Madventure 2000 was the first of Feedback's pioneering expeditions to Madagascar that raise both awareness and funds. "Madventurers" visited the projects and lived and sailed with the Vezo tribe in some of the world's most inaccessible and beautiful coral seas. They brought trade, information and friendship to these communities. This is very different from the frequent side effects of tourism - exploitation, eviction, refuse, disease and emigration. In particular we employed local people and bought their produce. We had exchanges on rural development and tourism, exploring what they could expect and how to benefit from encroaching tourism. The expedition doctor also helped with any illnesses in the villages along the way.
Home for the "Madventurers" was with the Vezo. Their home is the thousand miles of white, sandy beaches that stretch up the south-west coast of Madagascar. (Just behind the beach are majestic baobabs and the spiny forest). They live by fishing, as they have done since they first arrived on this strange land sometime after the time of Christ. Their dug out canoes are little changed from the ones their ancestors, from the archipelagos off Borneo, used to cross the Indian Ocean.
Visit project sites, sail with the Vezo fishermen up the west coast and explore the rainforest and lemurs. Interested? contact Jamie at mrjamesspencer@yahoo.com.