Trip to Hell

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Ankarafantsika National Park to Hell-ville, Nosy Be

Our steady stream of good travel luck finally ran out. Nancy blamed it on the fact that we didn't use the flower power magic potion from Peru. The trip didn't start off very well: we had to wait outside for two hours in a drenching monsoon-like thunderstorm in the dark for a late taxi-brousse to pick us up from the park. After many worrisome thoughts that it wasn't coming at all, the already fully packed van finally showed up and we loaded our soaked selves and luggage. There was no mistaking this for a luxury van: we were jammed in like sardines and forced to keep our substantial dripping backpacks on our laps. But we were happy to be picked up nonetheless. The happiness didn't last too long though as we only made it about 6 km before traffic came to a standstill. It was supposed to be a 10 hour trip, but...the storm had made a real mess of the roads and a tractor trailer had jack-knifed, blocking all traffic. After waiting two hours some local folks managed to manoeuvre the truck enough that traffic could just squeeze by on the shoulder of the road. It wasn't until after we made it through that we realized it would have been far safer if we had gotten out of the vehicle before the attempt, as there was a lake right beside the shoulder that we we must have been dangerously close to sliding into on the way by. Oh the insight of afterthought.

After that it was clear sailing for a few hours until we came across another accident where a taxi-brousse had flipped and was lying upside down on the road. We don't think anyone was seriously injured, but it was scary to see. Also disturbing was that later on we heard that bystanders were stealing baggage right from the scene of the accident. We don't wish to create a negative view of the Malagasy, but it was an eye opener into the desperate times that many people experience here. Many of our tour guides and Malagasy friends have told us about the corruption of the government and complete lack of support for their people and their country.

The next mechanical issue was brake problems and we waited nearly two hours for them to fix that, fortunately there were spare well-used brake pads in the van. It was light out by this time, about 5 am. Which, coincidentally was supposed to be our arrival time, but we weren't even half way there! Next when we pulled over to let someone off, the driver jumped out and jacked up the van, while the alternate driver (they take shifts because it takes so long to get everywhere!) was on top of the overloaded roof getting bags. All this while there was a van-load of people still sitting inside!! He changed the back tire (with a spare that looked nearly as bald as the one he removed). Then, after a few more hours on the road, the van started over-heating. We had to fill it with water over and over again, maybe driving for about 6 mins at a time at slow speeds and then retrieving water from nearby streams. Throw in one more three-hour tire removal/brake job and we were finally done with the maintenance, although the van still seemed to be running at about half speed.

So, it was already one long-ass trip to Ambanja, but we gradually become very accustomed to "Mora Mora" - Malagasy for slow-slow. But we still had two more steps to get to our destination after getting to Ambanja: another taxi-brousse to the port town of Ankify, and then a boat ride from there to the island of Nosy Be. (It seemed that everywhere we wanted to go in Madagascar was very remote and there was no easy way to get there.) Due to the fact that we had been up all night and stuck squashed in a van for nearly 20 hours, we had let our guard down and got scooped up by a smooth english-speaking Ambanja taxi driver who ended up ripping us off (both for the taxi and the boat fare) after threatening to drive off with our backpacks. Dang. But... once we arrived in Hell-ville on Nosy Be (the Big Island), checked into a clean cheap hotel, had a cold beer in hand and dug into a delicious Malagasy meal of Zebu and potatoes, all was right again in this wild country.

We had the weekend to explore Nosy Be before we met up with the Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute (MRCI) team. We spent some of it hanging out with a new friend we'd made on the trip to Hell. Nick was a friendly English-speaking bloke that braved the long trip with us and happened to be staying in the same hotel in Hell-ville. We met up for dinner and told traveling stories late into the night. Near the main city of Hell-ville was the beach village of Ambataloaka that attracts many tourists. We hung out there for an afternoon, but we were not really taken by the scene and were happy to return to the less touristy streets and bustling markets of Hell-vile.

After being on the road for 100 days, and sleeping in 48 different places, we were very ready to set up "home" for several weeks of volunteering. With that, we boarded the boat to Nosy Komba - The Island of Lemurs.

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Photos

What a name!
Due to the French influence, tasty pastries were everywhere!