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We flew first to London in the - vain - hope that 36 hours there would
help us make a dent in the 8 hour time change. Then British Midland to
Paris but with luggage all checked through to Antananarivo ( capital of
Madagascar - never mentioned in MY geography classes) Our Charles De
Gaulle Airport experiences convinced us that the French DESERVE to be
disliked: signs varied from rare to invisible, staff ditto! Our map
showed our incoming and outgoing terminals as next to each other but the
bus doesn't do that, so we had a 25 minute tour of the backside of C de G
- not a pretty site !! And the driver - both now and on our return - was
part of a program to find work for Mute (OOPS : Vocally Challenged) People
with Attitude and so provided no guidance as to the stops he made.
However, we did eventually get to the correct terminal and 6 of us ( we'd
identified the other couple going on the same Cox &Kings tour, and had
also found another UK couple) poured over to the transit desk labelled Air
Madagascar. One bad-tempered woman ( possible her natural state made
worse by having to work Good Friday) sent us to 'Wait" as she was busy.
Half a hot hour ( no air con in C de G) later, I went to ask in my best
French if she could provide us with boarding cards as we had tickets; I
was curtly told to continue waiting. Finally she condescended to process
us which took about 30 seconds each, and Ian and I, congratulating
ourselves for having pushed the boat out and bought Business Class, went
to find the Cathay Pacific lounge as shared with Air Madagascar. No
signs, of course !!! Having found it and rung the bell several times to
know effect, we started to look for a human to ask - fruitless !! BUT
after about 10 minutes, 2 Cathay dragon-ladies arrived (clutching their
MacDonald's lunch bags !!) and without a word or a smile, reluctantly
admitted us to the lounge. Over the several hours we were there they
managed to avoid exchanging a word with me, restricting their answers to
stern faces and hand gestures ! WOW ! Welcome to France - NOT !!!
We got on board to discover, we were the only paying Business passengers (
there were 4 crew in seats) and the service was amazing : just like ye
olde pre-9/11 days with real china, metal cutlery, snowy linen and
trolleys of delights served by smiling charming crew. It sure helped as
the flight is 11 1/2 hours long ( only 2 hours time change.)
We arrived at Tana (local sensible shortened version of Antananarivo) at
4:30 am and were met by 5 smiling people from Tropic Tours – Cox &Kings
sub-contractors. We were faced immediately with the usual problem in a
very poor country of hoards of people all trying to move a piece of your
luggage or self in order to claim a tip and, of course, we had no small
Ariaries ( 1 Euro= 2,250 Ariary) These were to be on -going problems :
lack of small change and excess of potential porters each hoping to earn a
tiny bit.
A quick shower and meal at Le Royal Palissandre Hotel and we were off in
our van - designed to seat 9 midgets ( luckily we were only 6 non-midgets
: 4 clients, 1 driver and 1 guide). We all wished for contracting thighs
during the next 6 days ! The other couple - Peter and Helen - were from
the Uk and although they hadn't travelled much they were good company with
excellent senses of humour and a great interest in everything.
As we drove, Tana was revealed to be a very attractive city built in a
series of bowls and hills with many buildings reflecting the French
Colonial time. The biggest and best were on the highest level with every
Catholic Church flanked by a Presbyterian one, with royal palaces and
large homes and schools in varying stages of repair or decay.
Development apparently crept down the hill until the rice fields of the
bowls have been replaced with The Avenue of Independence, modern
Russian-style buildings and crumbling older homes with people living in
every nook and cranny, tiny shops, a heart-shaped lake, and a
gloriously-roofed market with stalls selling food, 2nd hand books and
clothes, plastic everythings......Then we were taken to the zoo ! Here we
had to have a local guide whose English was incomprehensible and - when
comprehensible - restricted to the reading of the signs on the cage, and
whose hand stuck well out for a tip. But we did see our first local
birds and lemurs.
Easter Sunday - let the adventure begin - a scarlet fody (local small
bird) welcomed us to breakfast on the hotel patio and soon we were packed
into the van and off. The next four days we headed southwest, crossing
from the cooler rolling hills of the centre, across grassy savannahs and
ending at the steaming coastal town of Tulear, via National Highway #7 -
one of very few paved roads and with only a lane in each direction, so
never quick. Earl on we saw lots of red lateritic soil, rice fields and
paddies in every shade from green to gold depending on the ripeness of the
crop, dark green pines, waving eucalypts and tall narrow, thatched adobe
houses clustered in tiny groups. We visited one such house, stepping past
the drying rice spread outside, climbing the ladder-like stairs to the
small bedroom, little eating area and tiny kitchen. There is no
electricity in most villages and all the cooking fuel is wood or charcoal
so the kitchen ceiling and walls were black with soot. Water, carried by
head from the nearest stream, cooled in large unglazed pots. There were a
few utensils and almost no food except rice.
Rice is THE staple of most people, especially a 'red' rice which is
somewhat nutritious and has a nice nutty taste. The country people can
only grow enough for their own use, so the poorest quality white rice is
imported in millions of bags from Pakistan for most. And the rice is fed
to people, cats, dogs, chickens, ox and zebu ( Zebu are the small local
cattle with a hump - looking like miniature Brahmins. They produce little
milk but good meat, are very gentle and were everywhere.
We, of course, ate much better....some wonderful vegetables : tomatoes,
carrots, greens, pumpkin, cucumber. And there were bananas for the picking
plus very good apples, pineapples, persimmons, mandarins. Most of our
meals starred chicken but very tough as they had free-ranged over many
miles in search of food, and were quickly cooked over a meagre
wood/charcoal fire. There was fish - it IS an island - But sadly it was
all over-cooked to tasteless shoe-leather. We had "lamb" which tasted
like goat and some good zebu, especially in a local stew. The dairy
products were excellent - possibly because the President owns the huge
company which produces a little fresh milk, lots of great butter and
yoghurt. The dairy herd were originally introduced by the Norwegian
missionaries !!
Over Easter, the whole world was out on the road - most on foot, a few in
ox-carts - heading to where the action was in larger villages. We saw tiny
carousels with flat cut-out horses luring the children for a ride; stalls
selling everything and people everywhere. At the edge of a village, the
road would be completely blocked with a solid sea of people for 1/2 mile
or so. But Malagasy people are relaxed and patient and there was no agro
as we slowly inched the van through the crowd. The Malagasy seem to have
come originally from Malaya and Borneo, rather than from Africa and it is
apparent in their faces, their manner and their lilting language. They are
very easy-going except in the extreme south where they are much poorer and
seemed more African.
We stopped several times at roadside stalls to see raffia baskets,
animals, hats and mats; wooden toy trucks and cars; hand-embroidered
napkins, mats and tablecloths; and toy metal bicycles and motorcycles.
We watched a man making miniature bicycles - every part from recycled
something : stripped telephone wire, cut cans - ingeniously made ( the
bike wheels were curved over a used battery then threaded with fishing
line spokes !) One morning we visited a semi-precious stone seller. Most
local stones were just tumbled - the good cutting is done in India - but I
did buy a pair a rose-coloured tourmaline earrings set in what he assured
me was gold but which has no marks !!! I obviously paid VERY well as we
were showered with parting gifts ! So having boosted the local economy, we
drove on....
As we went, the countryside became more rolling and with more eucalypts.
There is little indigenous forest left as it has all been used for fuel,
but the French introduced the gum trees which are pollarded every few
years to provide a steady source of wood and charcoal, and which do
something to combat the erosion caused by the clear cutting.
There were several long days of driving - not in distance, but for 7 hours
a day ( not counting stops !) We were often forced to wait as zebu herds
filled the road en route to or from market. After Easter, the rice field
were full of oxen and people: sowing, cutting, spreading, thrashing and
moving the precious rice.
In Ambalavao we saw paper being made and set - while wet - with local wild
flowers, and watched weaving of wild natural silk into shrouds. ( The
Malagasy place all the dead relatives in a single tomb - decorated
differently in different parts of the country 0- and then disinter Granny
et al to come to important family events. Before being returned, the
remains are re-wrapped in new wild-silk !!!
The accommodation en route ranged from air conditioned but scruffy, to
very nice with fans and/or mosquito nets. The Tsara Guest House was a
charmingly - renovated old building with a spectacular view of the town
from our patio; the Relais de la Reine is beautifully designed with all
the buildings nestled amongst rocks and invisible from a short distance
away. From the Relais, we went for a morning walk in Isalo National park :
great rocky outcrops, lots of birds, a very good local guide and the joy
of getting the kinks out of our bums ! Then back in the van for another
long - and very hot - drive stopping to photograph the baobabs and not
stopping at the wild-west style sapphire mining villages !!
The poverty was increasingly evident and for the nest few days we saw
people with no shoes and often only 1 torn and dirty piece of clothing
each. Perhaps that's why they were more aggressive and there was begging.
We finally reached the ugly town of Tulear on the coast and for the first
time since Tana could change some money - under the VERY watchful eye of a
Pakistani woman !!
Leaving the next morning was unpleasant as all the gardeners jostled with
the porters to grab our bags and then all wanted tips. We flew to Fort
Dauphin on the south east coast and after a pleasant lunch at the Hotel
Miramar on a peninsula and with staggering sea views, got into another van
and headed for Berenty Lodge. Although this highway was also 'paved'. it
was crumbling away by several feet at the edges and had Olympian sized
pot-holes so progress was very slow and very bumpy. But we stopped to see
insect-eating pitcher plants, a huge chameleon and got our first look at
the dry spiny forest.
We finally arrived at Berenty Lodge, hot, tired and aching but spirits
soared as we were met by a welcoming committee of 3 ring-tailed lemurs
sitting on the road. A little later Ian was in the bathroom in the cabin
and came out to find a lemur sitting in the middle of the room while 4
curious faces peered around the open door ! Lemurs are primates lower down
the scale than monkeys or people and are now found only in Madagascar -
having been replaced elsewhere by monkeys. There are some 50 species
ranging from tiny to 650 pounders; some are diurnal, some nocturnal. They
are not frightened of people having not been hunted, are VERY curious and
peer down at you from huge unblinking eyes. The ones we met seemed a mix
of monkey, racoon and cat with humanoid hands and nails and opposing
thumbs and big toes.
The fabled Berenty Lodge is in a small private reserve completely
surrounded by sisal fields and the whole is owned by Jean de Heaulme who
also owns most of Fort Dauphin. He calls the shots - only vehicles owned
by him can go to the Lodge etc. so it's easy to save money by
under-feeding paying customers who have nowhere else to go !! He has a
line on /produces "French Bread" which is actually white fluff and air and
makes a meagre breakfast for a morning's walking ! The cabins were fine
but hot at night under a mosquito net when the generator and fan went off
at 10 pm.
Mornings started early as the ring-tails like to warm-up by leaping onto
the metal roofs of the cabins as they chirrup and grunt !! There were
several primate researchers there from the UK studying, among other
things, their matriarchal society; and a film crew who said their lemur
film would be on Animal Planet and ITV. It's dead easy filming as the
lemurs are totally unafraid and there are 50 or 60 around the Lodge !
Our first walk nearby with an excellent guide revealed lots of birds, some
brown lemurs and several beautiful Verreaux sifakas ( pronounced
"she-fuckers !) who appear to have been designed by Steiff RToys : fluffy,
creamy-coloured fur, brown cap, black face, short arms but long legs. To
cross the ground they bounce sideways like white furry rubber balls, but
can leap 30-40 feet in a tree.
Later we walked in the dry spiny forest - a true sci-fi experience -
everything is grey green, most trees have spines, some sharp some rubbery,
a few stick up high like bony hands - very odd. But we saw a sleeping owl,
some mouse lemurs and 2 dozing sifakas.
We were sorry to leave the lemurs but with the hopes of better food,
headed back down the awful road to Fort Dauphin ( an ugly town with a
beautiful coastal setting including a bay with several rusting hulks as
salutary reminders of the power of the sea.) Jean produced a reasonable
supper and Ian and I added a dozen fresh local oysters each which were
excellent. Having generously fed the local mosquitoes overnight and with
breakfast fluff consumed, we were off for a boat ride through a series of
increasingly saline lagoons, dodging the crocs and admiring the
water-growing banana trees, elephant ears and stately traveller's palms.
We included a local guide, a boatman and another man from the hotel. We
stopped at the very poor village of Evahatra and then walked through the
country, round a hill and finally along the coast for 2 1/2 hours. It was
beautiful and nice to be walking, but VERY hot and , by the end I was
feeling quite sick. But the boat reappeared with yet another man added and
we were whisked to a quiet shore with a small grass hut on it.
The first extra man - having changed into whites in the hut - was revealed
as our Chef !!!!! and proudly cooked and served us rubber tuna steaks,
wonderful pilau, salads and chicken and....then...the final extra man who
was the local village chief took on the job of cooking the 2 spiny
lobsters that I'd bought during the walk from a local fisherman. They were
WONDERFUL - he grilled them lightly on a tiny portable charcoal fire -
they were the best food all trip !! And served with the wine and vodka the
chef had brought to sell us !
Next morning, we had our breakfast fluff and went for a hot, rather boring
tour of the botanical gardens before heading to the airport. A quick
change of schedule by Air Madagascar saw us fly back to Tulear, then on up
that coast, over lots of baobab trees to Morondava and finally into
Antananarivo where we returned to the Royal Palissandre, but this time to
a room with balcony and great view over the city. We had a final dinner
with Peter and Helen who had been excellent travelling companions, and the
next morning said goodbye to them and to Fabrice, our guide, as we were
off on our "extension" and they were going home.
Anne and Ian’s extended trip
We were wonderfully looked after for the next few days by a driver/guide
called Lala ( which means 'darling'!!) After fighting the morning rush in
Tana, we were onto National Highway #2 heading east - well paved and less
used by zebu herds BUT a major route from port to capital for seriously
over-laden, and thus very slow, trucks. It was a pleasant ride through
rolling country and cooler air to Vakona Forest Lodge. Set in beautiful
grounds, the accommodation is in individual bungalows with balconies. The
bar/dining room/ lounge is on stilts over a lake where a brilliant
coloured kingfisher tries to pick off the fish being fed leftover bread !
The lodge has a large island reserve where we fed banana to the semi-tame
black and white ruffed lemurs, the brown lemurs and the sole golden
diademed sifaka. Gentle velvet hands reached into your palm while a soft
furry body nestled on your shoulder !!!
The next morning we drove to nearby Mantadia National park for lemur and
bird watching with our local guide, Patrice, who appears in the
acknowledgements of Ian's Indian Ocean bird book !!! He was excellent and
he and Ian spotted bird after bird and we saw and heard sifakas and were
treated to the whale-like songs of the indri. (When threatened, they sound
like a police siren !) It was an amazing and wonderful morning so Ian and
Patrice went back birding that afternoon while I stayed at the Lodge to
twist my ankle and do some sketching ( between curses and groans !) The
next morning with the help of a trusty trekking stick, I joined them in
walking in Perinet Special Reserve where we again heard and, this time,
saw the indri ( big feet, no tail) and brown lemurs. Ian and Patrice
continued birding while I returned to the lodge.
Later we both cooed over the tiny orphaned brown lemur that the manageress
was rearing. It fit easily in a hand and spent most of its time riding her
shoulder, tucked under her hair. Its rearing will be a 2 year commitment
but it can then be safely released into a herd of wild lemurs who will
accept it.
Back in Tana, we shopped for souvenirs, looked in vain for well-set
semi-precious stones, went to a rock and gem exhibition where I bought 2
cut stones and Ian bought a polished chunk, and went to the miniature
boat-building place where Ian bought a langoustier about 16" long and
high. ( It was packed well and it travelled back with our suitcases
unscathed !)
And suddenly it was over and we were back on Air Madagascar, back battling
Charles de Gaulle and into London all too briefly before flying home. It
was a terrific trip : extremely interesting and somewhat challenging but
great people, amazing wildlife and unusual flora and scenery made it well
worth the effort.
Anne Gray shadesof@telus.net
Indri image
from:
solene.ledantec.free.fr/ Animaux/Primates2.htm |
