And, here are some pictures from Madagascar! In no particular order: Lemur in the tree (can you find it?); Peter in the land of the pousse pousses; Omby (Zebu cows) on the move; Us during the hike in Isalo; Us with Francis at the paper "factory."
Friday, May 16, 2008
Some Madagascar pictures
And, here are some pictures from Madagascar! In no particular order: Lemur in the tree (can you find it?); Peter in the land of the pousse pousses; Omby (Zebu cows) on the move; Us during the hike in Isalo; Us with Francis at the paper "factory."
Pictures from Paris (finally!)
In the unlikeliest of spots, I finally found a computer that is letting me upload pictures--in Sambava! Here is a sample of our time in Paris, including Peter in front of the Arc de Triomphe, me at the top of the Eiffel tower (bundled up--brrr!), Peter with the street sign to his mom's childhood home, and a real French market (so different and so similar to the ones in Guatemala, Mexico, and Madagascar), and Van Gogh's bedroom from the Musée d'Orsay. Enjoy!
Fianar to Isalo and back , through Soatanana
Our next fext few days were spent further south, particularly in the town of Fianar and the National Park Isalo. We were accompanied by Francis, the brother in law of Robyn's good frien Dila, another former Peace Corp volunteer. Francis served as our driver and guide.
Fianar is hte second biggest city in the country and is comparable to Xela in many ways given its high altitude and chilly nights. Thursday was spent walking around town and buying a few photos by one of Robyn's favorite photographers, Pierrot Men native to Mad. , who has his lab here.
Friday we drove to Isalo. The landscape, a mix of green hills and rocky outcrops reminded me of Ireland. On the other side of the car the cattle were constantly passing by, evoking, I thought, Texas (though I have never been).
Isalo is Mad's answer to the Badlands of South Dakota; (Think also Sedona in Arizona and the Grand Canyon). The rock "madif" stretches majestically for miles. The climate is arid, though rain did come in the late afternoon. We stayed at Chez Alice, in a bungalow looking out on the park and the meadow in front of it. The first night we visited the museum, which helpfully had some English ! We also saw a beautiful naturallyformed rock "window", where tourist gathered to watch a breathtaking sunset.
Saturday we spent all day walking in the park. We explored Canyon Maki and its various pools and natural showers. Another natural pool site we shared with a crew of bouisterous local teens on a school field trip. Our final stop was the most beautiful swimming spot, Cascade de Nymphe. We were the first to arrive so it was serenely undisturbed. On the path in we also happened upon, to our AWE, a group of 11 RING TAILED LEMURS, hanging out calmly in a tree above a campsite. We took way too many photos.
Our guide also clued us in on a bit of cultual info about the local Bara people, including the practice of young men suitors having to "steal" a cow before they can propose to their beloeved. Also, that long ago the Sakalav people, native now to Robyn's beloeve northern region, used to live here.
The trip wound down the next day with a short drive south padt a saphire mine, past the Baobab trees and cactuses native only to the southern region, and back to the village of Ambalavao near Fianar at night. In the morning we visited a very interesting artesenal paper making company and then continued to the towon of Soatanana, an hour and a half on a dirt road to the west of Fianar. Soatanana is famed for the presence of a rare Lutheran sect whose faithful where all white and sing very well. Sure enough upon arrival we were brought directly to the church. The mayor was there and the congregation was in "full throat". We were welcomed , and paraded through town all the wayto the mayor's house. In the courtyard, the congragation of several dozen looked on as a few of their own, with great dignity, washed our feet .. recalling the actions of Jesus. They then gave us lunch in the mayor's huose. A few select others also at with us. Most watched. And sang. The singing never stopped from the moment we arrived. It was extraordinary. Unlike anything I had ever seen.
Then back to Fianar to rest and ready ourselves for the trip north. We went out for walk on Tuesday night and were besieged by young kids... many happy to practice their English on us.
Fianar is hte second biggest city in the country and is comparable to Xela in many ways given its high altitude and chilly nights. Thursday was spent walking around town and buying a few photos by one of Robyn's favorite photographers, Pierrot Men native to Mad. , who has his lab here.
Friday we drove to Isalo. The landscape, a mix of green hills and rocky outcrops reminded me of Ireland. On the other side of the car the cattle were constantly passing by, evoking, I thought, Texas (though I have never been).
Isalo is Mad's answer to the Badlands of South Dakota; (Think also Sedona in Arizona and the Grand Canyon). The rock "madif" stretches majestically for miles. The climate is arid, though rain did come in the late afternoon. We stayed at Chez Alice, in a bungalow looking out on the park and the meadow in front of it. The first night we visited the museum, which helpfully had some English ! We also saw a beautiful naturallyformed rock "window", where tourist gathered to watch a breathtaking sunset.
Saturday we spent all day walking in the park. We explored Canyon Maki and its various pools and natural showers. Another natural pool site we shared with a crew of bouisterous local teens on a school field trip. Our final stop was the most beautiful swimming spot, Cascade de Nymphe. We were the first to arrive so it was serenely undisturbed. On the path in we also happened upon, to our AWE, a group of 11 RING TAILED LEMURS, hanging out calmly in a tree above a campsite. We took way too many photos.
Our guide also clued us in on a bit of cultual info about the local Bara people, including the practice of young men suitors having to "steal" a cow before they can propose to their beloeved. Also, that long ago the Sakalav people, native now to Robyn's beloeve northern region, used to live here.
The trip wound down the next day with a short drive south padt a saphire mine, past the Baobab trees and cactuses native only to the southern region, and back to the village of Ambalavao near Fianar at night. In the morning we visited a very interesting artesenal paper making company and then continued to the towon of Soatanana, an hour and a half on a dirt road to the west of Fianar. Soatanana is famed for the presence of a rare Lutheran sect whose faithful where all white and sing very well. Sure enough upon arrival we were brought directly to the church. The mayor was there and the congregation was in "full throat". We were welcomed , and paraded through town all the wayto the mayor's house. In the courtyard, the congragation of several dozen looked on as a few of their own, with great dignity, washed our feet .. recalling the actions of Jesus. They then gave us lunch in the mayor's huose. A few select others also at with us. Most watched. And sang. The singing never stopped from the moment we arrived. It was extraordinary. Unlike anything I had ever seen.
Then back to Fianar to rest and ready ourselves for the trip north. We went out for walk on Tuesday night and were besieged by young kids... many happy to practice their English on us.
Tana to Ranomafana National Park
Sunday we had a wonderful day visiting Robyn's friend Daniella, whom Robyn met in the Peace Corp here, and her husband Sisy and their son Adam. We spent most of the day visiting in their apartment visiting. Later in the afternoon they took us on a drive around the city, stopping at a viewpoint and pointing out places of interest in the city. Robyn learned from Sisy, whoworks in public health here, that recent studies suggest that overall HIV infection rates here in Madagascar may be much lower than once feared. This was very exciting news for Robyn who spent much of her Peace Corp service doing AIDs education.
Monday we headed south in a taxi brousse, in the direction of Ranomafana National Park, Mad's "flagship" park. The ride was beautiful. Soon after leaving the capitol the land was empty. The earth is red, the rice paddies plentiful , as are the cattle or "zebu", walking along the road. Some villages lack electricity. Some have "pousse pousse's" , or man pulled cqarts that people ride in ! We stopped at several vege stands along the way, before stopping in Ambositra for the night.
Ambositra is where Robyn did her first Peace Corp training. It is also in the heart of cattle country and is the center of wood carving in the country. We enjoyed the singing in the restaurant at night, sampled the street food and wood carving in the morning and set off further south.
Given the lack of transport from where we were, (a real town), to where we were going, 5a national park!), Robyn had to negotiate a fair price for a private ride for us! It was another beautiful ride, this time passing many barefoot Malagasy people walking to market. Robyn enjoyed lunch, featuring a particular bean she loves and had missed. I was, once again, overwhelmed by the large amounts of rice , and rice water, I received. Passing through numerous seemingly pointless police checkpoints and after at least an hour on a challenging dirt road, we arrived at the park. Our hotel was right next to the park entrance. Save for a tiny gift shop, the park is totally uncommercialized. It is a rainforest.
We woke at 7 am the next day to meet our guide for a four hour hike in the park. We set off excitedly, having brought our money and passports with for safekeeping. It began to rain. The rain continued most of the morning. At times it POURED. We were totally drenched.
It had to be conceded that we would see no lemurs in these conditions. But we persisted, and during the brief dry spells, and by roaming off the trails a bit, we actually did manage to see 5 species of lemur, many at close range: the sportive, red fronted brown, common, bamboo and sifaka (indri) lemurs. Well worth the price, effort and wetness.
We spent the rest of the day drying our clothes, (abnd our money!), warming up and enjoying visitng with our friendly hotel hosts and reading and watching tehmany moths on the hotel deck.
Monday we headed south in a taxi brousse, in the direction of Ranomafana National Park, Mad's "flagship" park. The ride was beautiful. Soon after leaving the capitol the land was empty. The earth is red, the rice paddies plentiful , as are the cattle or "zebu", walking along the road. Some villages lack electricity. Some have "pousse pousse's" , or man pulled cqarts that people ride in ! We stopped at several vege stands along the way, before stopping in Ambositra for the night.
Ambositra is where Robyn did her first Peace Corp training. It is also in the heart of cattle country and is the center of wood carving in the country. We enjoyed the singing in the restaurant at night, sampled the street food and wood carving in the morning and set off further south.
Given the lack of transport from where we were, (a real town), to where we were going, 5a national park!), Robyn had to negotiate a fair price for a private ride for us! It was another beautiful ride, this time passing many barefoot Malagasy people walking to market. Robyn enjoyed lunch, featuring a particular bean she loves and had missed. I was, once again, overwhelmed by the large amounts of rice , and rice water, I received. Passing through numerous seemingly pointless police checkpoints and after at least an hour on a challenging dirt road, we arrived at the park. Our hotel was right next to the park entrance. Save for a tiny gift shop, the park is totally uncommercialized. It is a rainforest.
We woke at 7 am the next day to meet our guide for a four hour hike in the park. We set off excitedly, having brought our money and passports with for safekeeping. It began to rain. The rain continued most of the morning. At times it POURED. We were totally drenched.
It had to be conceded that we would see no lemurs in these conditions. But we persisted, and during the brief dry spells, and by roaming off the trails a bit, we actually did manage to see 5 species of lemur, many at close range: the sportive, red fronted brown, common, bamboo and sifaka (indri) lemurs. Well worth the price, effort and wetness.
We spent the rest of the day drying our clothes, (abnd our money!), warming up and enjoying visitng with our friendly hotel hosts and reading and watching tehmany moths on the hotel deck.
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