Antananarivo, usually called Tana by those not so adept of tongue, is the capital of Madagascar. It is a mess of narrow, steep streets with an assortment of dwellings ranging from mainly non-descript concrete houses to the odd newly-constructed mansion. There is no conformity of styles, houses seemingly constructed in styles and locations to whim. The streets are clogged with traffic and people going about their business. As a former French colony, Renault and Citroen abound, although many cars are so old, they belong in an automobile museum. Public transport comprises minivans called "taxi-brousse", stuffed with twice as many people as seats and with roof-racks overladen with all manner of goods from the normal suitcases to motorcycles and chests of drawers. Pousse-pousses are public transport for the masses, carts pulled along by bicycle or manpower. Small stalls litter the pavements selling fruit and veg, groceries and mobile phones. Historical influences have resulted in a mix of peoples, referred to as Malagasy - black Africans, Asians, and mixtures between, all bound together by a common belief in ancestral spirits and superstition. Groups of youths hang around looking bored, families sit around on roadsides where they probably live. Children hold out their hands as you approach, the same anywhere in the Third World. Some cry "vazaha!", Malagasy for foreigner.
I arrived in Tana on Saturday lunchtime, tired and hot after a connection in Nairobi preceded by an overnight flight from Heathrow. I waited in a long queue for my visa (free for stays of less than 30 days). A police officer took some details from my passport and placed it in a pile for another officer applying visa stamps. He asked if I had a "gift" for him, presumably to get my passport to the top of the pile. Momentarily taken aback, I respectfully replied that I would have liked to offer him a gift but didn't have any local money yet. After getting my visa stamp and collecting my backpack, I was met by my pre-arranged lift. I went to change some money. Madagascar is one of those countries with a ridiculous exchange rate - one dollar equals 2,000 Ariary. Since the largest note was 10,000 Ariary ($5), changing $500 would result in you holding one million Ariary in a thick wadge of one hundred 10,000 Ariary notes! I decided to get smaller amounts of the local money more often but this would later turn out to be problematical too as I'd run out of money between ATMs and would have to change money at hotels at unfavourable rates.
Public transport between the main cities and towns of Madagascar comprised of taxi-brousses in various states of (dis)repair. They'd only leave when they were full, and frequently had many more passengers than seats, along with animals. Using such transport would be cheap and I'd get to know the locals, but it would need some proficiency in French and I'd be spending a lot of time travelling between places. I decided instead to hire a car and driver for the duration of my trip. Prior research on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum had revealed a few recommendations from previous travellers and I got in touch with a local called Mamy who came highly recommended. We agreed a fee of €40 a day, which would include his accommodation and food, but I'd have to pay the petrol on top. This was at the higher end of the charging scale, but as he had been recommended a few times, I thought it worth paying. As it turned out, it was Mamy's cousin, Potsy, and his "manager" who owned a car rental firm who picked me up from the airport. Potsy told me that Mamy's car had broken down on his current trip and he had asked Potsy to be my driver and guide. Since Potsy didn't have his own car, we'd be hiring one, but the rate would still be the same (which would mean less profit for those involved). I was disappointed, moreso when I found out that Potsy's English wasn't particularly good. If I'd tried, I probably could have found a driver who spoke better English with a rental car for the same money, or a cheaper driver with his own car. However, Potsy said he would be useful in recommending hotels and guides for my trip, and due to the fact that I didn't have much free time before I left Tana, I decided to go with it. After dumping my bags at the Hotel Sakamanga, at which I'd booked 3 nights in an en-suite room for a very reasonable €19/night, we all headed off to a cybercafe next door to discuss the itinerary for my trip. Since I'd already planned this in detail beforehand, this didn't take long.
I had two more full days in Tana before heading off to Madagascar's National Parks. After being advised not to walk around at night but take a taxi instead as it wasn't safe, I wasn't too keen to even wander around the streets during the daytime taking photos of everyday life. I did pay a visit to the following places on the outskirts of the city though, with Potsy driving me:
Ambohimanga
The hill-top village complex of Ambohimanga (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) was home to a line of kings and queens who united the tribes of Madagascar into one country. The first king was the all-powerful Andrianampoinimerina and his kingdom paralleled that of the Inca Empire in Peru. He ruled from 1787 to 1810.
He had 12 wives, each of whom lived with him for a month in turn. The complex is surrounded by a wall which was covered with egg white, of which parts are still original. The one-roomed house of the first King is the main building in the complex. The house contains original cooking utensils, weapons and two beds - one for the King and one for his wives. A thick, 10m tall, rosewood pole supports the roof. Carved of a single piece of wood, it was carried there by 2,000 slaves, of which many died during the journey. When someone came to visit the King, the King would climb to the top of the house and hide on a platform under the roof. His wife would entertain the guest and it was only when she gave a certain signal that all was safe would he descend. There are also other houses in the complex built for later queens. They still contain the original furniture, much of which was given by Queen Victoria. A dresser has 8 mirrors to allow the queen to keep an eye on all her guests to be sure they did not poison her. In the courtyard, zebu are still sacrificed for certain ceremonies, eg. fertility rites, as evidenced by bloodstains which are not washed away. I found the place gave a fascinating insight into life in the past and the history was interesting.
Tsimbazaza Zoo
Lemurs are a separate class of primate from monkeys and evolved before them. However, when monkeys evolved, they were superior in many ways (thought, vision, dexterity, speed) and the lemurs were driven to extinction in many parts of the world. A few stragglers made it to Madagascar where they have further evolved in isolation into the hundred or so varieties that exist today. Lemurs exist nowhere else in the world apart from Madagascar. The monkeys remaining in Africa were subject to extreme competition with other species which led to the evolution of humankind. However, in Madagascar, these evolutionary pressures did not exist and the lemurs existing today are very similar to those of 35 million years ago, so much so that biologists refer to Madagascar as a "museum housing living fossils".
I decided to pay a visit to Tsimbazaza Zoo to get my first fix of lemurs. My guidebook stated that it was "worth a visit providing you don't expect it to measure up to Western standards". Unfortunately, I found the place pretty depressing as many of the animals were in tiny enclosures and were displaying signs of captivity and boredom, constantly pacing back and forth in their cages. A few species of lemur were lucky in that they were free to live on small islands surrounded by water. Two of the highlights that I did want to see weren't open or available. The aye-aye is probably Madagascar's strangest lemur - it has the teeth of a rodent, ears of a bat, tail of a fox and hands like Edward Scissorhands, with an extended skeletal middle finger. Rural people believe the aye-aye to be the herald of death and stuff of nightmares. There were day-to-night enclosures at the zoo to view aye-ayes but these seemed to be empty with big signs in front in Malagasy. There was also a museum which was closed which contained skeletons of the extinct giant lemur and 3m-tall elephant bird, as well as a stuffed aye-aye (I've included a couple of photos from the net of the elephant bird and its egg so you can see its size).
Lemurs Park
Lemurs Park is a free-range "zoo" where lemurs live free, many having been rescued as confiscated pets. The lemurs stay because they get fed. As is usual with these types of places (similar to the orangutan sanctuaries in Borneo), they allow much clearer and closer sightings to the animals than would be expected in the wild, within a few feet of them. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved watching the many species of lemurs, plus there were also tortoises and I saw my first chameleons there. Contrary to popular belief, most chameleons do not change colour to match their background but are already suitably coloured to their preferred resting place. Most colour changes are used to express emotion such as anxiety or anger, or for mating. A chameleon's best defense against predators is to lie completely still on a branch. It can do this by having feet shaped like pliers, a tail that can either grip the branch or be curled up, and eyes that can swivel 180 degrees independently of each other allowing it to look forwards and backwards at the same time without moving its head. Chameleons are indeed amazing!
Rova
I had a quick trip to see the Rova, the Queen's palace, which sat on top of a hill overlooking Tana and offered panoramic views over the city. It was destroyed by fire in 1995, an act of arson, and all that remains today is an empty stone shell, restoration work having stopped due to lack of funds.
The journey to Lemurs Park was an eye-opener, my first glimpse of rural Madagascar and so much to see, my eyes were darting everywhere. A rainbow of colours dazzled in a patchwork of green as washing was laid out to dry in fields; shops made of lazily tacked together planks of wood faced up the edge of the road; dead flesh hung in open-fronted shops, baking in the midday sun and providing a feast for the flies; people carried loads on their heads, mostly woman and some loads as big as themselves; rubbish was strewn everywhere, the poor scavenging through it where it collected in big piles; zebu wandered along the roads (the Malagasy cow, with a hump and horns, and the national animal, and a form of capital for the rural population).
As Potsy was driving me, he started to chat about "discos" and whether I wanted a "girlfriend". From reading about the country beforehand and later seeing the posters plastered on hotel walls, it appeared that prostitution was big business and there were supposedly many sex tourists who came here. Unfortunately, and this has happened before, when locals see a lone male tourist, they automatically assume he is a sex tourist. I politely stated that I didn't want a "girlfriend" and decided not to bring up the subject of the prevalence of HIV/AIDs amongst the locals.
My Bradt guidebook states "Lone travellers need to be prepared for the long evenings", particularly in national parks, where it states "Dinner is early, and after that nothing to do but go to your bungalow. Take a powerful torch and lots to read. For budding writers, evenings alone are the perfect time to develop your diary skills". In Tana, add in the fact that you are advised not go walk around after dark and the language problem, then I'd be spending many an evening by myself. Still, I'd come to Madagascar for the wildlife, not the socialising, so I'd just have to lump it. Being a former French colony, many of the tourists to Madagascar were French, so I almost certainly wouldn't be doing much socialising, especially with the bunch of noisy French tourists who descended on my hotel after my first night there.
On Tuesday, it was time to leave the urban jungle behind and head to the real thing in the form of Andasibe National Park. I hadn't found Tana particularly appealing and wouldn't miss it. In fact, the only good thing about it was the food, both in the hotel and the handful of other restaurants/cafes I visited. I went to a Thai restaurant called Ozone one evening a couple of streets from the hotel (I even walked at night) and it was one of the best Thai meals I'd ever had. So, it's "au revoir" Tana and "bonjour" wild Madagascar!
Note: I have put most of the background information on Madagascar on the blog start page instead of in the main blog proper:
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/sranmal/8/tpod.html
Expenses (excluding food, shopping, tips): $280 ($1 = ~2,000 Ar)
Day 1: Taxi from airport to hotel 30kAr ($15)
Accommodation: Sakamanga Hotel (3 nights single en-suite room) €19 (€1 = $1.35) ~$25, total $77
Day 2: Trip to Ambohimanga €30 = $40
Entry to Ambohimanga and guide 7,000Ar ($3.50)
Day 3: Car and driver (Day 1) €40 = $54
Petrol 140,000Ar ($70)
Zoo 10,000Ar ($5), camera 2,000Ar ($1), parking 1,000Ar (50c) Total $6.50
Lemurs Park entry and guide 15,000Ar ($7.50)
Local Sim card and credit 5,000Ar ($2.50)
Links:
http://www.sakamanga.com/eng_index.html
http://www.lemurspark.com/fr/presentation-lemurs-park.html
http://vaclav-trips.webs.com/madagascar.htm (Detailed country and NP trip report)
The Urban Jungle
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Antananarivo, Analamanga, Madagascar
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