it is such a lovely beach to learn on. He has a regular class with one of the local French schools who are now really getting the hang of riding those waves and there have also been a few tourists and new 'vazah' (or strangers) arriving in town... long may it continue.

He recently took a couple of tourists to Andoahela one of the National Parks within striking distance of Fort Dauphin. It is a fascinating forest full of endemic plants and animals right up the mountains that separate the wet coastal Anosy region from the spiny deserts of Tandroy in the south west. Really worth an overnight camp by the beautiful waterfalls if you are ever heading out that way!

We are finally mending our leaking roof so that the menagerie I mentioned in a previous blog will no longer be resident in our bathroom - fingers crossed!! Also fixing our terrace roof so that I will once again have the best office in town - imagine sitting in a beautiful garden whilst working on the computer - how cool will that be? I love living in the tropics!

For the last three weeks Blackie (the dog) has been on heat. It is her first one and I have been determined to avoid puppies - easier said than done in Madagascar! Dogs are not exactly seen as pets here by the Malagasy... not only because many families can hardly feed themselves properly let alone a dog, but also because there are so many dogs and very few solid fences so they tend to procreate rapidly. Many of my Gasy friends don't get my English obsession with looking after Blackie. Their attitude is that if a dog goes missing / dies / wanders off, you just go get another puppy from your neighbourhood - there are bound to be some.

Luckily we do have a wall around our house which has meant that so long as the gate has been kept closed, I have managed to keep the boy dogs at bay. This has been a challenge with all the comings and goings at our house: the man fixing the roof, little Dollar and Rasta (yes those are their names) who hang out as Samson's 'gofers', Relax who does the garden, the lady who does the washing, the numerous people knocking on the door to sell us meat/ fish/ fruit every day, not to mention Samson's family coming and going to use the water tap... I feel like I have turned into a crazy harridan constantly shouting 'close the gate'! I think that all our Gasy neighbours must now be convinced that I am definitely mad! Keep your fingers crossed that a naughty boy dog has not snuck in when I was not looking!!

I guess it is time for a bit of an introduction to Blackie. She is the grand-daughter of Bonnie who was my first dog here in Fort Dauphin. Both came to me when I was not really wanting a dog - both looked up at me with very cute little faces and my heart melted in a way that only an English heart can. She is still 'only a dam dog' as Samson puts when he is feeling Gasy, but I can tell that he is getting really mushy about her as he plays with her when he thinks I am not looking. Our Gasy visitors are amazed that a dog can be trained to behave themselves (sit, stay etc) and that so long as a regular flea/tick regime is followed, they can actually be quite fun to have around. She is also a great guard dog - so she is earning her keep! I am determined to slowly undermine the Gasy attitude to our four-legged friends! Does any one knows a dog specialist vet that would like to come to help with sterilisation operations and more, I know that the one and only local vet would love to have more help/training/medicines?!

Oh and I have finally signed up for French lessons - they start tomorrow so I am getting a bit nervous about going back to school! I am dreading trying to understand the grammar... I remember hating it the first time around. But I really do need to brush up my Française so it will all be worth while.

Hope that spring is springing with everyone in the Northern Hemisphere and the Daffodils are finally out back at home!

Sunshine, moon shadows, cruise ships and Easter

2010-04-08T11:51:00.000+03:00

The sunshine is back - hurray! For the last two weeks or so we have been enjoying the sort of perfect weather that I adore. No idea about the temperature but it is HOT, must be 30+ degrees, perfect blue skies and our little wooden house is finally drying out after all the rain.

Last week we celebrated the full moon with a barbecue on the beach. The moon was so bright that we didn't need any other torches or lights. Moon shadows always fill me with a wonder - you so rarely appreciate the strength of moonshine in the UK with all the street lights. The boys went in to have a moonlit surf and came out raving about silver waves; oh and the rabbit in the moon was clear to see (yes there is a rabbit, rather than a man, in the Malagasy moon!)

The last Sunday of March was a red letter day for Fort Dauphin. It saw the arrival of the first cruise ship to visit for literally decades. The new port (which has been built to service the Rio Tinto mine) can also facilitate deep water cruise ships, the visits of which could potentially really help the economy of this remote corner of Madagascar... Everyone in town was very excited by the prospect of some 2,000+ tourists - even if they were only going to be with us for 6 hours. Plans for the day were discussed for months; the town cleaned for weeks beforehand and many locals arranged special tours, restaurants put on special menus and craft stalls were set up at both of the towns beaches especially for the day. Samson was there offering surf lessons and I was selling traditional Lambas (or sarongs) made into the perfect beach dress. Unfortunately what occurred was basically frustrating. Various issues appear to have 'scuppered' the day for a lot of people:

The Malagasy tour operator decided to only promote two tour options actually onboard the ship. These were the offerings of the two largest companies in town - apparently because they were the only two that accepted invoiced payment rather than requiring cash on the day... so all the smaller specially arranged tours had to be cancelled at the last minute - a shame for the locals, but also for the visitors who could have had a much greater choice of trips around this beautiful region for the day.
The information given out on board was extremely limited and did not detail either of the events arranged at the two town beaches (despite full info having been submitted in good time) - so visitors did not know that the beaches were the places to head for entertainment and shopping. Most visitors just stayed at the port if they didn't go out on one of the tours.
Buses were put on to run from the port but bizarrely they did not drop to the beaches, but only to the town hall in the commercial district - which was all shut - it being Sunday!
The final straw was that the local taxi drivers took it upon themselves to charge a ridiculous $5 per person per trip rate (normally 50 cents) despite being asked by the council not to over charge - so many visitors understandably did not want to pay to get them from the centre of town to either of the beaches. The result - many visitors never made it to the beaches, seeing only sleepy, slightly scruffy Fort Dauphin all closed up on a Sunday and headed back to the boat disappointed.

Those visitors that were a bit more adventurous that did make it to the beach were very complimentary about entertainments, stalls, food that had been arranged - but most had only brought a little money with them as they had been told that all the shops would be closed and not to eat anything onshore! Not the big success that everyone had been aiming for. We can only hope that these teething problems will be sorted out for the next ship which is due in at the end of April. Keep your fingers crossed that Fort Dauphin will get it right next time.

Last weekend was Easter. This is a happy time of the year. Traditionally, all the Malagasy get out and go on a picnic on Easter Monday. Samson and I took ourselves off to enjoy the day on Monseigner beach - one of the great local surf spots.

Tuna was cooked, Three Horses Beer drunk, Samson caught a few waves and Alison hunted for shells.... heaven on earth in my book!

I hope that Easter is finally bringing the UK some better weather and that chocolate eggs were received by all that desired them - that may have to be a tradition that I introduce to here for next year!

Cyclone and Politics

2010-03-17T03:19:00.000+03:00

I have been having a surf around the internet tonight and find out that, according to the www. world, Madagascar really doesn't seem like a good place to be at the moment.

Firstly, I looked up the weather and found out that what was a 'tropical storm' last time I looked, has turned into Cyclone Hubert and killed 36 people to the north of Fort Dauphin. http://en.afrik.com/article17154.html I feel sad for those poor people and feel bad for moaning about 'rain' in my last blog like it was English rain. Rain here can and often does bring tragedy.

Then, I have had a catch up on the political situation (which is complicated). I would hate to explain as I am an erratic follower of the news - have a look at the BBC for some good background info on Madagascar http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1063208.stm and this excellent summary of the current situation by IRIN

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88447

Tonight I came across this open letter that Rajoelina, the current HAT leader wrote in January...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575016570856757824.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

He sounds like a reasonable chap saying all the right thing, until you have a look at the comments page to see what readers really think about him - tales of press restrictions, civil rights abuses and suspected involvement in the current rosewood export scandal - makes him not seems quite so squeaky clean.

Then wondering what has been happening more recently (as the promised first round of elections have been 'postponed' and today was the deadline for African Union/US sanctions that they threatened if Rajoelina won't come back to the negotiation table) ... when I came across this which was only posted an hour or so ago written by Ravalomanana (the former President).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703734504575125381965590688.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

Now I don't really feel very qualified to comment, but I do know that the Malagasy love to talk... and long may they continue to do so. I sincerely hope that that desire to openly discuss will be sufficient protest for the Malagasy until there is the free and fair election which has been promised to them and that politicians everywhere make this happen as quickly as possible.

The Malagasy people that I know are certainly concerned by the ongoing power struggle but only in the sense that it is now really affecting their livelihoods. Few voice a favourite candidate for President, most are sadly just accepting that corruption has happened in the past and will probably happen again in some form whoever gets in and that the needs of the population of Fort Dauphin are probably viewed as inconsequential in the game of power being played out in Antananarivo the capital right now. They just want to be able to get on with their lives as best they can.

The international media hypes things by using words like crisis, when all that has happened really are a few isolated violent incidents (amongst many other non-violent rallies and gatherings) mostly in the capital city. There has been no political trouble in Fort Dauphin - all this town knows is that there are now very few tourists which means very little income, which means fewer jobs, so people are unable to purchase anything but the bare essentials and on it goes affecting the whole of this small community. This is starting to undo a lot of the improvements that had been starting to happen in recent years. There are no government hand outs, the number of beggars has certainly increased at the market and I am not going to pretend everything is hunky dory - there have recently been a few instances of people being robbed - but if you are sensible (i.e. take a taxi after dark) Fort Dauphin is certainly still a safer place than most western cities.

The two worst things that can happen, that would make an already bad situation worse for the local Malagasy, would be for the world to ignore what the political delay is doing to the people of Madagascar and drag discussions out any longer than necessary ... or for any more people to turn their backs on Madagascar as it needs your business and your support.

For now, our little home down in Southern Madagascar seems a long way away from Antananarivo and the Madagascar you read about on the internet. I can promise that if you would like to visit, ensure you take everything you read with a pinch of salt, do have the good sense to avoid crowds and have good insurance but come over anyway - its a great time to come as there are no crowds and you'll have the pick of best sun loungers when the sun come back out - which I hope it will do very soon for us all.

Rain

2010-03-10T17:41:00.003+03:00

It is raining! After weeks of lovely sunshine, a tropical storm has developed 300km north of Fort Dauphin which is now doing nothing for my suntan or the radio's ability to pick up the BBC world service from the Seychelles. The forecast is for the rain to continue for more than a week, so I figured that it was a good time to update Bevolo and the Dog.

It is cyclone season after all and we have had hardly any rain for nearly a month so we really can't complain and the plants are happy to see it. Boy, do plants grow fast here! Blink and inches appear. We were eating watermelon the other day and a few days later I noticed there were loads of tiny seedlings where the pips had ended up. Note to self - must start a vegetable plot - can anyone advise on a website that gives good advice to the novice gardener in tropical climes?!

One plus point on the weather is of cause, that the waves are HUGE! Samson is having a ball. He keeps coming in from surfing telling me that he 'nearly died out there' it was that big. Even our little cousin 'Relax' (yes that is his real name, I have seen it on his school report) came back yesterday looking positively pale but thrilled. Samson says that there is a 16 foot swell which is really nice and smooth at the moment - just ignore the rain and get in there - Boscombe eat your heart out!!

The rain also seems to have heralded a parade of some very weird and wonderful wildlife. In the last week or so I have seen in or around my house:

chameleons - really beautiful green beasties that look at the world so carefully, they always make me smile
geckos - our constant companions seem to be in fighting mood at the moment. I found one poor beastie who had died from a nasty bite lying on the terrace. May be there is an invasion going on from the next door gecko mafia? You wouldn't think that such cute looking beasties could be so violent!
crab spider - is it a spider or is it a tiny crab... who knows, but I don't want it in my bedroom thank you very much.
cicada - the ones that make all the racket if it is hot and wet... Samson caught one last night to show me, pronouncing that 'they are good to eat'. It looked like a fat grasshopper to me and I am not really feeling brave or hungry at the moment!
two mice - are getting very cheeky indeed... they spend the evening helping themselves to rice out of our rice sack. I think that their days are numbered!
scorpion - small, black and hiding behind my shampoo bottle... it was v. late at night and I should have made a bit more noise before going into the bathroom - my fault really.
spider the size of my hand - Samson says that that sort are 'fine, just leave it alone they are more afraid of you than you are of it'... I don't think he comprehends the level of my fear (!) It lives in the bathroom as well...
But the worst has to be the leach that came out of my shower wall - uurrrgggghhhhhh - Can you tell that there is a bit of a theme appearing here? Note to self - we are building a new bathroom as soon as we can!

Blackie is not very brave and simply barks at anything strange in the garden - including gas bottles or anyone wearing a hat. However beware if you are a fly, her favourite game is to catch you! Don't be too freaked out by the above, you just have to remember that there is nothing in Madagascar that is going to do you too much harm - all the really nasty snakes, spiders and beasts with teeth live in mainland Africa. I am sure that the wildlife will soon fade into the background for me, but for the moment I am still a stranger in a strange land and it is a constant fascination to me.

Finally, as promised in my last blog - here are some photos from Samson's recent surf trip to Itampolo and Anakao - they had the best time.

Hope they inspire you to come visit soon - watch out for the shagging tortoises!

Tonga Soa Fort Dauphin!

2010-02-12T14:09:00.000+03:00

Well I have made it back to Fort Dauphin! I had a lovely flight with Kenya Airways via Nairobi this time... definitely recommend travelling this way. Not only is it cheaper but everything is in English all the way to Tana AND I only had to walk about 10 steps in Nairobi to make the connection - instead of the nightmare bus/chaos that is Charles de Gaulle airport that you get travelling with Air France or Air Madagascar. Only problem is that the Kenya Airways plane from Nairobi to Tana can't take large luggage (i.e. surf boards don't fit!!!) - I think that I will have to investigate their cargo facility as everything else was spot on! Go Kenya Airways - you have a new fan here - well done!

So how is Fort Dauphin - HOT, dam hot... which is nice if your with a lady but a'nt no good if your in the jungle (with thanks to Good Morning Vietnam). I couldn't hardly move yesterday but happy to be acclimatising back to these lovely temperatures. I hear that it has snowed again in the UK - I am so happy to have escaped the cold!

Samson is in fine form (literally!), too much surfing and no wife feeding him has trimmed him back to form!! He has recently been on a trip over to Itampolo, the photos are amazing ... I will upload some soon... and we have found a great new hotel to stay at... but there is one problem...

Where is everyone..that is what I want to know?! This country is amazing but there really is no one here on holiday or even doing business that I can see at the moment! Yes, I know that there is supposedly a 'political crisis' going on but honestly, down here in the South there has been no trouble at all. It is so sad that the lovely Malagasy are now really suffering. A year now without tourists and the whole economy is affected... which means that people are literally starving. Come back world... just avoid Tana (the capital) and you will have the most wonderful holiday here in Madagascar - I promise!

Anyway, I really must go to the market to find some food for this evening, then down to the beach for a walk with Blackie. I will be back soon with more news.

My first ever blog

2010-01-31T07:01:00.001+03:00

Well here I am four days before heading back to Fort Dauphin writing my first ever blog!

My name is Alison - hope you like the Ring-tail Lemur photo. I am married to Samson - Fort Dauphin's surf dude extraordinare - who set me off on this journey by saying 'we need a website'... how can so few words encapsulate so many hours of mental torment?!!

I have been back for a break in the UK and thought that it would be easy enough to set up a website and a blog before heading back to Madagascar... only I started reading... and then read more... and more... and became quite freaked-out by all the options out there!

How do you decide how to build/host your website/blog when all you confidently know is that connection speeds and even supply of electricity is extremely irratic in Madagascar! However, I am diving in head first and giving it a go with blogger.com in the hope that lovely Jirama and Moov will do me proud when I get home.

Our website is still in construction so please bear with me on this (I have figured out how to put the links in!). In the meantime if you have found this blog and would like to know more about coming surfing with Born Naked it is just our website which is still 'under construction'... not us so do just leave me a comment here and I will email you back!

Enough of the promotion, I plan that this blog will give a flavour of life in Madagascar - miles from Wiltshire, UK where I come from originally. I hope that 'Bevolo and the Dog' will share my thoughts with family and friends (existing or still to be met) on this amazing, beautiful and crazy country.

That's all for now folks! As it is 4am UK time and I want to fiddle about with the colour scheme a bit more!!