People speak Malagasy.
In Madagascar, people use a currency called the ariary. One U.S. dollar is equal to 3,600 AR.
A bottle of water usually costs 2,000 AR.
Rice with fire-smoked beef jerky. The meat is cut into strips and strung over the fire on the first night of camp. Over the next few days, the fire cooks the meat and infuses it with a warm smoky flavor. We each got a few cubes over rice for breakfast.
I loved hearing the Malagasy music that the gendarmes (guards) and porters played from their phones on our hike up to camp.
It was amazing to hike with Dr. Patricia Wright, world-renowned primatologist and conservationist. When I wasn’t collecting leeches or organizing my samples, I enjoyed joining Dr. Wright on her hikes in search of ring-tailed lemurs. Dr. Wright has dedicated the last 30 years to learning about and discovering the wildlife of Madagascar. She discovered the golden bamboo lemur in the 1990s and later created Ranomafana National Park. She is extremely knowledgeable and can identify most of the plants and animals in the forest on the spot.
