Manakara
Trip Start
Nov 18, 2002
1
106
157
Trip End
Ongoing
Manakara,
Madagascar
Thursday, May 1, 2008
So here we are in Manakara on the south east coast of Madagascar. The road down was very twisty and turny but we passed some incredible countryside.
We checked into our hotel and then set about having a look around. Our Lonely Planet book said that in their (the writers) experience the pousse pousse men were the pushy-ist and most aggressive they had ever come across in the whole of Madagascar. Well we found this to be the exact opposite. Yes they did ask you if you wanted a 'pousse pousse' but when you said no they did not ask again!!
We did go in search of the station so we could book our train ticket up to our next destination of Sahambavy. The ticket man there was very helpful and spoke English too. He advised us on the best side of the train to sit on (right side if you are heading to Fianarantsoa) as this has the best scenery
Cows don't like rain either
. As our ride was not until the 4th we were told that we needed to come back on Saturday to pay for the reserved tickets.We spent the next couple of days exploring this seaside town. We hired a couple of bicycles (with evil saddles) and rode to the coast just a couple of kilometres away. There the sea was crashing on the sandy shore. Our L P book advised not to swim as there were strong currents and sharks! We didn't see anyone else swimming there either!
On Sunday we checked out of our hotel at 6am and took a 'friendly' (as they all were) pousse pousse to the station. Just opposite the station was a little café owned by a French couple. They had homemade cookies and cakes for sale and fresh coffee too. A little stop there set us up nicely for the pending and optimistic 10 hour journey.
Once on the train we found our reserved seats and got acquainted with the other tourists sitting around us. All French as usual oh! Except for one German guy.
Eventually the train started 'chugging' at just after 7am and when I say 'chugging' I mean 'chugging.' Our 1st class carriage was at the back. 2nd class was jammed packed with local Malagasy people together with baskets of live ducks and chickens, baskets of oranges, cassava and all sorts of other fruit and veg.
Digital cameras draw a crowd again
We had nice padded seats and boy! Did we need them too.No sooner had the train started then it was pulling into it's first station. The whole village appeared to come and greet the train. Adults and children trying frantically to sell their wares be it baskets of fruit or trays of buns, bread, zebu meat and tonnes of unrecognisable stuff too. It was a real hive of activity as it was at every station we pulled in to. We would get herds of children and adults smiling and staring at us too. At each stop the train stayed long enough for us passengers to hop off. We found this a great time to take photos and start showing them back to the local people. This they just loved. And as we know a few Malagasy words too we soon had them cracking up with laughter.
The train continued to 'chug' along for all of about 2 hours when all of a sudden it came to a halt in the middle of nowhere. No longer was there a 'chug chug' but silence fell all about us. Quite a few people started hopping off the train as if we had pulled into a station. But no, no station. Then in the distance a 'tink tink' sound now replaced the 'chug chug' as about 6 men dressed in oily clothes and wealding spanners and hammers, walked about the engine compartment trying to get it 'chugging' again. About one hour later and up she started again and we were on our way. We 'chug chugged' through incredibly beautiful scenery of mountains, rice paddies, and fields of travellers palms, and orange groves and banana plantations only to have the scenery broken up by arriving at small village stations.
The whole journey took 11 hours to get to our destination of Sahambavy. The final station on that particular line is Fianarantsoa by the time we hopped off we were well and truly 'over it.' It was a great experience and would definitely recommend it to others but it has to be said that the last few tunnels we really long ones and the fumes from the diesel engine was enough to cause mass suicide honestly. We arrived in Sahambavy in the dark. Luckily the Lac hotel was just right next to the station.
We booked into a lovely bungalow had the best shower ever, a meal and slept for England.
