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| Despite having one of the highest poverty rates in the world, Kids are kids while parents are digging for gold or doing laundry Underneath this bridge they are running on. |
It’s hard to put into words what I felt when visiting this beautiful and vastly different region of Africa, Madagascar, my twelfth country in this immense continent. Malagasy people are considered the friendliest in the world, they follow what they call fihavanana or brotherhood which states that ‘every guest, even a stranger, should be warmly welcomed’. They are a peaceful and kind people. I witnessed this over and over during my one month stay.
They do their best to avoid
conflicts in a world of greed and forever dominating expansion and are too
often left at the wrong end of the stick.
They have made a few gains here and there but their message doesn’t seem
to get across to the big wigs at the top: ‘Please stop expansion at our
expenses.’
This leads me to my next point:
On my way here – literally as I was
landing in Paris on one of my many flights from Spokane to Madagascar, I
received a message from the tour company letting me know ‘manifestations’
– aka political unrests – were happening in Antananarivo, the capital of
the country, where my flight was landing and that there would be curfews, military
oversight, to please check that my travel insurance still covered me under
these circumstance, and to stay put until the tour started.
I had arrived two days early to
enjoy the capital on my own and managed to get around anyway but I had to be
very careful not to enter certain hot zones where the military was ready to
arrest, subdue, hurt with rubber bullets or teargas, etc. I contacted five agencies trying to find a
local guide to tour me around but only one was willing to take a chance, all
others felt that it would be too dangerous.
I wasn’t allowed to take pictures and tried really hard not to even
stare at any military personnel.
The Gen Zers were the most vocal but it’s the same old story, protests or discontent about the cost of living, chronic water and power outages, limited job opportunities, plundering of natural resources, corruption and nepotism among the elite and/or government. People who are connected even in a very fragile way can no longer afford water and electricity – and – even if you can afford it, power is often turned off and so is water.
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| Map of my wonderful exploration of Madagascar I landed in Antananarivo two days before the tour started I then traveled to Anstirabe and Miandrivazo first Going counterclockwise around the country I did the optional extension to Anjozorobe as well |
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| The Gassy Country Hotel, my first few nights are spent here Built of palisander (now a rare expensive wood like rosewood) and bricks - beautiful setting A few days to myself to reduce jetlag effects after a long 44 hour travel time |
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| Gassy Country Hotel pool lined with bougainvilleas Before heavy rain started |
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| The reason Madagascar is called the Red Island Mostly clay soil with poor agricultural value |
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| But, out of clay, you can make bricks Smoke coming out of kiln baking bricks |
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| Close up of a kiln Background with various vegetable crops |
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| Houses between the fields They have no electricity or running water Lots of ducks in these fields |
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| Stacking and drying bricks The clay is often replenished when floods come through During rainy seasons |
President Andry Rojelina
(2019-2025, eight president of Madagascar) and three of his cronies ‘escaped’
during the night, first flying the presidential helicopter to the island of
Sainte-Marie (east of Madagascar), where a French military aircraft was
waiting. They then reached the island of
Réunion where a private jet from Germany flew the president to Dubai. The locals are upset that French forces helped
them flee the island.
Over two decades, Madagascar went
from the 124th poorest country in the world to the 184th,
falling 60 points down the poverty ladder.
These last two presidents hastened this collapse. Now a military council is in charge for at
least 18-24 months, until new elections are called. Colonel Randrianirina, the current leader
says he has the support of France but people worry about his reasons for visiting
Moscow. Randrianirina stated: ‘We are
open to all types of collaboration.’
Since USAID has stopped helping the
Malagasy people it has made things much worse, especially in rural areas. It has led to 1,000 farmers being abandoned
and the shutdown of health, education, agricultural development and
biodiversity protection programs. Suddenly
gone are the promises of permanent houses, enough seeds for five years,
fertilizers, farming equipment and technical support to cultivate a large field
provided by the government, not to mention health centers and schools.
The program distributed some 100
million units of anti-malaria treatments, offered more protection from malaria,
provided vaccination to more than ½ million people, trained 2,000 health
workers, gave accreditation of 33 drugstores and more than 6,700 vaccination sites. All that is now gone.
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| Rova of Ambohimanga (aka Royal Palace) Gigantic circular stone (R) was rolled over this entrance to block entry All that is left of one of seven entrances to the palace |
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| Typical small street market just outside the entrance to the palace They are found everywhere in Madagascar |
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| Madagascar flag next to the palace This fortress was built of cement made of shells, sand and egg whites. They used 16 million eggs for the outer wall alone. |
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| Sight from viewing tower - painted in the flag colors Green, red, and white. |
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| Where important people met with the royalty Glass all around, great view of the valley below and mountains around |
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| Wooden buildings made of palisander wood (akin to rosewood) Very strong, resistant to termites and now rare and expensive It took 2,000 slaves to transport this wood and build this palace |
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| Local dancers - show while I had lunch I was the only spectator |
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| The rain didn't stop them from changing costumes and dancing |
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| Or the band playing |
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| Crown of thorns used as fencing in many places on the island Euphorbia Milii - native of Madagascar |
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| Sign that says LAVAGE, meaning laundry The water below the three poles doesn't look very clean |
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| But this is where everyone seems to wash everything Laundry, people, bicycles, vehicles, animals, etc. |
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| And they use these kinds of buckets to carry said water Old cooking oil buckets you find everywhere Here they were cut and handles were added |
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| Sugarcane stacked neatly before being picked up Many wooden carts waiting to be filled and pulled by zebus, their version of cattle as beast of burden |
Most people are employed in
subsistence low-productivity agriculture which is 70% of total employment – in
this sector 90% of households are poor. Child
malnutrition is high – from 9% in 2021 it quickly grew to 39.8% today. Repeated climate disasters (50 large ones in
the last 35 years) have destroyed crops and farming equipment and have
continued negative consequences for employment and earning opportunities.
With poor infrastructure,
especially insufficient power supplies, no large companies want to invest in
Madagascar, creating a lack of job opportunities. It’s important to also note Madagascar’s
geographic isolation, environmental degradation, and corruption. Small, poor
and spread out population (29.61 million people) means foreign companies lack
the incentive to invest here.
Madagascar’s forest and farmlands
are disappearing at an alarming rate.
More than 90% of the country’s forest have been lost, and 25-30% of the
land is burned every year due to slash-and-burn farming (aka tavy). Soil erosion is a huge problem, making it
harder to grow crops. River and water
sources often get contaminated which leads to diseases. Malaria is also an issue in parts of
Madagascar (not where I went however).
The tour I took focused on nature
and is trying to show the locals that they can have better standards of living,
keeping what is left of their forests intact for animals like lemurs and
chameleons which many tourists want to see.
They are also famous for their many orchids. As a reminder, Madagascar being so remote has
many endemic plants and animals found nowhere else in the world – the true
reason I came here.
Madagascar is rich in natural
resources, has a very unique biodiversity and truly vibrant culture but its
economic system still operates like a colony.
Instead of developing local industries that benefit its people, the
economy is largely based on extracting natural resources like minerals, timber,
and seafood and exporting them to wealthier nations, with little benefit
returning to the Malagasy people.
Without investment in sustainable industries like manufacturing,
technology, or renewable energy, Madagascar remains dependent on foreign
companies that exploit its resources without investing in the country.
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| These heavy and strong carts still built by hand |
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| The further west you go, the more Muslim influence My first sighting of a mosque from my hotel room Many are Animist and Catholicism is growing |
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| Passiflora Coccinea Native to South America |
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| Crossing dry high plateau on our way west |
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| Panoramic version of same landscape as above picture |
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| Another reason it's called the Red Island I read that even from space it looks red |
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| From dry plateau to well irrigated rice paddy |
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| Mango tree by rice paddy |
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| Rice seedlings ready to mature over the next few months This area grows white rice, the NE grows red rice Red rice is not often served to tourists, locals don't think they would like it |
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| Once a rice paddy dries up |
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| Various stages of rice paddies Brown, wet, green, yellowish-green |
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| It seems like every hill is carved out for agriculture in one way or another This biker is barefoot, a common sight |
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| Another type of cart with all wooden wheels |
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| Fahaleovantena means independence, shown with measures of their national anthem To the right, above the red zebu head, are listed the local 18 tribes |
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| Antsirabe was known for its thermal waters (Ville D'Eaux) Boites Postales (mail boxes) |
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| Primary school |
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| Hotel des Thermes Antsirabe means 'The city of water' |
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| Making aluminum cookware by hand At a foundry in Ambatolampy Very fine graphite-like sand is tapped to make molds |
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| Tapping aluminum pot to release it from the sand filled mold This type of sand is only found in this region |
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| Filling aluminum pot with sand They are bare hand and bare foot - a dangerous way to work around hot liquid metal |
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| Getting ready to pour hot liquid aluminum in mold They recycle aluminum to make new pots, pans, decorative accents, etc. |
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| Using feet to stamp sand in pot They learn this work from generation to generation |
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| Keeping pressure on while pouring liquid hot aluminum in mold |
According to CIA data, Madagascar
has around 50,000 km of roads of which only 5,800 km are paved. Most roads are in terrible condition. Cyclones and heavy rains often destroy roads
and bridges, even destroying ferries, cutting off entire regions from trade or
emergency aid. Without reliable
transportation, businesses struggle to grow, and rural communities remain
isolated. The only positive aspect of
this isolation for me was that I didn’t see the influence of the military coup
in these remote locations, only in main cities.
‘When
all livelihoods are destroyed, people’s overall health rapidly deteriorates.
To
survive, villagers are forced to sell their assets or pull their children out
of school.
This in
turn increases the rates of early marriage and sexual violence.
It’s a
vicious cycle.’
Sylvie Montembault, EU Humanitarian Programs
While on the west side of
Madagascar, far away from the conflict, we heard of a maternity ward being
teargassed. One baby died, a mother was
beaten. I thought that leaving the US
would allow me a bit of distance from the obscenity of warlike control of
people, but sadly not so.
I was never worried except for a
possible delay in flights because they depend on tourism and wouldn’t want to
hurt their golden goose. Many airlines canceled
all flights to this country until things settled down – they didn’t want the
liability. I was lucky to fly with one
of the very few airlines that didn’t cancel: Ethiopian Airlines. Air France, Emirates and Turkish airlines, Kenya
airways, all canceled flights until unrest subsided.
The locals love their peace and
nature. A conglomerate tried to bring a large
private resort near a famous park I visited.
The locals turned them down for the possibility of their ruining the
tranquility, nature or cachet of that place.
Though extremely poor, they do not want their country parceled away to
the largest bidder.
The vast majority of folks here
live on around $2.15/day – one of the poorest countries in the world. The average age is only 25! Think about that. Malnutrition and lack of medical attention
are two causes. Life expectancy is about
62 for men and 65 for women.
A day laborer, toiling for 10 hours
per day in fields is either given rice for their work (4 cups) or paid the
equivalent of $0.45-$1.50 a day (depending on areas where they work).
We only eat rice and cassava; meat is eaten at Christmas.
Says a woman planting rice.
I think of all these statistics as
I travel in this otherwise beautiful country.
I am posting pictures for you
to enjoy now before attempting to explain in more details a little later what I
experienced and learned.
Enjoy
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| Taking a break from looking for gold or washing clothes |
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| Playing in a small waterfall while mom is doing laundry |
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| Drying up after playing in the water |
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| Sleeping baby while parents are looking for gold |
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| The search for specks of gold |
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| Drying laundry |
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| Kids always find a creative way to play or copy their parents |
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| Pounding rocks into powder with metal poles Moving the powder back towards center with their feet Looking for gold with great coordination |
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| Colored iguana, very common where I stayed for a night before floating down the Tsiribihina River for three days |
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