"Madagascar, Oct 31st - Nov. 13th" a Madagascar Travel Page by ATLC

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ARRIVAL, Oct. 31st.

Arrival at Antananarivo airport at 00.05 local time. Whisked off by Ladies' Circle friends directly to lounge whilst passport formalities and luggage were being taken care of. Luxury!
One of the Malagasy Circlers is the daughter of Madagascar president Didier Ratsiraka. So there were the 4x4's with chauffeurs waiting for us, and available to us throughout our stay in Antananarivo. This was going to be a trip of extremes...
We were asked if we were hungry (we were not) but nevertheless sat down to a nocturnal supper at the home of our hosts from 01.00-0.300 pm!
PHOTO: traffic jams not uncommon in Antananarivo especially when traffic officers regulate the traffic!

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VILLAGE LIFE: Ambolimailaka, Nov. 3rd

The village kids loved the crayons, and pens, balloons and sweets we brought along. "Madame, stylo, crayon!" they would cry out as they followed us in groups. And like any other child in the world, some got more than others because they yelled for more. So you had to shoo those away to get to the more shy ones.

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Marketplace

The French also had this marketplace built.

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AMBOLIMAILAIKA, Nov. 3rd

About a 1000 people live in this village. The Ny Faribolana/La Ribambelle project supports these people and about 5000 in the area. Notice the black pig on the beach of the top right foto! Fish being sorted in baskets (bottom left) and they had just caught a shark. It's fins were already cut off and they were having a go at its head with an axe.

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BAOBAB TREE

A swim again, then back with the taxi brousse that huffed and puffed and started losing water because the radiator was broken. Various stops were needed to fill up with water and fix the radiotor with bicycle tires. At least that gave us the chance to make extensive photographic mementoes of the baobab trees...quickly, because dusk was falling fast.

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MORE TO COME!

This travelogue continues <a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/.179980/article/38/18/?s=E">here</a> with the island of Sainte Marie (Nosy Boraha).

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ANTSIRABE 1, Nov 1st.

Travelled to Antsirabe, a two hour drive south of Antananarivo, where we visited a small project (Association Mikolo) where a number of orphans is being taken care of by some people. To earn money, they sell chicken eggs. Some funds are provided by the Ladies' Circle no. 2. We gave the little kiddies some balloons and crayons and small games.
Malagasy people love speeches, so we all crammed into a room in a little hut where various speeches were held. The people were dressed in their sunday best, you could see that...
About those speeches: well, to make a speech it is a very great honour for a Malagasy. They start their speeches with phrases like: it is with great modesty that I speak, please forgive me that I speak to you, great honour and am not worth it....that repeated a few times before they get to the point...only seniors in a situation usually speak...

PHOTO: Association Mikolo, children and carers and group picture with us visitors.

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ANTSIRABE 2, Nov. 1st.

Lunch in Antsirabe at the house of the parents of one of the Circlers. A truly beautiful bungalow, with immaculate garden.
Then back to Antananarivo and dinner with Circlers and their friends.
There you have your extremes already: a visit to the orphans, first impressions of Malagasy streetlife, lunch in colonial atmosphere in Antsirabe and dinner in some formal dining room in Antananarivo. These houses are almost invisible from the street, surrounded by high walls, guarded with a solid gate that is opened by guards upon honking the car horn.
The governmental quarter of Antananarivo is accessed by a police post where car is checked before being allowed to enter.

PHOTO: (top and bottom left) colonial style bungalow, (bottom right) dining room in the governmental quarter of Antananarivo.

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TULEAR, Nov. 2nd,.

Up early to catch the plane to Tuléar, with an in between landing in Fort Dauphin. Was Antananarivo clouded and not too hot, the weather in Tuléar was really hot and humid. The start of a great tan! Luggage collected into taxi brousse and off on an approx. 23 km. drive to the hotel. Which took us more than 3 hours because the road (paid for 3 times but never repaired) was horrendous. But the spectacle of daily life is so immensely impressive that it didn't seem too long.

PHOTO: (top) taxis brousses crammed with people, luggage and livestock and (bottom) mangrove.

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TULEAR 2, Nov. 2nd.

Arrival at Mangily hotel was a relief nonetheless. The cabins right on the beach were comfortable (mosquito nets, good bathrooms). Ordered our first Coke, a big one...so it came as a one-litre bottle. This, it seems, is usual in Mada. Flat mineral water is called "Eau Vive" and the local beer is "Three horses Beer (THB)".

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BEACHLIFE, Nov. 3rd.

Life starts at 06.00 pm. The previous night, two pirogues had been asked for to go out to the coral riff for some snorkling. Life is hard!
The sea is more salty than in Europe, so staying afloat in the water is much easier. A relief for the bad swimmer that I am. The water is crystal clear and there are wonderfully coloured fish and coral to be seen. There are also sea urchins, so beware.

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TULEAR/IFATY MAP

The village Ifaty is about 23 km. north of Tuléar. The Mangily hotel is just north of it. Interesting fact is that Tuléar is on the Tropic of Capricorn.
Tuléar is on the west coast in the south of Madagascar.

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NY FARIBOLANA, Nov. 3rd.

A project by a group of French Circlers who support a doctor's post, and plan to build a center for multihandicapped children near a small fishing village. They also plan to build an educational center for multi handicapped children there. The project is called Ny Faribolana / La Ribambelle. The French wanted to commit themselves, do something, go beyond their emotions. They struck up friendship with the locals and divided their project in 3 phases.

Phase 1, a doctor's post, with a small maternity hospital with a midwife. And the financing of a marketplace. This has already been accomplished.
<b>PHOTO</b>: The doctor's post, the water well (we were trying to fix the pump) and the French doctor Dr. Pantou, the instigator of it all.

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LA RIBAMBELLE 2, Nov. 3rd

Phase 2 is to build a reception center for the children of the region where they stay for 2 weeks to benefit from sanitary education and prevention of transmitted illnesses such as cholera, malaria, aids and bilharziosis. And they can discover the sea.

Phase 3 is to build a center for multihandicapped children with access to the sea.
<b>PHOTO</b>: top left - the marketplace (the building is not on the photo), top right - the local doctor with the visitors, bottom left - the "kitchen" is outside! and bottom right - Mme and Dr. Pantou received a medal for their work. We were all there to witness the gouvernor of Tuléar and province hand it over with long speeches and fabulous stuff to eat afterwards!