First sight of Madagascar

Thurs, March 7^th, 2013

Flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to Antananarivo, Madagascar

A pocket sized booklet containing our ‘entry to country’ form ("disembarkation card") and ads for hotels was handed to us shortly after boarding the plane. This booklet also contained a story about Madagascar in English and in French. I spent the flight chatting with volunteers I would be spending the next 2-3 months in training with & flipping between the French and English translation of this story, practicing my French and hoping the lessons I started 3 months prior would come in handy during my Peace Corps service. This was also a good distraction, curbing my excitement and anticipation at landing in my new home!

Love and Nature

As men cannot explain everything themselves, it is through the legends created and conveyed across the eons, that the attention of later generations is drawn both by coincidence or predestination, to these singularities freely available to the gaze of passer-by.

            Anyone visiting the southwest of Madagascar cannot fail to marvel at the sight of baobabs, these vegetable behemoths that do not simply dominate their surroundings like an upside down tree with their sparsely leaved branches reminiscent of roots, but also occur sometimes as two closely entwined trunks, earning them the nickname of baobabs in love. Could this be one of nature’s mistakes?

            Not far from Antananarivo, on the sacred hill of Antsahadinta, two species of trees, an aviary (ficus) and hasina (dracaena angustifolia, commonly known as the dragon tree), considered royal because they only grow in the estates of the nobles, which, through their embrace offer an erotically suggestive spectacle to lovers who are won over by the legend. According to this, they can achieve their dream of uniting for life by making a vow before these unusual trees, which like inseparable lovers, watch over without suffocating each other, showing that their existence in the same place is not incompatible as they grow in perfect harmony in nature. In another place to the west of Antananarivo, we see that an amontana (ficus Baroni), another royal tree, flourishes without any problem between the two branches of a mango tree, its large leaves mingling with those of its host although in principle the two trees should grow separately.

            Legend attributes the existence of a tree with entwined branches in the edge of lake Tritriva at Antsirabe to the thwarted love of two young people, Rabeniomby and Ravolahanta, who threw themselves into the murky waters of this crater lake when their families refused to allow them to marry. It is said that a red liquid reminiscent of the blood comes out of this strange tree when its bark is pinched.

            But it is not only passionate love represented in nature, affection also has its place: for example, the name Ambatomirahavavy (At the twins’ stones) is generally given to two rocks, tightly close to one another, arranged as a striking image of two crouching figures facing one another and chatting. The legend says that Zanahary (the Creator) had placed these two rocks one which is smaller than the other, a top a mountain overlooking a valley, making them visible from a distance in order to immortalize the affection that united the two inseparable sisters, who slipped on a rocky slope while they were playing and were killed at the bottom of a deep ravine.

This story elicited feelings of love of my family, love of adventure and love of nature; a perfect entrance into this new chapter of my life.

There was another short insert in this book titled “Love in Local Art” however once my fellow volunteers and I caught sight of the Madagascar shoreline we could no longer contain our excitement & I was drawn to the window. Taking turns pressing our faces to the oval pane, Madagascar came into view; the breathtaking site of the red soil we would soon be standing on instantly gave me goose bumps! Either the adrenaline in my blood or my anticipation of this moment, I’m not sure which, but the vibrant green of the countryside, mingled with the red clay soil and bright blue sky was exhilarating. Madagascar, soon be my home.