Trip to Madagascar - Travel & Antananarivo - April 2004
(click any picture to get enlargement in a new window)
Our 2-week trip to Madagascar
 started with an uneventful
flight from Jo'burg, South Africa to Antananarivo (Tana), the Capitol of Madagascar.

As we approached the coast of
Madagascar we could see big
deltas by each river's mouth.
The large amount of sediment
is due to erosion caused by 
the clearing of vegetation.
The western lands have rolling hills and are sparsely inhabited. The population increases inland, since water is more abundant. As we come to Tana we can see many farms and small villages.
Tana is located on a mountain plateau and is at an elevation of about 1200m (4000 ft). It is a populated area, with half 
of the country's 16 million people
living around here.		 There are few good streets and those are crowded with old
vehicles, people & animals.
The people seem very religious
(mostly Christian).		 They lead a rather simple life
 based upon agriculture.  		 Sports and education seem to 
be given high importance. 
It was common to see newer vehicles and older animal carts sharing the same road. The markets were active and we felt very secure walking around (unlike South Africa). Overall we were pleasantly surprised by how gently the people acted towards us.
Monika invited us to a friend's house for a nice Easter brunch. The pet turtle (not endangered) enjoyed getting tickled by Nicole. Jay found it weighed more than he thought; the turtle smiled!
At the edge of town we could see the fields of rice, the staple crop.  Nicole mentioned that it looked very similar to Vietnam. Jay thought it looked European, maybe from French influence.
The next day we headed East towards some National Parks. Note the long Malagasy names. We hired a driver since rental cars were not an option.  As we left town we saw nice valleys. At the bottom of each valley was
a set of rice fields; using every
drop of water they could.
The homes here were built quite solidly; mainly with bricks. There were no fences or gates, so they must feel secure. Many buildings had shops on the bottom, with living areas on top.
Cities along this road did well, as it was the only route from the major port city; lots of trucks! Pull-carts (called pousse-pousse) are used as taxis by the locals 
in this particular town.		 We were surprised to see many imported French sundry items available at these tiny shops.
We didn't see any billboards, but there was an ad on this big rock. Dams & hydro-power help
supply electricity to most people.		 As we dropped in elevation, so did the amount of people.
There was little agriculture here, so the incomes were smaller ... ... and thus the towns looked
 much more run down.		 Does anyone want to stay at this hotel?    Not us!
Surprisingly, the people didn't pay much attention to us.  We were afraid they would swarm around and beg, but they didn't.

Even in the remote park areas, where the buildings were made from mud & sticks, people acted nicely; too bad the same isn't true in more "civilized" places!


Continue to the Lemur Reserve (National Park) Page  

Return up to the Madagascar page