Ambalavao
Trip Start
Nov 18, 2002
1
108
157
Trip End
Ongoing
Ambalavao,
Madagascar
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Our next destination was Ambalavao which is 56km south of Fianarantsoa. We did make a one night stop over in Fianarantsoa on the way to catch up with some Dutch friends we had met in the beginning of our trip. Plus we had some internet and other things to do that only a major city here will allow you to do.
The journey down to Ambalavao took just over an hour. The clouds were rolling in thick and fast as we approached this town with a population of about 25,000 people.
We checked into a popular place called Hotel Aux Bougainvillees. Popular with bus loads of tourists all dropping by to stay or for lunch on their way to other destinations. Another main attraction here is the paper making factory. Well, that's a loose term 'factory' as it was just a courtyard with couple of stone buildings surrounding it. As you can see in the photos the paper is made from scratch
A small chameleon
. They start with the bark of the 'avoha' bush, which is first boiled in water to form a pulp, then it is pounded, spread out onto cotton cloth in wooden frames and left in the sun to dry. Once its almost dry, fresh flowers are pressed into it. It is then left to dry again, after which the paper is removed from the frames and made into cards, envelopes and picture frames all of which are for sale in a small shop. It was worth a visit definitely. As we had arrived on a Wednesday the weekly, 2 day Zebu market was in full swing. We did not know exactly where it was as we set off from our hotel but we just followed the majority crowd until we had walked through the town and out the other side. There on top of the hill were herds and herds of Zebu all being managed by their individual herdsmen. To stop one small herd joining another. This market is the largest in all of Madagascar. It was certainly very busy. It was also very difficult to comprehend that most of these herdsmen had waked their Zebu from as far as Toliara in the south west. That walk can take up to 3 weeks to make. Incredible. As we watched this unique (to us) happening take place the clouds darkened around us and the thunder and lighting started flashing and rumbling. And all we had for shelter was a small tree. What was that you learnt about if you are caught in a thunder storm on a hill you should never take refuse under a tree??? Well we did until the rain got so heavy we a ran for it in the direction of some mud huts
Cutting rice in the Anja village
. These turned out to be little tea/coffee/restaurant huts as well as being peoples actual houses. Martin had to stoop very low to get in the door much to the amusement of the herdsmen and other local folk who had taken refuse there already. We were having tea and coffee in someone's little house basically.We conversed with the people with our limited Malagasy and the storm soon blew over. The men were very interested in looking at my camera and the pictures I had taken of the Zebu market. I then took pictures of them in the dark little hut much to their delight. The rain soon cleared and we eventually headed off back to town. That evening we had dinner in our hotel which has to be the most uninteresting blandest food we have tasted in all of Madagascar! It was a real disappointment. And such a shock judging by the bus loads of tourists that stop here to eat everyday.
The next morning, our mission was to visit Anja Reserve about 7km from Ambalavao that features a semi-tame colony of ring-tailed lemurs. We started off waiting around the taxt-brousse area but nobody was going nowhere fast so when a private taxi rocked up we made a deal with the driver and went with him. Once at the park we paid our entrance fee and then walked with a guide (mandaratory) into the reserve. We hadn't gone 500meters or so when we came across a huge rock formation. And there on it were a group of ring-tailed lemurs
more ring tail lemurs
. The first of that kind we had ever seen and it has to be said they are our favourite so far too. Some were feeding off the fruits from the trees others were sleeping and some groups of youngsters were playing and some were grooming themselves. It was mesmerising to watch and we sat on the huge rock doing just that and taking loads of photos in the hope we got at least some good ones. We only had to walk another 200 or so meters and there was another group of them all playing around. They were so close too. We loved it. The guide also found us a couple of small chameleons. These too like the lemurs are fascinating to watch. The visit to the reserve was for as long as we wanted. It wasn't long before the lemurs soon settled to rest and sleep in the trees once their bellies were full so we took that as our queue to leave. We returned back to Ambalavao and packed our bags and arranged for a car to take us up to Ambositra, our aim being now to head slowly back towards the capital Antananarivo.
Our time now in Madagascar is limited. There are still places we wish to visit which are east of the capital. We don't have enough time to get down to Toliara as sort of planned (but we are always changing our minds!) on the south west coast of Madagascar as well as visiting the national parks to the east. Oh well never mind we will save Toliara for another visit another time.
paper making with flowers
The journey up to Ambrositra was very long though the mountain roads with sharp hair-pin bends. My stomach felt like it had been riding on a roller coaster for the last 4 four hours!! I was very relieved to reach Ambositra, check into a hotel and lay on the bed very still for a while!!!That evening we arranged with a travel agency (Gam Travel who we had come acquainted with on our arrival 3 weeks ago in Madagascar) to have a car and driver come and pick us up from Ambrositra and then take us where we planned to go for the last few days of our time in Madagascar. No more taxi-brousses, zebu carts or anything unexpected. We have a Peugeot 405 and we will travel in style. Well compared to the other modes of transport we have used in the past 3 weeks anyway!
