Yesterday was a very long day, which is an agnostic statement but carries a hint of negativity. Luckily, on the balance the length of the day was decidedly in the positive side of the ledger. You see, it was my birthday and that is one of the days that i don't mind stretching out, as it now includes time for reflection and a little self-satsifaction. Thanks to the dozens and dozens of wonderful birthday tidings on email, FB, calls, which lead to me feeling so connected to my family and friends around the world. Seriously, thank you.
My birthday started at midnight as Mu and i had already been 8 hours en route --piled into a Toyota HiLux truck from about 1988. Us and about 20 other people crammed into the truck. The Toyota HiLux is one version of the taxi brousse, by far the primary mode of transport in a country without much in the way of air or train options. The taxi-brousse stitch Madagascar together and are private enterprises. Most of the time, the longer routes are done primarily at night when it is cooler, and this ride was no exception.
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| The rig - HiLux's are built to last |
We had been slated to leave at 4 pm, which we automatically inflated to 6 pm since that is the norm here. However, and very surprisingly, at about 2 on the 19th, we got a call on our cell and were told to rush to the Gare. A taxi brousse leaving early? Impossible and improbable, but we high tailed it to the station, just in time to sit around for two hours while the rig got strapped down with all the baggage, left to get fuel, inflated the tires, checked all the jury rigged straps, etc. It was an ominous sign when the truck had to be pushed started to get going before we had even left the Gare, but in these situations you can't think too much about the long term implications of having a faulty starter on a deserted bush highway. Otherwise, you get your imagination wandering towards dark places and that is not a good trend in this situation.
Despite the delays, we pulled on to the road at 4:15 pm, a preemptive departure that was much welcomed as the drive from Sambava (which mu wrote about) to Diego-Suarez comes in around 20 hours, the bulk of which covers a very nasty dirt raod that is prone for ensnaring taxi brousses and trucks. Mu and i paid an extra 10,000 malagasy ariariy a piece ($ 4.48 USD at today's exchange rate) so that we can sit in the cab of the HiLux and not in the very cramped back. Think of it as 1st class, Malagasy style. It is a far cry from business class on a trans-continental flight, let me tell you, but every little bit of comfort helps and i am so grateful for this space throughout the night and into the next day. I am tall and these rides always wreak havooc with my knees, so it is pretty much essential. In this case, it has worked out well for 50% of us, as i am the co-pilot seat, however mu is right behind me and instead of the customary 3 people on the bench seat (cramped enough as it is), there are 4, of which two are quite rotund middle age guys. I look back and she is squished against the doorframe, in a position i would be complaining about but she bears with grace and aplomb. Of course.
Once we are flying along the roads out of Sambava, we steel ourselves for the ride and are both in really good sprits. I, for one, really like this mode of transit as it is so gritty and local. I am fully aware that these tickets cost the roughly twenty two days of income for the average malagasy, and that despite the cramp confines this ride in and of itself represents a luxury good. We crusie along through rice paddies and the lush green of northeastern Madagascar, it is verdant. As the sun sets, we see what appears to be a fissure in the earth's atmosphere, as an intense and focused ray of light breaks the low clouds, creating a rainbow unlike any i, or anyone in the rig, has ever seen. I feel at such peace, with a quiet confidence that this ride is going to be enjoyable and successful, and the knowledge that when the sun rises again it will be my birthday.
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| Sunset, take 1 |
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| Sunset, take 2 |
As darkness descends, we pull into a little town for dinner, which is just rice and some scrawny chicken scraps. Our driver is all business, getting the truck going quickly, which is better than a fancy meal in this circumstances. You can waste so much time in the transitions along the road, and we are not having it tonight. He is switching between kwat, the leafs with a mild amphetamine quality that are popular here, and cigarettes, clearly focused on the buisness at hand. We have 162 kms of rough road, which does not seem like a ton of distance but when we are slowing to a crawl to get through huge, car size craters and ominous, deep puddles, you just can't open it up. With a continuous mix of soft and hard terrain - all in dark, this is one of the more impressive driving performances i have witnessed, with my ringside seat in shotgun.
The night passes intermittently, and not unpleasantly. One time, i wake up from a nap and sense we are listing ominously at 30 degrees to port, with the driver side of the truck deep in a 100 meter puddle/rut. Uh oh. But, the driver calmly locks the differentials and then guns the engine and we inch through the muck. A few times, he employs the trie and true rocking technique to get traction and we get through this hurdle. Soon after, we come across a massive 4x4 bus-thing that is proper stuck up its rear wheel well. This looks real bad, as the 70 or so passengers are all milling around and the bus doesn't look to be going anywhere soon. Thankfully, after scouting out the puddle, we cruise through with twin rooster tails at 1:30 am and i exhaled.
The long night of driving, which extends deep into the next day, is a very good situation for thinking as i turn 33, as i can only think, listen to music on the itouch and fitfully doze, after all. With my limited ability to sleep on the truck, this leads to a birthday that i had to be awake and alert for the highest portion of the actual day, probably 22 out of 24 hours in total from midnight to midnight. Since i vastly prefer being awake to sleep, and have pretty much since i was born to the chagrin of my mom and dad, this works out well. I spend a healthy portion of the night reflecting on the past year and what a whirlwind it has been.
Big year, hard to believe so much has happened and changed in 12 months.
- 5 months of 'the dream' in 20 countries, an abundance of great and vivid memories. These last 140 or so days have been so alive and memorable, i can (and did on the taxi brousse) walk through each and every day and place in my mind with stunning recall and clarity. Hard to recall another stretch of my life with so many strong memories, probably because it doesn't exist.
- John Muir Trail: 165 hard miles covered in 10+ days, all over 8,000 feet of elevation, most above 10k. The hardest sustained physical challenge of my life, in a great way.
- Leaving SF, with so many friends in the Bay, it was very hard to leave. The quality of life is so high and a great mesh to our preferences, i have long referred to the city as my American nirvana and nothing in the last 6 months has dissuaded that opinion.
- Leaving a job i greatly enjoyed, and was really good at. Loved the diversity of subjects, the people and the freedom I had to steer the sustainability program @ Avaya. Am really proud of the progress we made with the program over my time there, think the results speak for themselves. Loved working from home as well.
- Privileged to attend a bunch of weddings, these wedding weekends are so special and it was very special to see so many friends tying the knot throughout the country.
- Lastly, Mu's life threatening ski accident, which was so scary and sobering. Seeing the love of your life lying in a freezing creek bed with uncertain injuries and a painful path to getting better was an experience i will never forget and one that we are both so thankful she was able to get through in such fine fashion. Reinforced what is important about this life. And also that my wife is a true badass.
These are the threads of my thoughts throughout the night, with the overall trend being so grateful for this last year and excited about the one to come.
Back on the physical world, once the rig got on pavement, i stupidly began planning the rest of our day for when we would, surely, imminently arrive in Diego. This was a rookie mistake, as the road was only about 75% pavement, with huge potholes abounding. Slow going and we averaged about 30 kms an hour over the 120 kilometers up to the city. We were happy to see the very pretty landscape, but hunger started creeping in and we were very ready to be done with the trip.
Eventually, we arrive in Diego-Saurez at the northern tip of Madagascar @ 11:00 am. Whew, tired but very happy to be here, which is as lovely as i had hoped.
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| View from our hotel in Diego |
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| Dilapidated colonial charm, Diego |
Post script: Pats' season ends
One thing i really anticipated for my birthday was watching/listening/following the Pats, my favorite sports team, in the AFC championship game. We even moved from one hotel to another, better hotel so that i could have reliable wifi for the 2:30 am kickoff. For a moment, i thought i was going to be able to actually watch the game at a local casino, but the channel it was playing on is not received in the entire country, so no dice.
I did manage to grab the live radio feed via the NFL's handy ipad app, and was really happy to listen to the game. Until the 2nd half. While the result was very bad, it was still a memorable experience to listen to the game on the patio of our hotel with the bay opening up below. I watched sunrise and daybreak as the pats season ended with a whimper. Disappointing, but any season your team plays for a spot in the Super Bowl is not one to bemoan.
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