First impressions of Madagascar

Pictures to come separately


4/10/2012, en route between Antananarivo and Fort Dauphine, Madagscar

So far we've only seen Madagascar from the air and from in Antananarivo (the national capital of around 3 million), but a few things have caught the eye (and nose).

Paddy fields. We had no idea to expect these, yet every portion of watercourses (most of which are otherwise dry) have been terraced for rice crops.

Once the crop has been harvested, the remaining mud is packed into bricks of an ugly grey colour and stacked in the middle of the fields. These are then fired from within to cure the bricks, which lends a distinctive odour (probably not the reason Madagascar is sometimes known as the Isle of Aromas). Once dried the bricks are a pleasing salmon-pink, and Tana (as the city is affectionately known) thus has a rosy demeanour.

There are so many piles of bricks that the middle of a watercourse resembled, we fancied, an ancient civilisation gradually crumbling into nothingness.

The streets are a chaotic tangle of trucks, minibuses, ancient Peugots and Renaults, hand- and zebu-drawn carts piled high with unguessable cargo, bicycles and pedestrians with goods piled high on their heads (a basket full of 50 scrawny chickens does not make a great hat...glad we learned that lesson). Our driver, Patrique, astounded us by hitting nothing. Though there was a bit of a thud once, we're sure it wasn't a small child.

Businesses are small, and very much specialists. Chunks of meat, chicken and sausages hang outside ramshackle huts the size of your average (modest) garden shed. Others display selections of snacks, omnipresent advertisments for telcos & coke, PVC pipes, and so on. A layer of pinky-brown dust coats everything, recalling inland Australia after a dust storm.

Our guide, Jeff, asked us upon arrival whether we thought the local people looked more Asian or African. We weren't sure, though he tells us that Madagascan people have been described as "the most African looking Asians". This isn't a hard-and-fast rule though, and a great diversity abounds. Though our pale colouring does stand out.

Our first night was at Hotel Tana, about half a block from the presidential palace. Presumably one of the safest spots in town, though in 2009 when the coup d'etat occurred it may have been less so.

Possibly in recognition of that event, the restaurant we dined at was called Kudeta. Highly recommended, it was a bit like stepping back into France.

Aperitifs were called for, and the very-reasonable mojitos were an even more reasonable 5000Ar (equivalent to AU$2). Nibbles, including zebu skewers with a feisty sauce, whet our appetites. When we hit the dining table proper, things got even better.

Carpaccio of zebu, terrine of foie gras (du maison), crab, foie gras ravioli.....all were shared by the enthisiastic quartet, with a decent rose from Pays d'Oc.

Main courses stepped up the excitement. Pave of zebu, three noix of zebu, octopus risotto and local pork were all split into quarters and made their ways around the table. Yum.

Madagascar being, as it is, the source of renowned chocolate, Andrew felt obliged to order the selection of house chocolate specialities. One dessert between four was fine by this time, though we did supplement it with some house-prepared flavoured rums (ginger, banana, vanilla) for the promotion of digestion.

All of this came in at roughly AU$120.Bargain.