Dadyn’i Fanja preparing vanilla beans in Voloina

Mother and daughter farming rice in the Belaoka Commune

“Libby” the adult female white-fronted brown lemur on Nosy Mangabe Special Reserve

Verreaux’s sifaka in the south of Madagascar

“AF” (Antennae Female) silky sifaka in Marojejy National Park

Ring-tailed lemur in the south of Madagascar

The golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) Ranomafana National Park

Silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus) in Marojejy National Park

Sanzinia madagascariensis tree boa in Marojejy National Park

Pygmy Malagasy kingfisher on Nosy Mangabe Special Reserve

Vue from rainforest in Marojejy National Park, Visit: www.marojejy.com

Researcher Erik Patel with the “simpona whisperer” Nestor, our favorite sifaka tracker, Marojejy National Park

F&R with drying “painza” papyrus for weaving in the village

New baby number nine

Maman’i M pounding rice in the courtyard

Makira, our first participatory ecological monitoring team in the rainforest

Heterixalis madagascariensis endemic tree frog

Baobab in Ifotaka spiny forest with moonlight

Epiphytic orchids in Andasibe National Park, on the high plateau

Endemic frog in Andasibe National Park, on the high plateau

Indri indri, or “babakoto.” This largest of the living lemurs has fantastic vocalizations that echo through the rainforest like whalesong in the ocean deep.

Rachel with her host sisters in Sambaina, during Peace Corps training.

Rachel with the children next door in Sambaina.

Fishermen pulling in their catch on the beach at Rachel’s village, along the Bay of Antongil.

There is a link to more pictures under October posts.

Training in Sambaina: My walk to technical training each morning takes me along the valley outside of town where rice paddies and mangahajo are cultivated.

Laundry time: My Malagasy host cousin recently taught me how to hand wash clothes in the stream near my house. We then either lay them on the grass to dry or take them home to hang in the courtyard.

The road past Sambaina: Some of the best road goes through Sambaina (actually paved!) because of our training site’s proximity to Antananarivo. The commuinity in Sambaina is far more affluent than those we’ll live among at our permanent sites.

Me with my host cousin, Yanitra. To get to the road I often cut through the rice paddies behind us. Have to be careful not to fall off the hummocks that separate each flooded field–it’s happened a few times and is pretty icky. My house (one of the nicest in town) is the yellow cement one with the balcony in the background). Most houses in our area are packed red clay with thatch roofs.

Sunset from my Malagasy family’s balcony. This picture doesn’t do it justice at all.

Morning market in Antananarivo. I’ve avoided taking my camera about town (have already had an attempted pickpocketing) so this is all I’ve got of the capital right now…

Check October post for a link to more photos.