Sunday, September 30 -- Geocachin', Shoppin', & Flyin'

Today was our last day in Madagascar (this trip). Our plane was scheduled to fly out at 10P.M. so that left us with a whole day to spend in the capital. I discovered the "sport" of geocaching a couple of months ago and one of my online acquaintances had asked (or suggested... I can't remember which) if I was going to hunt for any caches while in Madagascar. I did a search and found that there were only 4 caches on the entire island! (Pretty amazing considering that there are dozens right around where I live!) There were 2 geocaches around Tana that were going to be possible for us to find, so we got up early and headed out to find them and hide the travel bug that I had recovered from a Wilson Lake cache and brought 1/2 way around the world. The first cache took us way up a hill on the Tana skyline near the queen's palace. It was hidden on private property and the guard was very nice about letting us in to search for it. I placed the travel bug in its new Madagascar home and we were on our way to the next location. The second cache was about 5 miles away and took a bit more searching once we found the general vicinity of it. But Byron stepped up and found the treasure. I was sad to see that all of the travel bugs that were supposed to be present in this cache had been "taken" and moved on since I downloaded the cache info. Oh well, the fun is in finding the cache! We spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs in the market. They had all kinds of unique things: games, jewelry, musical instruments, paper, purses, etc. It was definitely a sight to see, but since I'm really not a great bargainer I didn't particularly like the "agreeing on a price" part of the market experience.

All too soon our time on the big red island has come to an end. We tried all day to get ahold of Air Madagascar to confirm our flight, but no one answered. Our plane was supposed to leave at 9:45P.M. so we showed up at the airport at 8P.M., only to discover that our flight had been cancelled. We literally stood around for 4 hours waiting for them to decide or figure out what they were going to do with all of us. There was an Air France flight leaving at 12:15A.M. that we were hoping to get on. Finally, at about midnight we were called and told that we were able to get on the flight. Our bags were checked and we were rushed out to the Air France flight. We said our goodbyes to Kyle (what a saint he is for all he did for us on the trip and for waiting around that long at the airport on us). I was fighting back tears as we said good bye to this country and to the people who have made such an impact on our lives in such a short time.

I know I've said it once or twice before... but God is sooooo good! The Air France plane was a large Airbus that was much roomier than the 767 we arrived in! It had much more leg room and I'm sure that we slept much better on this flight than we would have on the Air Madagascar flight (not that Air Madagascar was that bad, but we loved the extra room and we also were a lot more tired since the flight took off shortly before 1A.M.). As we approached France, I realized that they did not specify whether or not our luggage was checked through to Wichita or not. The flight also arrived late and we were pushing the limit on reaching our connecting flight. As soon as we deplaned we rushed to the Air France transfer desk to inquire about our checked luggage. She told us that we needed to get to United and check for sure, she could not give us any information. We sprinted to the bus for Terminal 1 and then to our gate with just 2 minutes to spare for our Chicago flight. However, we were told we were too late for that flight. Also, we were told that our bags had been checked to France only and they were back at Terminal 2 with Air France! There was another United flight to DC and they were able to set us up on that and also on a connecting flight to Chicago where we could catch our original Chicago to Wichita flight on time. The flight was leaving immediately, so there was no time to get our luggage. The very nice United lady did make some phone calls to Air France in an attempt to get our luggage to the flight, but it did not make it. Oh well... did I mention that God is good? We got to fly in economy plus from France to D.C.!
We made it home in great shape and our kids were very happy to see us. (Except for our 1 year old who was not very happy with us for leaving her; she "punished" us by having nothing to do with mommy or daddy for about an hour after we arrived.) Our luggage arrived about a week and a half after we did, but it did finally get here!

Saturday, September 29 -- Lemurs, Lizards & Lots more driving

Today was a travel day back to Tana. We stopped at the Ankarafantsika National Park along the way. When we first drove by it several days ago, it was dark and we were unable to appreciate its beauty, except for the lemur eyes in the tree tops reflecting our headlights. I guess we didn't get enough hiking in the bush, because we decided to take an hour & 1/2 long hike through the park. It was awesome! We got to see lemurs, a nocturnal lemur, lizards, a camelion, a boa constrictor and lots of different plants in their natural habitat. Here's another peculiar 3rd world country strangeness: the entrance fee for Malagasy people is 1000 ariary (about 50 cents) but for the Vazaha (foreigners) it is 25,000 ariary (about $13.00). That wouldn't "fly" in the states! Throughout this whole trip, God has never ceased in revealing His awesomeness to us: from the experiences we were able to have, to the people we were able to meet, and definitely His creation we were able to revel in! I can not even begin to describe Madagascar: rugged, majestic, awesome, wondrous, and wow come to mind. We stopped at this river a couple hours down the road and words can't explain it and pictures won't come close to showing it! (But I'll post a couple of pictures anyway!) It was so rocky and jagged that you mostly saw the water only as it rushed down several waterfalls throughout the canyon. We all got out (except for Lalaina who was sleeping) and had to just stand in awe of it for awhile! And then we had to drive over the bridge not once, but twice... just to breathe it all in again!Kyle said that he would have to come back and see this again during the rainy season; I hope that he does and sends us lots of pictures/video! (I also hope that he doesn't hit another zebu on the way!) The rest of the trip back to Tana was uneventful, but long. It was well after dark before we arrived and then, sadly we had to part ways with Kris and Lalaina. There is no way to convey how we feel about them and the work that they helped us with. They both have such a heart for Christ and neither of them complained one bit during the trip. I pray that we are able to raise our children to have the same zeal for our Savior that Kris and Lalaina do.

Friday, September 28 -- quads & fire

Because I misread the returning dates on our tickets, our "tourism" days were reduced from 2 to 1, so today was our day for sight seeing. We decided to rent quads (4 wheelers). Kyle and Kris went along too and the tour was an all day long experience. We first rode to the Cirque Rouge, a natural amphitheatre of eroded rock tinted in rainbow hues, including many shades of red. Then we rode past a beach area and into a forested region. I think that the original route was supposed to do a circle loop through this area, but there was a fire that was kind of blocking our road. OK, only in a 3rd world country can you ride ATV's through an uncontrolled forest fire! We were going to keep going, but as we entered all of the smoke, the wind changed and we decided that we better turn around... quickly.
We went a few miles back and ended up at a new, secluded French restaurant with a fantastic view. They had a few lemurs in a cage and it was just a short walk down to a couple of baobab trees. A bit further down the road was Lac Mangatsa. Locals come here to give thanks or to ask the ancestors for help. They believe that the royal ancestors are reincarnated in the form of the tilapia fish that inhabit the clear lake. There are two trees that are wrapped in red, white and green fabrics and skulls of sacrificed zebu adorn the branches. What a stark, in-your-face example of the bondage these people are in!

Well, back into the burning forest we went, hoping that the fire was out of our way... it wasn't, but that didn't stop our guide from attempting to burn us up again! We also got to stop at a lake to see the walking fish.
They use their fins as legs and walk on the shore, but because the water was a bit low, I wasn't able to get close enough for great pictures. The quads were an awesome way to see the Mahajunga area up close and personal, and we enjoyed our day of tourism.

Thursday, September 27 -- fly, fly, away

Today we got up (after a very hot and muggy night) and surveyed Ambovonomby. The village has been here for about 30 years and there are about 30 people plus children. It is located in a very rich, lush valley with great grazing and awesome orchards. They had a fairly new school with a government employed teacher, so the younger people are learning to read and write. Nobody had even heard the name of Christ here, though.

I have to tell you a cute story about a married couple I surveyed here. Because they were so far out in the bush, and it wasn't the easiest place to get to, I wondered how people met and/or chose who they would marry. So I asked this couple how they met. The man had lost a zebu so he went looking for it and happened upon this village... and found his wife! He also found his zebu. I thought it was sweet, especially since most other people I talked to had arranged marriages.

Things that the chief felt were unique to his village or the Tsimihiety tribe were these: they were able to call the ancestors during the 1/2 moon and the full moon, they sacrifice to the ancestors during the summertime, and they pray to stones or trees. While we were waiting for helimission to arrive and chatting with the villagers we passed out cross necklaces to all of them. Keep in mind that there are many children in this village wearing beaded bracelets, necklaces and belts given to them by the witch doctor to "heal" them from their sicknesses (cough, fever, etc.). We didn't want them to think that the necklace in itself had any power to heal and told them so. They wanted to know what the cross meant. So Kris was able to briefly share a bit of the gospel with nearly the whole village. I will probably always wonder if we should have shared more. Or would it not be fair to them to share it and then leave 10 minutes later when there is nobody coming behind us to tell them more?

I'm very sad to say that this was our final day in the bush. Physically, spiritually and emotionally I feel that we were prepared for the journey and I didn't feel at all exhausted. We slept well, ate well and we all got along great. Way too soon, Gerd picked us up with the helicopter and after a short ride we were back in Mahajunga. The people of the village were very excited to see a helicopter and all gathered up to see us off. We loaded up the truck and arrived at the beach house which would be our home base for a couple of nights. It was just a few hundred yards from the beach and had a few more amenities than the tent! But hot water wasn't one of them! Kris, Byron and I went down to the beach that evening; one of the main things I wanted to do. I've never been on a beach or swam in an ocean before. It was awesome! After a few minutes of basking in its beauty and letting the waves crash against our legs, I decided that I had always wanted to swim in an ocean and this was as good of a time as any! I don't think that Kris or Byron thought I was serious... but I was! So with the excitement of a little kid, clothes and all, I finally got to swim in an ocean! It was great. I guess the excitement was contagious because it didn't take too long for Kris to jump in too. Byron decided that he would probably drown, so he contained himself. After swimming we spent quite a bit of time collecting sea shells to take home to the kids and then watched the most amazing sunset ever!

Wednesday, September 26 -- "What, don't you eat ______?"

We got up and left none too soon. I don't think that any of us wanted to hang around Anavabe much longer. We hiked 2 miles to Andrafiabe. The weather was a bit cooler since it had rained the night before. (I think that it was God crying for the people of Anavabe!) Andrafiabe wasn't too big either, but it felt a bit "warmer" than the previous village. We surveyed and ate lunch. They were very happy to have visitors and pulled out the woven mats for us to sit on and swept the nearby dirt for us. This village did not have a taboo against praying, but they certainly weren't evangelized.

You should have seen the stock piles of rice in some of these houses here! I asked one young man if he liked living in the bush or if he thought the city would be better. He said he preferred the bush because you don't have to buy anything, you grow what you need. I told him that he wouldn't like America then, because here we pretty much have to buy everything. I really enjoyed the part of the surveys where we exchanged information and I got to share a bit about life here. I tried to find common ground between their lives and ours, I told them that in America I spent my days doing the same types of things that they do: cooking, cleaning, laundry, taking care of my family, etc. Kyle didn't seem to think that my version of those chores was very similar to their versions! The men also liked to hear about our cows "without humps on their backs".

Before we ventured on to the next village, we decided to filter some water. It certainly was a lot more of a task to filter water than I thought it would be, but we only used 2 filters between the 5 of us. We filtered at least 22 liters each time we needed water. After filtering, we had to add tablets to the water to kill off certain viruses that the filters were not effective against. The tablets that Kyle had took 4 hours to become active. The additives that we brought took only 30 minutes, so each time we filtered we put some of the 30 minute treatment into a few of the bottles that we thought we would need right away, and the rest of the bottles we put the 4 hour tablets in.

We hiked on another 4 1/2 miles that afternoon to our final village, Ambovenomby, and set up camp. The chief wasn't there so as we waited we got to have an interesting conversation about the bush diet with one of the guides. It seems as though they eat cats. I had really been suspicious of this since we saw dogs everywhere in the villages and we only saw a couple of cats here and there. Now in the states, stray cats repopulate like crazy and I know that these people aren't spaying and neutering them... so where were all the cats??? ****If you're squeamish don't read this!*** I asked how they ate them and he gave me a very detailed description. They chop off their heads and singe the fur off in the fire, then cook them much like they do chicken. They wait until the cat is 3 years old. I guess he thought that we were strange asking all of these questions about cats, so he asked us: "What.... don't you eat cat?" This would be a great example of differing world views!

It was very sad knowing that this was our last night out in the bush! Thanks to all of our prayer support we slept well, ate well, did not get sick and we just thoroughly enjoyed our time "roughing" it! We were so blessed with beautiful evenings and a nearly full moon each night. The stars were amazing too! This picture was meant to capture the moon over our tent site, but the it did not even come close to showing the beauty of the evening.

Tuesday, September 25 -- A long way to Anavabe

Today was a long hike! We went 10 1/2 miles and the heat was exhausting! It was a beautiful hike though, lots of areas that were similar to hiking in a dry creek in Kansas. I wish that the WHOLE hike would have been like that... with a canopy of trees for shade! Who knows how hot it really was, Byron is guessing about 90 degrees, and not a stitch of wind. We had two locals who "guided" us to the village (of course they weren't carrying a pack), but despite that, I'm sure they were feeling the heat too. However, during one of our "rests" instead of taking a break, one of the guides actually used his sickle to chop down a tree! AND strip it of the bark to make a rope! We didn't stop long enough for him to actually BRAID the rope, but holy cow! That's ambition!
About 4 hours after we started we arrived in Anavabe. We were very glad to sit down, even though there was a terrible stench of something dead in the air. I think that we were all too tired to immediately notice the thick cloud of darkness that hung over this village... but looking back, it certainly was present. Anavabe was not huge, maybe only about 30-50 people. The houses were not at all as nice as those in previous villages we had visited: the sod was falling from the walls, the roofs were leaning, doors were falling off, etc... It just didn't look nice, prosperous or hopeful at all. The chief wasn't around, but we were able to get permission to set up camp and survey. The village had a school (but the teacher was on a holiday), there was no church, hospital or medical doctor present. Once we started doing surveys, we discovered that it was taboo to pray (except for before meals), and that if someone came to the village and tried to teach them about God, then that person would not be welcomed. What a dark, bleak place! Not only had they not heard about Christ, they did not want to hear. With the exception of one curious older man with a fisherman's cap, I really got a cold feeling from the people there. (This man was just as welcoming and genuine as you could be. I really got a kick out of his A&F fishing cap and wanted a picture. But when I asked to take his photo, he wanted to put on his "best" hat, so he got up and changed into his cowboy hat!)
The sadness I felt in the village was incredible. As I prayer walked the "streets" I asked that God would tear down Satan's stronghold on this village. That being said, I was not at all sad to leave the next morning! I interviewed a 13 year old girl who was married (to a 16 year old). In this village, you were not allowed to marry someone who was originally from there. The women I spoke to seemed reluctant to share any "excess" information with me other than what I had directly asked. And they did not seem interested in the information I shared about us (unlike other villages where they LOVED hearing about America). The general concept of the afterlife here was that there wasn't one; once you were dead... you were dead. No wonder it seemed so hopeless! They also worshipped a tree that was in the middle of their village. They had it all "fenced" off and offered sacrifices of zebu to it too. Although this village was the most obvious, words can not even express the darkness and oppression that Satan is inflicting upon these people that we visited in the Madagascar bush. Please pray for them!
Byron interviewed a "road crew" of men/boys who were there working on building a house. They wanted their picture taken with their work and of course that escalated to all of the kids nearby wanting to have their pictures taken. (This actually was one of the only "light" moments in the village).

It rained, so in the middle of the night Byron and I were up putting the rain cover on our tent. It was so HOT with the cover on! As soon as the rain quit I pushed back the cover by the door and opened the screen so I could get some air in. However, it started to rain again later (inside the tent) and my poor journal got soaked! I was so blessed that the ink didn't run; but I was concerned that all of the pages would stick together when they dried. I put my camping toilet paper to good use and lined between all of the pages with it to help absorb moisture and keep the pages separated. YEAHHHHHH it worked! All of my journal pages were able to be salvaged! Praise GOD!!! I wasn't looking forward to rewriting all of them!

Monday, September 24 -- Gana Gana Giesa!

This morning we finished up surveying Andranomavokely and I actually found a believer! However, she is not from the village, just there working temporarily. I hope that she will share her faith in Christ and the eternal hope that she has with those around her. There are so many that are just waiting to hear about Jesus; I think that we all should take note and do the same here in America. I read a book a while back and it had a story about a christian girl and her best friend who wasn't a christian. When the christian was asked about the lifestyle/lack of faith that her best friend had, she replied that religion was a personal thing and that she was not going to "impose" her personal beliefs on her friend. At this point, the author told the Christian that he would not want to be her friend. Why? Because she was more interested in not offending her friend than in her (friend's) eternal destiny. I've often wondered how many opportunities I have missed to share the good news because I was more concerned with what the person would think of me.

I mentioned earlier that there was an Adventist church in the village. We also found a house that had scripture painted on it,
however we did not get a chance to interview the owners. According to the locals, they (the owners) were members of the Adventist church. This was the only house that we saw in the bush that was painted (and of course, the only one with words & scriptures on it too). I really wish that we would have gotten a chance to talk with them and see what they truly believed. Nearly all of the people we have interviewed thus far that had a "church" background did not have a clue as to what the "good news" was all about. I'm sure that I will have more to say on that issue once I'm done with my chronological thoughts throughout our trip and move on to a "reflections" segment.

Byron and Kris got to interview the witch doctor this morning too. Not only that, but he gave them a demonstration of his skills! He took this little bag of dried seed-type things (in it too were a couple of "rocks" of a different shape), he dumped them on the floor and ran his hand over them swirling them around. By doing this, he gets a "reading" or "feeling" about whatever he may be curing or predicting etc. Byron thought that he really didn't look or act like he knew what he was doing. Oh yeah, along the topic of witch doctors... I don't remember which village we were in, but Kris and Kyle were asking some of the locals about whether or not a witch doctor was present and they said "yes, we have one but he is just starting out... he isn't very good yet!"

We spent the rest of the morning hiking (4.1 miles) to the next village, Andranomangily. It is so hot here! Much warmer than in the southern part of the island. The hike was very beautiful and we had a couple of water crossings too. I actually had to walk across a tree trunk that was about 8 inches wide and about 10 feet long... WITH my pack on. Of course the guide just walked across it like it was nothing. It isn't quite so simple with 40 pounds on your back! Well, I made it across without falling in (and so did Lalaina)! Byron kept letting people go in front of him hoping that he wouldn't be the first to fall in the water. He said that there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would end up falling off! After letting us girls cross, the guys found an easier place to cross on a shorter log with vegetation to hang on to... They definitely took the easy way out! I told Kyle that I must have missed the part in our trip information packet that said we needed to practice walking across a balance beam with loaded packs on! Maybe he'll add it in for the next team! Here is another crossing that we did today, this one was a bit easier since the log was carved in such a way that the walking surface was "flat" instead of rounded. You can note that another use for Kyle's hiking poles is to help balance during shallow water crossings.

Andranomangily was an awesome village. There were about 160 people plus kids living there. They had a great school and a very sophisticated teacher. The school had desks, the students had backpacks and books, and they learned to speak French, read and write (amongst other things I'm sure). It went up the the 5th grade and about 1/2 of the students continued on elsewhere to study further. There were 60 students in the school and it really reminded me of the old 1 room school houses in the states decades ago. I interviewed the teacher first, she was married, no kids and was sent to the village by the government to teach. She loves the village and students and you can tell that she is very much respected by the adults who live there. In her house she had maps of the world, addition tables, science posters etc. She also had many OTC medicines, matching table and chairs, a nice bed (and painted fingernails). She knew a few English words... probably a few more than I know in Malagasy. She had a christian (Lutheran) background and seemed to know all of the "right" answers to our questions, so I classified her as a believer. However, she prepared Kris and Lalaina's dinner that evening and Kris had the opportunity to share the gospel with her and her husband. Even though they had a church background, they felt that (after speaking with Kris) they had never understood the gift of salvation. Both she and her husband prayed with Kris that evening to accept Jesus into their hearts. Praise God!

The teacher asked for my address and was excited for me to point out where I was from on her map. I told her that I was very excited that she was devoted to this community, this group of kids and that she was in a position to share Christ. I gave her candy and bouncy balls to pass out to her students and what a treat it was to see them play! Kids in the states would have gotten bored in about 10 minutes with a bouncy ball, but these kids played with them for hours! And the next morning they all had them out again! In this picture the teacher is explaining to them that you EAT the candy and you do NOT EAT the bouncy ball.

It gets dark here at about 6p.m. At dusk, Lalaina and I went to the well to clean up. The night was clear and the moon was nearly full. When we returned to the village, Kris had all of the kids circled up and was teaching them "If you're happy and you know it.." and "Jesus loves me". It was precious, seeing all of them do sign language in the moonlight! Kris and I had talked earlier in the day that we should teach them duck, duck, goose, so we decided that now would be a great time. However, we used the malagasy words: gana, gana, giesa. My only regret is that while God had blessed our trip with a nearly full moon and clear sky to light the school yard so we could see and play, it was not bright enough to video tape and share with all of you! We played gana, gana, giesa for probably an hour. Then we sang "if you're happy and you know it", then we taught them a cat and mouse game. The teacher even joined in on that one (she was the cat and I was the mouse... she caught me)! The adults of the village crowded around watching the activities, so the teacher encouraged them to sing/chant in order to show us some of their cultural songs. It was very cool listening to them, again I wish that we would have been able to record it!

It was such an uplifting experience and my heart really was touched by this village. I definitely could have camped in their school yard for awhile! It is important to note, however, that even though this village really worked its way into our hearts, it is very much within the bondage of the Enemy (as indicated by this little boy: the necklaces that the children wore were given by the witch doctor to "protect" them). There were also 2 areas near the village which were a kind of holy ground. The people worshipped 2 sacred trees and as a part of that worship they offered sacrifices of zebu. All of the places we visited were touching, but this particular village and its children made such an impact on me. I pray that I will see their bondage broken this side of heaven and that I will again get to play gana gana giesa with the children and their children's children in paradise!

Sunday, September 23 -- Andranomavokely

The wee, early morning hours were spent driving to Mahajunga. I finally got to ride in the passenger's seat because somebody had to stay awake to keep Kyle awake. I had been able to catch a little bit of a snooze while waiting for the truck to get fixed, so I wasn't too tired. I'm anxious to see the terrain in the daylight! We passed through a national park/forest and you could see lemur eyes reflecting in our headlights. There was also the most brilliant planet/star that rose at around 4a.m. in the east. Several days later I asked someone if he knew which planet it was and I guess that something got lost in translation because he informed that in fact it is the sun that rises in the east (and sets in the west...)! No kidding?! After a bit of research once we got home, I discovered that it was Venus. What an awesome sight! One of the scriptures that has continually popped into my mind during this trip is Jer. 33:3 (KJV) - Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. I am so amazed and in awe of the awesome power of God that is shown through all of His creation! Especially what He has shown me here in Madagascar: the bird's eye views from the helicopter, the close-up views in the bush, and everything in between. He definitely has shown us great and mighty things about this mission field, both in the physical and spiritual realms!



We arrived in Mahajunga at about 6:30a.m. and checked into our hotel that we were supposed to have checked into last night. Check out was at noon, so that gave us a few hours to catch a short nap, shower and repack our backpacks for another trip to the bush. We met Marcus from helimission at 2p.m. and he flew us about 60 miles into the bush.

This is what the coast of Mahajunga looks like. The reddish color of the Indian Ocean is due to deforestation and erosion. It is amazing how one hour the water looks totally blue and the next it is red.
I cannot say enough great things about these helimission pilots! The whole concept of the ministry is so beneficial. Just to be able to reach the most isolated bush villages with the sole priority of fulfilling the great commission! These guys fly in and out all kinds of mission teams, humanitarian aid etc. to the bush. What an exciting job! Please check them out online at http://www.helimission.ch/default_e8.htm.

Marcus is a cool guy and explained all of the different gauges to us and pointed out all kinds of interesting trees/points of interest of the ground. Like the previous pilots that we met, he definitely has a heart for God's work! I pray that God will bless these pilots and their families; they were certainly a blessing to us!
Of course, when the helicopter landed at Andranomavokely we were the sight to see and all of the villagers came rushing up to see us. It was election day, so the chief was busy with those proceedings. He gave us permission to stay and survey. It (Andranomavokely) is a large (about 500 plus the children), progressive village. In fact there are even vehicles that regularly pass through. The houses here all have wrap-around porches and I even saw one with a porch swing! Another guy had a TV... of course he is waiting for electricity to come to the village. They did have a school and there was an Adventist church in the village. Not surprisingly, they also had a witch doctor. The people here are not nearly as tied to ancestral worship or taboos, however they are still very far from knowing the truth of the gospel. According to Kyle, the Tsimihiety are known for their idol worship and that would fit into what we saw: less ties to the ancestors and more ties to whatever idol each of them chooses to worship. We did a few interviews tonight, but will finish up tomorrow. So far, I haven't found any believers here (despite that there is a church).
This is a picture of Kyle, Byron, Lalaina & Kris as we were discussing our plans for the night.

Saturday, September 22 -- Holy Cow!

We got up early, ate breakfast and then hit the road... again... for a 3 hour drive to Tana (to pick up Byron's pack that finally arrived in Mada) and then a 9 hour drive to Mahajunga. The terrain was beautiful, too awesome to describe. I'm sure that even the photos won't do it justice! Well, all was going great, we were just chatting and trucking along after dark when Byron (who was in the front seat with Kyle) said:
"There's a cow in the road..." with a calm, monotone, non-chalant voice.

"There's a cow in the road..." with the same calm, monotone, non-chalant voice.

"There's a..." THUMP...THUMP... Z-E-B-U!

Kyle: "Oh, you mean THAT cow..."

Kyle after continuing to drive a few hundred yards, "Should we stop?"

Passengers: "YES!"

So we pulled over. We had hit the zebu on the right front edge of the truck and the impact spun the cow around, knocking it into the right rear passenger's side door. We got out to assess the damage and discovered a leak in the radiator and a broken fan... not a good problem to have at dark in the middle of nowhere and several kilometers from anywhere that even had electricity. Byron decided that the leak in the radiator was up high enough that if we kept adding water as the engine heated up we might be able to crip into a village. Hopefully we would either get more water to keep us going or we would find a mechanic to help us out. (Madagascar doesn't exactly have 24 hour emergency roadside assistance!)

We all gathered up the water we had stored and poured in about 4-5 liters and headed down the road. We were able to go about 15 kilometers before the engine started to overheat. We added another 4-5 liters and again, went about 15 kilometers. At this point, we came to a larger village that actually had a gas station. While we were contemplating what to do (buy water and try to get to Mahajunga, take a taxi brousse, find a mechanic), Kris asked some of the locals if there was anyone around who might be able to help us out. Now, what are the chances that the village even had a mechanic... much less one that was available and willing to help us out? You know that it had to be a God-thing! We conveniently found a mechanic almost instantly after pulling into the gas station. He worked on it immediately and thought that if a replacement fan could not be found that he would just patch the radiator and bypass the thermostat. Kyle discussed a price for the labor and then the mechanic got to work. We pulled the truck across the street to his "shop" which was basically a little 3 sided tin hut along the road. His helpers pulled out a generator which was attached to a light bulb. They hooked it to the raised hood of the truck and got to work. While he was removing the radiator he had someone go track down an engine fan that could be used. We thought that it would only be a couple of hours before everything was repaired and we were on our way down the road, however, 6 hours later we were still in the "shop". The radiator was removed and fixed (JB Weld), and they had apparently tracked down a fan that could be used. They even removed the truck hood and banged out some of the dents! When the fan was brought to us, the mechanic had disappeared... someone said he was out getting a "drink". At this point, it was the middle of the night and all of us were tired: tired of waiting, tired of driving, tired of wondering if the mechanic actually knew what he was doing and we weren't real thrilled that the guy who was supposed to be getting us back on the road was allegedly at a bar! Well, he finally showed up and put on the replacement fan, put the radiator back in, put the hood back on and 7 hours after we stopped, we were on our way again. God is so good to us! Oh yea... what do you think it set us back? About $105.00! Labor was under $20.00 total. I'm sure that is only a fraction of what it would have cost state-side!