The Red Island

blog 3.  10/13/12
I've had several titles in mind for this blog entry: <I'm not a vegetarian anymore>, <I think I just heard a pig die>, <Lemurs in Ranomafana>, <Let the larium dreams begin>... but as I look back at the last 5 days, one thing is everywhere- RED.  It is beautiful red dirt contrasted with the bright green of rice fields terraced up and around every curve of mountain.  It is red river bed churned up into brown water by Malagasy women panning for gold.  It is the red belly of lemurs hanging from trees and the crazy potholed section of land they call a road that we travel every day.  It is my new layer of red dust skin and it is the red-orange flames of fire that burn the land as we drive by.
Madagascar is beautiful and poor.  44% of the population is under 15 years old, 90% of the population lives on less than $2 per day and 95% of the rain forest is gone.
It is depressing to drive for hours and see scorched land everywhere you look, some of it still on fire, some of it recently burnt- charred and dead, some of it sprouting new green grasses to begin the process again.  Most striking is the lone skeleton of a tall tree giving reference to where the forest canopy used to be.  Thankfully, the journey didn't start out like this.  In the highlands, it seems every inch of plantable dirt is cultivated and beautiful bright green with vegetation.  Of course, this used to be jungle too but at least it is productive.  Our route, took us south from the capital, Antananarivo to Antsirabe for lunch then Ambositra to sleep. Next day to Ranomafana, where we spent 2 nights and I saw my first wild lemurs!  Red bellied, sifaka, golden bamboo and greater bamboo lemurs.  Thankfully, some pockets of primary forest remain as habitat for these guys.  From there we left the "good road" behind and headed east to Manakara for one night.  Next night in Vangaindrano, just north of the tropic of Capricorn.  The next 2 days were very slow driving with many rivers, creeks and puddles to cross- some with bridges, some without (I eventually stopped counting after 30).  My feet only got wet twice.  The major rivers had ferry crossings- 10 in all- 6 motorized and 4 "by hand".  232 kilometers in about 10 hours over 2 days.  All along we pass through dozens of tiny remote villages.  Out in the middle of nowhere, all of the sudden a little community of wood huts appear and the Malagasy people are going about their daily lives: weaving, washing, cooking, selling, playing...  My favorite part of this trip so far is waving to the children as we drive by and watching their curious stares turn into smiling faces and hands waving and happy voices calling after us.  I love it!
We are spending about $12 per day for food and very basic accommodation.  I am in love with the freshly made yogurt. I eat rice every day and add a greasy egg omelette or yogurt for protein.  I stopped asking for beans when they came with chunks of chicken bone.  I am disappointed that mangos aren't quite in season yet but am delighted to find "coeur de boeuf everywhere I look!  (a yummy fruit I know as cherimoya at home and sweet sop in Jamaica)
We arrived in Fort Dauphin/Taolagnaro yesterday and promptly saw whales splashing and blowing about 300 yards from shore.  We all cheered when we hit the asphalt road but as good as it may be for driving, I prefer the road less traveled where the people are happy to see you.