A year-in-review
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes, photography
2009 kinda kicked ass
This past year pretty much rocked. And the New Year came in fine manner. No kisses, but a bonfire amid the palm trees (above), new friends, lobster, a decent cigar (thanks, C!), champagne and even the Harry Connick, Jr., band playing Auld Lang Syne at midnight (never leave home without the iPod).
I meant to post this sooner, but here’s a little look back at my new life (as chronicled on this blog):
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Tags: andaman and nicobar, antananarivo, beach, beer, circumcision, conservation, delhi, drought, economy, emerging nations, environment, festival, fishing, food, ft dauphin, gear, havelock, health, hiv, holiday, india, island, journalism, kenya, kibera, kisumu, lemur, maasai mara, madagascar, market, motorcycle, multimedia, mumbai, nairobi, party, photography, port blair, poverty, preparation, scuba diving, shenanigans, shopping, thailand, tourism, wildlife
Things Africa taught me
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes
I’ve now arrived in India and am getting settled and spending a little time with family in Pune. I’ve also been coming up with a list of lessons learned from seven weeks in Africa. In no particular order, here goes:
- French, that language I really thought was useless, is so not useless. Especially if you’re in Madagascar in non-tourist towns, trying to report and the only people you meet competent enough in English to be a translator are either employees of the company you’re writing about or activists in the community.
Reef flip flops are awesome. Seriously. Reef. Write it down. Best sandal I’ve ever worn. Damn near the best thing I’ve ever put on my foot. For example, when I accidentally stepped into two and a half feet of quick mud and lost a flip flop (again, thanks Sara from London, for a great laugh), I immediately paid the local who pulled me out another 500 shillings (a little more than $7, probably his weekly wage) to get back in the mud and retrieve my flip flop. (Dear Reef, I’m hoping for an endorsement deal. “Backpack journalist in Third World swears by Reef sandals.” Sounds good, no?)- I like parentheses.
- Eat bananas. Leg cramps suck.
- Save some bananas for the lemurs.
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Tags: antananarivo, beer, emerging nations, health, kenya, kisumu, lemur, madagascar, nairobi, poverty, raila odinga, shenanigans, tourism, wildlife
MBG: Development through conservation
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes, photography
Chris Birkinshaw (right) and Christian Camara (center), both of MoBot, inspect flora at the Ankafobe reserve in Central Madagascar
Solofo, president of the local fokotany, checks sohisika seedlings at the nursery
Seedlings of sohisika, a tree endemic to only a few small stands of forest in central Madagascar
Before leaving Madagascar, I took a day-trip with botanists Chris Birkinshaw and Christian Camara from the Missouri Botanical Garden to inspect a small nature reserve and several associated projects.
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Tags: ankafobe, antananarivo, conservation, environment, madagascar, missouri botanical garden, photography, plants, sohisika, trees
Meat, glorious meat
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Plastic wrap isn't exactly an option.
Tags: antananarivo, emerging nations, food, madagascar, market, meat, more meat, photography, poverty
Tana’s charming views
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Winding streets of Tana's hills
Tags: antananarivo, french, madagascar
Sunset on a quiet beach
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes, photography
Isolated and beautiful
I’ve been in Ft. Dauphin, where the keyboards have the French layout and very few people speak English, for three days now. This, by right of its natural beauty, should be a perfect sun and surf tourism destination. Unfortunately for the local economy, it’s mostly empty (not withstanding the four French guys I met playing foosball who, again, spoke almost zero English).
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Tags: antananarivo, beach, beer, ft dauphin, madagascar, sunset, tourism
What can you do with 100 Ariary?
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes, photography
A gangster roll, but only $300
Madagascar’s currency is a mind-trip. Inflation (and I’m guessing poor central banking) has left large denominations mostly meaningless. At the airport in Tana on Wednesday, $1 was just shy of 2,000 ariary. The largest bill I’ve seen is a 5000 AR note. Do the math ($2.50).
Though my airfare was astronomical ($700 for the roundtrip from Nairobi to Tana and $425 for the roundtrip from Tana to Ft. Dauphin), prices on the ground are relatively cheap.
A coffee is between 50 cents and a $1.50. A 500 ml beer of Gold (the upscale brand that is actually not bad for a lager) is between $1.50 and $2.50.
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Tags: antananarivo, ariary, beer, coffee, currency, madagascar, thailand, tourism
