06
Zafimaniry villages
3 days
As a last stop in Madagascar we visit some mountain villages of the Zafimaniry. The villages are not accessible by car, so we planned another three-day trek. We pick up our guide in Ambositra, but almost have to leave him behind on the way to Antoetra due to severe car sickness. After dumping his stomach contents somewhere in a pit along the road - fortunately there are many - we continue.
We start our trek in Antoetra with a steep climb. On our way up we cross a group of men, accompanied by gendarmerie. There is some shouting and laughing and later our guide tells us that they had found a bag full of human bones in the bushes. Apparently, burial tombs are regularly being robbed, not only for the valuables that are buried with the bodies but also for the bones. On the black market they are supposedly sold for astronomically high prices. Why exactly is not clear to anyone.
Instead of a 4-hour walk to the waterfalls, we start our morning in Sakaivo by helping out on the rice paddies. Despite it being market day, our guide finds a woman who is working her land and we can help. He translates what we have to do and we go to work. Weeding the water, picking seedlings and planting the seedlings in the swampy field. The red soil leaves our skin and nails stained orange. Our almost three hours of work saves them one hour of toil. A sad accomplishment but the owner of the field is very grateful. 2 hours later we see the women are still planting rice.