It’s very cold in Delhi at the moment…
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
I had this one mostly to myself
I’m actually wearing socks at the moment. I haven’t worn socks in six weeks.
And I’m wrapped in a Kenyan Maasai shawl. That’s how cold it is in my apartment in Delhi. The Jameson I’m sipping is only going so far.
So… the above picture is a little exercise in visualization. It’s my private beach in Tolagnaro, Madagascar. It actually wasn’t completely private, but it seemed that way when I took this picture on the hike there.
Tags: beach, environment, ft dauphin, madagascar, photography, shenanigans, travel
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, diving, 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, shenanigans, shopping, thailand, tourism, travel, wildlife
Essentials: eggs, vegetables and cell-phone minutes
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Traveling today, so here’s a Madagascar flashback:
Bare necessities: food and communication
In Tolagnaro, if you’re not a farmer, if you don’t fish, if you don’t work at the Rio Tinto mine, you probably have a small market stall.
Tags: economy, emerging nations, food, ft dauphin, madagascar, market, photography, poverty, shopping
An eco-friendly mine?
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes, photography
Mining giant Rio Tinto has an ambitious conservation agenda in connection with its titanium mine near Tolagnaro, Madagascar. It has created conservation zones that it won’t mine and pledged to regrow the forests that it destroys.
Critics say it won’t succeed, in part because too little will be conserved. NGOs also say the mine has been detrimental to local people, but the government approves because it represents significant foreign investment.
The above photos were taken at the Mandena nursery, where plants are grown to one day repopulate the forest. A few shots are also from around Tolagnaro, also known as Ft. Dauphin. Rio Tinto does not allow photography of the mine itself.
Tags: environment, flora, ft dauphin, madagascar, mining, nursery, photography, plants, titanium, trees
Saving a forest?
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes, photography
Saviors of the Mandena forest?
The hands belong to Johny Rabenantoandro, director of biodiversity and rehabilitation for Rio Tinto’s mine in southern Madagascar. Yes, you read that right. A mine, with a director of biodiversity.
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Tags: conservation, environment, forest, ft dauphin, madagascar, mine, photography, rio tinto, seeds, trees
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, travel, 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
