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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

Thank goodness you aren’t allergic to wasps!

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Jules Torti's avatar

Yes! It was a patient waiting game to come to that conclusion though! It was supposed to be a good omen, according to our guide. I remember watching a travel doc about a village where the young boys 'achieve manhood' by wearing mitts that are full of stinging fire ants for as long as they can stand (they often pass out first)---so, it was more bearable than that!

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Lisa's avatar

Amazing! I look forward to reading more.

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Jules Torti's avatar

Thanks, Lisa! My head feels a book coming on!

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Karla Jones Seidita's avatar

Welcome home!

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Jules Torti's avatar

Thanks, Karla! I've almost resurfaced. Have you ever made tomato jam? We were introduced to it at an ecolodge in Belo Sur Mer.

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Karla Jones Seidita's avatar

Of course!!

But Onion Jam has my heart (& palate) at the moment!!

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Jules Torti's avatar

Oh, that would work on a brie grilled cheese, wouldn't it? Or samosas. Do you have an onion jam post in the works, Karla? Do share!

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Karla Jones Seidita's avatar

Brie grilled cheese with onion jam?????

OMG!!! Sooooo YUM!!!

I'll put the recipe in my cue....

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Fran's avatar

More please!! Love your stories Jules but I wonder just how did you and Kim do so much in so short a time? I couldn’t keep up to you for an hour, let alone a day.😄

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Jules Torti's avatar

We do slow down for a beer, so you could join us then, Fran! It was a slo-mo drive to the western coast---it took 12 hours to cover 200km! And then three days to cover almost the same distance by boat down the muddy Tsirbihina River! One can't be too ambitious with plans in Madagascar---the domestic airline is notorious for delaying and cancelling flights too. So, to think that you can simply take a flight somewhere instead of the 4WD overland route isn't always successful! Thanks for hanging out with us here!

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Stephanie Krohto's avatar

I’ll be there for the slide show, just tell me when! I’m due for a road trip! I was really looking forward to this article. Love the last photo - glad you survived the via ferrata!

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Jules Torti's avatar

Kim is now 'hooked' (hook, line and carabiner) on the via ferrata. Doing it through the cave system in Tsingy added a whole other dimension to things. I didn't realize we were going to be crawling around in one for 45 minutes as a shortcut!!! I just pulled together a mini slideshow for my folks this weekend (130 images vs. 1,600+). Have you finished your Dolomites coffee table book yet?

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