My Peace Corps friends and I hiked up the tallest accessible mountain in Madagascar. At first I was ambivalent about going but I really wanted to see some fellow Peace Corps peeps so when my friend, Kamaka, told me about it I said yes. We met up in Fianarantsoa and the next day we took a bus south 2 hours to the town of Ambalavao, that’s where we started the hike from. That night we stayed at a motel and the next day they drove us to the entrance to the National Park. After about 3 hours hiking uphill we arrived at a river and in spite of how cold the water was, we jumped in. My fingers were numb for awhile. Hours later we arrived at the Base Camp and our tents were nearby.

Dinner was simple but delicious. In the middle of the night at 2:45 in the morning we departed to reach the summit as the sun was coming up. I wasn’t thrilled about this plan but I went along with it because I’m a team player. We hiked in the dark and it was cold and drizzly, and trudging up-hill was like a never ending staircase to hell. I felt like I was back in high school at a grueling track practice wondering why the hell am I running track huffing and puffing like a 2 pack-a-day banshee. Yo, I just wanted to hang out with my Peace Corps Friends and snap some pics, I didn’t sign up for this exhaustion. We got back to base camp and I found out that the cows had ate my shirt that I had hung out to dry and were chewing on my favorite shorts. Damn, it was a shirt I had just tailored. Perhaps it’ll make a good story later. For lunch we had coffee, bread, and butter and were off. The rest of the day the hike was easy. That night we camped again. Our last night we stayed in a small town. We had a candle lit dinner with beer, rum, and Malagasy moonshine they call Toka Gasy. Our last day we were supposed to catch a bus back to Ambalavao in the morning but the bus was full so we hung out in the small town and entertained the children to pass the time. Physically it was the toughest thing I’ve done in years. I glad it’s behind me. And the bonding with friends was the best part.