Madagascar: first impressions.
I’ve been in Madagascar for a week now. Not enough time to have anything worthwhile to say but I’ll still record my initial reaction - if only to compare it with future perceptions.
After landing in Antananarivo - the capital city - some 400 km from the sea, I am now traveling down the RN7 road to the costal city of Tuléar. The landscape so far has mostly been the red earth high grounds from the center of the island which, to my amazement, reminds me very strongly of central Australia. Between 3:30 to 5 pm the sunlight turns golden and enhances everything it touches. I’ve also seen a couple of remarkable lakes around Antsirabe. One of them - the Tritriva lake - has surreal, bright blue water, and is almost completely still. The legend has it that two lovers who where denied marriage drowned themselves there and it is now “fady” (forbidden) to bathe in it.
The country seems to have exceptional ressources: ingenious people, skilled craftsmen, rare minerals, all kinds of crops, one-of-a-kind biodiversity, wonderful natural sights and even oil! Which makes it all the more surprising to witness how poor the general population is… From my limited understanding, the main explanation seems to point to years of political mismanagement and corruption. But even though the people are amongst the poorest in the world, I did not get the sense of desperation and urgency I’ve felt in other parts of the globe. Not until now at least. Folks are friendly and show genuine interest: it is not uncommon to be called out loud “Vasaha” (foreigner) by little children trying to grab your attention in the street. Of course some of them see you as a walking candy/cash/pencil dispenser but most are just curious and eager for an interesting interaction. Showing them their portrait on a digital camera is often enough to generate endless laughter and a procession of would-be models.
Madagascar may well be the land of tranquility or, as they say, mora-mora (pronounced mooramoor) but to me, right now, it looks like an extremely inviting playground…
