The World’s Fourth Largest Island

Do you know the three islands which are larger?  Madagascar is the fourth largest, located two days sail off the coast of Africa.  It is also the third least developed economy in the world.  We have seen poverty in India and Cambodia , but Madagascar is far poorer than anyplace we have ever been.  Gives a new definition of the word poor!

Other places have some developed areas in port cities.  Madagascar has an open air market for all the needs of the inhabitants.  If you live in the city, you go to the market for food, water, haircuts, massages, household goods and anything else you need.  There is no running water in the city.  All water must be hauled from central locations. 

Rice fields

If you live in the countryside, you grow some food or rice.  However, the country does not grow enough rice, the staple food eaten 3 times a day, to feed the growing population. The rice, etc is mostly imported, likely from SE Asia. 

Vegetable farming with wooden tools

In rural areas, it is customary to have six sons and six daughters.  The price of a bride is one cow, or about $100 US.  On the other hand, if you have children before you get married, the price goes up to two cows.  Elementary education is mandatory, but in the rural areas, few of the children we saw were in school.  

Even the youngest toddlers we saw held their hands out for candy or money.  Wherever you stop, women and children try to sell you hand carved figures.  I do not know who makes them. 

Our morning trip took us to a private reserve to see the animals, principally the lemurs.  There are 4 types of lemurs in Madagascar and we saw all of them.  At least that is what the guide said.  Some of them appeared only as large shapes moving in the top of the trees.  

White Lemurs are the most common, followed by ring-tailed, brown and bamboo lemurs that only live in the giant bamboo trees.  These bamboo trees grow to over 100 feet tall.  That would make some cane fishing pole! 

Both the ring-tailed lemurs and the white lemurs were active, jumping from tree to tree and branch to branch.  Some of them posed for us, or so it seemed.  I was surprised at the size of them.  The ring- lemurs had a body about four feet long and a bushy tail longer than their bodies.  The bamboo lemurs were the smallest, about half that size.

The reserve is fenced, so we were not surrounded by people selling or asking for hand-outs, but some boys made money by catching chameleons or baby birds and showing them so you could take a picture and pay them.  It is illegal, so as soon as someone from the park service came near, they ran, only to pop up on another trail. 

We saw a lot of other animals in the area, including a single crocodile in a fenced area.  Once there were three, but the biggest ate the smaller ones so he (she?) now lives a lonely life.

There was also a fence around the tortoises to keep them from wandering too far.  While we were looking at them, a tree boa slid by.  He was small, only about four feet long and about an inch in diameter.  The measurements are approximate since I did not pick him up to measure him.

The reserve was only 10 -12 kilometers from the ship, but it took over an hour to get there.  Part of the way was on roads paved by the mining company so they could export a mineral used to make titanium.  The company has helped build the piers and other infrastructure needed for their operations.  Once you left that road, the track was wide enough, but so rocky, rutted and uneven that it took a 4-wheel drive vehicle to navigate them.  Even so, our truck bottomed out twice, scraping the bottom of the engine.  We feared that it would breakdown and strand us.  That would not happen unless we were the last vehicle, since there were several vehicles carrying people to the reserve. 

We had to go around small herds of cattle and goats, but I have no idea where they were going.  Some people were working on large piles of rocks making gravel and building blocks with a hammer and chisel.  As we drove by the houses, people stared and many waved.  Young children ran alongside the vehicles begging.  

Women carry large bundles or baskets on their heads, and men carry packages on sticks balanced on their shoulders.  Laundry is done in a large pan in the yard and hung on fences or bushes to dry.  Many of the children wore t-shirts supporting one political party or another.

The picture is straight.  The house is not.

Houses and fences are usually made of the fronds of the traveler palm.  The trunk is cut into boards to make a framework and the walls are sticks or vertical boards.  The roofs are tin or palm fronds.  Cooking is done over an open fire, either charcoal or sticks.  

Viking had collected used clothing from the passengers to donate along with $50,0000 worth of supplies like linens and food.  Each time a Viking ship comes into a port that Viking has not visited before, the Captain and officers present a plaque to the town and in return receive one from the local officials.  At this ceremony, Viking presented the goods, clothing and 75 baby hats that Sue's knitters have made since we left Miami.