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Travel Diary #3: Road trip in Madagascar 4683

Antoine, 6 mon.
For safety reasons and due to the roads/tracks conditions, we rented a 4x4 with a driver for our stay in Madagascar. What a great idea it was! You’ll understand why in a bit. Let’s start at the beginning. We stayed for two nights in central Antananarivo to discover the city and also rest a little. The city is located at an altitude of about 1,200 meters, and the streets are far from flat. After several weeks of safaris by car, our bodies were in dire need of some excercise. We explored the city on foot. And then, we hit the road. We met the rental agency manager on the morning of our departure, who informed us that the transmission in the car we were supposed to get was broken. So, we would have a car and a driver for the day, and our guide would meet us the following day. Off we went to Antsirabe. At lunchtime, to our surprise, we made a stop in a town known for... foie gras. Delicious! The next day, we met our driver, Georges. My son was having some digestive issues, thankfully, the main ingredient in all three daily Malagasy meals is rice. Georges suggested we spend the night at his aunt’s house in Miandrivazo, where we had Malagasy chicken soup for dinner. This chicken was raised outdoors, freely roaming the village streets. It was cooked in a broth with some ginger and rice. The next day, my son was completely healed. We continued driving to Morondava, a coastal town to the west, at the end of RN35. It was just a stopover before heading the next day towards Bekopaka. Unfortunately, after about an hour of driving, the car started emitting white smoke. So, we stopped and waited for a new car and driver, while Georges handled the necessary repair. The car’s turbo had broken. With our new driver, we headed towards the Kirindy Forest. Since we lost some time, it was impossible to reach Bekopaka before nightfall. That evening, we went on a guided tour of the forest to observe several species of nocturnal lemurs. The next morning, after a short tour to observe the diurnal lemurs with the same guide from the previous day, we headed to Bekopaka. The two river crossings were done by ferry. These ferries are essentially wooden motorized bridges that fit five vehicles side by side. The next day, we visited the Tsingy de Bemaraha, a UNESCO World Heritage site. These are sharp black limestone formations (due to oxidation) rising up to 700 meters high. The hike lasted about 4 hours and included parts of a via ferrata. The views were absolutely breathtaking. We then returned to Morondava, completing the 10-hour drive in one day. The following day, we reunited with Georges to continue our journey towards Belo sur Mer. We took the opportunity to go for a sailing pirogue ride. Two people navigate the pirogue: one manages the tension of the sail and paddles that serve as a rudder, while the other is at the front, handling the sail. The person at the front sits on a wooden plank connecting the pirogue to a counterweight about 10 cm wide. He seemed comfortably settled for the 3-hour journey to a small island in the turquoise waters where we had a picnic. To travel further down the west coast of Madagascar, we took a small detour inland through the town of Manja. On the dirt road, a small river crossing in the 4x4 had surprised our driver with its depth. The next day, we realized there was water in the reservoir. As we turned back, the steering axis broke. We ended up at the small restaurant we had just passed earlier. The method for getting there without a steering axis was rather amusing. While the driver was at the wheel, I walked alongside the car, manually turning the wheels of the 4x4 to steer it in the right direction. Once at the restaurant we met a driver who took us directly to the town of Ifaty. We canceled the further coastal towns to the north that required a functional 4x4. The road was asphalted, but there was no bridge yet to cross the river. The local pirogue operators took the initiative to organize a crossing service. Six pirogues, joined together by planks of branches nailed together, welcomed one car at a time. The pirogue operators, standing in the river as water level is low during the dry season, pushed the boats to the other side. A few days in Ifaty while waiting for a new car allowed us to rest a bit and go for a snorkeling trip. The corals and fish were beautiful. After this break, we got a new car and driver to take us to Isalo National Park. This park is made up of mountains in the middle of the desert, with a verdant canyon running between them. We did an 8-kilometer hike, in about 6 hours, allowing time for a swim in two waterfalls. We saw numerous species of insects and animals, including the famous ring-tailed lemurs. One particularly surprising insect we encountered was the stick insect, which is barely distinguishable from the branch of a bush. Without our guide, we would never have spotted it. The next day was a long drive to reach Ranomafana National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage site. We did another 8-kilometer hike the following day, which took us about 3.5 hours through its tropical rainforest. We only hiked in the secondary forest, as the primary forest is only accessible to the most adventurous who venture deep into the park for several days. These 3.5 hours were filled with new encounters. We observed five different species of lemurs, including the golden bamboo lemur, first identified in 1986 by primatologist Patricia Wright. At the end of the hike, we happened to meet her, accompanied by one of her students—what a coincidence! We chatted for a few minutes, and she mentioned the screening of her new documentary in the town of Ranomafana that evening. Unfortunately, we couldn’t attend as we had to head to Ambositra, about 3 hours north. After a night in Ambositra, we headed to Antsirabe. This time, we visited the surrounding area. We went to Lake Tritriva, a sacred lake for the Malagasy people. We could walk around the lake and swim in it. This lake is in the crater of a volcano and is about 140 meters deep. A legend says that Rabeniomby and Ravolahanta (the Malagasy Romeo and Juliet) committed suicide there. The next day, we returned to Antananarivo. During the long hours of driving throughout this road trip, withou our drivers and other people, we had the chance to discuss many aspects of Malagasy life including some politics. We learned a lot about the culture and also about the political life, which is far less glamorous than what is often depicted in the media. Despite hard lives and corruption, the people we met always had smiles on their faces and were never discouraged. Beyond the diverse landscapes, unique wildlife, and breathtaking flora, we had a wonderful human adventure. A long journey awaits us now for the next destination…
Antoine

Antoine

I am the CTO and co-founder of Bluwr. I love designing and writing scalable code and infrastructure.


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THE ENCHIRIDION - I 1479

Bluwr X Commons: Epictetus, 2 y.
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1 min read.
There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our own affairs. Now the things within our power are by nature free, unrestricted, unhindered; but those beyond our power are weak, dependent, restricted, alien. Remember, then, that if you attribute freedom to things by nature dependent and take what belongs to others for your own, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you take for your own only that which is your own and view what belongs to others just as it really is, then no one will ever compel you, no one will restrict you; you will find fault with no one, you will accuse no one, you will do nothing against your will; no one will hurt you, you will not have an enemy, nor will you suffer any harm. Aiming, therefore, at such great things, remember that you must not allow yourself any inclination, however slight, toward the attainment of the others; but that you must entirely quit some of them, and for the present postpone the rest. But if you would have these, and possess power and wealth likewise, you may miss the latter in seeking the former; and you will certainly fail of that by which alone happiness and freedom are procured. Seek at once, therefore, to be able to say to every unpleasing semblance, “You are but a semblance and by no means the real thing.” And then examine it by those rules which you have; and first and chiefly by this: whether it concerns the things which are within our own power or those which are not; and if it concerns anything beyond our power, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER - PREFACE 1564

Bluwr X Commons: Mark Twain, 2 y.
1 min read.
Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture. The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story—that is to say, thirty or forty years ago. Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in. THE AUTHOR. HARTFORD, 1876.

THE MEDITATIONS - Book I.[1/3] 1597

Bluwr X Commons: Marcus Aurelius, 2 y.
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4 min read.
1. I learned from my grandfather, Verus, to use good manners, and to put restraint on anger. 2. In the famous memory of my father I had a pattern of modesty and manliness. 3. Of my mother I learned to be pious and generous; to keep myself not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and to live with a simplicity which is far from customary among the rich. 4. I owe it to my great-grandfather that I did not attend public lectures and discussions, but had good and able teachers at home; and I owe him also the knowledge that for things of this nature a man should count no expense too great. 5. My tutor taught me not to favour either green or blue at the chariot races, nor, in the contests of gladiators, to be a supporter either of light or heavy armed. He taught me also to endure labour; not to need many things; to serve myself without troubling others; not to intermeddle in the affairs of others, and not easily to listen to slanders against them. 6. Of Diognetus I had the lesson not to busy myself about vain things; not to credit the great professions of such as pretend to work wonders, or of sorcerers about their charms, and their expelling of Demons and the like; not to keep quails (for fighting or divination), nor to run after such things; to suffer freedom of speech in others, and to apply myself heartily to philosophy. Him also I must thank for my hearing first Bacchius, then Tandasis and Marcianus; that I wrote dialogues in my youth, and took a liking to the philosopher’s pallet and skins, and to the other things which, by the Grecian discipline, belong to that profession. 7. To Rusticus I owe my first apprehensions that my nature needed reform and cure; and that I did not fall into the ambition of the common Sophists, either by composing speculative writings or by declaiming harangues of exhortation in public; further, that I never strove to be admired by ostentation of great patience in an ascetic life, or by display of activity and application; that I gave over the study of rhetoric, poetry, and the graces of language; and that I did not pace my house in my senatorial robes, or practise any similar affectation. I observed also the simplicity of style in his letters, particularly in that which he wrote to my mother from Sinuessa. I learned from him to be easily appeased, and to be readily reconciled with those who had displeased me or given cause of offence, so soon as they inclined to make their peace; to read with care; not to rest satisfied with a slight and superficial knowledge; nor quickly to assent to great talkers. I have him to thank that I met with the discourses of Epictetus, which he furnished me from his own library. 8. From Apollonius I learned true liberty, and tenacity of purpose; to regard nothing else, even in the smallest degree, but reason always; and always to remain unaltered in the agonies of pain, in the losses of children, or in long diseases. He afforded me a living example of how the same man can, upon occasion, be most yielding and most inflexible. He was patient in exposition; and, as might well be seen, esteemed his fine skill and ability in teaching others the principles of philosophy as the least of his endowments. It was from him that I learned how to receive from friends what are thought favours without seeming humbled by the giver or insensible to the gift. 9. Sextus was my pattern of a benign temper, and his family the model of a household governed by true paternal affection, and a steadfast purpose of living according to nature. Here I could learn to be grave without affectation, to observe sagaciously the several dispositions and inclinations of my friends, to tolerate the ignorant and those who follow current opinions without examination. His conversation showed how a man may accommodate himself to all men and to all companies; for though companionship with him was sweeter and more pleasing than any sort of flattery, yet he was at the same time highly respected and reverenced. No man was ever more happy than he in comprehending, finding out, and arranging in exact order the great maxims necessary for the conduct of life. His example taught me to suppress even the least appearance of anger or any other passion; but still, with all this perfect tranquillity, to possess the tenderest and most affectionate heart; to be apt to approve others yet without noise; to have much learning and little ostentation. 10. I learned from Alexander the Grammarian to avoid censuring others, to refrain from flouting them for a barbarism, solecism, or any false pronunciation. Rather was I dexterously to pronounce the words rightly in my answer, confining approval or objection to the matter itself, and avoiding discussion of the expression, or to use some other form of courteous suggestion. 11. Fronto made me sensible how much of envy, deceit and hypocrisy surrounds princes; and that generally those whom we account nobly born have somehow less natural affection. 12. I learned from Alexander the Platonist not often nor without great necessity to say, or write to any man in a letter, that I am not at leisure; nor thus, under pretext of urgent affairs, to make a practice of excusing myself from the duties which, according to our various ties, we owe to those with whom we live. 13. Of Catulus I learned not to condemn any friend’s expostulation even though it were unjust, but to try to recall him to his former disposition; to stint no praise in speaking of my masters, as is recounted of Domitius and Athenodorus; and to love my children with true affection. 14. Of Severus, my brother, I learned to love my kinsmen, to love truth, to love justice. Through him I came to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion, and Brutus. He gave me my first conception of a Commonwealth founded upon equitable laws and administered with equality of right; and of a Monarchy whose chief concern is the freedom of its subjects. Of him I learned likewise a constant and harmonious devotion to Philosophy; to be ready to do good, to be generous with all my heart. He taught me to be of good hope and trustful of the affection of my friends. I observed in him candour in declaring what he condemned in the conduct of others; and so frank and open was his behaviour, that his friends might easily see without the trouble of conjecture what he liked or disliked.