We have spent nearly the last two weeks in the northern part of the country, most of it on the beach. We flew first to Sambava, landing in one of the smallest airports I have ever seen. The lush, tropical, humid climate immediately brought a smile to Robyn's face. So too did the sound of the Sakalava dialect spoken in this region , the type of Malagasy she speaks best. We spent three nights in a simple bungalow directly on the palm tree lined white sand beach. The surf is too strong for swimming, but the sunrises and the beach were exquisite. When not lazing there, Robyn toure me through places she knew--the spot she used to come to once a month to receieve phone calls from home, the place where she ran a camp for some kids, a favorite lunch spot.
The culinary memories and hilights included street food, served from little makeshift stands, mostly doughy and or fried, and flavored rum. Sambava is the vanilla capitol of the country, so we got some of that too. We also visited a young girl student whom a friend of Robyn's and a former Peace Corp volunteer , is sponsoring in school. The girl's French is immaculate, and though she understood much of my english, she mostly just smiled at me and laughed.
To Robyn, Sambava looked much the same, though in a few spots worse than years ago. But we found it very relaxing.
VOHEMAR
We continued on to Vohemar, several (slow, arduous) hours to the north. The ride was slowed by numerous stops to pick people up and drop them off and overstuff the vehicle , a "collective taxi" of sorts. At teh end of it all I cut myself stepping out of the crammed tiny Renault 4.
But for Robyn's Madagascar, Vohemar is God's Country and we stayed for 4 nights at a lovely waterfront hotel called the Sol y Mar.
Robyn knew many people in town: the men at her former bank, the head nun at the convent, the cook and owner at her favorite restaurant, La Floride (we had Indian Ocean lobster and coconut shrimp) , the lonely philosophical woman at the stationary store, ( who invited us to her home for fried bananas, coffee and , it turned out, a long ophilosophical talk), a friend in the market, a worker at the "bus terminal" ... It was wonderful to see the reunions.
The water in Vohemar is a bay, wonderful for swimming, which we did often. We also saw the market, with lot of fish, the mosque tower, and the Sakalava holy tree on the beach where Robyn once witnessed a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than a dozen cattle wading in the ocean water.
A ligher note included the mile marker sign on the road in the center of town that notes helpfully: "Vohemar: 0 km"
With its handful of restaurants, apartments going up and very much more (than before) sophisticated port, this was the first place Robyn said is certainly looking better now.
TSARABARIA
Tuesday we went back to Robyn's village, between Sambava and Vohemar. She was quite nervous--having heard virtually nothing from there in over 7 years.
We arrived at 10 and left at 4. The best I can describe it is she was like Bill Clinton in Ireland. They LOVED her. She was basically beseigeed for 6 hours straight.
So many people remebered her and were glad to see her: her main host family, who gave us lunch, a teacher at the middle school, a landlady of hers, three of the girls she worked with most, the nurse who was her supervisor at the hospital and many more. Tehy had remembered she had promised to return and were thrilled she did. She was the first Peace Corp volunteer in the village ever, and something of a legend had built up.
For me, I was glad to see the building Robyn had gotten built as a volunteer, an addition to the hospital and to see just how small and humble the village is. Among the most profound moments for me was seeing the "hospital" Robyn worked in. Had I not been being watched all the time, i would have wept openly. There is basically nothing in it. But just as strong a sense and memory will be the smiles and th ejoy they had--at seeing Robyn, and to show her the ways they were working to improve their community, both with Peace Corp's help and on their own.
Robtyn was sailing, and exhausted, when we left. We were joined by Sam, the current volunteer in the village, who came to Vohemar for a visit to swap stories with Robyn.
Monday, May 26, 2008
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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