Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the messages, great to hear from you all.

Ok so here goes blog number 2! I'm a bit behind as am already in Tana the capital of Madagascar.... will be in NZ by Sunday and will try to type another blog quite quickly so am all up to date.

Ok, so after leaving Emangevy where we were tree planting, we spent a few days treating ourselves to the luxuries of food, the internet and the odd flushing toilet! Before heading out to the bush again, this time for Angazety. Couldn't really call it a village or even a hamlet as there was literally nothing there apart from a small wooden shack, shelter and a well... Beautiful for the next couple of days, planting fruit trees in a swamp and then the rains began!!

I always knew I was visiting Madagascar in the rainy season but we had clearly been fortunate to have been spared the worst of it, until now! The heavens opened with the rain only stopping for a short time as if it was just taking a breather to regain its strength. As you can imagine camping on sand in the middle of nowhere became a challenge! Tents were flooded over night, trenches were dug and work stopped... card games, rum and general delirium set in. The decision was made to move us all onto St.Luce -a coastal village with some of the last littoral/primary forest in the South East. Also home to a more established camp with a shelter sporting a table and even a concrete floor! (not much I hear you say, but believe me it was a very welcome sight).

We were able to take a couple of walks into the different protected sectors of forest where we saw an abundance of native species of trees, insects (the biggest spiders I have ever seen - literally a hand size, no joke) frogs and the odd bird but sadly no lemurs.

Anyway the rains continued and it was decided to completely evacuate us from the bush! Sounds dramatic and I guess it was fairly eventful!

The journey had to be split into two as the main river crossing was blocked by a raging, swollen river completely submerging the bridge and creating at least a grade 3 rapid on either side! We later found out that there had at one point been talk of us crossing the river in a pirogue! (a wobbly, wooden canoe) thank god this plan was abandoned....

We all stayed overnight in a disused school to wait for the water level to drop enough for us to cross. Luckily by the morning it had and it was action stations to pack up and get all the kit across - still raining at this point! The next leg was a crazy ride in the back of a huge monster truck, driven by an Indian Mr.T (A team styley) who certainly took no prisoners getting us back to town. What a truck it was, music blaring, pile in the bodies, cooking pots, rucksacks and a lot of bumps made for an interesting ride.

We were also given a nasty reminder of the mindless discrimination against the local Malagasy's by the mining company QMM. Permission had to be sought to use the mining road (the only tarmac road in the Fort Dauphin region) and whilst driving through the compound the security guards stopped the truck to make all the Gasy's get out and walk to the boundary while us Vasaha's (foreigners) could stay in. Outraged at this pointless power tripping insanity we all got out and walked the 1km to the boundary. Our solidarity was very much appreciated by the Gasy's but I don't think the armed guards were too impressed! A shocking event to us but a common, unchangeable occurence to the Gasy's whose need to use the road outweighs everything else.

Back in town we washed, cleaned and dried out pretty much everything we owned before being moved again from the flooded campsite into town to the main Azafady office, where we slept in a little attic room infested with ants but more importantly with beds!

Finished the program early and with the evaluations, farewell party involving kareoke and a lot of rum over, we bid farewell to Fort Dauphin and our time with Azafady. Mixed emotions to be leaving as the work and the passion of the people we were involved with got under my skin; but ultimately very ready to see a bit more of this beautiful country and to be more independent. Spending the next couple of weeks criss-crossing our way back up to Tana the capital before flying onto Jo'berg for my connecting flights to Wellington. NZ here I come.....

Lots of love to you all and special congratulations to Luce and Tom on your engagement, so excited and happy for you xxxx