Madagascar

This is why I went down there: observe sampling methods to make sure results are up to par. There is a guy down there...

This is about the deepest I was allowed to go. Those footholds were not engineered for my Canadian girth.

Accommodations.

The locals found a Chameleon and brought it into camp for the visitors.

This guy did not have a bottle so he improvised one. He got water from a nearby stream and I can tell you he spent 1 minute looking for crawlies before taking his first sip.

 

 

This is a Zebu which provides meat, milk, transportation, and they carve the horns into implements.

The ingenuity that the workers showed for getting the rice pot on the fire was amazing.

Looking down into the Caldera.

The typical agriculture in the area consists of cutting and burning the forest (bamboo and palm) then planting rice just before the rainy season.

This is the camp where I stayed. I kept joking that the fence was meant to keep zombies out because there are no big animals here.

One of my hotels had a little Christmas spirit (probably year round).

The view out my window. I was astonished to see the people transporting goods in traditional Red River Carts pulled by a Zebu, wooden wheels and all. These were used in 1800s by settlers in western Canada. You cant argue with good design.

Typical house on the highway.

 

It is illegal to sell dead crab so they coat them in mud to keep them alive longer.

The Market (not for tourists).

We were passing through a resort town and decided to stay the night.

The capital city of Antananarivo is a bustling center.