Today I saw the sunrise from my beach bungalow in Faux Cap, watched humpback whales frolick in the Indian Ocean, helped dig and push our truck out of a sand bog, sat on the southernmost point of Madagascar at Cap St. Marie, moved 25 radiated and/or spider tortoises out of the road along our drive and watched the sun set from my beach bungalow in Lavanono (pronounced lavanoon). I love the ocean!
We have been driving through hot, dry desolate land and so it was a wonderful relief to me to reach the beach yesterday evening and be met by the ocean breezes and cool water. I promptly took a snorkle/swim to the fringing reef but only found one spot with 2 small lionfish and 4 other small fish. We thought our route would follow the coastline, but in reality we have only caught a small glimpse or two, far off in the distance, along the way since leaving Manakara. Thankfully for us, someone saw fit to build a few bungalows at the edge of the world in this extremely remote village of 400 people- nothing but water between here and Antarctica and no other travelers besides us. It definitely felt like our very own slice of paradise.
We arrived without food and after a day fueled only by a yogurt and a few finger bananas, I was more than happy to pay $6 for a dinner plate heaping with rice, spaghetti and spiced yams. Normally, a dinner of rice and veggies or rice and omelette runs me about $2-3. A happy surprise to end the day, a sweet crepe dessert followed our sunset dinner! Bonus! This morning, I woke just before sunrise and had a leisurely morning exploring the surrounding area and having a swim. Sandrine discovered an area littered with pieces of elephant bird egg... Aepyornis was a 30 foot tall, flightless bird that disappeared in the 17th century. 
We watched about 10 whales swim by, I think 1 or 2 were calves. We set off on another long day of driving, our destination Lavanono, by way of Cap St. Marie. Somewhere along the way we got stuck in the sand (bogged) on the road. Within moments, people gather and start digging and cutting brush to use as traction and pushing to free our truck. It really touches me how willing and friendly the people here are. There wasn't really a discussion about will they help or can they help, they just DO help. One of my favorite photos from this trip doesn't actually exist in my camera but in my brain (because pulling a camera out changes the scene): An elderly woman, probably the grandma, with neat greying braids wrapped into buns behind each ear, wearing dirty tattered clothes and a metal wash pan on her head to shade her from the sun, holding a round-faced, big-eyed, little boy. 
She, of course, handed him off to the youngest girl and dug and pushed with the rest of us. The rest of the journey was slowed occassionally by tortoises using the road but otherwise was without incident and we arrived safely, if not a little thirsty, into Lavanono- paradise #2.
She, of course, handed him off to the youngest girl and dug and pushed with the rest of us. The rest of the journey was slowed occassionally by tortoises using the road but otherwise was without incident and we arrived safely, if not a little thirsty, into Lavanono- paradise #2.
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