Daily Archives: September 16, 2017

Monday September 11 – Antsirabe to Ranomafana

This morning started off with a rickshaw ride down the main avenue in Antsirabe, which is the hometown of our guide,  Sol.  The rickshaws were the type pulled by men and there were a number of vendors running alongside trying to sell us stuff.  The rickshaw ride was not long and ended at an old grand looking hotel,  which was now apparently in disrepair so not really used. As soon as we got off our rickshaws we were surrounded by a mob of the children vendors trying to sell us various things.   We then boarded our bus for the day’s drive to Ranomafana stopping first in the Antsirabe workshops for stones, mini bicycles made from recycled items, embroidery,  zebu horn and wood.  Ended up buying a few things. We then started driving south to Ranomafana.  For lunch we stopped in a town with a name that meant “castrated zebu” due to the former zebu fights held in the town.   I had some Creole shrimp which was not too spicy and fairly tasty.  We carried on south on the long, winding road and Sol spoke more about the funerary practices including how rich families used to wrap their deceased in shrouds made of silk,  which became a target for thieves who would break into the tombs to steal the silk shrouds from the bodies as well as loot any items of value placed with the dead.   The problem grew and at one time there was the death penalty for the “silk shroud burglars”.   The sun went down and the last bit of the drive was in the dark along the winding roads.   We arrived at our lodge along the river,  which we could hear but not see in the dark and checked into our individual bungalows.   For dinner I had some meat spring rolls, a zebu stir fry and a chocolate pancake for dessert.   Another long day so I had no problem quickly falling asleep. 

Sunday September 10 – Morondava to Antsirabe

 An early morning today as we had a long drive to Antsirabe – about 11 hours including stops.  En route we stopped at a view point to take some photos of the countryside and heard our guide explain about the increase in “zebu gangsters”, which are essentially cattle rustlers but the term zebu gangsters sounded much more humorous and made some of us laugh despite the fact that it appeared to be a real problem given the corruption in the government and the fact that they did little to catch or punish the thieves. For lunch we stopped at a place where I had the zebu masala, which appeared to have been made with a very old and tough zebu as it was the chewiest meat I’d had so far.  We then carried on driving and did a brief stop in a village to walk down the street to see the local village life and take a few photos.   We carried on driving until we came to a one lane bridge where the guide decided it would be good for us to get out and take some photos – on the bridge.   We piled out and the bus drove up a ways leaving us to walk part way across the bridge on foot and giving us time to take some photos of the river.  They do not seem to have the same level of traffic standards in Madagascar as back home!  In fact,  we haven’t seen a traffic light or stop sign since we’ve been here,  including in the capital! We carried on again, passing a procession for when they remove the corpse from the tomb after 2 or 3 years to clean the bones and wrap it in a new shroud.  Apparently the party involves a lot of drinking for a few days and the group seemed pretty rowdy so we stayed in the bus.  Arrived in Antsirabe, which was cooler than Morondava, after a long day of driving.   Had a “Greek” salad for dinner,  which was not your traditional version but was fine all the same followed by some fish with sauce. 

Saturday September 9 – Bekopaka to Morondava

 Had our last driving day in the 4×4 jeeps on the way back to the beach town of Morondava. Along the way we stopped at a few of the tombs alongside the road, which were for the families of the villagers.   Some of the tribes visit the tombs of their ancestors while others simply construct the tomb and do not touch the tombs again.   We stopped for lunch at the same restaurant we went to on the way to Bekopaka where the prawns were amazing.   This time I opted for the grilled fish, which was also good and equally well presented.     After lunch we took the second ferry and managed to survive the 45 minute sail down the river,  this time with 6 jeeps on the craft.   We then carried back on in our jeeps on the bumpy road to the Alley of the baobabs to catch the sunset.   Had time for a beer in the little shack bar and watched the tourists begin to flock in for the sunset.  More tourists than we had seen before but nothing like the number of tourists waiting to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I got my position for sunset and finally used my little tripod.   Had to reposition to a better spot but managed to get an amazing shot!  We then headed back to Morondava to the hotel on the beach.   Although since it was dark already there was not much to see.   Had dinner of shrimp curry,  which was good before retiring to my bungalow for the night.   Seemed a giant cockroach had “checked in” to my spare bed and was tucked in on the pillow for the night!  Fell asleep fairly quickly again.