Andy Oakley

Taken from the Madagascar Team 1 Journal, originally by Sam I took over leadership from Katie after an excellent lunch of octopus curry at 'Les Mangroves'. The first job was to get us back to Tulear where we were hoping to be able to book a room at the Dera. Transport was to be two pick-up trucks. Although still extremely cramped they were a comfortable alternative to pirogues. On reaching Dera we had our first problem. It was fine to eat there in the evening but they had no spare rooms. However, they let us store our kit there while we searched for somewhere else. Nanah, Katie, Oli and myself left the others at the hotel to try another. We took a 2 minute pousse-pousse ride to the Hotel Sud that had plenty of rooms, all of which were very spacious. On the way back to the Dera to tell the others Oli and myself were unfortunate enough to hail the town's slowest pousse-pousse and the driver/puller walked the whole way bac, making a two minute journey last 10. Once settled at the hotel the next couple of hours were taken up with souvenir shopping in the town with things ranging from wood carvings of semi-naked wrestlers to Lacoste shirts (fake). That night was to be our awards night and so once returned from shopping we dressed up in our chic evening wear - sarongs for the girls, bow ties and cummerbunds for the boys. We then made our way to the restaurant, our fantastic attire unfortunately hidden under the black of night. Once settled down to our meal unfortunately things once again were no so rosy as various people were feeling ill. Therefore the awards were abandoned and the group was split into two; those who wished to dance the night away in the haven that was Za Za, and those preferring the tranquility of their hotel beds. After a strenuous night on the dance floor (Us: when do we go Nanah? Nanah: We go when we stop having fun!) we left the Za Za Club in the early hours. Outside the building was a giant congregation of pousse-pousses, each eager for you to be their client. We splt into twos, a boy and girl for safety reasons, and chose a strapping bloke to pull us. Half way through the joyney, most of the boys swapped places with their drivers and we all raced back to the hotel. Dave and I were engaged in a tight battle until he took a completely wrong turn, completely oblivious to his driver shouting from the back. Needless to say, we all got back knackered.