madagaskar en route to Mahambo

As the story begins i find myself on a tiny plane bound for Antananarivo from South Africa.  I Met a very good man named Paul who originally comes from Florida yet resides in Madagascar with his wife and family.  As you travel from country to country you watch how the people change shape and form and in a small number of hours you can see the world from an entirely different perspective.

I am writing this from a small poorly lit cafe alongside a new and very true friend called Alex who is from France yet lives in Mayotte.  My travels have taken me to a dirty and crowded capital where i met a raggae musician who recieved a very generous gift of a new guitar from Paul. 

I slithered around the city and surrounding villages for a few days yet found my heart in a village called Mahambo which peacefully rests on the east coast touching the indian ocean.  Here i will stay and find myself for a few days before entering the jungle.  I came here just because i thought the name was cool but later found out it is a haven for surfers and laid back lifestyle.  It is easy to slip away here for a little while and shake off that beast of stress from the last ten days.

First a few stories so I dont forget

I saw a smuggler from South Africa getting arrested in the airport for sneaking seven fossilized dinosaur eggs out of the country.  It was a nice mood breaker for the chaos that comes with first setting food on a new land.

I also rode in a taxi brusse for quite a few hours and stopped frequently so the driver could buy live chickens.  That was pretty cool.

In the village i was at first uncomfortable with my level of french so i kept my cellphone in my pocket playing bob marley loudly.  Wherever i walked people started singing along and it made great conversation starter.  

Im getting better at french and i really enjoy the madagaskar version of the language.

And i heard before that the father or uncle of a young boy who is being circumcized must eat the foreskin of the child.. i also heard later they put it in a shotgun and fired it into the sky a it is the fastest way to heaven..  cool..

I can feel that this is the beginning of a great journey.  I feel like i am truly very far away from home and i understand that none of this would be possible without my experience from previous travels.  In a week or so I will surely be deep in the jungle and the story will begin for certain.  Here are some photos (hopefully) so far.