Arriving in Madagascar

The whole journey began at San Fransisco Airport at 10pm where I flew to Chicago, and then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Antananarivo, Madagascar. The first day in Madagascar: I got off the plane at 3pm local time and navigated through customs as power faded in and out. At baggage claim there were a bunch of locals trying to take my luggage and help me skip everyone in line through a second line of customs and then take me to their taxis. So thanks mom for preparing me for that. Then I found Robert one of Jessica's family's rice drivers. He speaks Malagasy and broken French. Then I napped as I waited for Dahe's flight to arrive an hour later at the airport.  She is from LA and flew to Delhi and then Mauritania and then Antananarivo, Madagascar. Together, we flew around the world to get to Camp Fihavanana.

Madagascar countryside

ALEFA! (Let's Go!), we started the 2 1/2 hour drive to Moramanga.  I tried to stay awake to watch the beautiful scenery and the crazy traffic like in movies of people walking every which way around the cars but passed out after 30 minutes. After two hours we stopped in the middle of a small town to wait for a family friend who was bring a cake for Jessica's dad's birthday. So we resumed our ride with a cake between Dahe and I and an additional passenger. I thought it was just around the corner but when I asked how much longer and Robert responded still 2 hours. At this point we were driving along a road with frequent pot holes, passing cars and trucks every 5/10 minutes but otherwise it was a pitch black ride through the jungle. Two hours later Dahe woke me up to ask how much further. At this point we were starting to wonder what was happening to us, hoping we would get there before midnight. We were so thankful to not be in what felt like a horror movie alone. Neither of us had cell reception or had heard from Jessica since a brief "Yay you're here!" at the airport. But apparently, only 1 hour left. I thought: "maybe we are getting somewhere."

One hour later, "how much further Robert?" I was expecting to hear him say another hour, but instead I was pleasantly surprised to hear: "15 minutes" ...my heart almost leaped for joy! Sure enough fifteen minutes later we pulled left into the hotel and there was Jessica and the rest of the staff to welcome us and invite us to the birthday party. When Malagasy people party THEY PARTY! I felt immediately welcomed by the friends and family around the table and there were a number of them dancing, including Jessica's dad. I left for bed after 45 mins because naturally I was exhausted after traveling for 27 hours and being out of bed for 44 hours.