Day 79: Back and Forth

After many lengthy phone calls with Air Madagascar it became evident that the only way for us to secure seats back to Tana would be to visit an agency. So we sucked it up and took a taxi back to Fianar, once again, so that we could buy our seats.

Then we continued onwards, straight towards the mountains, in a slow-moving 4x4. We passed tiny villages and in between, kids were making the hour-long walk to or from school. The drive was made memorable by a key stop where our driver had to build the bridge out of wood from his trunk before we could continue on. Children swarmed us demanding candy, empty water containers, and even the clothes off our backs while we waited.

Three hours after leaving Ambolavao, we pulled up in front of some rustic bungalows and an open restaurant, we took a moment to stare out at the imposing rock wall that seemed to stretch across the entire horizon that we would be hiking into the next day. We were served a hearty late lunch, briskly washed off in their cold shower that produced only a trickle of water, and watched a storm roll across the sky. Dinner was a three-course meal listening to the echoes of huge, rumbling thunderclaps while watching the sky change so quickly you could barely take your eyes off it. Both sheet and fork lightning illuminated the open valley and made us anxious for our trek ahead.

Our guidebook indicated that to hike to the summit of Peak Boby and over the range to the other side, you would only need a two-day trek. But at the park office they insisted that we camp two nights in the mountains, with three days of trekking for it to be manageable. So we stocked up on a bit more rice and water and shrugged off canceling our reservation on the other side due to lack of cell reception. We tried our best to pack our bags so things would be appropriately accessible, and yet not too heavy for our porters. Then we bid goodnight to our traveling companions and headed off to sleep.

View from our starting point for the trek. The peak is labelled if you zoom in

Day 77 & 78: Ringed Celebrities

The next day was relatively uneventful... we hit the road at 5:30 am so we could stop in Fianar for lunch at our new favorite restaurant (mmm... canard à la vanille!). We passed first through the Ranomafana rainforest and begrudgingly admired the sunny day they were having, then the road grew less windy and the scenery rocky.

Ambolavao is a reasonably sized town with a bustling market where we bought rice and veggies for our trek, and a sweater, hat, and shoulder bag for Craig (all for under $8!). They have two factories: one paper, one silk, where they teach you how to make the products, which Erin visited with Heather and John.

The morning after we arrived, the four of us (Chloe and Peter continued onwards and we'll see them again on the coast) hired a taxi to take us out to the Anja community reserve. The Lonely Planet guide certainly downplayed this gorgeous park where we took a short hike through the brush in search of the infamous ring-tailed lemurs. We were worried by the sight of a tourist van in the parking lot but there turned out to be many little paths through the trees so we were able to avoid other groups.

We didn't have to walk far to find these engaging creatures. After about ten minutes we stopped to watch a pair play with a bird on the ground, then found a whole troop of them in the nearby trees. Ring-tailed lemurs are one of the only species to like dry, rocky terrain, so they are the only type found in this park.

It was a highlight of the trip to get so close to them and feel like we weren't intruding. They jumped through trees, ran across rocks, fed, groomed, and cooed to each other. We loved watching the babies - particularly one mother with twins on her back, and were pleased to hear that the rest of the group will help her care for the second if need be. Interestingly, ring-tails have a matriarchal society.

All-in-all, though short, Erin rates it as one of top three highlights of the trip, and we left very happy knowing our money is going directly into the hands of the community members to help them build schools, houses for the elderly, and guard their zebu.

On our way back to town we swung by the happenin' Zebu market that occurs every Wednesday and Thursday. It's the largest in the country! Owners walk their zebu from as far away as Tulier on the west coast (a 30-40 DAY walk!). It was quite the sight!

Day 76: Journey to the End of the World

We slept well and woke with the mindset to relax for a large part of the day. But we quickly ran into Heather and John who were moving into our hotel after braving two nights at Sidi. They had arranged a half-day pirogue tour (a wide dugout canoe with a roof) of the nearby canals. So we crashed their tour and were introduced to Ignace, the local expert guide and his crew.

We saw great views of the fisherman coming back from their morning at sea, their tiny pirogues bobbing and disappearing behind every mammoth wave. Next was a trip down the slender canals where we spotted the beautifully iridescent kingfisher.

We visited the rebellion monument for the 29 de mars and the foreign cemetery. Ignace tirelessly pointed out plants and sites with the passion of a schoolteacher preparing his students for a grand quiz. We observed the making of essential oils from eucalyptus and lemongrass, tasted honey made from lychee, and learned the basics of vanilla harvesting. Our last stop might have been the coolest - a carnivorous plant new to us both.

The oarsmen worked hard but it was still late when we got back to Manakara Be for lunch. We wanted to explore the Lonely Planet's top pick but had to find a way out to the secluded hotel 8km down the peninsula. Pousse-pousses were out - too much sand, we were told. So we finally negotiated ourselves a very lengthy moto-taxi ride that involved lots of hopping in and out and a fair amount of pushing for Craig and John.

In the end, the restaurant was rough around the edges and the 'beach as your bathroom' left a little to be desired, but our brief walk along the coast showcased the reasoning for this being one of their End-of-the-World locations.

We went to bed excited by the next day's travel thanks to our growing caravan. With Chloe and Peter, two Europeans we meet on the train ride joining our crew, we'd arranged a private brousse ride to take us the 8 hours the next day.

Day 73, 74, & 75: Chugga-Chugga-boo-BOO

Disclaimer: Sadly this post is not about our adventures with a haunted train.

We left Ranomafana in the white car we had come to know so well with Ritza at the wheel, dressed to the nines for the trip to the second largest city in Madagascar, Fianarostoa (Fianar for short). The city was bustling but not the horrid traffic nightmare that is Tana, as Fianar is a city of only 120,000 or so.

We had a relaxing day focused on enjoying the culinary delights of Madagascar; Caramel Duck Confit, Duck in a Vanilla Sauce, etc. We went to Fianar in order to take the train down to the coast, a journey we were told by Lonely Planet would be 7-12 hours. So the next morning we arrived at 6:30 for our 7am train to find a station packed with people. By 7:40 we were finally being allowed onto the train, the only problem was that we did not have an engine. By 9:30 we were on our way.

We quickly left the behind any roads and passed though remote hills and towns. We were given a lot of time to enjoy the towns as each stop to load and unload cargo took 1 hour; stops tended to be about 10-50 minutes apart. The scenery was beautiful, but the seats were cramped. and often all we could see was trees or rock passing by a few feet from the window. As the sun set as we approached the halfway mark we realized the journey would be more than the 12 hours we prepared ourselves for.

We eventually made it to Manakara at 12:50am over 18 hours after we arrived at the Fianar train station. After an eerie pousse-pousse (Rickshaw) ride through a dark sleeping city, we arrived and had dinner at 1:30am and went to sleep.

After a mere four hours of sleep we awoke and resigned ourselves to the fact that we weren't going to get any more on their wafer-thin mattress. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and made the most of their free Wi-Fi before finding a moto-taxi to take us to the peninsula.

At this point we made a list of the different forms of transportation we've used on the trip so far...

- plane

- taxi

- foot

- city bus (matatu/taxi-brousse)

- intercity bus/coach

- tuk-tuk

- Akmat

- dugout canoe

- motorboat

- ferry

- dhow

- 4x4

- pousse-pousse

- moto-taxi (tuk-tuk meets troop transport)

- pirogue

Delice Annex Hotel was located right across from the seawall. From the balcony of our second-floor bungalow we could see the top of the ocean come crashing in at full-speed, spraying water meters into the air. On our side of the giant wall was the river that led into the canals, constantly fuelled by the propelling waves.

We powered through for the rest of the day, refreshed from the sun and ocean air. We convinced the quaint canal-side restaurant to serve us dinner two hours earlier than normal so that we could be in bed by 7:30 for a much-needed sleep! 

Day 72: Soaked But Stoked

A few weeks ago, we came across the term 'flashpacker' in our Borneo book. It refers to people who travel long-term, like a backpacker, but with much less stuff. For example, we wouldn't have brought heavy warm clothes with us or a sleeping bag because it wasn't something we needed for the first two months. We would've just bought warm clothing when we arrived in Madagascar and needed it, and then ditched whatever we didn't need. In some ways, it's something we aspire to, as it would be much nicer to carry a smaller, lighter bag. But it is more expensive so not something we will be doing on this trip. 

Seeing as we were totally soaked even with raincoats the day before, we knew we had to be better covered the second day for our longer hike. So Craig fashioned us a pair of matching rain suits constructed from garbage bags. When we'd been walking along for a half hour or so, Craig stopped and chuckling to himself said 'We're Trashpackers!

Notice the Trash bag skirts to keep our legs and feet dry

This hike took us deeper into the forest away from the sizeable tour groups for the most part. We saw four new lemurs, orchids, and many crazy plants. The hike was longer and harder including five river crossings, some necessitating getting wet (Craig's boots are still wet 3 days later), and many steep slopes, once again all through a relentless rain. The highlight of the day was watching the Milne-Edwards' Sifaka jump through the trees above us.

After hiking we thought we would walk down to a fancy hotel near the park entrance to have lunch. Entering the restaurant, with tables covered in white cloth three spoons per setting etc, we tracked mud along the floor as our drenched clothes clung to our bodies while pouring a constant stream of rainwater around our boot tracks. We were told quite politely that the cook had only prepared enough food for the guests of the hotel, we decided to try and call Ritza our taxi driver to take us home but our phone ran out of money. We must have looked quite pathetic and pitiful because as we discussed what to do, they decided that they could in fact serve us lunch and provide us a brief reprieve from the rain.

Days 70 & 71: Wet and Wild

Now that we didn't need an early morning hospital visit, we set about deciding the best way to get south to Ranomafana. Over breakfast we met a couple from Ottawa, the first Canadians we'd seen in Madagascar so far, named Heather and John. It turned out they'd flown in the day before and were headed in the same direction.

Knowing we wouldn't survive the eight plus hours crammed into a taxi-brousse we decided to hire one to take only us. This way we were able to stretch out and didn't have to stop in every little village.

As it was, the ride was long. We had a nice lunch along the way at a pizzeria with a wood-burning oven, but the rest of the day was cold and slow. We rode on, gaining elevation and new scenery as we entered the highlands. Houses were made out of brick and were often two-story, huge rocks protruded from the hills, resembling Scotland, and sweeping views helped to keep us motivated. At long last, well past sundown, we arrived in town.

Our first choice turned out to have recently elevated their prices considerably and we were ushered out the door and on to a more affordable option. They thankfully agreed to serve us dinner even though we were arriving at their 9 pm cut-off. Many steps led up to our private peaked bungalow but it wasn't until morning that we appreciate the great view we had of the river valley.

 
The next day at the park office, we found a guide, Rudy. In the rain, which would be our constant companion for the next two days, he led us through a series of circuits, up and down hills an through the brush in search of lemurs. We disappointingly found our first, the Greater Bamboo Lemur, was nothing more than a motionless brown mass hiding from the rain. Our next sighting, the Golden Bamboo Lemur was moving around and much more interesting. The forest was beautiful and varied; we were often alone, but unlike our time in the North there were large tour groups in Ranomafana. We would come across these groups at each lemur sighting, twenty people all asking each other if they could see it, complaining about their view/the rain, or narrating every move. This certainly detracted from our wildlife experiences in the park.

 

On our way back to the park office we caught a glimpse of a third species-the Red-Fronted Brown lemur. They scurried away through the trees quickly but not before we got a good look and a decent photo.


After a smoking hot shower to warm up, we treated ourselves to a relaxing afternoon and dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in town. Cristo, run by an adorable Malagasy couple, has a huge verandah and sweeping views of the river valley (we got a few minutes of the view when the rain let up momentarily). We enjoyed talking with the owners. The woman designed it, the husband built it, and the daughter serves.

At 5:30, we called up our new friend, the only taxi driver in town, Ritza, to take us back through town and head up the hill to our night hike.

A rainy hour walking up and down the road rewarded us with a few new chameleon species, a frog, and an adorable brown mouse lemur.

Erin warmed up with some Pineapple Flambé

Day 69: Bitten by the Travel Bug

For our last few hours in Ramena, we strolled the beach and swam one last time in the crystal-clear water. There was one local thing that Erin hadn't done yet: have her face painted like the Malagasy women. They use paste to protect their faces from the sun, then paint over it with avocado 'make up' to create designs. It was worth a try!

Since our hotel *still* didn't have working internet, we chose to head to Diego early and have lunch at a swanky hotel at the edge of the bay. The food was outstanding (baked duck stuffed with mango, and chicken in a pineapple-cinnamon sauce), and the view breath-taking. Plus we were able to get a few posts up. From there, a quick trip to the airport had us on our way back to Tana. The flight hosted stunning sunset views over the multi-layered clouds. That view never gets old! We felt well-rested after our lengthy stay in Ramena, and excited about moving on the the South the next day!

The first bite with trail working its way up

Before heading to bed, we had one last task of the serious sort - Craig has had some unusual bites with red tails trailing up his arm the past couple of days. We've been deligently watching their progress, marking it off with a pen. We felt it worth a trip to the doctor just in case. When we arrived at our Hotel in Tana, we were unsure whether to go out to the hospital or wait til the morning to visit a clinic because it was already 8pm. Luckily, they knew a doctor who did house-calls, so over dinner Craig was poked and prodded (literally), and it was deemed serious enough to run a course of anti-biotics to battle the toxins of the unknown bite. It felt good to have a worries laid to rest in a needle of cortisone and a sachet of antibiotics. By morning, the redness and swelling from the bites had severely diminished and he was feeling more comfortable.