As a child living in
East Africa, I had always wanted to visit Madagascar, and finally did it last
year, although starting from a few thousand miles further afield. Madagascar is
famed for its ecological diversity, something that forms the focus for many of
the travellers who visit the country. What I hadn't bargained on was how
special an experience the trip became for me, for I cannot begin to describe in
depth the range of what we saw or experienced, or the ground we covered. I
hope, however, that this diary starts to convey how wonderfully diverse this
country is. First, some background.
Madagascar is located
some 250 miles off the coast of East Africa, and is the 4th largest island in
the world. It was formed by continental drift and believed to have broken away
from mainland Africa some 165 millions years ago. It is also the fourth poorest
nation in the world today. Like a lot of other islands, it has a huge number of
endemic species. It is continent in miniature, boasting a huge range of
climates and ecosystems and it is this vastness and variety that I fell in love
with. The island is defined by a high central plateau, to the east of which are
the rain forests, and the west the savannah and dry forests. The northernmost
tip is hot and humid, whereas the south-west sometimes only receives 2 inches
of rain a year. There are three prime habitats in Madagascar: Deciduous Dry
Forest, Tropical rainforest and Spiny Forest.
The population is a
fascinating mixture of Polynesian, Asian, African & European heritage. The
first settlers were in fact the Malay-Polynesians who crossed the Indian Ocean
and the Malagasy language (the other official language is French) is part of the
Malay-Polynesian group of languages. The Africans arrived much later, together
with Arab, Indian and Portuguese traders, and today there are 18 official
tribes.
The Portuguese were
the first Europeans to arrive, in 1500, and in the centuries that followed,
they and the Dutch and British all failed to establish colonies there. In 1820
a treaty was signed by the British to establish it as an independent state
under the Merina kingdom, but by 1883 France had become the sole established
European power in Madagascar. There was a revolt against the French in 1947,
and eventually Madagascar went through a peaceful transition to Independence in
1960. The French influence lives on, in the language, the food and buildings.
We went in the third
week of September, which is their mild, dry season, and the weather was perfect
throughout our time there. Our flight was from Paris direct to Antananarivo,
the capital, flying with Air Madagascar in one of their new Airbuses.
Day 1 - Monday
We arrived in
Antananrivo (Tana in short), the capital, after an uneventful flight, and took
a bit of time getting out as one of our party had lost her luggage on route.
The drive to our hotel in Tana was long and dusty, and turned into a long
single file queue into the town. This traffic congestion was to become a
familiar site in the days ahead. Our first sights were of a typical African
town, colour and noise everywhere, and the apparent poverty. Tana is built on a
number of hills, and we arrived into our hotel with a balcony view onto the
main hill with the 'Rova', the Queens Palace on top. At night, this view became
magical as the hill twinkled with the lights of the town, under clear starry
skies.
Our first trip that
day was to Tsimbaza, a combined zoo, museum and botanical gardens. It is the
centre for an international consortium of zoos and universities working
together to help conserve Madagascar's wildlife. The gardens are beautifully
laid out, with a number of the endemic palm trees to be found here. We got our
first glimpse of some of the Lemurs, the endangered primates that have made
Madagascar so famous. Nine-tenths of the world's lemurs are found here, and
they have changed little since the Ecocene period (58-36 million years ago).
Several endangered species are looked after here. The botanical gardens are
well-laid out, with some of the palm trees that are endemic to Madagascar,
including the Ravanela palm, which is the symbol of Madagascar.
A beautifully cooked
dinner, a birthday celebration (mine actually!), and we were ready for an early
night.
Day 2 - Tuesday
Early morning saw us
on the long dusty road to the airport again, this time taking an internal
flight to Mahajunga, a town on the North-east coast. The flight took us over
undulating landscape covered with red earth, hence the nickname 'the Red
Island'. The river system near the town was a sight in its own right, one
tributary coloured a mud red, the other a beautiful turquoise blue. Mahajunga
turned out to be hot, and we were glad to be taken to one of the beach hotels for
lunch and a bit of sea breeze.
After lunch, we
travelled south east, on the main road back to Tana for a couple of hours. Our
base that night was to be the Ampijoroa Forestry Station, where we camped for
the night. The facilities were very basic, but we did have the chefs from the
hotel with us to cook us a dinner sitting out under the stars! This part of
Madagascar is covered with dry deciduous forest, one of the three prime
habitats in Madagascar. It is one of the rarest types of forest cover in the world,
and the canopy rarely reaches a height of more that 15m.
When we had arrived,
we had seen Coquerel's Sifaka in the trees in the compound, and were told that
they were extremely tame. Later that night, we were taken for a night walk and
saw 5 more species of lemurs and a couple of chameleons too.
Day 3 - Wednesday
We were up very early
this morning, to do a bird walk before breakfast, as this area is well-known
for the richness of its bird life. We saw at least 16 species of birds, most of
them endemic, although I couldn't get as excited about them as some of the real
bird enthusiasts in the group. Breakfast was taken outside, and then there was
another short walk to look for the Mongoose Lemur, which we hadn't managed to
see the previous night. We then had a look around the work of the Ploughshare
Tortoise Project, set up in 1986 at the forestry station to help reinforce the
population of the Ploughshare tortoise.
After lunch, we set
off back to Mahajunga, stopping to look at some tombs on the way. We didn't
actually stop in the town, but drove through some very colourful streets back
to the beach hotel from the previous day. There was time for a quick dip in the
warm waters of the Indian Ocean just as the sun was setting, before getting
ready for an excellent dinner. This is one of the ironic legacies left by the
French in this very poor country - good food cooked and served perfectly. There
is even a small, but very limited wine industry, south of Tana.
Day 4 - Thursday
This turned out to be
another scorcher of a day and, after breakfast, we drove a few miles up the
coast to look at a strange but spectacular sandstone formation called the
Cirque Rouge. This is an amphitheatre shaped formation of strange shapes,
spires and peaks in bands of sandstone coloured red, beige and lilac, but
no-one could explain why it had come about.
After a swim, and
lunch, we made our way back to the airport for our afternoon flight back to
Tana. The drive back from the airport to our hotel in Tana ended as one big
traffic jam, but it gave us the opportunity to see the place coming alive in
the evening, with little kiosks doing business and lights and people
everywhere.
Day 5 - Friday
This was the start of
our long road journey on the main artery, the RN7 from Tana all the way to the
South-west coastal town of Tulear, with a few overnight stops on the way. It
turned out to be a beautiful journey, again through various landscapes, but
getting a real view of the 'Haut Plateaux' that makes up much of the central
spine. It also gave us a view of the Merina and Betsilio cultures. There were
some long stretches in the bus, broken often only by comfort stops in the bush!
Out of Tana, we
passed the President's palace, a luxury built on the design of the 'Rova'
palace in Tana. The soil here was volcanic, and the forest was short-term
planted with eucalyptus trees. Eighty-five percent of Madagascar's forest has
been depleted, and small efforts are now being made to redress the issue. We
stopped to look at some Merina tombs, before heading south again. The
vegetation became greener, with pine trees now appearing. On the roadside,
suddenly stalls began to appear full of cars made out of tin scrap (whatever
tins they could find).
After this we started
to see beautiful terrace after terrace of green rice fields, and the little
villages all had typical houses with wooden balconies. We eventually got to the
town of Antsirabe, our overnight stop, where we began to see some signs of
industry. Antsirabe was founded in 1872 by Norwegian missionaries, who were
attracted to the cool climate and healing properties of the thermal springs.
After a leisurely
lunch, we went to a Gem workshop, for Madagascar is a country rich in minerals.
We got a chance to look around and buy a few of the items on sale. We then
drove to one of the two crater lakes just outside the town called Andraikiba,
and took a much needed walk around it, enjoying the surroundings. Despite the
reservations of our tour leader, we persuaded him to take us to a local bar,
called a 'hotely' that evening, to partake of the local liquor. Luckily for us
this one had some musicians that were just starting to warm up, who were happy
to oblige us.
Day 6 - Saturday
After breakfast, I
decided to take a look around the town, and walked down the main avenue with
its elegant houses all the way to the Hotel des Thermes, sitting above the lake
and the thermal baths, which are still in use today. The hotel is the most
extraordinary building in the town, with its combination of French colonial and
Gothic architecture, and definitely worth a visit. On our way out of town we
saw some more superb examples of French colonial architecture.
The landscape we
passed today was a lot drier and less green in colour, with fields of wheat
interspersed amongst the rice. We were lucky enough to come upon a key and very
traditional ceremony - the Famadihana or 'Turning of the Bones'. This is a
joyful occasion with festivities that can last up to a week and it occurs
between 4-7 years after the initial burial. The bodies are exhumed and
re-shrouded and present throughout the festivities. The whole village seemed to
have been invited to this one, and we were offered the traditional food served
at the ceremony, but thankfully we didn't have to eat it!
We then carried onto
Ambositra, the wood-carving capital of Madagascar, where we had lunch, bought
some carvings and saw some of the very ornately carved wooden balconies and
shutters in town. It was then a long drive down to Fianarantsoa, the
administrative capital of the Betsilio people. We were too late to really have
a look at the town, although it is supposed to be one of the more attractive
towns in Madagascar.
Day 7 - Sunday
It was a very early
morning start today (7 am) for a very attractive 2-hour drive to the Ranomafana
National Park, a tropical rainforest that is on everyone's itinerary for their
first visit to Madagascar. This was a magical walk, we saw giant bamboo,
Tambourissa (the 'playpot' plant) and other endemic species as well as three
species of lemurs. We were lucky to see the very rare Greater Bamboo Lemur,
which was thought to be extinct but was re-discovered in 1986. We also came
upon a troop of nine lemurs whose antics we watched at close quarters for quite
some time. They were totally oblivious to us.
After lunch, we
stopped at a small but lovely museum in the park covering all aspects of
Malagasy culture, before heading onto the village. Some people opted to look
around the handicraft stalls, others like me decided to have a dip in the
Thermal Baths, a warm open-air swimming pool in the middle of this beautiful
forest. Then it was back to the hotel, into the spectacular setting sun,
colouring the sky in shades of pink and purple.
Day 8 - Monday
We've been here a
week, but it seems like forever. Heading out of Fianarantsoa, we passed
plantations of coffee and pineapple, adding greenery to the landscape. Then
there was a stop at a vineyard, before heading for the town of Ambalavao and
onto the 'Antaimoro' paper factory, a speciality of the region and Madagascar.
It is essentially made from bark, made into pulpy water, and drained into
frames. This is then half-dried, and fresh flowers are painstakingly pressed
into the sheets and then fully dried. The end results are turned into beautiful
hangings, cards and other items.
Lunch today was a
picnic taken at a charity project that is reintroducing the native mulberry
tree into the region for silk, and where women are being trained to grow their
own vegetables and become self-sufficient. We then headed south-west, into
Barra territory, and the landscape changed again dramatically. For miles and
miles, huge granite domes dominated the skyline, and some were even given names
such as 'Bishop's Hat' and 'Doorway to the South'. This was another long drive,
through vegetation that eventually gave way to weird 'spiny desert' with its
spectacular giant cactus-like trees waving thorny fingers in the sky. Then
followed miles and miles of termite mounds. Several tribes inhabit the
south-west, again with their own style of tombs.
After the town of
Ihosy, we hit a dirt road and for the next two hours, we bumped our way along
to Ranohira, and the Isalo National Park. This sunset was probably the most
dramatic I have ever seen, in this clear and barren landscape, the whole sky
transformed into a deep red, with a giant orange ball in the middle. And then
the stars came out, so clear and bright.
We were to spend the
next two nights at the French-run Hotel Relais de la Reine, arguably the best
hotel in Madagascar. It is eco-friendly, being built in stone to blend in with
the surrounding rocks, and water from their own stream is heated by solar
energy. The hospitality, as usual, was superb.
Day 9 - Tuesday
Today we had an early
start for our walk in the Isalo National Park, before the sun became extremely
fierce, as it is prone to do here. The landscape here is all sandstone rocks,
miles of it, and some of it cut into deep canyons or eroded into weird, but
beautiful coloured shapes. We stopped every now and then, when we spotted the
Madagascar Periwinkle, the Pachypodium plant or some other endemic plant. We
also got our first sighting of the famous ring-tailed lemurs
(with their beautiful black and white tails). We counted 16 in the troupe, and
stood for several minutes watching their progress, and taking those incredible
leaps onto the next tree.
We were the only
group of people around in this vast landscape as we made our way towards the 'Piscine Naturelle'.
This is a tiny green oasis in this barren rock, with a stream culminating in a
natural pool of an immense greenish blue colour. And here we met the crowds!
for every one gravitates here for a much-needed dip and cooling down.
We made our way back
in time for lunch, and a siesta or swim after that. In the late afternoon, we
were driven a short distance to a strange rock formation, through which we saw
the sun setting, this time totally different again from the previous day.
Day 10 - Wednesday
Today, we got on the
final leg of our road journey, carrying on onto the RN7 route all the way to
Toliara. On the way out, we passed a huge shanty town, where a mining community
has grown up since November 1998, due to the discovery of Sapphires. We passed
through the Zombitze National Forest, which is apparently a birder's paradise,
onto drier and more barren country. This was where we started to see the
Baobabs, and then moved onto some cotton, and cassava plantations. Soon we came
into the 'spiny forest' habitat, full of the succulent Didiereaceae and
Euphorbia plants.
We stopped at the
Arboretum d'Antsakay for an unusual lunch stop. It was founded in 1980 by a
Swiss botanist who is passionate about conserving the area's rare plant
species, and after an excellent lunch, we were given a guided tour. There are
150 species of Euphorbia in the region, and 115 of them are planted here.
Combined with Aloe, Kalanchoe and Didiereaceae, this is an impressive
undertaking.
We spent the evening
in Toliara, on the west coast, but were warned against going out because of the
crime rate there.
Day 11 - Thursday
We had an early start
this morning, to catch an internal flight to Toliagnaro (formerly Fort Dauphin)
on the south-east coast. We were staying at the Hotel Miramar, which reputedly
has the best location in Toliagnaro, overlooking the Libanona beach. Toliagnaro
is very beautifully situated on a small peninsula, bounded on three sides by
beaches and breakers, and backed by high green mountains. There are two forts
here, one dating from 1504, and the other 1642, but we didn't get to see
either.
After a refreshing
walk around the headland, and lunch in the hotel's restaurant (a few minutes
walk away), we drove through some lush vegetation to take a ride up the river
Vinanibe, through beautiful mangroves. It had started drizzling, but that
didn't lessen the peace and beauty of the surroundings, or the ride. We stopped
at the Ile des Portugais, which was a fort built by shipwrecked Portuguese
soldiers who stayed here for 15 years before falling foul of the local tribes.
There is also a little village here, and a few people selling what little they
can to earn a living. Then it was back to the hotel to freshen up before the
walk down to dinner.
Day 12 - Friday
Today, we had a
beautiful drive through lush vegetation, and little private gardens to our
final destination - Berenty reserve, the must stop for ring-tailed lemurs. We
passed the River Vinanibe, stopped to look at the beautiful but deadly Pitcher
Plant and had a short stop at a local market. There were a number of tombs
belonging to the Antanosy tribe, different again in style to those we had seen
previously. We passed through a small, but interesting national park - the
Andohahela National Park. This is interesting because it has three ecosystems
within it - rainforest, spiny forest and the east-west transition forest. We
made a stop in the weird, but nevertheless spectacular spiny forest before
arriving at the reserve. Accommodation here was in individual huts, with lights
going off at 10pm (yes, candles are provided).
At lunch, we had our
first taste of how tame the lemurs are around here as a troop of Verreaux's
Sifakas frolicked in the trees just outside the dining room. There are
approximately 300 of them in this reserve, and are famous for their comical
locomotion skills. We had a walk in the afternoon in the reserve, coming across
two species of Brown lemurs, the Sifakas again, and then a delightful troop of
tame ring-tailed lemurs, some of them carrying tiny babies on their backs. We
just spent time following them, and enjoying their antics.
There was a night walk after dinner, in the Spiny Forest, searching for some night lemurs, night owls, geckos and chameleons.
There was a night walk after dinner, in the Spiny Forest, searching for some night lemurs, night owls, geckos and chameleons.
Day 13 - Saturday
We had an early
breakfast this morning, before going off for a bird walk, where we spotted at
least nine endemic species. Then there was a short visit to the Sisal factory,
before moving onto the Musee de l'Androy, dedicated to the people of this
region. It is a very comprehensive and informative little museum and well worth
a visit.
After lunch, we
headed back to Toliagnaro, in time to organise a short walk for some fresh air
and get the smell of the sea. It was extremely windy, and later on the rain
came with thunder and lightning, and it got so bad that dinner arrangements
were in jeopardy, as located where we were, even the few minutes walk to the
restaurant was hazardous. Rescue came in the shape of a small beaten up car
that ferried us across to the restaurant, which was taking the full brunt of
the storm, whilst we enjoyed a very civilised dinner inside. We were later to
find out that in fact it had been a full-blown cyclone that had taken off the
roofs of half the accommodation huts and the dining room at Berenty Lodge,
where we had been the previous night!
Day 14 - Sunday
We had a free
morning, and I decided to go into town with our Malagasy guide, taking a local
taxi, and then walking back. The wind had dropped, and the rain had stopped,
but we saw enough devastation of trees to believe ferocity of the storm of the
night before. We saw the old wrecks lying off the coast, and stopped for a
Citronelle tea, before the walk back to the hotel for lunch.
We had an afternoon
flight back to Tana, via Tulear, arriving back at our hotel at about 5.30. This
hotel was beginning to become home to us. In the evening we went back to
Tzimbaza to get a look at the last of the endangered species, the Aye-aye, a
nocturnal lemur.
Day 15 - Monday
This morning started
off with a tour of Tana, around the University, and then into Haute-Ville, the
beautiful colonial high town, with its twisting roads, and old villas. This is
where the Rova is situated, the Queen's palace that was burned down a few years
ago in a political statement. We then travelled out of town, to Ambohimanga
(meaning Blue Hill), located high up on a hill. This is where palaces for the
King and Queen's leisure were built, giving spectacular views over the
surrounding hill-sides. The trees here are very old, some over 200 years old
and the fig trees are treated as sacred.
Both the King's and
the Queen's palaces were made of wood, with the inner walls covered with Pallisandre,
an endemic wood. The Queen's house was built by a French man and is the more
elaborate of the two, filled with European furniture. There were bathing pools,
and bull pits for sacrificial ceremonies around the complex. The walls of the
Conference Room were glass donated by the English in 1872, the dining rooms had
leather and silk panels from Spain and wallpaper from Japan. It is a sight well
worth visiting.
We had lunch here, in
the open air, before a circuitous route back to the hotel. We stopped at a
chocolate factory whose shop could have come straight out of Belgium, and then
a very fruitful stop at a particularly excellent craft shop not far from our
hotel. Dinner tonight was a special one organised by the local tour company, in
a beautifully restored colonial house and reflected the African, Asian and
French influences in its dishes. Traditional musicians played a soft
accompaniment to the excellent meal.
Day 16 - Tuesday
This was our final
day and we were basically free to do what we wanted. Some of us had managed to
'bully' our English Guide into taking us to the Craftsmen's Market for local
crafts, which he agreed to only after the local guide got us a couple of
security escorts. This is the place to pick up vanilla and other spices, as well
as beautiful tablecloths, raffia work and wood carvings. After lunch, we
finally packed our bags and spent a couple of hours at a small lake-cum-bird
sanctuary on the edge of Tana. Then it was a final trip along that now familiar
road to the airport for our return flight to Paris that night.
Tired? A little, but
nothing compares to the feast of sights and smells and experiences we had
encountered. As a first trip, we managed to see all 3 prime habitats - eastern
rainforests, western deciduous dry forest and the southern, semi-arid spiny
bush. We had seen endemic species galore, and met some very friendly people.
But we had seen poverty too.
My feelings on that
final journey to the airport were of sadness at leaving such a beautiful
country, frustration at the contrast between the wealthy and the poor nations
of the world, and a determination not to take our natural wealth for granted. I
fell in love with the country and its people and I know I will go back. Most of
all, the trip had taught me how precious but fragile our planet is and how
careless we are with it.
First published in
VISA issue 38 (autumn 2000)
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