Sat 29th Sep - Got up early to say goodbye to the guys I had been travelling with for the past 2 weeks as they are travelling off to other places. This bit is always a bit sad as, although you promise to stay in touch, the practicalities make it difficult. When I get to oz in the future I can catch up again, but that is a long time away. Leaving for Madagascar later today, so time to catch up this morning.
The couple who run the Twana lodge, Arnie & Chris are really nice folks and would love to come back some day. Arnie dropped me off at the airport later. Johannesburgh International has now been renamed O.R Tambo just to confuse. I am to board Air Madagascar flight MD125. First in line at check-in and smoothest i've had in a while. Had to sort out currency as Mad is one of those countries where you cannot get its currency outside of the country so had to get rid of my rands here. Flight was delayed by half an hour as the president was on a flight that took priority so we had to wait for the next slot. The night lights of Jo'burg were nice as I said goodbye to Africa. It has been 3months since I arrived in Nairobi. A series of posters in the departure hall that are advertising a drink say it all...Africa - It lingers in your head...and in your memories...it's unforgettable...it's in your taste buds...the spirit of Africa...Amarula, from the fruit of the Marula tree. Even though the drink is really nice, the words capture the experience I have had. The country will stay with me forever.
3hr flying time to Antananarivo in Madagascar and a full flight. The 737 had seen better days as bits were broken but at least it worked. The usual madness on arrival with visas the be sorted. $17 visa fee to enter the country and they take up as much space in your passport as they can manage. The airport is chaos. About 6 people handle your passport before you get your luggage and then everyone is squashed into a tiny area falling over each other waiting for baggage.
Next, currency, which here is the 'Ariary'. Madagascar is french, so the currency has dual value. It is marked with its Ariary value but also in francs with a ratio of 5:1. So, a 100 ariary note is also marked 500 francs. £1 is about 3,520 ariary so this makes mental arithmetic a challenge! From arrivals onwards (and even on the plane), you feel like you are in France as all announcements are in french as well as signs. The cars are Peugeot, Renault, Citroen. 2CVs everywhere. The mains sockets are 2pin french/european. Getting out of the airport is an art. Flourescent jacketed porteurs find you an official taxi. They're all unmarked anyway so you wouldn't know where they are. Boy are they expensive! 50,000 ariary for about 40min drive. Rip off. Of course the porteur wants some dough for finding you the taxi and, as I didn't have anything small enough I gave him my left over rand coins so got away with that one. French is the national language so that made for an interesting drive with my driver 'Sud'.
I was knackered when I got to my hotel as I had been up since 5am and it was now 12:10. Clocks had gone forward 1hr so now UK+3hrs. Staying at the Karibotel on Avenue de l'Indépendance (aka Ave de la liberation), in downtown Analakely in Antananarivo. Straight to room no messing so that was good.
Sun 30th sep - breakfast is typical continental. I was joined by a cockroach though - made me nervous! Stared at me the whole time. I hate being watched when I eat, especially by creepy bugs.
Cloudy start to the day. It was 12 degrees last night and looks as though it is going to be colder than Africa. Hope it changes. Sure enough, it later rose to 30deg by lunchtime! This place is so french...they drive on the right....newspaper sellers sell 'Le Figaro'...cigarette sellers pester you to buy 'Gaulois'...all that is missing is the beret and stripy T-shirt! Beggars everywhere. The place unfortunately, is dirty and smelly. There are no public loos, so you see guys peeing down alleyways. Hence, the place regularly smells of urine and other foul odours esp with the drain covers being often broken. I was offered an asian massage less than 5mins after leaving the hotel....no thank you monsieur. Je parle un petit francais et j'improve avec chaques minutes. Mon francais tres crapitos eh non? The people are a major change, having been in the company of africans for the past 3mths. They have features mixed between indian and far eastern. Most were away the day that looks were given out! Occasionally, I passed a stunner. There are so few of them around that everyone's head turns when they pass. However. I must have been the only white face all morning and attracted more attention than anyone.
The town site in a valley a fair bit of the buildings on the surounding hillsides. Climbed the steps to Ortega to take in the view and it almost killed me. Heart pumping out of my skin. I am getting so unfit since I don't do any dancing anymore! Carried on to the presidential palace. A copper took umbrage when I photographed a passing cavalcade in front of the presidential palace. The president himself!
It's sunday so almost everything is closed. A similar mini-van taxi system in use as in Africa, except there is no way I would dare to use it here as I really don't feel safe. Africa seemed so much more friendly.
Street sellers selling noodle soup and some realy fatty meat thing...death on a plate! Dysentry for under a quid. Oddly, the only ATMs I found open were Bank Of Africa!
Went to see the l'angel noir in the middle of the Lac Anosy...there is a story attached to this. A programme called the 'Amazing race' which gets aired in the states, sets challenges for teams of competitors to get around the world by various means in search of clues. One programme (last year I think?), set a challenge to find the l'angel noir (black angel) in Madagascar. The thing is....it is white! It used to be black and commemorated those who died in the two great wars, but as part of a statement about anti-apartheid it was painted white. I used to get the newsletter for the TV series from Edward Hasbrouk who reported on it and is an avid round the world traveller. His book was a tome that gave me lots of inspiration before I set off.
Afterwards aimed towards the Mohamasina, which is a massive amphitheatre adjacent to the sports stadium. Couldn't get in to find out what was going on, but there was something ecclesiastical happening that had drawn thousands of locals to this sunday special - a bit of a songs of praise sort of thing I think? The temperature was now around the 30°C mark. I had planned to go to see the 'Palais de la Reine' but decided that the near vertical climb and the scorchio temperature was too much, so chickened out. It does look good from a distance though. I had also eaten too much pasta for lunch anyway. Headed back to the hotel along the 'Rue avenue Randriambololonga'. Great name eh! The odd thing about it is a statue to Ho Chi Minh part way along it. What's that about then? Not a foggiest where he fits in? Things get seriously dodgy along here. I was the only non-local (diplomatic way to put it) face for miles and I swear that I am sure the whole neighbourhood watched me pass. Chin up, chest out, look confident and don't stop! Rough shanty stalls and huts flanking the road. The dirtiest kids I had seen in ages. Africa was poor but I don't remember being as disgusted as I was here with their complete lack of care about themselves, especially considering this is a city. Definitely off limits afted dark.
Back to the hotel to get out of the heat for a while and dithering away reading etc and the room phone went. Apparently, the tour I had booked myself on was meeting at 4pm and I thought it was 6pm, so had to rush to get there. 10 of us in total on the tour lasting 8/9 days and run by GAP Adventures. A mix of english from UK, America and Australia and one of the girls does Ceroc and lindy. Yippee! More about the group later. We all went out for a meal in the evening which was nice. Food is reasonably priced here. I had a pizza and three horses beer for 12,000 Ar (just over 3 quid).
Jeff & Moricar (California San José), Sarah (Kent), Roger & Roslyn (Adelaide), Evelyn & David (Ayrshire), Stephen (Massachussets), Vera (New York). The tour leader is Ny Aina Randrasana
Mon 1st Oct - this morning we have a 187km journey by bus to get to Antsirabe. Whilst we were waiting to head off, did a quick bit of bartering with a street seller for a new casio watch for 4 quid. Bargain. Our guide 'ny aina', which by the way is malagasy for 'the life', is a brill guide. Full of information. The history of Madagascar is full of influences from the chinese, indian, british, sri lankan, vietnamese, korean and obviously french.
Hence, the socialist era brought about major changes like the introduction of a couple of railway lines and industrialisation. Vast improvement in the road network also. However, less than 12% of the people have running water, so a common site is to see the women doing the washing in the river. Guys in canoes also dredge the river to sift out the sand to make bricks out of for housing. You will never see stone used in malagasy houses. The reason is that they believe that stone is a dead material and should only be used to build their tombs with. A tomb is something you spend a long time in, whereas a house you spend less time, so should be out of an inferior material. Zebu is their local breed of cattle with long vertical horns. It is also the animal they sacrifice for important events as well as general eating. If you have a steak it will be zebu.
Getting out of the city into the rural areas was incredible. The housing reflects the variety of influences of its history, from red adobe ( the colour of a majority of the soil), french ballustrades, tin huts and shacks etc. Vast areas of terraced rice paddy fields and other agricultural growth. A high proportion of the 18 million population are young, and although education is mandatory from 6yrs old, the rural areas don't enforce it. Consequently, young kids can be seen working in the fields, or breaking up stone with hammers to sell for gravel, or other manual jobs - 6 or 7 yr olds upwards! A majority of the population is illiterate. Stopped on a few occasions and got surrounded by the kids out of inquisitiveness. They are filthy but friendly. The average life expectancy is 53 for women and 50 for men. Many kids die under 2yrs old due to malaria or dysentry type deseases.
Stopped in Ambotalaby for lunch at the 'au rendezvous des pecheurs'. Had the duck that had zero meat on it, done in pineapple but without even the slightest hint of pineapple and with a clump of rice. You have to take what you can get in these parts!
Then a highlight of going to an aluminium factory. This doesn't sound exciting, but it was an eye opener. Not a factory as you would expect it though. Old aluminium tankers are chiselled apart by women into pieces. These are then melted down in rough furnaces to make the molten ali, to be poured into moulds for pots, which are made out of lignacite in dingy sheds at a rate of upto 50 a day. Conditions are horrendous and kids are involved too, working 8hr days and adding to their early death quite considerably.
Another thing madagascar has a lot of is the pousse-pousse, which is a sort of rickshaw. Hundreds of them everywhere, with their bare-footed operators. They are basically a wooden framed seat on two wheels and the guy runs along the road with it behind him. Like a wheelbarrow. Great fun! These people are resourceful and nothing gets wasted. Tin cans get made into the widest range of products known to man.
Got to Antsaribe at reasonable time so went for walkabout. Went into a gemstone works (a vast range of precious gems can be found in the mines around here). We were given a quartz stone map of Madagascar. Really nice gift. Out for a really nice group meal at a venician restaurant. Tournedos rossini zebu steak dinner, pudding and a large beer for under £5.
Tue 2nd Oct - walkabout for a bit to get some water as you don't trust the tap water here, then got a pousse-pousse back to the hotel for 1000Ar. The guys who pull these things have to run as the roads are scorchio! Off southwards through the beautiful Mananduna valley. This is a patchwork quilt of rice paddy fields and other crops across the flats and terraced into the hillsides. Groups of women re-planting the rice stalks. When they are first planted, they are too close together, so get re-planted further apart. You could be in SE Asia!
Stopped at Sahanivut for the tuesday market. This is the 'real' life of the country. Everyone gathering to not just buy stuff, but to get upto date with what's going on in the neighbourhood. A traditional healer selling various woods that are prepared to make medecines that cure nightmares, stomach upsets, help you sleep, etc. He looked stoned out of his mind - I want some of that wood he's on! Soap sellers - made from volcanic ash and animal fats. The local cinema was a rickety shed with a TV and loads of locals squashed in crossed-legged, watching 'Kung fu', to be followed by 'Andrebabe III'. This is the latest Malagasy blockbuster movie with a very seductive poster! Racy stuff for the locals eh!
Bought a nike replica shoulder bag for 3000Ar ( 80 pence). The area is famous for its Tapia trees that grow fruit that the silk worms eat. They are actually nice to eat as well. About the size of a cherry but harder, with a hard nut centre and sweet outer layer. The other thing you can buy at the roadside is what they call pok-pok. We call them physalis or chinese lanterns/cape gooseberries. Lovely and sweet.
Next stop Ambositra. Malagasy omelette for lunch, which is like a spiced spanish omelette. Safer than the alternatives I hope? Visited the wood carving workshop. The skill level is superb, with very few tools and mainly using rosewood, ebony and other local woods. Marquetry is big here and the stuff they produce is very detailed and excellent value.
Long drive next to Ramanofara National Park, home of at least 10 varieties of Lemur and hundreds of exotic birds. The scenery on the way is awesome. This country is simply stunning. Very rustic and that is what gives it its charm. The people are happy, simple, friendly. There are large sections of the park that are off limits to the public, as they are open only to researchers. Madagascar is home to a vast array of flora and fauna that has not yet been understood or even catalogued fully. There are no roads so only foot access, which in itself keeps a lot of the tourism out and maintains its natural unadulterated state. The main feeling is of typical rainforest.
Really nice wooden shack lodge for the next two nights, in the middle of the rain forest, built onto the hillside. Great meal of malagasy style pork and rice soaked in pineapple dzanga alcohol with veg followed by flambé bananas, all for just over three quid. Nissed as a pute, so slept like a log.
This is armour plated mosquito territory, so beds with mozzy nets and mozzy repellant and mozzy electrocutors in the rooms. With blood containing enough alcohol repellant, I think I should be safe tonight!
Wed 3rd Oct - off at 7:30 into the National park. The guide was superb and had a couple of spotters who would go ahead in search of specific animals for us. This is rainforest, so the territory is enclosed vegitation, heavy going walking and things like bugs and leeches hanging around. The park is home to 12 species of Lemur, 115 species of birds, 75 amphibians, 43 reptiles, 6 crayfish, 259 plants, 350 spiders, 35 ferns. Historically, there used to be 18 types of tribes but they are all but gone, thanks to governmental controls over the years and bans on hunting in the park. The walk covered about 15km and about 5 hours. We were lucky to see what we did. Golden bamboo lemur, woolly lemur, owly lemur, sportive lemur, greater bamboo lemur and the wonderful right breasted brown Sifaka. A wonderful orange chameleon, Leaf tailed chameleon and snub-nosed chameleon. A number of flourescent green and blue geckos. Whilst there is lots of bird life around, it is almost impossible to see as it hangs around in the upper canopy where you cannot see. The sounds are amazing though. Lemurs are beautiful animals, mostly nocturnal so they have big eyes and generally eat vegitation. For me, Madagascar has been one of the places I have been most desperate to see and today's wildlife experience has exceeded my expectations. Absolutely loved it!
Lunch in Ramanofara village in a wooden shack. Had a rhum arrangé jujube, which is like fruit soaked in a potent rum. Purely medicinal reasons of course, in case of anything disagreable in the food!
Walkabout after lunch looking at the village stalls. One sold dried crickets. Was going to buy some but would have had to get the lodge to cook them for me. Maybe another day.
Back into the park again for a night walk. This was a fantastic experience. So lucky I couldn't believe our luck as we saw the beautiful 'mouse Lemur'. I cannot put into words the excitement at seeing it. Literally, not much bigger than a mouse and the most gorgeous creature you could ever see. They scurry around rapidly and lick the moisture from tree branches with their tiny little tongues, and if they see you they stop to stare at you with their big nocturnal eyes. I couldn't stop smiling for ages afterwards. Also saw 'Striped Civet' a fairly rare cat. Two tiny weeny tree grogs, one bright green the size of a thumbnail with bright red eyes and another spikey bodied frog not much bigger. Being a rainforest it rains a lot but it is comfortable as the temperature is high - in the 30's during the day and 20's in the evening.
Back at the lodge and straight for a well earned dinner after a long day, covering nearly 20km and 7 1/2 hrs walking.
The 'Crayfish' incident! Sarah and I made the mistake of ordering l'ecrevisse - also known as crayfish. Thinking that this would be a great meal, locally caught from the waters in the park. Wrong! There is naff all meat on these little blighters. Six of them is a total of about 1 teaspoon of edible food. Great for a diet. Had to rely on the leftovers from other folks meals. Anyway, we had bought a bottle of local 52% rhum between us so got tiddly on rhum and coke then had flambéd bananas so didn't really care much after that. Great night had by all!
Thu 4th Oct - This area is known for its natural hot water springs, so off to the thermal spring baths after breakfast. The entrance to the site where you check in is a wooden shack labelled 'perception' instead of reception, which it think is sweet. The water is almost scalding when it enters the pool and wonderful to spend an hour soaking.
Walked back to lodge past the local 'ecole' for some lunch then hit the road to Fianarantsoa, with a couple of photo stops at the gorgeous waterfalls and rapids that flow through the park. The walls were covered in large trusses of orchids.
On the way, passed an overturned truck, which must have tried to swerve to miss zebo that were on the road. Unfortunately, It didn't miss them as a few zebo were dead and the passengers were sat on the bank waiting for it to be sorted. Accidents are a common site here. The roads are really good, but the drivers are mad.
Arrived at Fianarantsoa and went up to a viewpoint that overlooks the town to get a feel for how it is laid out. A big statue of Jesus stands on the hill overlooking the town but isn't accessible, being part of a convent. The main area of interest is the old town so headed off there for a closer look. An odd mixture of architecture but interestingly, the people have a more african look about them, with the occasional indian. The old town mainly surrounds a hill as historically, the person in charge of the town had the highest viewpoint. Loads of kids following us as usual but this time surprisingly, able to speak some english. They are taught upto 5 languages from an early age here. There are five curches represented here, in a small area, as religion plays a big part in community life.
Earlier in the day I was close to buying some crickets to eat but they needed to be cooked as you buy them dried. In Fiorantsoa they sell them cooked on the street markets, but they are crawling in flies so decided to give them a miss! It was close though.
Off to the hotel Cotsoyannis in the Ampasambazaha area of the town for the night and some catching up at a local internet café (only dial up speed available here so no chance doing anything serious). To be honest, after the superb time we had in Ramanofara, coming back into a town is an anti-climax. I think we could have spent more time there.
Fri 5th Oct - short walkabout after breakfast to watch the town waking up. Street sellers carrying their wares on their heads and setting up on street corners. News stands with groups huddled around for the latest info about what's been happening outside of town etc when you see the butchers here, you would definitely turn vegetarian!
Onto the bus and headed southinto the countryside. After not long, we were in wine country. Passed yet another overturned truck. Getting to be wuch a common sight now. Photo stop by a rock that has now been nicknamed 100 ariary rock as it apears on the bank note. Interesting piece of info...the people in this area must never sleep with their feet facing east, as they mst not 'kick' the sun when it rises! They are full of superstitions. The 'Mpanandro' tells the people which day they can plant their crops, which day they can go to market plus all sorts of other things that also changes with their personal history and birth date. A bit of a Russell Grant of the tribal world! The 'Mpisikidy' is the medicine man and general protector who gives the individual amulets and specific types of wood to protect their spirits. If you go to a funeral, you must step over a fire & burn a lock of your hair so that your spirit is eft behind. This protects you from ghosts or spirits of the dead from attacking your spirit!
In 1947 there was a revolt against the french who were trying to get the locals to build railroads. The peasants were revolting - only using axes and sticks, so the french shot them. Of course they still believed in their amulets etc. They'll never learn!
Lots of photo stops en-route, usually attracting hoards of kids shouting 'un cadeaux s'il vous plait, un stilo, papier, bonbon etc'. Once you take their photo they love it to see it shown to them - easily pleased.
Stopped at the 'Soavita' winery. Madagascar doesn't export its wine but it produces a nice range of wines from two main grape types. No oak aging here, just concrete vats. Hand bottling, hand labelling and corking and re-cycled bottles, so they have a bottle washer woman outside in a shed. Very tasty wine considering.
Next stop the 'Soalandy tissage de la soie sauvage et elevage de vers et soie' I.e. Silk weaving place. They take the cocoon and one guy picks off the bits, another digs out the dead grub and another them cleans it ready for spinning by hand into the silk yarn ready for dying and weaving. All of this done by kids who work 10hrs or so a day! What they produce is excellent.
No let up as so much to do, so little time, so on to the 'Antaimoro' papier factory. The bark of the 'Avoha' bush is dried for a long time and then cooked for 4hrs to soften it. After draining, it is pulverised into a 400g ball before being soaked again and broken up into a paste. This is then thrown into mesh frames and the water drained off to form the rough paper sheets. Before they dry too much, flower decorations are added and then the whole piece put out in the sun to dry. The garden from which the flowers are taken is a stunning array of colour.
This town has a zebu market on wednesdays. The zebu owners from the barra tribe will travel upto 30 days to bring their herd to market 4 or 5 times per year, and will fetch upto 600,000 ariary per zebu so very lucrative. There is a more interesting market going on however - The women's market! Once the herders have sold their cattle, they have money to spend. The women are seeking a partner as they must be married by 18yrs old and start looking at 13yrs old!. If the herder is interested in a girl, he must pay her 5000 ariary - call it a deposit. Now, the girl can collect many of these deposits and she doesn't have to choose any of them or return the money. So, call it a non-returnable deposit! So, great income for doing nothing. To show she is available she wears beads in her hair. If she does choose one he will have to pay her parents a quantity of zebus. If his family doesn't have sufficient zebus then he is encouraged to steel them from his neighbours, which is a prisonable offence. A bit fraught with trouble this isn't it? Zebus have a passport! This describes how they look in 100 words. Wouldn't it be simpler to have a photo - problem is they don't have photo booths large enough for them to fit. Imagine getting the bugger to sit till and getting the seat adjusted right - are my horns straight today - I must brush my coat next time! There are a number of facts that come out of this...1). It must be one of the few economies where they use an exchange rate of 'zebus to the woman' 2). Zebus must be the only animal with a passport!
Back on track now....stopped at Ifandana rock - aka the bishop's hat for a photo shoot. A cross between ayres rock and the the mountain out of close encounters. Further south and the terrain changed again to more barren land surrounded by mountains. Lunch stop at the Zahamotel in Ihosy parts of which look like an extract from Oliver twist made out of wood (i know what I mean), before heading off across the Ihoromee plains for 40km of nothingness until reaching the Isalo national Park area and staying at the incredible Isalo ranch. A nice touch on check-in of a glass of peppermint squash. Quick turn around as had to get to one of this areas major landmarks to watch the sunset. The feature is called 'la fenêtre' and is a rock formation that forms a window through which you get a really nice view of the sunset over the opposite hills. Not suprisingly, we were accompanied by a substantial amount of other travellers. A funny thing happened when one french tourist slapped another one for getting in the way of his shot. Almost caused a riot! Sun set at 17:55 and as if by magic the whole site emptied in seconds as everyone rushed away - probably wanting to be first at the bar! Couldn't be arsed with that so went back for a swim instead and got a great view of the pretty sky over the hills with a nice cooling dip. Today has been hectic with lots crammed in, so rum and coke anaesthetic to end it. Lovely jubbly!
Sat 6th Oct (day 7) - Early start as lots more to cover today in Isalo National Park. Picked up our guide 'Coco' and his mate 'Nemess' then off into Monkey valley'. This park covers 81,540 hectares but a majority of it is the awesome canyon. Something I hadn't really noticed before - the barra people never point with their fingers, always with a closed fist. This is because they must never point fingers towards a person as it captures their spirit!We saw the incredible white lemur - aka the 'dancing' lemur as it runs along the ground sideways although you won't see that very often. Also saw many snakes and birds on our way to 'the king's pool. This place is like a garden of eden. Very remote and stunningly pretty.
The rock that forms the Maki canyon is colourful, with shades of red, green & ochre from the iron & aluminium deposits. Set off on a 12km hike across the mountains into the canyon which took 5hrs in 40degC. Most of the group turned back early as the conditions were gruelling to say the least. Only three of us continued but it was worth it. Saw deadly black scorpions, loads of lizards plus the madagascan kestrel, which is a chocolate brown colour. On top of the mountain the soft stone has been eroded, leaving behind some incredible iron sculptures like waves tumbling over or hollowed out globes. Some interesting plants too, like the elephant seed, which is like a large swollen root above the surface with mini palm shaped leaves and yellow flowers. Also saw a stunnung grasshopper with blue and yellow body, horned down its back and bright pink wings in flight, with yellow stripes - almost like the wings of chitty-chitty bang bang!
At the end of the walk, like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, was the cascades waterfall. Ready for the swim and the setting was gorgeous.
A few more kilometres walk to get to the Namaze campsite where we were bushcamping for the night next to a stream. The Barra porters laid on a great dinner considering where we were. Pumpkin soup, zebu stew and rice plus banana flambé, washed down with ginger rhum. Entertainment laid on around the camp fire by the barras, so I joined in playing guitar and djembe style drum with them then did a few tunes to return the entertainment and got the group dancing around the fire. Great night of fun and plenty of pop, so was flying in nedxt to no time.
Sun 7th Oct - woke up early to the sound of the lemur calls and birdsong and with a bad head - too much ginger rhum maybe? After breakfast a 6km round trip hike to the 'bleu et noir piscine' I.e. The blue & black pools. Yet another stunning location, one pool a beautiful aquamarine blue with waterfall and around the corner the black pool with another waterfall. This gorge was home to some colourful dragonflies, pink and flourescent blue.
Time to move on again so back on the bus heading south towards Tulear to catch a flight. The route goes through Ilakaka, famed here for its sapphire mines. A dangerous place apparently as the sapphire traders attack each other to steal gems. Hundreds of shanty shacks which cover the shafts dug by each prostector, going down as far as 20 metres. Stopped at Sakaraha at the palace for lunch - sounds grand doesn't it. Nope, just a restaurant with accomodation attached. This town is the centre of the gem trading business and there are companies from all over the world here but main presence is china, sri lanka and thailand oddly enough.
Further south and the emergence of the baobab tree as seen many times in africa. They look really cool with grass huts around them. The area is inhabited by the Mahafaly people. The old ladies around here cover their faces in bright yellow paste as sun protection. It cracks as it dries which gives them a rather unique apearance. They also follow the orthodox christian religion here and their tombs are individual ones as opposed to family tombs with the other religions. Some are very colourfully decorated with pictures and sculptures of whatever killed them. The odd airoplane and boat can be seen. To feed the people who help to build the tomb, the kill their zebu and put the zebu's head on top of the tomb. The bigger the tomb, the more zebu need to be killed, so the more heads.
Off to Tulear airport for flight MD711 to Antananarivo leaving at 7pm. Small airport but very busy. Being close to the sea the humidity in the airport was stifling. Back at the Karibotel in town where I started on 29th september.
Tomorrow I head off to Mauritius with the prime objective to get my visa for India.
