Amazing Photos of the Tsingy De Bemeraha

Amazing Photos of the landscape and wildlife of the limestone Karst scenery of the Tsingy de Bemeraha in Western Madagascar. We will be visiting this location on the final leg of our expedition.

http://alvarezphotography.com/#/Stories/Madagascar%20Stone%20Forest/1/

The Makay

Just when I thought I knew everything about Madagascar, this crops up!

Bag Packing Raises £715

Exciting news!!! Well done to Jessica Hull and family who organised the bag packing at Waitrose on Saturday. 20 of the team came along and lent a hand along with Mrs McCall and Mr Cornish. A special mention to Ainslie and Alex who spent all day packing. We raised a staggering £715.

Avenue de Baobab Conservation News

Bag Packing today at Waitrose Upminster

Expedition Team members will be lending a hand to the needs of Christmas shoppers in Waitrose today when they pack bags and collect donations. Thanks again to Jessica for being instrumental in organising this event. Photos to come later!

Ice Skating Raises £400

Well done to Ainslie, Katie and Jessica who rallied everyone together to make a profit. A great night was had by all 200 skaters.

PARENTS' MEETING TUESDAY 6TH DECEMBER 7-8PM DINING ROOM

Tuesday 6th December
Dining Room
19.00-20.00

We would like to hold a parents meeting to run through our proposals for Christmas fundraising and give out a kit list from which you may give your relatives a hint for a Christmas present. All students and parents will need to attend unless you are going along to the Christmas concert.

We will be organising the rota for bag packing at Waitrose on the 10th so please come prepared with at least 2 hours that you can give up on this day. We will also be asking for volunteers to go out with the rotary club/round table for their Christmas fundraising.

On sale before and after the meeting will be our luxury Christmas cards in packs of 5 or 10. We will also be selling raffle tickets for the signed England shirt, bracelets and jewellery. Make sure you bring some money along!

Cultural Diversity Evening

A huge thank you to Vivian and her team of year 12's and 13s who helped to raise a staggering £574 on Tuesday night. The England football shirt raffle has started and we have already sold 50 tickets.

£11,000 Raised So Far!!!

I have just had news from the financxe department that we have passed the £11,000 mark! A massive well done to all of you who are doing your best for a great cause. Keep going and I hope you will all come up with lots more great ideas.

Mr Cornish

Liz and David's Video on the Importance of Education

CCCS Love as Brethren Wristbands £1.50

See George West to buy one for only £1.50

Tsiribhina River and Tsingy

This is a video made by a group travelling the same journey that we will be undertaking as part of the expedition leg.

Fundraising Video

Assembly PPT for Charity Day 2011

Assembly Madagascar PPT

View more presentations from Mr Cornish.

YMCA Abseil Success

A big well done to all of those students who bravely abseiled down the side of Romford YMCA in strong winds. Money is pouring in with Lucy Morris having raised nearly £800 from the event. We are now looking for students interested in taking part in the CCCS sponsored walk from Bow to Upminster coming up in a couple of weeks. 

Finalised Itinerary

Madagascar Itinerary

View more documents from Mr Cornish.

Madagascar The World's Worst Economy!

http://blogs.forbes.com/danielfisher/2011/07/05/the-worlds-worst-economies/

A history of military coups, economic mismanagement and steady population growth has left Madagascar in the dust as other emerging-market countries like South Africa, India and Brazil surge ahead. Yet another coup in 2009 forced the U.S. to yank Madagascar from a preferential tariff program, costing the beleaguered island nation thousands of jobs in its textile sector. Immunizations and primary-school completions are dropping, and 77% of the population now lives in poverty.

Madagascar Independence Day

Today is Madagascar’s Independence Day. Madagascar gained its full independence on this day in 1960 after 80 years of French occupation. Because of its strategic position, the island changed hands during World War II between the French, German and British armies. Left in French hands after the war, Madagascar was given autonomous state status in 1958. A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence on June 26, 1960. The Malagasy people celebrate with good food, drinking, and dancing. One of the spectacles of the day is a presentation of ‘Hira Gasy’ which is a musical presentation of Malagasy folklore; in this, singers wearing their best traditional attire combine song and dance with traditional folk tales from Madagascar. This is combined with a speaker who presents each musical number with a piece of poetry or an excerpt from a favorite folk tale.

Trouble in Lemur Land

An outstanding documentary following the plight of the Silky Sifaka and the lives of the encroaching rosewood loggers in Marojejy National Park, North East Madagascar.

Trouble in Lemur Land from Erik R Patel on Vimeo.

Madagascascar Latest Development Data

Since the political crisis in 2009, Aid to madagascar has been stopped by the UN and most other developed nations. A recent household survey by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) found that aid sanctions are biting the wrong people: 

• school enrolment has plummeted 
• health indicators are in decline
• 60% of rural people don't have use of a toilet
• 45% of the population does not have ready access to drinking water
• Only 12% of the population light their homes with lightbulbs
• The inhabitants of a quarter of households don't go to sleep in a bed.

Read more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jun/07/aid-withdrawal-madagascar-zimbabwe

 

Malagasy Vanilla and Soap For Sale

I am selling Malagasy vanilla pods at £1 each and Bio-Aroma luxury soaps (Ylang Ylang, Vanilla, Coconut etc...) at £2.50-£3.50 to raise money for the school building project. Please email me at pch@cooperscoborn.co.uk

Madagascar Independence Day Event (Not Fundraising)

The Anglo-Malagasy society are putting on an evening of Malagasy food and music to celebrate Independance day. If anyone is interested in attending please email me at pch@cooperscoborn.co.uk. Tickets for students (17-18) are £15 and for those of you still 15 or 16, only £5. They are looking for people to volunteer to help out too. This is not a fundraising event but will give us good ideas to host our own this time next year! Click on the poster to see a larger version. 

WWF report on Madagascar Biodiversity

More than 600 species of plants and animals have been described in Madagascar over the past decade, reiterating the position of Indian Ocean island as one of the world's top biodiversity hotspots, says a new report issued today by WWF.

Compiling data from scientific papers published between 1999 and 2010, WWF's Treasure Island report says Madagascar's bounty of previously undescribed species amounts to 385 plants, 42 invertebrates, 17 fish, 69 amphibians, 61 reptiles and 41 mammals. The discoveries occurred across Madagascar's varied ecosystems, including its rainforests, coral reefs, deciduous forests, montane forest, and unique spiny desert.

Download the report here http://assets.panda.org/downloads/madagascarspeciesreporten.pdf

Film Quiz: Friday 1st July 2011

Film Quiz Poster

Video 3: Andranosoa Project Village

Video 2: Belo Sur Mer

Video 1: Andasibe Mantadia Rainforest

Madagascar Recce Photos 6: Belo Sur Mer

Madagascar Recce Photos 5: Mangily

Madagascar Recce Photos 4: Kirindy Forest

Madagascar Recce Photos: Morondava- Final Hotel (Chez Maggie) and Baobabs

Madagascar Recce Photos 2: Andasibe Rainforest

Madagascar Recce Photos 1: Andranosoa

Mr Cornish in Madagascar

I am flying home to the UK today after a very successful visit to the South West of Madagascar.
Due to a lack of internet connection, I have been unable to update the website, but over the Easter weekend I will make sure that all of the photos, information and a draft itinerary are posted. I am just finishing off two videos of the project visit and so they will go online in the next few days too.

Here are just some of the photos from the last few days to whet your appetite. Click on the photos for a larger view.

The Avenue de Baobab

A Grey Mouse Lemur in the Kirindy Forest

A typical Vezo fishing house built on the beach

A Vezo lady smoking fish at sunset.

A boy from the Vezo boat building community in Belo-Sur-Mer

Sunset over the Baobabs

Hopefully our final destination- the Ecolodge at Belo Sur Mer

An excursion to a nearby island from the Ecolodge.

Snorkeling, whale watching and fishing excursions are possibilities at Belo.

Mr Cornish in Madagascar Days 4-5

As I had the car, I decided to drive to Andasibe, Madagascar's most accessible area of rainforest.
This will be our first stop after arriving in Antananarivo. 3 hours dive to the east, it contains one of the highest levels of biodiversity of any area of rainforest in the world. Thankfully it wasn't raining- and stayed virtually cloud-free all day! I have made arrangements for accommodation, transport and guides for 2012. We will be staying in Hotel Feno-ly- Ala in chalets overlooking the forest.

I spent this morning walking in the forest to carry out a risk assessment. I was fortunate to see a wealth of animals including four species of lemur, chameleons, geckos, frogs and many birds. The walk was completed by a very quick swim in a freezing natural swimming pool.

A critically endangered Diademed Sifaka

A view across the lake to the forest.

Callumna Malthe; A rare type of chameleon that I have never seen before

The waterfall and natural swimming pool

Mr Cornish in Madagascar Days 2-3

I have just spent the past two days in the village of Andranosoa organising the school building project. I was able to borrow a 4x4 from a friend and drove there with my interpreter and project manager, Roland.

Andranosoa is a village 20km to the East of the capital Antananarivo with a population of 1,700. The village shows signs of development with community water taps, electricity supply and an extremely full primary school. Most of the villagers are poor farmers; the main crops being rice and manioc. Currently there are 20 secondary pupils who get up at 5am to make the 1 1/2hr journey on foot (some barefoot) to the nearest secondary school 10km away. We found many more pupils of school age who were not going to school because of the distance.

I was honoured to stay in the house of the President of the village who wanted us to see for ourselves and understand the need for a secondary school. During the two days Roland and I carried out the following:

- Met with the village elders to understand their concerns over the lack of a secondary school
within 10km
- Made a fundraising video highlighting the problems faced by one boy- Mamy
- Made a video to give a background to the village
- Took lots of photos for promotional materials
- Visited the planned site for the new school
- Visited the primary school in the village
- Visited the secondary school 10km away
- Met with the vice-mayor of the area
- Interviewed students that go to school and those that don't.

After all of the above, I can categorically say that there is a huge need for a new school and that we have the backing of the students, villagers, village elders and mayor. All that needs to be done now is a decision on when the designs will be completed and building started. The following photos were taken during our stay. Please click on them to enlarge.

The skyline of the village is dominated by a rocky hill which is used as a burial area for previous members of the Malagasy Royal Family.

Andranosoa is on a hill, surrounded by rice paddies and fields.

Most of the houses are in the traditional style of the Merina tribe- two story, two rooms wide, made of wood and plastered with soil. Houses often have outbuildings for cooking or to keep animals.

The village has a medieval feel with the ox-carts and building design.

Mr Cornish in Madagascar Day 1

I am back in Madagascar for the first time in 3 1/2 years and it's as though I had never left.

I had a good flight via Nairobi and was met by a friend- a teacher from my old school who lent me his car for the day. I then had to quickly get used to driving on the right, avoiding the many cyclists, oomby (cows), and people who also need to use the roads.


This photo shows the view from the aeroplane flying over the landscape of the north west. Notice the lack of trees and the bright red colour of the river caused by soil erosion due to the deforestation.

My first port of call was to visit Roland the project manager in his office in a town 10km outside of Antananarivo. I was there to present a gift of football equipment to him for use with the boys' team that he coaches. The equipment was kindly donated by Ardleigh Green Primary School so thanks go to Mr Morris and all of his staff for this gift.


A photo of Roland, his football team and me at the official handover!

Team meeting Wednesday 6th April 2011 H11

Please spread the word around and make sure that no-one is missing.

Many thanks

Mr Cornish

Madagascar gets Poorer

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92236

Free Primary Education Stopped!

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92235

Reforestation In Madagascar

Reforestation Project in Madagascar

Before It's Too Late: Madagascar

Cyclone Bingiza Makes Landfall in NE Madagascar

Currently a category 3 cyclone. Land fall over the Masoala Peninsular on the Eastern Coast.

Thankfully the storm season finishes in May so we won't be affected by the cyclones that hit most frequently between December and April. It looks like it will bring a lot of wet weather to the west coast- making it by road up to the Tsingy for a recce in April looks increasingly challenging.

David Attenborough in Madagascar

Red Ruffed Lemurs

Tropic of Capricorn- Madagascar

Madagascar Film up for Animation Oscar

Madagascar BBC

Preview of BBC Madagascar: The Tsingy de Bemaraha

Photos from Mr Cornish's Time in Madagascar

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornishpaul/sets/72157622717794701/

Tsingy de Bemaraha Video and Photos

Travel to Tsingy de Bemaraha, Madagascar from Stephen Alvarez on Vimeo.

Photos from this same visit to the Tsingy can be found here
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/stone-forest/alvarez-photography

Madagascar 2012 Twitter

Keep up to date with news and information

http://twitter.com/ExpeditionMad12

Parents' Meeting Tuesday 1st Feb 2011

Madagascar 2012

More PowerPoint presentations from thegeographer