After a glorious night, sleeping with the waves crashing just outside, I was all ready for a relaxing day on the intercoastal waterway and the beaches. So, into our tourist canal boat we climbed.
We stopped at a fishing village to pick up the seafood for our lunch.
I loved this ocean-going boat canoe and its pieced together sail! Most sails were piece-meal like this!
The waves going around the jetty were brutal for these little canoes. I was surprised the little one with the blue sail in the back (and others like it) made it, but they all did!
After getting our provisions, we cruised along the intercoastal waterways, enjoying a bit of history along the way. We learned that the canal is part natural and part man-made. It is piecemeal, like the sails. It was a pleasant ride, and the crew even sang a few songs to us as we went along. When we got to the second fishing village, some of the crew got out so they could begin cooking our lunch.
We dropped them off and continued on to another beach, where the children playing in the water quickly dispersed so they could come back and try to sell us their parents' handicrafts and other wares.
We walked around on this area and received a fleeting education on the flora of the area. I say fleeting because even with my notes and assistance from Google Images, I can't make heads or tails of what a lot of my pictures have. I know all the plants are either spices or medicinal and get used for essential oils, but that's about got it. For one tree, the bark is soft and can be used for bandages or toilet paper. I remember that because a strip of bark made it home in my shorts pocket. I can't remember the name of the bark for sure, so I hope I labeled it right in my shadow box!
This is how the beds are laid out for starting the plants. As they get taller, the trays of thatch are raised on the posts.
The yellow pitcher's plant is on the 2000 Ariary note.
Here's a red one. For those who don't know, this plant is carnivorous. Insects fall inside and cannot get out. The plant's digestive juices dissolve them and they are absorbed into the plant. My mom had one in the house along with a Venus fly trap when I was growing up. It's the only one I recognized right away and remembered when I got back!
Another thing I didn't know is that essential oils are distilled just like alcohol! If any of my "hillbilly" friends get caught, just tell them you're making essential oils! The still is even set up the same (except they carry water to and fro instead of setting it up by a creek)! They just have a layer of oil to separate from the water instead of alcohol when they're done!
After learning how to distill leaves and barks for essential oils and the properties of the oils distilled here, we went back to the village where we dropped off the rest of our crew. Lunch was almost done! We had a few minutes to walk on the ocean side of the beach before eating.
We were told to leave this hermit crab alone because he would hurt us. I just took them at their words because they live there and I don't, but I now wonder if they were just afraid we'd get pinched or if there was something toxic about him. I can't find any information on Google about saltwater crabs that are toxic when not ingested.
We bought some vanilla on the beach
Et voila! It looks as delicious as it tasted!
After lunch, we headed to Fianarantsoa. Because of the lack of infrastructure and good roads in Madagascar, that meant doubling back through Ranomafana before heading southwest. We got a flat on the way, which Niko and Joushia changed quick as a flash! It was probably from a pothole, which are plenty on the island. While the roads are better than the ones in Ecuador, they still have interesting ways to mark off roads that have fallen down the hill! So, whatdya think, Bruce or Ecuador peeps? Which would you prefer - white paint and a rock or orange paint and a stick?
Also, the bananas grow naturally here, just like in Uganda. No bagged bananas on the trees here!
We arrived at Fianarantsoa after dark and got settled into our hotel. Again, Joushia had to sort us out. This time, I messaged the tour operator and let him know there were issues with the hotel he had booked. This one had an unlit stairwell and only a trickle of water in the bathroom. But it slept well, and there was a balcony where I could put my clothes that hadn't dried in Manakara out. They were dry by morning. There was a decent view of the city outside my window.
Fianarantsoa means "good education" in Malagasy, and it boasts a number of universities and other educational institutions. It is the hub of education and wine making in the country, though many of the educational institutions are also religion based, mostly Lutheran, Protestant, and Catholic. The native religion is a form of animism. Many of the tribes still practice the ritual of exhuming the remains of ancestors every five years or so (when the shaman says it's time) to clean and re-wrap them, taking them around to visit their descendants before returning them to their tombs. We took a walk around the old city and enjoyed ourselves.
Remember the orb weaving spider from earlier? There are a whole bunch of them here! I passed this quickly!
This pair of doors is carved with relief of the old city. Lovely! There is a girls school on the other side.
On our way back to the car, we met our first ringtailed lemur! This guy apparently used to be a pet, but was set free. Now, the neighborhood treats him like a pet and he roams around the area with food and water available in multiple locations. Not the ideal environ, but it's what is familiar to him, and he seems happy and healthy.
When we got back to the car, we hit the ATM for some cash, the post office to mail off post cards, and the supermarket for another big bottle of cola without sugar before heading to our next destination!
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