Madagascar

Saturday, August 11—Thursday, August 16: Madagascar

We woke up at 3 am to catch our ride to Kilamanjaro Airport, which is an hour drive from Arusha. From Kilamanjaro we flew to Nairobi, from Nairobi to Mauritius, and finally from Mauritius to Antananarivo (“Tana”), the capital of Madagascar. We had entrusted the safari company, Easy Travel & Tours Ltd., to confirm all of our flights. They did tell us that they confirmed the first and last leg, but had some trouble confirming the second leg. They were able to get in touch with the manager of the airline, Air Mauritius, but we would have to follow up when we got to the airport. In Nairobi, we had a 5-hour layover before our flight to Mauritius. No one was at the transfer desk until about an hour before the flight. We went to the agent to be checked in only to find out that once again, our “names were not in the system.” There were two other guys there who were having the same predicament. Together, we called the manager’s number that the safari company had given us, and a representative eventually showed up who proved to be very helpful in getting us all on the flight after an hour of intense anxiety. We finally made it to Tana at 8:30 pm, where we were met at the airport by a representative and a driver from Madagascar EcoTours, the company we had arranged a tour with since we were only going to be in Madagascar for five nights and we wanted to see as much as we could.

Neither the representative nor the driver spoke English, but we were not very concerned since we were only going to the hotel and were not starting the tour until the following morning. Also, I asked the representative and the driver if either of them were guides and they laughed at this question as if it were a ridiculous question to ask. The next morning, the same representative, but with a different driver in a different car, picked us up from the hotel. I asked the representative if we were going to get a guide that spoke English and he said we were. About a half an hour after we left, the car pulled over to the side of the road, the representative got out, and a different and younger guy got in the car. Naturally, John and I thought this new guy was the English-speaking guide. The only problem was, this new guy didn’t speak English either. It took us 2 more hours to figure out that this new guy was the driver’s friend and that the driver had asked his friend to come along and help him out since he did not speak any English and the friend knew a few words in English.

The communication (or lack thereof) would have been fine, except for the fact that the car had a serious exhaust problem. The stench of gas was overwhelming and it was impossible to get a breath of untainted air even going 60 mph with the windows open. John and I were both feeling nauseous and our eyes and throats were beginning to burn. After explaining several times that there was something wrong with the car and that we needed a new car, the driver stopped the car, went to the trunk, and got out a can of aerosol room deodorizer spray. Every few minutes he would spray the deodorizer in an attempt to make the air breathable. We managed to make it to our destination located 140 kilometers east of Tana, but the trip fell far short of our seemingly naïve visions of driving through the countryside and smelling the sweet smells of the rainforest.

The voucher we had for the hotel that night was for Glace Lodge. The driver kept stopping to ask locals where this lodge was located. I couldn’t tell if he was getting directions or not, but we eventually showed up at an entirely different lodge named Vakona Lodge. According to my book, Vakona Lodge is the best accommodation in the area and the place was beautiful. It was situated right in the heart of the rainforest and had a beautiful octagonal central lodge with a wood-burning fireplace and dining area, a swimming pool, private bungalows, and a private lemur and crocodile reserve within walking distance from the Lodge through the rainforest.

Of course, Vakona Lodge did not have a reservation for us because the voucher we had was for a different lodge. Luckily, the receptionist was very accommodating and did give us a room. She also spoke English, so we were able to tell her the problem with the car and have her translate to the driver. Up until this point, I do not think the driver knew the seriousness of the problem, but neither John nor I were stepping foot back into that gas trap.

The next several hours were spent trying to talk with the driver and his friend and to get in touch with the tour company (as it was a Sunday). We did eventually talk to someone at the tour company, and after much talking, explaining, and frustration, it was decided that the driver would be returning to Tana in the morning and would be returning with a new car in the afternoon.

After all of this hubbub, John and I went to tour the Lodge’s private lemur and crocodile reserve. The lemur reserve was awesome and it was the first time either of us had ever seen a lemur. We saw several species of lemur, including the black and white ruffed lemur, brown lemur, and the elusive and very shy sifaka. The lemurs in this private reserve were once people’s pets and are quite use to people. They come right up to you and jump on your shoulder to eat the pieces of banana the local guides give you. They are so cute and soft. They have hands and feet that look almost human. At one point during the visit, I thought it started to rain, but when I looked up, there was a black and white lemur taking a whiz right above me. One more step to the left and I would have had a golden lemur shower. In the crocodile reserve, we saw tons of crocodiles of all ages, many species of birds, and a fosa, a large cat that is said to be the most dangerous animal in all of Madagascar.

That evening, we dined at the lodge and the food was excellent. There were about ten different appetizers, main courses, and desserts to chose from. John had a salad with deviled eggs, braised pork, and banana flambé; I had a Brie salad, zebu romazava (a traditional Malagasy dish of zebu meat and vegetable stew spiced with ginger and tongue-tingling bredes or greens), and a caramel cake with ice cream. Zebu is a kind of cow in Madagascar that has huge horns and that can be seen anywhere at anytime, oftentimes on the side of or in the middle of the road being herded to their next destination. You can buy many items made from zebu horn such as serving utensils and bowls.

Early the next morning John went to the main lodge to try and call the tour company to get an update on the “new” car. At this point, our driver was gone and we were kind of in the dark as to what was going on. John and I both had a sinking feeling about the whole tour as this point. We had breakfast at the lodge and tried calling the tour company again. We eventually got in touch with the company and were told that a car and driver would be showing up around 1 in the afternoon. Around 12:30 pm, the initial representative who was at the airport, along with a new driver and a new five-seater pickup truck, showed up at the lodge. John and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. The pickup truck was pretty new and there was not a stray gas molecule to be found. We set off to hike through the Andasibe National Park.

We had a very professional and knowledgeable tour guide to lead us through a 2.5-hour moderately intense hike through Andasibe National Park. We were able to see several species of lemurs including the gray bamboo lemurs and the famous Indri indri. The Indri indri is the largest of the lemurs standing at about 1 meter high with a teddy bear face but missing the long tail associated with the other lemur species. Although there would be no petting or feeding going on here, we did stumble upon a couple of brown lemurs and were able to watch one of them eat his leaf lunch from about 10 feet away. The rainforest enchants with its lush ground covering, towering trees, and symphony of sounds. Searching for and finding the endemic lemurs of Madagascar in this setting was truly magical.

After leaving the park, we had to drive the 140 kilometers west back to Tana and another 200 kilometers south to the town of Antsirabe. We drove straight through stopping only once to fill the gas tank. Luckily, I bought some chips and cookies, because we never stopped to eat lunch or dinner and by the time we made it to the hotel, the hotel’s restaurant was closed. As we were pulling into the hotel, the receptionist was locking up and heading home for the night. We caught her just in time to be given a key to our room. We dined on cheese doodles and crème sandwiches.

Antsirabe is the country’s pousse-pousse capital. A pousse-pousse is a rickshaw powered by a young boy or man on foot (barefoot to be exact). The following morning, we hired a pousse-pousse to take us on a tour of Antsirabe. We got to see the various markets and streets of this city and get a picture of how people really live. Madagascar has approximately 18 million people half of which earn less than $1 a year. There is extreme poverty and many of the people in the streets wear nothing more than tattered, dirty clothes and are shoeless.

We spent the rest of the day driving to Ranomafana National Park, another 240 kilometers south of Antsirabe. Along the way, we stopped in the city of Ambositra where we visited a crafts market and ate at Hotely Gasy. Typically, hotelys are open sided shacks on the side of the road that serve cheap, traditional food. Hotely Gasy was a step up from the typical hotely as it catered to tour groups. The food was still cheap and tasty. After lunch, we continued the drive to the Park. We finally arrived after many hours of driving and checked into the Setam Lodge, a main dining area and about 20 bungalows set into the hillside right outside the park. The well-deserved dinner that evening included crab chowder, fresh fish, and beignets.

The next morning we awoke bright and early to arrive at the park by 7:30 am. We hiked through this amazing rainforest for four hours and saw many golden bamboo lemurs, greater bamboo lemurs, red-bellied lemurs, and red-fronted brown lemurs. The area became a national park in 1991 after receiving worldwide attention when the golden bamboo lemur was first discovered in this area in 1986. Again, we had an excellent guide who knew a lot about the area and the many plants and animals that inhabit the park.

After visiting the park, we had to drive the 400 kilometers back to Tana. This was a long day and it was clear that the driver wanted to cover as many kilometers as quickly as possible given his heavy foot. The terrain in this area of the country is mountainous and there is one main road that winds mercilessly through the hills and valleys. Given the driver’s speed and the windy road, I was being thrown to and fro in the backseat. On top of that, the hours were ticking by and the driver was not stopping anywhere for lunch. I couldn’t take it any more and I finally yelled out the name of the first hotely we passed. The driver immediately screeched to a half in front of the restaurant. Apparently, he was just as hungry as we were. The hotely was in the typical style of an open sided shack on the side of the road. The meal consisted of a huge plate of white rice accompanied by a little, tiny bowl of pork, chicken or zebu. The cooking was done in a small room off to the side of the main room with no running water. I took the opportunity to use the restroom, which was a hole in the ground about 20 meters behind the restaurant. We were getting very local.

Malagasy people are thought to have Afro-Asian origins and have many complicated and fascinating beliefs and customs. Despite the numerous tribes and clans that inhabit the world’s fourth largest island, the people of Madagascar share a common belief in the power of their dead ancestors. The living must remember their dead so that the dead can thrive in the spiritual world and look after the living. The dead are obeyed by following a complicated set of rules or fady that are unique and vary from community to community, family to family, and even person to person. Fady are beliefs related to actions, food, or days of the week when something can or cannot be done. For example, it may be fady to sing while you are eating or to hold a funeral on a Tuesday. These rules are not viewed as a hindrance but as a way to ensure happiness and improve the quality of life of the living. One fady that has been outlawed (but does still occur today) is the belief of the Antaisaka people of Mananjary regarding twins. In this society, twins are fady and were historically (and continue to be) killed or left in the forest to die after birth. Catholic missionaries have established orphanages for twins born to mothers of this group who are torn between their material instincts and their traditions.

I did not notice a particular dress that was unique to Madagascar, but nearly everyone wears some sort of hat, many of which are beautiful handmade woven hats of colorfully dyed fibers. Handmade hats may be bought nearly anywhere in the country and cost less a dollar.

Despite the rough beginning of the trip, I really enjoyed our visit to Madagascar. Five days was barely enough time to begin to scratch the surface of this vast, diverse, and captivating country. The landscape is absolutely gorgeous and ranges from mountains and hills covered by rainforests to flatter areas plotted out in perfectly squared off plots of wet rice fields and other crops. Throughout our drives, we could see people working in the fields from dawn to dusk. And, there is a constant caravan of people along the sides of the road on foot and bicycles going to and from the market and other destinations. The whole country takes on a fairytale-like Victorian quality once the sun starts to set and the people start their evening fires for cooking. The pervasive poverty of the daylight fades away and is replaced by an idyllic charm that is reminiscent of a simpler time. Someday I will return to continue learning about this unique and little understood country.