Madagascar: The Red Island

December 13, 2014

Colourful chameleons are just one reason to visit this amazing island.

When M and I were initially talking about places we wanted to travel to while living in South Africa, the first place on M's list was Madagascar. And no, it wasn't because he'd seen the movie. His main attraction was the fact that it's a huge, intriguing island that everyone has heard of but few people have ventured to. For me, I loved the idea of going somewhere while living in S.A. that would be tough for us to get to from Canada (the fact that Madagascar sounded super interesting was helpful too). And so, we set off for a 23-day adventure on the Red Island.

First, why is it called the Red Island? Apparently it's because the island was once covered in lush green rainforest, but over-farming caused the "laterite" soil to be exposed, making the massive island red. Oh, while we're onto trivia tidbits, store this one for your next quiz night: Madagascar is the world's forth largest island behind Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo. You're welcome.

The one word that continually comes to mind when I try to describe Madagascar is "different". I know, different is not a very descriptive word, as it depends entirely on what you've seen before and what is "different' for you. I was just so surprised by the contrast between Madagascar and other places we've visited on the continent. The people and their traditions, the varieties of wildlife, the scenery; they were all new to me. Also, it was so different in different parts of the country. The south was nothing like the north, and the midlands were a world apart from the coastal areas.

The best way to explain our experience in Madagascar is to show it to you...which I will do, just not yet. What I thought I'd do first is set the stage a bit.

Here's a brief overview of Madagascar, M & A style:

1. Public Transit: Madagascar has one option for long-distance public transport- "taxi brousse"- bush taxis. These old-school vans or buses are crammed to busting on the inside with passengers, and piled high with luggage, chickens, furniture and other goods on the outside. This packed state together with the fact that the passengers are often sick from the stifling heat, the buses frequently break down due to poor maintenance, and they travel very long distances without rest stops on windy and bumpy roads, has earned them the title as the single worst public transit system on the planet (according to the Lonely Planet).

The main taxi-brousse station in Tuléar, a busy city on the south-western coast of the country. Note the men a-top of the buses tying down the loads. Also, the baskets on top of the bus on the far left contain chickens.

2. Driving: Foreigners are not permitted to hire vehicles for self-drive in Madagascar (meaning you must also hire a driver). I'm sure it could be done under the table or by the smaller local companies, but with the poor road network, lack of adequate insurance, and virtually non-existent cell phone coverage, we weren't exactly tempted to make a go of it. We chose to hire a 4x4 and a driver to take us around the country (we organized it through a local Madagascar tour company- Cactus Tours). Having our own transport allowed us to stop when we wanted, and having a local driver meant that he knew exactly how to navigate the 1.5 lane-wide, pot-hole ridden "road". Not to mention the fact that it provided us with insights we never would have had if we were on our own. You know, critical information like which towns have usable bathrooms (or a decent shrub to hide behind without farmers watching from every direction) and which village sells the sweetest mangos.

The RN7- one of Madagascar's main national highways.

3. Money: The currency used in Madagascar is the Airary (MGA). At the time of our trip, one South African Rand was worth roughly 300 MGA (or one Canadian dollar was equal to approximately 2,600 MGA). The largest bill in Airary is 10,000 MGA (in case you need a little help with math(s)- it works out to less than $4 or R40). That makes for a serious wad of cash, and ATMs were very few and far between. And of course, nearly everywhere only took cash. We looked like drug dealers. Random tidbit of information: the Airary is not a trading currency, meaning that you cannot buy it outside of the country, so it's necessary to bring Euros and exchange them upon arrival.

You read that right, the duck is 20, 000ar...or roughly $7. This place, Le Café de la Gare, was an incredible restaurant we went to for lunch in Antananarivo, the country's capital city.

4. Visitors: Children yelled "Vazaha!" at us everywhere we went. This is the term locals use to describe tourists, but contrary to what we first assumed, this is not a derogatory term. This article explains it well; Malagasy people hold western cultures in very high regard, and to them it is more a term of awe than disrespect.

The path we were on went directly through a small village, and the children were very interested in the "Vazahas".

5. Cuisine: The food in Madagascar was a mixed bag in terms of quality, but there were a few noteworthy items on both ends of the spectrum. The local beef is called "zebu", which is a apparently a species of cow that is common in tropical climates (also found is south Asia). They look different from regular cows in that they have a large hump on their shoulders, and they have droopy ears. As for the meat, it has a slightly game-y taste, and the quality is not generally held in high regard (we can attest to this, unfortunately). We preferred the poulet when it came to brochettes (grilled skewers). It wasn't all doom and gloom though- we gorged on fresh mangos and lychees, and were big fans of the chocolate (shocking, I know).

Zebu(s) crossing. Interestingly, this is one of the best roads (condition-wise) that we saw anywhere in the country.

6. Beverages: Madagascar has an interesting array of beverages to choose from, alcoholic or otherwise. For starters, the country has its own flavour of soda/pop/cool drink- Bonbon Angalis. It is sometimes referred to as "lemonade", but really it is what I think a slightly citrusy cream soda would taste like. For coffee, it is generally very dark and strong, often instant, and served with sweetened condensed milk. Getting fresh milk in Madagascar is a mission (long-life, canned and powered milk are not easy to come by). Rhum Arrangé is another popular beverage; we first encountered this in Réunion, and it is even more popular in Madagascar. It's basically homemade rum infused with various fruits and/or spices, and is often offered as a friendly or welcoming gesture. Lastly: while they do make wine in Madagascar, it really left something to be desired. M&A travel tip: stick with the rum.

Graciously accepting rhum arrangé at a cute little cafe on the island of Nosy Be. We sampled lychee and vanilla varieties.

7. Language: The official languages in Madagascar are French and Malagasy. While in the very rural communities Malagasy is spoken almost exclusively, in the majority of places there is at least some understanding of French. The language is a large reason why the majority of tourists in Madagascar are from France; it would be a very tricky country to navigate as a visitor without at least a general understanding of French. I was scraping at my high-school French big time.

Attempting a malagasy/broken french bartering session with this very sweet lady. For interest's sake, the plate-basket things are for sifting and sorting rice. I thought they were beautiful (I bought three: the Christmas-coloured one in the front, the heart-shaped one hanging on the bottom left, and a traditional round tan-coloured one).

8. Culture: Given the isolation of Madagascar, it isn't really a "multi-cultural" place- it is inhabited mostly by Malagasy people. The Malagasy culture is very unique from the rest of the African continent, including their tribal customs and beliefs. For example, the Malagasy people believe certain things are "fady"- which loosely translates to taboo or inappropriate. There is a whole range of things that are considered fady, and it varies from region to region in terms of what is fady for that particular village. For example, in some places it is fady to point at an object with your forefinger, in others it is fady to sing while eating, and in others it is fady to sit in a doorway while the rice is sprouting.

Malagasies selling fruit and meat in a bustling town close to the nation's capital city.

9. Wildlife: If you've spent a bit of time on this blog or with me in person, my next statement will not come as a surprise to you. The thing I was most excited about going to Madagascar for was to see lemurs. I can never get enough of seeing wildlife in its natural habitat, and with Madagascar being the only place on the planet for the 100+ known species of lemurs, this was my incentive for adding the world's fourth largest island to our "must-do" list. From the largest lemur- the Indri, to the dancing lemurs- the sifakas- I wanted to see them all. And, as luck would have it, we were there in time to see baby lemurs, too. Cuteness overload, really. With that all being said though, I wouldn't be doing Madagascar's wildlife justice if I left it at that. Madagascar is home to many, many different species of, well, everything. Blue frogs, fluorescent chameleons, and fuchsia bugs are just a few of the remarkable collections the country has to offer.

Of the dozen or so different species of lemurs we saw throughout the country, these Verreaux Sifakas were my favourite. This adorable mama and baby may have helped sway my vote...

10. Landscape: The thing about Madagascar is that the landscape and the environment are drastically different depending on where you go in the country. Rice-paddies are stacked into the hillsides in central Madgascar while the coastal areas are lined in white-sand beaches. Baobab trees dot the southern deserts while leafy green forests cover the inland parks. And of course, given that it's the "Red Island", fire-red gorges and cliffs abound. It's the kaleidoscope of it all that makes the country so unique.

 Red Tsingy in northern Madagascar.

There's much more to share from our trip to Mada; stay tuned.