Madagascar 2017: 2 - Antananarivo to Miandrivazo

Friday, October 20, 2017

After a light breakfast at the hotel a money changer arranged by Anthony came by and we bought a stack of Madagascar Ariarys at 3,000 per $US. 10,000 appears to be the largest bill, so while it wasn't by the garbage bag full as in Venezuela, it was a fair stack of money. There are few places here that accept credit cards, so cash is king.

We then embarked upon a long walking tour through some market areas, and along jeweler's street. I'd hoped to buy Marilynn's birthday present here, but prices were considerably higher than expected so after visiting three she decided on a new cell phone instead, to be purchased after we arrived home.

Both bubonic plague and pneumonic plague are spreading quickly in Madagascar, with well over 1,000 victims and more than 100 dead so far. The first is spread by rats, the second by exhaled breath from people who have the plague. Schools have closed and people are advised to avoid crowded places, although I notice city buses are still packed with people.

The cure is to start taking antibiotics as soon as symptoms are discovered. I carry a strong antibiotic whenever I travel, but as there were three of us we decided to purchase more locally – easier said than done. It was necessary to visit a doctor for a prescription then Anthony visited 9 pharmacies before finding antibiotics. Everyone is buying them up, including black market dealers who resell them at high prices.

Antananarivo is a city of about 3 million sprawled over 7 large hills. There are a lot of stairs, and a lot of up and down hill walking, but it is interesting to see many well preserved historic buildings still being used as homes. Business and residences side by side keep the downtown area vibrant. There are very few tall buildings, narrow streets twist and turn and pedestrians compete with cards for the limited amount of space. Cars have the right of way here, but they are unable to travel at more than a crawl so they are not a great threat.

Anthony knew another hotel were he inquired about availability of rooms without stairs, but it seems most hotels are up and down, and don't have elevators. Higher hotels around the perimeter of the city as not recommended unless they are upscale enough to have their own electricity generators, as frequent power outages make elevators chancy.

Hotels, including the one we are in, are barely noticeable from the street. The ones we saw were accessed by narrow entrances, or a narrow dark alley with high walls on both sides that made Marilynn nervous when we first arrived. Even signs are inconspicuous, but once inside they are nice. Curb appeal seems unimportant. The Saka Manga Hotel we visited for lunch looked nice inside, but no ground floor rooms were available. They have one of the better restaurants in a city so we had a good lunch accompanied by beer & wine. Alcoholic drinks are readily available, as 70% of the population are Catholic, and only about 15% Muslim.

As I was pretty much walked out we took a taxi back to our hotel to rest. Siesta time is still important here. Later, the car and driver who will be with us when we leave the city took us on a tour that included the Queen's Palace located on the top of the highest hill. Historically, the country was a matriarchy - the king had a tiny palace and the queen a huge one. She ran the show, but didn't seem to have a problem with the king having a dozen wives. The royal family still exists and are respected, but the political leaders are elected.

Back at our hotel Marilynn and I headed down to the bar area, where we made used of the internet while sipping drinks. Anthony arrive for our 7 PM dinner appointment, and we had a delicious, well served meal. Our hotel restaurant is reputed as one of the best on town, but there is nothing on the street level that would give any indication. A guide is most definitely required to find the city's hidden gems.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

I was down in the hotel lobby on the computer by 5:30 AM, as internet didn't work in our room. Before leaving I packed everything, much to Marilynn's annoyance (she was trying to sleep) leaving my suitcase by the door so I wouldn't have to walk back up the stairs. She came down later, and Anthony arrived about 9:30 for breakfast.

Once the car was loaded we headed off into the countryside on a quite good two lane road. There was a lot of truck traffic, plus many ox carts and a lot of similar carts with on man pulling and another pushing making the going quite slow in some areas. We stopped frequently for photos, or just to stretch legs, as although the car was large Marilynn doesn't sit well and my legs cramp quickly.

The countryside consisted of rice farms in the valleys and other farms making a quilt-work of the rolling hills. It appeared to be laundry day, as at each river, or in the rice paddies where there was no stream, women were doing laundry and spreading it on the ground to dry, while kids were playing in the water. In some areas it appeared the countryside was completely decorated with colourful clothing.

We stopped for lunch at a village noted for its fois gras. We shared a plate with large portions of five different flavours in which the restaurant specialized, then purchased a sealed mason jar full of vanilla fois gras to take with us for the river trip.

Later in the afternoon we arrived in Antisrabe, a town that was very popular in colonial times as an escape from low land heat and where Malagasy people still come for the cool air. There are a lot of beautiful colonial buildings with shade trees all around. After a walk around a market, and a stop at an appliance shop to buy Marilynn a hair dryer (they are not generally supplied by hotels) we went to a supermarket to load up on supplies for the coming river trip.

The La Chambre du Voyageurs Hotel where we will be staying for two nights was very nice, with individual cottages that had no stairs and beautiful gardens with a small lake. Once settled in we went for a long walk along an abandoned railway line that ran through shack areas where many poor people live. I was surprised we were not once approached to buy something, or for money, as in town there was always a swarm of people begging, or aggressively promoting items they had for sale. The people in the area were friendly, greeting us in French or Malagasy as we passed them. The children we saw had no toys, but as with kids everywhere they improvised with rims of bicycle wheels being rolled with a stick, or one group of four were sitting one behind the other on the tracks, with the one in front holding an old wheel rim as a steering wheel as he pretended to drive the train. There were lots of big smiles as Marilynn took photos and showed them to the people she photographed.

We were picked up by our driver when the tracks reached a main intersection to go to a popular restaurant for dinner and bottle of wine. We thought we would lose weight on this trip, but it turns out Madagascar is noted for good cuisine, and we now expect the opposite result!

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Once again there was no internet in the room, so I was in the lobby by 6AM on the computer. The electricity was off, so I used battery to do some writing until it came back on again. The first stop of the day was the super market where we loaded up on wines for the river trip, and then drove for miles through lovely countryside on dirt roads until we climbed on bad road to the entrance of Lake Tritriva. This is a beautiful, deep sacred lake is at the bottom of the caldera of an ancient volcano with high cliffs along one side. Our young local guide explained that it was considered bottomless until Jacques Cousteau and his team came to establish the bottom was at 142 meters. He also told us a number of legends associated with the lake.

A number of local teens surrounded us selling rocks and fossils they find in the area and polish to a high gloss. In talking to them we found many speak reasonable English, even though they have to walk many miles each day to reacb the high school where English is taught. A young girl I spoke with was now in university in Tana, where she rents a room for weekdays and returns to her village on weekends. She is studying biology, and furthering her English studies. A lot of emphasis is placed on education in this tiny village, encouraging the youngsters to go to school.

Lunch was at an amazing restaurant which served incredible food. After a siesta break Anthony and Marilynn walked a long way through an area of artisans making different things. I opted out as it would involve a lot of standing while Marilynn shopped, and that is hard on my knee. We were sufficiently impressed with the restaurant where we lunched to return for dinner.

Monday, October 23, 2017

In the wee hours of the morning things started to go wrong. Marilynn came down with a massive dose of diarrhea, and about two hours later I joined her. As soon as one was out of the bathroom the other was in. We started in on the arsenal of pills we carry for the occasion, but we were running steady until dawn, when we contacted Anthony to rearrange the days activities. An early start to a big Monday market was scrapped, and departure on the 5 hour drive to Miandrivazo was delayed until 11 AM.

By 10:30 AM we had a break from the runs of about an hour each and so decided to head out. It was extremely hot and the car had no air conditioning, so we sweltered. Fairly frequent stops were required to stretch, as my knees cramped up painfully and Marilynn does not sit comfortably on long car trips.

Along the route the hills and countryside were dried up from the long drought. We stopped to look down from a bridge where local people pounded huge poles into the bedrock, gathering the dust to examine for grains of gold. Others were panning in the river. The whole village is supported by gold

It was about 5 PM when we pulled into the river port town of Miandrivazo, and said goodbye to our excellent driver of the last few days. Anthony checked out the preparations for the Tsiribinha River trip, and the news was not good. Due to drought the river is low, and we'll have to drive the first 20 km of the 146 kn run. It also sounds like a bit of a zoo, with 20 other canoes leaving at the same time. If there is any wildlife we'll be taking them by storm!

Our hotel tonight, the Arc en Ciel, is old but not uncomfortable with large rooms, fans and 2 queen beds to a room. We had planned to shower here before the river trip, but the shower was disconnected and the toilet without a seat. Dinner in the restaurant was light due to tacky tummies, and we were in bed early.