It felt amazing to be clean. I even put on some makeup before I headed to breakfast which was a very French buffet. I tried it all from the Malagasy section of noodles and veggies, rice stew with meatballs, and fried cakes of two varieties to the cheese and cured meats, eggs, yogurt fruit and pastries. Everything was delicious save the melon which I thought was going to be mango that tasted like soft squishy soap. I sat on the deck overlooking the city watching children arrive a nearby school. It was a beautiful day.
I went to change money and was told by the man at the front desk that he would send someone with me. The walk through town was great and was about a mile. More than getting money so I could pay for my trip to the forest, I was really excited to get out, move and see the city. I first attempted to withdraw $200 and was told there were insufficient funds (I was going to have to go to another one as well), I reduced it by increments 20 dollars until it finally let me have $100). Today I was lucky, apparently on certain days there is quite a long line. 
Back at the hotel, I relaxed outside on the deck waiting for the driver who was going to take me to the forest to come and pick me up. Mani my driver was tres punctuel (read as early) which was shocking because I had assumed Africa = art least 20 min late (Hakuna matata, etc.). I should have accounted for the French influence. The first question he asked me was if I spoke French. I responded a little. He then told me he spoke no English. So here we go. The drive to the forest camp I had booked was four hours. We spoke French the entire way. It kept me wide awake and made me wish I had taken a little more time to review random words before I came. I understood everything he said (sometimes with repeating) and I think he understood most of what I said. 
It was a beautiful drive with incredible weather. We kept the windows down. We passed through villages that were reminiscent of fairy tales more specifically Belle’s village in Beauty and the Beast. It seems absurd to say about these small towns which are void of electricity, water and are extremely poor, but their beauty was astounding. The traditional Malagasy house is a stucco made of sand and manure with thatched roofs. The houses had planters filled with flowers made of tree trunks (now illegal because those specific trees are protected). One house had an incredible rose garden. The villages were scattered throughout hills and through rice fields. I later learned that only 16% of Malagasy have electricity and running water.
Mani and I talked about a variety of things. He is a native of Tana where he lives with his wife and has been a driver for 30 years. He says he very much enjoys it. As we curved through Tana there was a ton of traffic as to be expected in any large city. At one point we were stopped outside his wife’s hair salon.
We passed numerous large groups of men dressed in a variety of ensembles from casual to business to regular work out clothes running. He said they were military training runs until we got to the last group which he was was a soccer team. I don’t know how he differentiated (maybe by the part of the city?).
He told me school is not obligatory in Madagascar and a lot of children work instead. Women marry early especially in the rural areas (16) and it is not understood if you don’t want to have children. Women in Madagascar are active in the workplace and more likely to go through secondary and then university education than men. In addition to that they are head of the domestic sphere.
He taught me a little Malagasy. Salama is hello (as is Manoa ahoana). He said it is interchangeable with Bonjour. He explained the street food as we passed it. Including Koba (a baked huge log-like cake that is made of ground peanuts or pistachios, rice flour and sugar wrapped in banana leaves). He also explained the rice harvest here in Madagascar which begins in April or May and its labor intensity since it is all done by hand. 
The Malagasy people eat rice 3 times a day. It is so important that apparently they say they can’t sleep when they haven’t. The Malagasy verb to eat: mihinam-vary means “to eat rice”.
The last 10 kilometers equaled a lot of 4 wheel drive and took about an hour. His early warning that it was “bumpy” was not an understatement. We arrived on a grassy knoll where he laid on the horn. Eventually to young men dressed in orange jumpsuits arrived to port our luggage the rest of the way to the forest camp.
I don’t know what I expected but it was not what I walked up to. Forest Camp is wonderful and more remote than I had imagined. Trip advisor or google or something made it seem “in touch”. I checked in and was given “tent/bungalow #3”. I have never glamped before and this was a great way to start. My upscale tent on stilts over looked a small rice field and the forest. Electricity here and thus wifi is only turned on from 5-11PM. Breakfast 7-10, lunch is in there somewhere and dinner is from 7-10. I was the only guest. 
They asked what I wanted out of my stay here. After almost 60 hours on planes and in airports and then 4 hours in a car I told them “J’ai besoin de marcher”. So a 2 hour hike was set up in 1 hour. My guide spoke a little French but mostly Malagasy. They were very clear that I would see no lemurs because it was the afternoon and this was not the time to see them. They also said I should do the night walk the following day because it was supposed to rain.
Only one woman initially spoke any English. They then found a park guide who spoke some English who said she would be my guide the next day. As for today, my guide was great. He tore up the hills in his jelly sandals, sweeping things gracefully away with his stick. He always took care to tell me to watch my head and my step. 
The woods were beautiful and this walk was exactly what I needed and involved several pretty intense hill climb. He pointed out many plants (orchids), snails, insects etc. Eventually he asked me to go off trail. I followed marveling at the fact that he could navigate anything in those shoes while only looking up at the trees as I struggled in my new trail shoes (which are amazing) and had to only look at the ground. We popped out of the woods back onto a trail and shortly later I heard the words “Sifika” and there they were 4 large diadem sifika lemurs staring back at me. They were so incredible to watch jump from tree to tree, I almost forgot to take a picture. Finally I noticed the one who was staring at me and pulled it together to snap a few photos before he or she also moved on. We walked for about half an hour or so more, hearing the Indri (the largest lemur) cry. “A demain (tomorrow),” he said.
We finished the walk with a tiny beautiful frog and a sacred waterfall. I can’t say how much I enjoyed walking through the forest with no distractions besides the nature around me.
I went to take a nap as soon as we returned and forced myself to get up 2 hours later to eat since I had not eaten lunch. I ordered a vegetable curry and it hit the spot. Right before dinner the woman guide reappeared and told me night walk was tonight. I couldn’t do it. Rarely have I been so exhausted that I know I just can’t. She didn’t understand and pushed for me to come. I held my ground. At 730 I was in the shower. I was asleep by 8.
I had spoken French for an entire day, seen lemurs, and taken a beautiful walk after a beautiful drive. Hooray for Madagascar!
No comments:
Post a Comment