Conspiracy Theories are Everywhere

I cannot spell my new driver’s name nor could I pronounce it. He said I could call him Su (which was definitely somewhere in there 4th or 5th syllable).  On a scale of one to throw myself out of the car and ditch all of my luggage and start running in the possible direction of my initial hotel, I was about a level 4 worried. Su spoke good English and great French. We were off and he immediately started telling me about the market we were driving through and how the sausage was made (It made me feel a little better about lunch. "Please don't get a parasite"). They add potatoes and rice. It is usually a pig that was slaughtered that morning and usually fully cooked. He was a wealth of information. 

We saw a funeral (a casket being hoisted on top of a bus) and he told me about death in Madagascar which transitioned into talking about the plague.  First when someone dies in your household all clothes and linens are seen to be unclean and must all be washed.  

One of the places we passed was where you are supposed to do this sacred laundry. To me, the cleaning of everything makes sense due to the fear of contagion but to the Malagasy it seemed more important to wash away the evil and also the sadness that surrounds death. Su explained that bodies in Madagascar are buried for 2 years “to get all the water out” then exhumed and placed in the family crypt. After that the bones are “turned” (and celebrated and danced around) every 7 years, which per the news report is not long enough for the plague to go away. On this note I asked Su about the plague. His immediate response to me was that it didn’t exist. That it was only a government conspiracy for money from the WHO, rich Americans, etc. I briefly pondered asking him how he felt about the moon landing, JFK, the shape of the earth, and whale's committing suicide, but was unsure I had the French to back all of that up. 

Later at the airport I would meet 2 teachers in Madagascar, expats from Canada. They provided different insights. They told me that they did think that the government was milking it for foreign aid. However, it was quite bad and a large part of the reason was that when you die of the plague the Malagasy government keeps your body for longer than 7 years. They said that because of this people were afraid to say they were sick and were not getting treated so they would die at home receive their burial rights and thus infect more people. They also confirmed that the turning of the bones was a significant problem.  

We drove by more rice fields but this time in various states of harvest up to the point where they were being dried out on the side of the road. The rolling hills turned into a mountain which we climbed following a gorgeous river. At one point we stopped for kids selling crawfish on the side of the road. Su continued to be a wealth of information. He told me about Travelers trees, a member of the banana family that produces no fruit but holds water and thus quenches the thirst of the weary traveler. This trees branches are also is used as a plate for entire families and to thatch a roof. 

We began passing fruit stand after fruit stand and he asked me what kind of fruit I liked. I told him lychee (his was banana). He said I was in luck and we stopped at a road side stand and bought a kilo of lychee fruit that was absolutely delicious. After 4 hours we arrived at Andasibe and the Andasibe hotel. They had me booked for a “Luxe” suite (which I didn’t remember doing). It turned out to be a bungalow and by bungalow I mean a house larger than my current apartment. I went up and down the stairs in the "room" a couple of times and then headed straight back to the front desk and asked him if they had a smaller room. The gigantic room felt like way too much and also somewhat lonely. I was in luck they did. For the record it was still larger than my first apartment in San Diego. After that I ordered veggies for dinner to be served on my return from the night walk and watched the news (en Francais) in the lobby with 6 travelers  
from France.

At 640 PM we left for the Mosquitos Larger than Helicopters edition of the night walk.  We picked the guide up at the mostly unused train station. Su had explained that the trains in Madagascar are quite infrequent and thus not well used by people or businesses (only two trains a week). At some point in the past the trains were valuable. He used this as an example of government inadequacy.

The plan for the walk was to stroll down the main road outside the house and not get hit by any cars, trucks or buses.

This guide also a woman, also a name I can’t pronounce or spell (and she told me there was nothing for short) was also extremely knowledgeable about the forest. She found various chameleons and spiders and then began finding lemurs (dwarf and mouse). I also started finding lemurs including my favorite of the evening a dwarf lemur eating figs that allowed me to get about 3 feet away (adorable). I was proud because I found almost as many as she did. This night walk was just great because I was able too see the lemurs beyond just their eyes. Tomorrow she promised we would see Indri (after all that is why people come to Andasibe). During the walk, I saw the French people I had watched the news with. Their guide took them off road into the forest. They and their lights disappeared quickly and I was part envious of their adventure and part terrified for them. I wonder who would play them in the based on a true story movie "The Forest"? I also wondered if I would ever see them again? 

After the walk, dinner was plain steamed vegetables and water and then shower, repack and off to bed for an early start in the am.