Mandeha en brousse! Day treks into the countryside

Well, this is a post of a couple of experiences, one during my first month in Madagascar, while I was still in Tulear, and other during my last month in Madagascar, based in Fort Dauphin. 

Our trek in in Tulear was a trip out to the village of Miary, which means "bend" based off its location near a bend in the river, and linking to its history of a tree site we visited as the main objective of our trip. The first part of the trek involved walking to the other end of town, along sandy roads, and we also passed by Maninday, the campus of the public university in Tulear. We trekked most of the morning, snacking on bananas, and then a few squares of a dark sugar-based candy bought from a vendor in a village we passed as we neared our destination. We were faced with some dark rain clouds and winds about half-way through our trip, which ended up being a boon, keeping the hot Tulear sun at bay.

The tree of the legend

The destination of our trip was the site of a fascinating species of tree, whose root system generates a virtual forest of trees, while being part of the same plant. The site is linked to a local legend about princess who's life was sacrificed in order to save the village from flooding. I can't remember specifics, but the princess was transformed or became this tree at this site, and as a result the river developed a bend, protecting the village from flooding & the risk of being destroyed. The actual site had a low wall built around it, with a charge for entering and sitting on benches amongst the tree's many trunks. We continued further down the road however, to a site where another tree of the same kind was located, before turning back. On a hill above this site, a water tank, feeds the water supply for the city of Tulear, also notable by the large pipes that mirrored our path along the road for the last few kilometers.

Tulear water supply

After a pause, and a side mission of obtaining some toaka gasy (Malagasy moonshine rum- one of the big plusses of being in the countryside), we began our trek back. I think in total, the trip was at least 22km round trip, so needless to say, lunch, a shower and a long sieste were much appreciated once we finally arrived back home.

toaka gasy!

Zebu-pulled cart transporting sugar-cane

We had another trekking adventure while in Fort Dauphin, with it's own objective: litchis. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned litchis a few times before, but the small bumpy thin-skinned fruits are utterly delicious, and right about in the peak of their season in November and December. A friend had family who lived in a village about 12 km from Fort Dauphin, with a litchi tree overflowing with fruit, so we took up on the invitation to go out and pick some.

We got off to an early start, around 6 a.m., stopping on the edge of town for some coffee, and various choices of roadside food for breakfast (fried bread, pasta, fried fish). Beyond that, spent most of the morning trekking along the roads, which become rutted and potholed once you leave the city limits. I love the views in this part of Madagascar, as it is lush and green, but most of all accented by the steep mountains of the region that seem to tower nearby. 

It was kind of fun noticing some landmarks and locations visited from my study abroad experience two years before. We passed by the intersection leading to Manantantely, and the old boarding school location where my first week in Madagascar in 2010 was spent for an orientation. Also passed by some signs notating the route to Malio, where I conducted my research project in 2010 as well. Close to the end of our route, we turned off on a side road, just as we reached the fruit market that my study abroad group had frequented to practice our market Malagasy and snack on the various fruits the region had to offer.

Litchis galore!

Once in the village, we were quickly led to a small orchard of litchi trees, and the collection process began, as branches upon small branches were brought down to add to our stock. An interesting revelation about litchis, which I think you could only come across in the country side, was that there was more than one kind, one of which remains green even when it's ripe. I'm assuming that these don't sell well in town, because most people seeing green litchis will assume they're unripe and refuse to buy them. We gathered an immense stockpile of litchis, stuffing them into backpacks and my purse, snacking on them all the while, leaving our hands sticky from the fruit's sugary juice.

Once the litchi collection was over, we were invited for lunch, which included a preliminary meal of cassava and mango echards, while we waited for the main dish of chicken and rice. We also wandered, visiting the village church, were treated to incredibly ripe mangoes, and spent some time napping on tsihy's (grass woven mats).When it was time to head back, we were all pretty worn out already, but slowly began the march back along the roads towards town. 

About a third of the way down the road, we had some luck flagging down a passing car to hitch a ride, shortly after we got in, our driver agreed to help out another pair of men along the road struggling with a scooter that had apparently died. The trip back to Fort Dauphin was made quicker, albeit rather interesting due to the fact that we had a scooter tied to a rope being pulled by our car, while the scooter's rider attempted to steer and keep himself upright behind us.A small bottle of "Carte Noire" a vanilla scented dark rum, was passed around the car as we drove, and was emptied before we arrived. Luckily everyone made it without any mishaps to the edge of town, and made our way back home to sleep the rest of the afternoon.