Au Revoir Comoros and Bienvenue Madagascar

Moment when I was looking back at my time in Comoros

Going to bed late after a tiring day, the last thing I wanted to do was wake up early the next day but that’s exactly what I had to do since I had to catch the only Taxi-brousse that morning at 6am from Itsamia to Fomboni to begin retracing my steps to Madagascar. Since I really could not afford to miss that early morning taxi, I woke up earlier than planned but looking back I think it was worthwhile since I got myself ready and just sat on a chair on the porch watching the sun rise and reflecting on my the journey in Comoros.

The Only taxi-brousse taking me to Fomboni

Other bats (Not Livingstone)

That moment in Comoros was special since I knew at the back of my mind that in all likelihood I will never come back again and those few moments just allowed me to look back on the best moments of Comoros and Moheli in particular.

On the return journey I again got special treatment to sit on the front window seat. I got into Fomboni and spent some time with Romesh who had been extremely helpful and then it was time to head to the airport to fly back to Moroni.

Perfect timing..perfect lighting

THE Captain Ali

Once in Moroni, I had about 5 hours before the Air Madagascar flight back to Antananarivo so I decided to meet up with Sabir as I had promised to see him before I left Comoros. I spent some time at Sabir’s brother’s newly opened hardware store before driving to his house. 

At his house I met his father who was the Honorable Consulate of India in Comoros for a long time before he retired. Sabir’s wife kindly obliged to me taking a picture of her in a traditional Comorian dress (it was normal in Comoros for women to deny being photographed) right on the balcony of their beautiful house overlooking the Indian Ocean from a small cliff.

View from the balcony of Sabir's house

Sabir dropped me off at the airport and I was slightly anxious because I arrived back at the airport little over an hour before the take off. My fears turned to reality when I was told that the flight was already boarded and ready to leave…and I was like SHIT! That can’t be true…they won’t leave earlier than schedule but I unfortunately found out that that’s exactly how it works with Air Madagascar and some of its flights.

Sabir's wife with Traditional Comorian dress

In a moment of quick thinking I asked to see Captain Ali (remember I mentioned him a couple times earlier?). Since he was the security chief I was hoping that he would help me out and sure enough he was able to speak to the right people and get me on the plane.

When my bag was being checked in…I was told by one of the Air Madagascar staff that I was extremely lucky (and I think I was). I am still so very grateful to Captain Ali for his help at a dire moment. I still remember what he told me that day…”What matters is not what you know but…Who you know”

My flight to Antananarivo stopped at the airport of Mahajunga where I had to disembark and go through customs and immigration and then re-board the plane. None the less, I got in at Antananarivo late in the evening around 9pm and decided to go to a local bar for a quick meal. I however did not last long there and turned in early for the night.

Mt. Karthala from the plane. Could not have choosen my last sight of Comoros better



Terraced rice fields on way to Antsirabe



Locals selling pineapple...sweet as sugar

 The next morning I was supposed to hook up with my agent who would get me on a 7-day tour that would take me to the Tsingy de Bemaraha Nature Reserve. Now, I know that I have probably voiced my displeasure at having to go on a tour but for a part of my trip in Madagascar I decided it made sense to hookup on a tour group with 6 other people. There were numerous reasons for me to do so. One of the most important ones being that Madagascar is a big country even though it’s an island with large distances between places. Most areas of the country are extremely difficult to access and can be got to only by 4X4 drive vehicles. On top of that the place I wanted to visit in the western region of the country is very difficult to access and the road conditions were reputed to be in extremely bad shape.

Beautiful malagasy smile



Typical malagasy house in the highlands


I could alternately take a taxi-brousse but sine the distances are far, journeys in them are long and uncomfortable and certain to test any backpackers’ patience. The Taxi-broses have their own schedule of travel which might not work with my schedule and I did not want to be at the mercy of a taxi-brousse to reach my destination especially when they are reputed to be mechanically unreliable and prone to breakdown. Considering all my concerns, I threw the idea of a taxi-brousse out the window. Perhaps the biggest factor for me to take the tour was that I did not have a lot of time in Madagascar to travel on my own. I only had 7 days and if I wanted to see as much as possible I had to take a tour. My agent however told me that the tour was supposed to be pretty adventures and would be more like an expedition rather than the run of the mill tours so there it is…I was finally going on a tour.


Central highlands of Madagascar


The expedition would have me take a taxi brousse from Antananarivo to a city 5 hours south called Andsirabe. From there I would join 5 other members of my group and go to the town of Miandrivazo to the west through the central highlands. From here we would take a dugout canoe and travel westwards toward the sea for 3 days. After than we would have to take a 4X4 for 5 hours and get to my quarry… The Tsingy, or to be more precise Tsingy de Bemaraha Nature Reserve.

Kids at Miandrivazo

The Tsingy which in Malagasy means “where one cannot walk barefoot” is an otherworldly landscape formed by a combination of limestone erosion and the movement of seas depositing limestone (corals) over this area. The majority of people visit Madagascar for the lemurs but for me the Holy Grail was Tsingy. I don’t deny that I too wanted to see the lemurs but Tsingy was supposed to the highlight. I was fascinated with Tsingy ever since I had seen an episode of Planet Earth where they showcase strange looking spiny rock forests harboring many endemic species and lemurs jumping through them. Since that moment, I knew I wanted to go to this place.

For an introduction on Tsingy I would highly recommend this National Geographic article… http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/11/stone-forest/shea-text This article clearly demonstrates the uniqueness of this place. Anyway, Tsingy was still 4 days away.

Out hotel in Miandrivazo

The taxi-brousse from Tana to Antsirabe was nice since the road was in fairly good condition and I got to see picturesque rural towns with terraced rice fields that look less African and more Asian. This might be due to the heritage of the Malagasy people having their origin in South East Asia. The two storied houses of the Malagasy along the way were quite unique with terracotta exterior and sloping roof and no chimneys but just a window acting as a window and an exhaust.

At Antsirabe I met up with Mike and Jantien, who were from Netherlands, Mickael a French and Luke and Jilli from Australia, as well as Bernis who was our Malagasy guide through the 7-day expedition. Our taxi-brousse moved westward climbing the central highlands of Madagascar and passing through the gold rush towns along the way to a town called as Miandrivazo. The ride was beautiful with a very highland looking landscape.
At Miandrivazo late that evening, we checked into a rustic but charming hotel called Gite de la Tsiribihina. We had our meal and a few drink and retired for the day with the real expedition beginning the next day.