MZANZI ISSUE 16

West coast
Travelling southwest you’ll get to Toliara, also known as Tulear, the capital of this
region and an old French administrative and harbour centre with a strong colonial
character. The city has many good hotels, many of them right on the seafront where
at low tide, the sea withdraws to give way to a vast beach. Inland is a desert area not
unlike parts of Namibia.
Here Georges took us to a traditional restaurant – little more than a desert shack with
some rickety tables and two ancient primus stoves for cooking. But the hospitality
was out of this world and the food even better. The menu was simple: trondro, osilahy
or orakoho - fish, goat or chicken, plus the locally produced Lazan ‘I Betsilio wine to
wash it down with.
Well into the clear starry night, after a truly delicious meal and several bottles of Lazan
‘I Betsilio later, we suddenly heard the sound of guitar music and singing drifting in our
direction from within a small grove nearby. Curious, we went to inspect and found a
merry group of dancing and singing girls and boys playing on crude home-made guitars
as they emerged from the bush. Soon we were dancing and singing and stamping our
feet along with them deep into the night.
Travelling from Tulear up the west coast, we passed through several traditional villages
where time stood still. Women returned from the sea carrying huge fish on their heads,
while men were hollowing out tree trunks to make traditional dugout canoes or were
busy making charcoal. Friendly villagers invited us into their traditional Malagasy homes
built of wood and grass. Every couple of kilometres along the coast we came upon rustic
little lodges right on the beach under the palms, mostly owned by French expats who
had been here for years with no intention of ever returning to the rat race of Europe. \
And all the rest…
There is simply so much to do and see around Madagascar it could keep you busy
and in awe for years. You can watch the “turning of the bones”, an annual ritual where
families visit the burial tombs of the deceased, wash the dead bodies, turn them around
to make them comfortable and drape them in fresh cloths. Or see how the locals go
into the mountains to mine and polish the most beautiful semi-precious gemstones,
made for the traditional French solitaire boards, one of which you will find in every
Malagasy home.
There are many fantastic hikes, reefs to snorkel, lagoons ands rivers to row or sail on,
little islands to visit, mountains to explore, bustling markets to browse around in, and
amazing fauna and flora to discover, found only on this island in its rainforests, jungles,
mountains and on the vast plains. Join in one of the carnivals or watch the national
dominoes championship. Dance with traditional musicians making their music that is
unique to Madagascar. Or explore the many other fascinating cities like Morondava on
the west coast, Mahajanga further north, Antisiranana on the northern tip of the island,
Toamasina on the east coast, and Antsirabe and Fianarantsoa in the central parts.
And know this: wherever you go, you’ll smell the vanilla. After all, Madagascar produces
some 97% of this fragrant spice for the world, a spice that is these days as valuable
as silver.
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