| Madagascar Afremail Part 5 - Rollicking Train, Fianar to Manakara and Back | |
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| Voice Recordings on Train |
1st impressions, country music, Frenchys... |
An edge of the modern world |
The final entry, but always surprises |
1. The sign is supposed to read "1st Class". HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!
2. Yours truly, here merely to serve you as photographer of far away places.
(Rob's Photo)
3. The view. These are rice paddies, in case you are not familiar with them. The brown plots (in the background) are those about to be harvested, the brown but not tall plants (mid to foreground) are plots with a very thin layer of water covering the soil beneath the plants, the dense green are almost full grown with a heavy layer of water beneath the plants, and the plots that seem filled with water (next two photos as well) are just recently or not yet planted. In the audio I recorded while on the train you can hear further descriptions of the views and activities we saw along the train.
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6. After about 3 hours, cultivated land fell away as the train climbed into the mountains and rainforest was all that was visible (although there were still small villages along the tracks here and there). The rainforest we passed through by train encompassed the national park "Ranomafana", which we visited as well (the next email update).
(Rob's Photo)
7. Traveler's Tree.
(Rob's Photo)
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(Rob's Photo)
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(Rob's Photo)
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(Rob's Photo)
14. The train stopped frequently during the +9 hours it took to get to Manakara. These stops were an amazing opportunity to catch a glimpse of a way of life connected to the outside world only by a marginal train in a marginal part of the modern world. It was really interesting.
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21. Each village that train stopped at seemed to specialize in different produce. The train would stop and baskets upon baskets would be heaped onto the cargo car. This was a nice opportunity to get out and sample local food, to take photos and interact with locals (none spoke English and probably none spoke French). The fresh fruits and snacks were awesome; guavas, prawns, avocados, mangoes, bananas, spinach, beef, tomatoes, peanuts, etc.
22. Crevettes
23. In the fore-basket are bananas and in the basket being lifted to a passenger are tamale-like made from corn, banana and rice wrapped in banana leaves (they are very sweet).
24. Boiled purple manioc (no flavor what-so-ever, like eating styrofoam).
25. Sausages, samosas (sambos in Madagascar) and hot sauce.
(Rob's Photo)
26. Not sure what they are loading onto the train here.
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28. I bet that weighs at least 100 lbs.
29. One of the other passengers, a Frenchman born in Madagascar who operates motorcycle hire and tours across Madagascar off the paved roads; he also happens to be a Judo instructor!
(Rob's Photo)
30. Another passenger that Rob was smitten by. We had a great time with Eugenie, her mother Isabelle and their friend Florence, once we arrived in Manakara. The three of them were/are working in Madagascar 9 months; Eugenie as a teacher and Isabelle and Florence as nurses. They decided to take a little break and head for the train and the coast. Lucky us!
31. Vishalo. If you don't already know who this is, check out the crazy story of the 5 brothers dealing in "SCRRRAP."
32./189 This photo sums it up everything needed after a good day's travel in Madagascar. The Essentials!
