Andranosoa Secondary School is up and running

School started in Andransoa in October and pupils are now being taught by 3 teachers funded by our donations.

Expedition in Numbers

Here is the updated version of our expedition video. Please feel free to share with friends and family. The audio sounds best when allowed to load fully before playing. Please watch the video in HD on vimeo here http://vimeo.com/49965562

Photos now on Flickr

I have set up a separate Photo page on the right hand menu.

http://www.madagascarexpedition2012.com/p/photos-on-flickr.html

Please sign up to Flickr and upload some of your own photos so that I can then put the slideshow links on here. 

Week 4: Andranosoa Opening Ceremony

George and Lauren, our Head boy and Girl give a speech to the crowd of 300 Assembled villagers and dignitaries.

The local children taught us how to dance as a way of saying thank you for our fundraising and hard work.

A member of the Madagascar Ministry of Education formally opens the school. The day was recorded by national television and shown on the national news!

Week 4: Morondava- Chez Maggie

A local man and his wife drive a zebu cart through the Avenue de Baobabs

Zebu Carts are the local form of transport. 

Gary Lemmer (Remote Rivers), Mr Cornish and Ludo (Remote Rivers) at Chez Maggie

The last night at Chez Maggie saw a campfire on the beach with songs and lasting memories. 

Week 4: Belo Sur Mer

The 4 hr journey to Belo Sur Mer wasn't the easiest and involved 2 river crossings in our fleet of 9 4x4s. 

The journey to the coral islands was enjoyed by all. Some swum in the azure waters, some sun bathed, while others in the group collected shells of all shapes, colours and sizes from the beach, recently designated a national park. 

Grace's birthday celebrations involved the Malagasy version of One Direction teaching us how to dance follow-the-leader style in circles on the beach as the sun slipped below the horizon. 

Week 3: Mangily and Kirindy Forest

The boys play football on the beach while the girls watch- a common occurrence on this trip!

Setting up camp on the sand dunes overlooking an empty 2 mile stretch of white sand beach. 

A night walk in Kirindy forest gave the group an opportunity to observe at least four species of nocturnal lemur.  Most pupils were lucky to be able to see Madame Berthe's Mouse lemur, the smallest primate in the world. 

Week 3: Tsingy De Bemaraha

The view from the top was awe-inspiring. The Limestone pinnacles rise 70m above the fragments of forest that are adapted to grow in the canyons below. 

George tests the strength of the rope knowing that if he slips- he takes everyone else with him!

Mr Opie's Group make it to the top of the Grand Tsingy. 

As well as climbing and caving, the Tsing gave us the opportunity to observe endemic species such as this Brown Lemur jumping from rock to rock. 

Week 2: Tsiribihina river

Pupils spent over 3 days paddling down the windy river camping on the large sand banks on the side. 

Camp one saw a cloudless night with the Milky Way stretching right over the camp. 

Morning Exercise included kick ups with the river guides. 

A rarely visited waterfall meant a welcome swim and shower for the group. 

Week 2: Andranosoa

The last few days in the village saw a wealth of activity. 20 benches were completed by Mr Opie's hard working team and Miss Ellis's group finished two murals inside the classrooms. All pupils had the opportunity to have a walk up to the top of the sacred hill to see the tombs of past kings and queens of Madagascar and understand a little more about the culture of ancestor worship. A team has been surveying the village to find out the houses most in need of solar light bulbs while a separate group of students has been handing out stationary equipment to local children. Mrs McCall's hard work around camp and organising all of the food has been well recieved. 

We are all excited to confirm that we will be returning to Andranosoa on the 3rd of August for the opening ceremony and an afternoon of Malagasy music and dancing. We might also squeeze another football match in too (unbeaten so far W1 D1 L0). Today we are in the city of Andtsirabe and have taken the opportunity to have a hot shower and sleep in a bed for the first time in over a week. Tomorrow we will be travelling to Miandrivazo for the start of the 3 day long canoe trip down the Tsiribhina river.

An afternoon walk up to the sacred hill overlooking Andranosoa.

Both of the murals have now been completed

Nokero solar bulbs have been sponsored by the Upminster Residents Association. 

A proud man showing off his new solar light bulb. 

Local children with their gifts of pencils. 

Joe and the rest of the bench team have worked extremely hard to finish all of the benches. 

Week 1: Andranosoa

Week 1: Andranosoa

We arrived in Andranosoa apprehensive, knowing that there was a lot of work to complete in a short time. After a lack of progress on the first day waiting for materials and paint, days 2-4 saw a big push by the team to catch up on lost time.

Mrs McCall is queen of the camp, making sure that we are all well fed with delicious meals of beef stew (spicy!), pasta and sauce, and vegetable curry, all cooked over an open fire. Tonight sees chicken in white wine sauce- traditional expedition food?!

Wake up call is at 5.30 and work has begun at 7am. Boiling water over an open fire for 38 takes a long time! We are working so hard, bed time has been at 8.30 after songs and games around the campfire.

Half the team have painted the school with three coats of white emulsion overseen by Miss Ellis while the other half have made school benches with Mr Opie. The painting team are starting on the murals today and so far 10/20 benches are complete. It has been an amazing effort by all involved with few breaks, many blisters and lots of paint on clothes and faces. In a race to see who was the fastest to construct a bench, the girls team stormed it by beating the boys 42minutes to 44 minutes. Well done to Ainslie and Georgina Barrand.

Mr Cornish has been in charge of weather forecasting, and has a record of predicting it wrong every day. He still sticks to the fact that it doesn't rain in Andransoa in July even though a rainbow has been spotted over the camp! It has been very cold at night and coloudy and breezy during the day- so much for our solar chargers! Hoodies and fleeces have come in very useful. We are all looking forward to the warmth of the west coast although no-one believes that it will be 30 degrees and sunny as we shiver in our tents!


Any spare time has been spent interacting with the locals. Mr Cornish has been supervising English lessons, making sure that Lucy Morris teaches standard English rather than Essex slang. All of the team now now how to speak simple Malagasy thanks to the two interpreters that have been organised to work with us during our time in Andranosoa. 


The team were overjoyed this morning at the official opening of a new toilet block with high ceilings and a lock on the door. Previously we had to make do with a close to full drop toilet with giant spiders and doors that opened of their own accord. 


Sunday saw a fortunate turn in the weather and a blue sky day just in time for an afternoon visit  to a local restaurant with a swimming pool (freezing) and shower. All tucked into pizzas in a change to camp food. Lucy Chapman had enjoyed her 17th birthday the evening before with a celebratory BBQ on the roof terrace of a local landowner.


Tonight sees the much anticipated England vs Madagascar football game on the village pitch. With only 4 tufts of grass, an altitude of 4,500ft, hard soil and various potholes, the excuses for losing are already racking up. The locals have been in training for a week but with the height and weight advantage, Mr Cornish and his bulldogs (or Corn-puppies as they are now known) hope to bulldozer the opposition and bring a little cheer to English football fans.

The view across to the sacred hill

A rainbow over camp at breakfast- Mr Cornish is still adamant that it doesn't rain here. We are sleeping in the primary school classrooms in the background. 

The 20m walk to work for the painting team. The roof goes on the school today. 

George and Albert enjoy the sun while sanding wood for the benches. 

Lucy celebrates her 17th Birthday with team leader of the day (Ben) capturing the moment on camera. 

Houses on the sacred hill at sunset.

Eleanor, Lucy spend their break time playing games with the local children. The school is in the background. 

The local children are happy to see us knowing that their future will be better because of our fundraising. 

Week 1: London- Tana- Andasibe

Week 1

London- Tana

Smooth journey via Nairobi with no excess baggage costs despite one of our boxes weighing over 30kg. All luggage turned up in Tana and thankfully we didn't have to show them the contents of our carefully packed bags and boxes. We checked into our hotel close to the airport at 2am and met up with Gary (Remote River Expeditions) and Roland (project Manager, Andranosoa).

Tana- Andasibe

Early in the morning, Mr Cornish went to the bank to change money and ended up a multi-millionaire. Mrs McCall was in charge of spending over 1 million Ar on food for our camp in the project village. At 13.00 we set off for the Eastern Rainforest and a national park called Andasibe where we spent 2 days hiking and lemur watching. Key lemur species seen were the Indri (see photo), Brown Lemur, Bamboo Lemur, Black and White Ruffed Lemur, and Woolly Lemur. The lovely log cabins (with flush toilets and warm showers)were to be our last taste of luxury for a while. One of the highlights for the pupils was a visit to lemur island where the lemurs are semi-tame and can be fed.

A male Indri feeding in Andasibe. One of the group's highlights was hearing their eerie call echoing around the forest. 

  

A Black and White Ruffed Lemur at Andasibe

Ross greets a friendly Brown Lemur

Bottoms holds the largest chameleon in the world (Parsons)

Speaking Malagasy

While we are in Madagascar i would like everyone to have a go at speaking the local language. Malagasy has its origins 4000 years ago on a tiny island in Indonesia. Together with influences from English, french and arabic, it is its own distinct language. Here is a great guide produced by the American Peace Corps giving you the basics: http://multimedia.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/madagascar/MG_Malagasy_Language_Lessons.pdf
Watch this video about the lives of some people in the Capital Antananarivo to hear how the language is spoken.

Martin Clunes in Madagascar

Martin Visits Andasibe- where we will be on Monday- wednesday next week.

New Interactive Prezi Guide to the Expedition

Please wait until it has downloaded before you play.

Madagascar Expedition 2012 on Prezi

Messages from Michael Palin and Simon Reeve

I was honoured to spend Monday evening at an awards ceremony with Michael Palin, and Simon Reeve.

Both have gratefully recorded a little video message of support for our work.

Foundations completed, walls go up this week

Our project manager Roland is now living in Andranosoa and will be sending us daily updates of the building work as the deadline to complete the school draws near. In the last day, the foundations have all been finished and money has been transferred to purchase materials for the rest of the building.

Building Work Starts in Madagascar

With 52 Days to go until we depart for Madagascar, building work has started in ernest. Roland, our project manager in Madagascar has just sent us these photos.

20 Questions that Require Answers!

Just a quick check-list with 57 days to go!

1. Have you handed in all of your fundraising money to Mrs Clark? 
2. Have you paid all of your trip money?
3. Have you had all of your jabs?
4. Have you ordered Malarone or similar anti malarial?
5. Do you have extra packets of medicine that you may need?
6. Have you copied your passport for Mrs McCall and one to keep at home?
7. Have you given me any snorkelling equipment that you can lend?
8. Have you bought all of your equipment and clothes?
9. Are you getting to the peak of physical fitness? 
10. Are you working on your swimming if you are not a strong swimmer?
11. Have you been to the dentist recently for a check up?
12. Do you know your blood type?
13. Are all of your medical records up to date in school?
14. Are your emergency contact details correct on the school system?
15. Have you let me know of any specific dietary requirements?
16. Have you left the morning of Sat 7th July free to bring your kit to school?
17. Do you have any large holdalls/ kit bags you could lend for taking equipment out and back?
18. Do you have a partner that you will share a tent with? 
19. Have you read through the revised itinerary and risk assessment with parents/ guardians?
20. Are you still selling tickets for the England football shirt because it is still sitting in my office?!

Any specific answers please email me with a response. I will be giving out a form at the upcoming parents meeting on Wednesday the 13th June (tbc) where most of the other bits and pieces can be filled in (next of kin, diet etc...)

Mr Cornish 

Andranosoa Meetings

While work is well under way to build our new school, the village have been having a series of meetings to prepare them for our visit. Here are the latest photos from project manager Roland:

This is one of the primary school classrooms where we will be 'camping' during our project work 

Memories of Previous Expeditions to Madagascar

I was just going through my old photos of Madagascar and lots of excellent expedition Memories came flooding back!

Camping on a deserted coral island with pupils from the American School of Antananarivo

Construction work in the Eastern Rainforest

 4x4 Trip to the East coast with the American School

Teaching American school pupils how to build a fence in the Rainforest with Hennie (carpenter)

Camp cooking

Flying over the Eastern Rainforest with Gurt (pilot)

I'm sure that we will come back with equally amazing stories and photos!

Mr Cornish