Rachel visited a village about 100 km south of her area where two PCVs have a grant for reforestation and vanilla. While her PC hosts were busy, she went for a walk to the beach and, asking directions, met a vanilla buyer from Antalaha. He brought her to a home where they were just beginning to “cookâ€? their green vanilla. They put the seed pods in a basket sieve to dip into water boiling in a big barrel over a fire. After a minute or so they put the blanched vanilla into boxes on blankets, covered by other blankets. The pods are left there for one night, at which point the beans are black but not dry. They are left out to dry several hours each day, then the dry “beansâ€? are flattened by hand and sorted, with broken ones being set aside to sell cheaper. Most people have to sell their vanilla pods green to middlemen who pay the growers very little, but thanks to the PC program, these villagers are able to sell directly to a chocolate company in San Francisco. [see Rachel’s longer account of vanilla received by letter and posted on September 23, 06]

Near this village is Aye-Aye Island—a nature preserve (?). Rachel did not get to visit it, but a hotel owner showed her a video documentary on it—almost like watching Discovery Channel, she said. Her counterpart at WCS was featured in the documentary—small world!

Rachel mentioned that most of the volunteers in her group have some internet access in their banking towns, though it is very slow.