So I've been out of touch with lots of people for the last 3 days, but I can say that I had one of the most beautiful times of my life these last few days, and I'm so excited to share it with you. 

  Lindsey and I left on Sunday to go see the sites of the Baobab trees as well as the Grand Tsingy de Bemaraha. Just a little history of the tsingys: the tsingys are a big formation of rocks, that were at one point under the sea before Madagascar was formed. It was made an official world heritage site in 1990, and has only been open to the public since 1997. It consists of some pretty intense hiking, as well as some amazing caves to climb through; pictures to be followed. 

  The Tsingys Are located in a very very remote area of Madagascar called Bekopaka, so it took us 8 hours to drive there with some very very rough roads, and two ferry crossings with the most ghetto ferry. I don't think I've ever been so thankful for paved roads in my entire life.

On the drive over, we encountered some villages that were in complete poverty, and in some of the most desolate areas. It was not uncommon to see people with hardly any clothes, no shoes, straw houses, and no running water. 92% of Malagasy people live below the poverty line, often living off of less than two dollars per day.  But despite all of that, it was also not uncommon to see the biggest smiles on their faces as we passed, and nearly every person made a point to wave at Linds and I. These simple gestures speak immensely to me in so many ways. It truly made me feel extremely humbled, and it just goes to show that people can find pure happiness, even in the most horrible conditions. It made me think of how incredibly blessed I am to be where I am, and the opportunities that I have had in my life. It's so easy to get caught up in the sometimes trivial things in my daily life, but at that moment I was so humbled and had to take a few minutes to reflect on those things and that for me, some things could be so much worse. 

  Once we arrived, we stayed in the cutest bungalow that is shown below, and made some new friends as well. We befriended a German couple, where the girl is studying the behaviors of specific Lemurs for her PhD, a fellow American who has been living in Mozambique for the last 3 years for her career, and a South Korean man who did the hike with us. It was so great being able to have dinner with a group of people who spoke English! We bonded over our love for this country and delicious rum, something that Madagascar is famous for apparently. 

 On Monday we did the hike of the Gran Tsingy. Our hike was lead by our guide, Brown, (yes, that was his real name), and has grown up in the Tsingys his entire life. He lead us through the most dangerous parts, through pitch black caves crawling on our knees, showed us fossilized coral from when the country was under water, and more importantly, showed us the cutest LEMURS! That's right people, I saw Lemurs! Pictures below. The hike was by far the most beautiful, spectacular place I've ever seen in my entire life. Words cannot describe, nor can pictures, at how amazingly unreal this place was. I would recommend this to anyone to do at some point in their life. 

We left Tuesday morning and returned on Tuesday night. On our way home, we stopped by to see the famous Baobab Trees that are endemic to Madagascar. We were lucky to get a glimpse of them as the sun was going down and it was magnificent. The trees have been around for thousands of years, and are some of the most unique trees on earth. During this time, I was able to pet a chameleon as well, which was terrifying. 

  The next coming days are filled with traveling, and a stop or two on our way to Tamatave, where we will begin serving!