2011/08/20 mahajanga
I am recently back from Mahajanga (alternatively Majunga) in the northeast. While there I got to see a couple of other volunteers and some baobabs (finally!). Mahajanga is great because of a number of factors. First, it is “winter” here, so the weather was warm (read: hot because I am used to the more temperate highlands) and dry during the day but cool and mosquito filled at night. Second, the board. The board is a long roadway on the ocean front that gets going at night. If you see any of my photos on my picasa page (http://picasaweb.google.com/ambersheets/) most of the night photos are from there. The big thing are fish brochettes, ice cream and staring at people. There are also horse rides, weird child car rides that are pushed by a person, popcorn and cotton candy, carnival rides and the occasional concert. Since it is the long school break right now, it is really hopping. Third, it is relatively cheap! More Malagasy than vazahas vacation here (mostly just because it is kind of out of the way from other tourist spots on the island), so the pricing really reflects this. 
Fourth, there are coconuts/mangoes/papaya/cheap seafood… etc. Fifth, it has a very large Muslim population and it is Ramadan right now. Many shops were closed as result but we were right by a mosque so we heard all the calls to prayer and saw some awesome outfits. Some volunteers that live in this area are also following Ramadan with their friends at site so hanging with the vacationing girls posed difficulties. Sixth, one night as we sat down at a fish brochette stand, a few people down was my Malagasy tutor from Ambalavao. In case you forgot that is where I live and it is approximately 1000 kilometers from there, so it is becoming a smaller island. Some girls had outfits made while we were there, and we all bought lambas (the cloths, like the ones in the beach photos) of course. I want to go back, it was a great vacation and now I finally get why people like beach vacations. But now I am back on the plateau getting ready to help train the new trainees. OH! One last thing, in reference to my last entry about sharks and beaches, we went swimming in the ocean but no sharks! Just seaweed…
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