Heading West

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I had better start writing before I start forgetting. It is probably still too late. We are lying in an oasis of luxury in a new hotel in Miandrivazo heading West. We could be anywhere in the world. The reality is outside.

This is the start of a 30 tour of Madagascar. In the end we decided not to travel independently and have used JeanBe Tours. Even though we are only early in our visit we have no problem recommending JeanBe. He has been travelling with us and arranged all. For a short trip like this it makes all the difference. See www.jeanbetours.com

The first part of our trip has been a two day drive to the West to the first of the nature areas. It has introduced us to life on the central plateau of Madagascar. We had an overnight stop in Antsirabe and had time to walk or be taken on rickshaws around the city.

The views from the car are stark. The rainy season will start soon and the workers in the fields are turning from brick makng to rice growing. Most fields are dug by hand. The soil is iron red and led John Gimlette to entitle his Madagascan travel book "The Gardens of Mars". The poverty, particularly in the rural areas, is omnipresent. A handful of sweets very quickly became unruly.

On our first night in Antananarivo (everyone calls it Tana) we were advised not to go out. Things were more relaxed when we got to Antsirabe. We walked out to an LP recommended lunch spot leaving a trail of rickshaw drivers in our wake. We then took rickshaws to some craft workshops. I got out to walk up the hills. One ride from a foreigner is worth about two days worth from the locals.

The two craft shops were quite unique. One made miniature models of bicycles and rickshaws from recycled materials. They were exquisite. Our demonstrator, a nephew of the founder, completed a bicycle rim with a drop of solder heated over a candle.

In the second workshop they crafted Zebu horn. Until the recent population burst Zebu used to out number humans in Madagascar. Zebu are cattle which have a characteristic fatty hump above their shoulders and apparently cost upwards of 400Euros. The workshop was proud to show how it used an old pair of jeans a day to polish carved items from spoons to ships to turtles.

Our start from Antsirabe was delayed because the first car had a mechanical issue and JeanBe had sent for a replacement from Tana. This meant we could visit the Saturday market; claustrophobic walkways in an area west of the city. Everything was sold there from hardware to clothes to vegetables to rabbits, ducks and butchered Zebu. Jane found the smell from the meat pretty overwhelming. Maybe it was the tripe. Ladies sat behind hand sewing machines ready to repair any garment.

JeanBe warn us that the journey to Miandrivazo. use to take 4 hours and now took 6. We had packed baguettes and biscuits for lunch. JeanBe bought two pineapples from a roadside seller which could not be eaten without dripping juice.

We had stopped by a village market. JeanBe explained that a local NGO worker was trying to persuade local farmers to plant coffee beans rather than burn the grass prior to the wet season to promote new growth for their Zebu. He was giving them the seeds. Next the local 'yuff' turned up to lounge next to us. JeanBe commented that they almost certainly did not go to school and were the most common Zebu stealers. It is a problem throughout this area and they can run fast. Lastly he noted that the market closes at 4pm and turns into a market for prostitution.

We crossed the state border and the geology started to change with the fertile red soil disappearing. In the streams JeanBe pointed out the illegal gold miners - all ages and genders pounding rock before panning for the merest spec.

Miandrivazo is at the start of the coastal plain. It is a market town and the start for tourists of the river cruises. The car took us to the door of the Soa Lia hotel, which JeanBe had booked us, and we left reality behind.

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Photos

Ladies at the market ready to do your mending
We have been greeted with smiles where ever we go.