Tag Archives: Madagascar
Madagascar 4: visiting UWS schools in the remote south west
So here we are on our way to visit eight schools, the training centre and a local hub in three days! For the first 130 kms we whizz along on the best road we’ve seen, built by the Chinese. We pass a repair gang with its Chinese supervisor in his blue Mao suit. Once we leave this anomaly, we enter the world of truly awful roads – nothing we have experienced so far compares to this. A mixture of sand, rocks, ruts, 4WD-compulsory for the next three days. Progress is agonisingly slow. There is no other traffic apart from ox-carts and a mini bus once or twice a day. It’s too difficult for bicycles, and motorbikes are challenging – a dim European employed by UWS bought one and got horribly lost and had to be rescued. Of course there are no road signs!
Madagascar 3: Ranomafana to Toliara – and more lemurs
We leave early, driving through the flood plain again. The paddy is interrupted by what can only be described as brick kilns in factory proportions. We have seen these earlier on the roads, huge stacks of bricks, with room for wood to fire them. The practice is to sacrifice some of the clay in the paddy field to make bricks, either for personal use or for sale. It’s a big decision – eat or diversify. Here we see all family members working together on both activities!
Madagascar 2: from Antsirabe to Ranomafana National Park
Blue-leg chameleon and small bamboo lemur
Another long journey today, ten hours to Ranomafana. But we are never bored as the countryside is stunning, consisting of fertile terraces and valleys, interspersed with huge granite boulders. There is a stretch of indigenous forest, the last remaining in this area; Madagascar has lost 80% of its forest thanks to mankind. It has been replaced with fast-growing eucalyptus and pines for building and firewood. Colourful lantana line the way. Everyone is working in the fields, preparing for planting, watering potatoes by hand in their geometric raised-bed rows. Ducks and geese waddle round all villages – apparently they return every night, a natural homing instinct.
Madagascar 1 – Tana to Antsirabe with some background thrown in!
We are in Madagascar to visit the UWS project to build schools and provide education to some of the world’s poorest children. We started discussing this in 2020 during Covid while I was still a trustee (nine years!) of UWS. Covid obviously had a big impact on our plans and indeed Madagascar as you will see.
vickygoestravelling 