How Three Engineers Ended Things In Madagascar

Significant events have occurred over the past week on the project in which Janis and I are here for. To make a long story short, construction has been dragged out, and so Janis and I are heading home on our turnaround and won’t be returning as scheduled at the end of September. At the present time, Janis and I are not sure when we are returning but if we were betting peoples (which Janis retired from being after this trip – more about that later), I would say we would return in January. If anyone is interested, Janis has informed me that she would be more than happy to explain the long story about what happened in person as she has quite a few opinions on this matter.

And so it seems our time in Mada is coming to a close for now. I have been most unhappy about this and so I have been sulking in my room. Janis, on the other hand, decided to make the most of her last two days and this is how she found herself in Moramanga eating a pizza with Malagasy chili oil and delicious french fries and agreeing to sing some karaoke for her last night at site.

So here is the story – Janis, the Fennester and Fernandez had a wee bet regarding two people on the site. Don’t worry, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. The Fennester and Fernandez insisted these two people – a man and woman – were married because they were always together. They ate all their meals together, took dinner as take-out together and even showed up wearing sweats at the same time. Janis, on the other hand, pointed out the three of them (Fennester, Fernandez and Janis) ate all their meals together and at the time of the comment on the sweats pointed out that the three of them were currently wearing sweats and the three of them were most definitely not married to each other. Turns out, the Fennester and Fernandez were right and the two were indeed married. Janis is still a little bitter.

And so, Janis owed the Fennester and Fernandez dinner in Moramanga. Janis’s last night on site was chosen as the occasion – it was also the Fennester’s 30th birthday the next day. Discussions with the only Aussie on site revealed the location of a pizzeria/karaoke bar which was rumoured to be delicious. And so the three of them set off after work on Tuesday.

It turned out to be the second best time Janis had in Madagascar. Delicious chicken pizza, Coca-Cola in a glass bottle, awesome french fries and a lot of toasting to lessons learned in Madagascar were how the evening began. And then came the karaoke. First up was a tribute to Janis’s Canadian heritage and a stunning rendition of Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams. Infused with the triumph of their first song and the cheers of the crowd, they then braved the microphones again to sign The Lion Sleeps Tonight. So incredibly clichéd, I know.

Not learning their lesson, Fernandez and Janis enquired as to whether the karaoke bar had Totto’sAfrica. They were in luck as the bar did indeed have this song. And once again all three trooped up there to sing. Deciding they would stop with the clichéd Africa songs, they agreed one last song was in order. As it was the Fennester’s birthday the following day, the choice for their swan song was his. Being a good American kid (from Pleasant Hill, California), he chose Lynard Syknard’s Sweet Home Alabama. And what a rendition it was! All three of their drivers were in the bar playing pool and cheered loudly for them. I am truly sorry to have missed this experience.

And so Janis and I begin our journey from the site to Tana later this afternoon. It feels bittersweet as both Janis and I had a lot more fun than we anticipated. I believe that something called a shout out is required to the Fennester and Fernandez for making Janis laugh every single day she was here and being the best possible colleagues she could have hoped for.

Leaping Lemurs!!

Besides the scenic foliage and relaxing atmosphere of Vakona, the main reason for a visit to the forest to the forest lodge is to experience Lemur Island. After a restful night, Janis, the Fennester and Fernandez were eager to see this legendary place. First stop was breakfast which included the very best cup of tea in all of Madagascar in Janis's opinion and a teenager who sat at another table rocking out to his headphones, chain smoking and playing Half Life on his computer.

Being a camel, I do not get along with lemurs or pretty much any other animal. I fear being attacked, my hair pulled out and my ear chewed off. So I volunteered to stay behind to guard the human’s luggage. As I hear this was a

wise choice on my part.

Vakona Forest Lodge sits on the edge of a national park which is home to many different kinds of lemurs. There is a series of islands which are managed by the lodge on which six different kinds of lemurs live. A canoe and guide is required to visit the main island – all other islands are not allowed to be visited by humans. Upon the Fennester, Fernandez and Janis’s approach to the canoe launch, they all saw their first lemur in the daylight. He was a black and white lemur, just chilling on a post on the island. The three of them eagerly hopped into their canoe to go the 6 feet over to the island. Lemurs do not like water nor do they like to swim so they are content to stay on their islands.

As they alighted from their canoe, the lemurs came to greet them. All three of them were leapt on by the lemurs to welcome them to the island. Janis says it was one of the coolest experiences of her life though she wished her husband was there with her to see it. The guide provided some bananas to feed the lemurs, which they liked but they seemed more interested in bouncing around Janis’s shoulders (and even having a little fight on her shoulders), touching her hair, inspecting her sunglasses, inspecting Fernandez’s hair for baby lemurs (he is a tad hairy at the moment and one could have been in there), pooping and peeing on Noah and running back and forth between the three of them.

They then ventured further onto the island where they saw a giant sifika lemur. He is about 20 years old, likes a pat on the head, and dances across the ground between trees looking for bananas. He seemed a tad lonely as he is the only one of his kind on the island. Janis also saw some bamboo lemurs who were a little shy. Fernandez got close to one for a picture and the little guy just rotated around the bamboo stalk away from him. The black and white lemurs and the brown lemurs (of which there are two kinds on the island) continued to bounce around between the three of them. At one point, Janis had three of them on her shoulders and head.

After the main island, the guide then took them on a very relaxing canoe ride around the different islands where they saw more lemurs running around the trees. They stopped at the island of the ring-tailed lemurs. Apparently, they don’t get along with the other types of lemurs and so they live on a separate island. I understand these types of lemurs are quite famous due to some cartoon movie called Madagascar. Fernandez even broke into song – something about “I like to move it, move it” from the movie which caused the guide to laugh and sing along. Janis loved the ring-tailed lemurs as she thinks they loved her. As soon as she arrived they jumped all over her with their soft little hands, touching her hair and making strange ping-pong noises to each other. The guide brought some more bananas which all three of them feed to the lemurs. These lemurs seemed much smarter as they would take the hand which held a banana and bring it down to their level so they could reach the food. After eating they all ran into the jungle to have a nap and the three humans continued their scenic canoe ride back to the mainland.

Janis tells me that her experience at the Lemur Island was by far the best one she has had in Madagascar. Because she, Fennester and Fernandez took about 500 pictures it is not possible to post them all on her blog. If you would like to more of her lemur photos, please email her at her gmail account - which her full name at gmail and she will give you access.

Trip to the Vakona Forest Lodge

On the last weekend before Janis and I’s turnaround, the Fennester, Fernandez and Janis spent a most relaxing 24 hours at the Vakona Forest Lodge. Vakona, as it is commonly known, is about a 45 minute highway drive from the site – it is also possible to travel by the pipeline right of way which is actually faster but apparently that was “not possible.” Don’t ask me why.

I was also lucky enough to tag along with the gang and I was even introduced at long last to the Fennester and Fernandez. They were most welcoming and even agreed to take some pictures of Janis and myself relaxing on the lodge veranda. I even got my standard Coca-Cola bottle picture with a scenic view of the pond – or as Fernandez called it “the mosquito producing factory.” I found Vakona to be a most peaceful and scenic place. There were many unique trees, flowers and shrubs that Janis and I had not seen previously in the area around the site where we reside. It was also quite a bit more humid in Vakona which Janis was not so thrilled with as she is really not a fan of humidity in the slightest.

When the Fennester, Fernandez and Janis arrived, I chose to scope out our cabin – the smell reminded me so very fondly of my time with Janis in Vietnam, likely due to the combination of wood and damp forming a unique smell I had only previously encountered in Southeast Asia. The other three chose to take a wee hike which I am glad I did not go on. After being instructed to take the “blue” path, the three of them blundered around in the bushes around the lodge, managed to lose the blue path, wandered into the nature reserve, encountered a whole lot of mud, swatted mosquitoes, tripped over tree roots and got generally sweaty and hot. They were able to see quite a few giant spiders but did their best to avoid disturbing them.

Fernandez had heard that the nocturnal walk was something worth doing. I am not a fan of walks in the dark and so I chose to hang out under the mosquito net in our room. So the Fennester, Fernandez and Janis soldiered on without me. I hear from Janis that it was a most unique experience. Their guide took them on the forest paths around the lodge with a flashlight where he proceeded to show them chameleons and butterflies who seemed stunned to be caught up in the light. They also saw one bird which was kind of like a tiny owl though they were only able to see his eyes glowing. However, the highlight of the trip was the little mouse lemur they were able to see peaking out from some trees. At long last, the three of them had seem a lemur.

Thoroughly exhausted from the walk, they returned to the lodge, passing a shed covered in moths, butterflies and spiders which prompted much more picture taking. At the lodge they had an average dinner which was greatly enhanced by the handmade chocolate ice cream. I believe Janis almost cried when she received her bowl. After Janis returned to our cabin, she barricaded the door and jumped into bed making sure to secure the mosquito net around us. It was our first time sleeping under a mosquito net and it was quite pleasant. Not sure it was necessary as neither of us actually saw a mosquito during our time at the lodge but better to be safe than infected with malaria or dengue fever. We were then lulled to sleep by the night forest sounds – creaking, calling, shrieking, croaking and hiccupping. It was all rather pleasant.

Life on Site

Because I faithfully guard Janis's room from intruders and leaking pipes (the Fennster and Fernandez have no such guardians and suffered a most unfortunate room flood as a result) , I have not been party to what life on the site is actually like. So I must rely on Janis's observations and stories that she relates back to me. From what I can tell site life can range from boring to fun, to hilarious and absurb, and occasionally sad. This week Janis was busy with the following:

1) Getting ready to give some training - which she will likely not enjoy due to her dislike of speaking in front of peoples. Perhaps people would enjoy it more if given by say a spitting camel - just a suggestion:)

2) Discovering the gym treadmill as she also discovered the cookies purchased for the site team in Tana and has eaten quite a few. The Fennster and Fernandez swear that some taste like gasoline but that did not stop the Fernandez from enjoying the cookies as can be seen from the picture.

3) Trying not to drown in red mud - Cette semaine il a beacoup plu. As you can see from Janis's picture, rain gear in bright neon colours are required on such an occasion.

4) Eating a traditional Malagasy meal - poulet avec coco, which was delicious - in Moramanga with some of the team. Moramanga is a bit of a shock after being on the site for weeks because suddenly there are people everywhere. And our driver seemed to know most of them. The Fennster, Fernandez and Janis amused themselves for a few minutes by trying to remember how to say "many" en francais only to realize they all knew since everyone but Fernandez can say "merci beaucoup."

5) Looking at the bright stars from the window of the car on the ride back from Moramanga to the site. Because there are no lights, the stars are visible and bright. It was one of the prettiest things Janis has seen since she arrived. It was also cool to see the site lights from a distance, glowing behind the hills which looked a bit like an alien spaceship had landed.

6) Experiencing Saturday night rugby between the Springboks and the Wallabees at the Leaning Lemur bar. Of course, she cheered for the Springboks - who won. Those that know her well know why she did that.

7) Missing her basset hound, Guggie, who was a wee bit sick this week. There are many dogs that hang around the site looking for food, including a smart one that knows to go to the Lemur where kind-hearted people feed her table scraps. It makes Janis sad to see the dogs with no owners who might starve to death if they can't find anything to eat.

8) Laughing hysterically at Fernandez's emails to American Airlines in an attempt to reclaim the miles he is owed for his flights to Madagascar. The responses from them so far have been to quote "inexcusable and insulting".