There are 6 posts tagged Madagascar (this is page 1 of 1).
I haven’t done a lot of writing this past week, so I don’t have any more stories of my adventures in Madagascar to post yet. Instead, I’ll just let you know what I’ve been up to since the last update.
(Note: This is a post from my 2003 travel blog IMoL: Travels and Travails.)
I’m on my way to Antsirabe, about 170km south of Tana. My transport of choice – because as you can imagine the choices are quite limited – is the taxi-brousse (bush taxi).
There are several types of vehicles used for taxi-brousse in Madagascar depending on the roads or lack thereof. In order from most to least comfortable, there’s the minivan, the soft covered pickup with wooden benches on either side, and the huge Mercedes Benz soft-covered trucks which make the deuce and halfs we used in the army look like Tonka trucks. Into the truck or van, pile people, sacks of rice, luggage, live chickens, and other foodstuffs. Then tie people, sacks of rice, luggage, live chickens, and other foodstuffs to the roof. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the taxi-brousse.
(Dec 2004: Another version of this appears on BootsnAll.)
(These are some thoughts I wrote in my journal on October 9 2003, just after I arrived in Madagascar.)
There are an awful lot of people selling ‘things’ on the street, but not too many buying. TV antennas, sunglasses, all kinds of food, souvenirs, etc.. Every second guy here is a money changer, including the security guy at the hotel. (Incidentally, I changed hotels, moving to my original choice yesterday. The roaches at Le Glacier will probably miss me.)
I wonder about the economy here works – or doesn’t. It’s good to see that the bottled water I get is Malagasy – Eau Vive or Olympiko. Whoever runs those companies must be doing fairly well. (Near the end of my trip, I discovered that the president owns and/or runs Tiko which produces Olympiko….) How do you jump start the economy in such a poor country? Surely, if they depend on tourism it will only take them so far because it is heavily dependent on the state of the global economy.
One encouraging sign is that communication seems to be improving steadily here. Internet in Tana is quite readily available and I’ve seen many Orange shops around town. (For you non-Europeans, Orange is a big European telecom company.) By using wireless technology, they can leapfrog the ‘wired’ phones and get service in remote areas relatively easily. Everyone I’ve talked to so far seems to think that this ‘new’ president is going to be good for the country. They say that things have improved steadily since they were on the verge of civil war a couple of years ago.
I look forward to seeing life outside Tana.
It was quite striking going out to the Air France office. Air conditioned office in a brand new multi-story (10 story?) building. Compared to everything else I’ve seen in Tana so far, it’s another world.
I went to La Boussole for dinner. It’s an interesting place with a wine list to put many French restaurants to shame. The clientele seemed to be primarily French ex-pats. Not too many tourists besides me and a couple of Spanish ladies. For dinner I decided to try zébu. Zébu looks essentially like a cow with horns and a hump, which contains fat reserves much like a camel. In fact it tastes exactly like beef, much to my dismay. I hope there’s no mad zébu disease!
As I wandered back to the hotel past the Japanese Embassy (Malagasy soldiers with AK47s as guards), I couldn’t help but think more about the economic situation here. I guess in typical Western style thinking, I see something ‘broken’ and wonder how it can be fixed. I know it doesn’t work like that, but where would you start? Education? Fighting corruption? Food? Infrastructure? Communications? I can’t help thinking about this as I wander the streets and look around.
I’ve discussed this with a number of people – Malagasy, French ex-pats, and other tourists. Of course there are no answers, but it’s an interesting thing to discuss nonetheless. The president has chosen to tackle infrastructure by improving the road system. After having some experience travelling the roads here, I think that’s a Very Good Thing.
When I go to the pharmacy here in Tana and buy something, am I depriving a local of it or am I helping by increasing the profits of the pharmacy so they can buy more? (My guide in Ranamofana explained that the medicines at the pharmacies are too expensive for the locals anyway and that they turn to nature for their medicines.)
(Note: This is a post from my 2003 travel blog IMoL: Travels and Travails.)
I hope I’ll get some time to write again soon, but for now, here’s what I’ve been up to.
I left Tuléar for Anakao, a few kilometres to the south on the ocean. The ride over by boat was very rough and wet. I met an English couple on the boat and the three of us stayed at La Réserve, a hotel in the middle of nowhere on the beach. Nobody around but us and the owners. Other than hanging around and sleeping, eating, and the occasional swim, the only thing of note I did there was to take a pirouge a voil (dugout canoe with sail) to Nosy Ve, an island off the coast to wander about.
After the much needed relaxation, I headed back to Tuléar for the night, where I found a car to take me to Ranohira, the town at the edge of the Parc National Isalo. Here I ran into a Maltese guy and we decided to do a two day trek in the park. We hooked up with a group of four Frenchmen and got a deal with a trekking company. The scenery was absolutely amazing, but I’ll tell you I’ve never been so hot in my life. No cover under the mid-morning and midday sun is quite deadly. We were looking for the least bit of shade to take our breaks. When we got back last night I was shattered, but I hope the photos were worth it.
This morning, I took a car to Fianaratsoa. I’m debating whether to go to Ranomafana National Park for a couple of days before heading back to Tana for my flight on 1 November. I’m not sure a hike in the rainforest after the savannah is in the cards.
Talk at you later.
(Note: This is a post from my 2003 travel blog IMoL: Travels and Travails.)
I don’t have much time to write here, so here’s a quick update.
I left Tana to go to Antsirabe to the south where I met up with a French guy named Fred and a ‘guide’ named José. We signed on with José for a three day pirogue (dugout canoe) trip down the Tsiribihana River. Turns out we got screwed over by José (full story at a later date) but we made it from Miandrivazo to Belo-sur-Tsiribihana safely. From there I headed North by taxi-brousse (bush taxi) to Bekopaka. I met a Swiss couple from Lausanne who kindly let me join them in their rented quatre-quatre [4×4] for the 17km, 1h15m trip to Grands Tsingy in Parc National Des Tsingy de Bemaraha. It was an amazing 4 hour hike in the hottest place I’ve ever experienced (so far).
From there, I again hitched a ride with the Swiss couple down to Morondavo by 4×4, where we saw the Avenue du Baobab (I took many photos). The next day I flew to Tuléar, where I’m writing this. I’m headed to Anakao by pirogue for a couple of days relaxation and possibly snorkling. Then the plan is to come back here, head to Parc National Isalo for a three day hike, then make my way back to Tana for my flight to Johannesburg on the 31st.
Talk at you later.
(Note: This is a post from my 2003 travel blog IMoL: Travels and Travails.)
“This one sounds good” joked Elaine as she looked through my Lonely Planet Madagascar for hotels in Antananarivo, Madagascar (aka Tana).
‘Hotel Le Glacier in a noisy location…may be worth a look if everything else is full (though it is not suitable for women alone). Dingy rooms with private bathroom… but the ones in the annex are unsafe.’
I thought I’d choose something a little more upscale, so I settled on Hotel Mellis and booked ahead.
(10 Aug 2004: Another version of this appears on BootsnAll.)
