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Blogs from Belo sur Tsiribihina, Madagascar, Africa
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October 3rd 2009
Today is supposed to be a long slog through to Morondava, a trip that no-one is looking forward to. We do half of the leg back to Belo with no problems and stop for a break. Unfortunately the driver then stalls the engine, and will it start again? Not a hope in hell. We try jump-starts, push-starts, the driver fiddles under the bonnet interminably. Nothing works. We grab our mattresses and lie under a nearby tree in the shade. Vehicles pass but none of them seems to have the technical know-how to fix the problem. The verdict is that the alternator is en panne, a French phrase meaning "broken" and rhyming with "Our chances of getting to Morondava in one day have just gone down the pan". The decision is made that the guide will get ... read more
September 30th 2009
Fortunately 2.5 days of increasingly uncomfortable seating in the pirogues has prepared us for what comes next - a ride on a zebu cart. Zebu are the cattle with lyre-shaped horns that originated in south Asia - they're ubiquitous in Madagascar and on Madagascan menus. We need to cover several kilometres to a village and initially we walk behind the carts on which the zebu are pulling our luggage. However at a muddy part of the track we're encouraged to jump on. Needless to say, sitting on lumpy rucksacks while being jolted over rough terrain loses its appeal quite quickly, even more so when you get spattered by the mud/shit mixture that the zebus' hooves are constantly flicking up. We pass through a small settlement where, depressingly, the adults want money in order for pictures to ... read more
