Final thoughts from Madagascar & Comoros

Parson's Chameleon

This was my last day in Madagascar and I had to make it to the Antananarivo airport around noon. The taxi- brousse would leave from Andasibe around 7am so I checked out of the chalet around 6am packed my backpack for the last time on that trip and decided to walk through the forest towards the park entrance which was a few miles away from the village but in the direction of Moramanga. I was really hoping to hear the Indri calls resonating through the forest one last time.

My walk to the park entrance did not yield any luck hearing the Indri calls but lady luck was soon to change as I waited for the taxi-brousse. I was chatting with the guide who had accompanied me on the night walk the previous night we were informed of the presence of a Parson’s chameleon right behind the park entrance.

Matching my hoodie

If I had seen some really miniature species of chameleons the past couple days, this was a monster in comparison. It was a striking greenish-turquoise color and was pretty massive and certainly looked like a relic of the dinosaurs. That was my seventh chameleon species in Madagascar and it was a nice compliment to the eight species of lemurs I had seen in Madagascar. 15 minutes of admiring this chameleon and my taxi brousse (the 26 seater) arrived and I set off for Moramanga hoping to take a taxi-brousse from there to Antananarivo.

A little over 20 minutes of riding and the taxi-brousse broke down and I was like…oh…no...not again. Needing to be at the airport around noon, I really did not have any buffer for any mess up so I was pretty worried. They had to call in a replacement so I had an agonizing wait till one of the fellow passengers called our attention to the trees beside the road.

A 360 degrees view

Well, I think it was meant to be that the taxi-brousse had to breakdown because in the trees I saw a family of Indri’s. I was only wishing to hear their calls when I decided to walk that morning to the park entrance but now, by a quirk of fate I was not only seeing a family but also head them calling out loudly from up close. For a few moments I totally forgot all the anxiety of not being able to catch the flight.

I shouldn’t have worried as I arrived in Antananarivo airport on time as I was helped by a local who hooked me up on faster taxi-brousses’ and taxis to get to the airport. She worked in an NGO in Antananarivo and I was glad that she did that.

Notice the Indri calling out?

At the airport, I had a few euro coins left over in my pocket and in hindsight, it was a bad idea since I had to take it out before passing through the X-ray machines. The customs officials there noticed this and started to harass me to leave some money for them. In no mood to encourage this practice, I said I can’t do it. I was then sent to a line where they were checking the carry-on bags and as my bag was being checked, another senior official took me to an enclosed section under the pretext of searching me but then once there, he asked me to show my wallet and asked for the money. I just smiled at him, shook my head and said no as if to say sorry buddy…I can’t and won’t do it. For a moment it was a little intimidating but I was certain that these guys play on the fear factor and nervousness of travelers and I was right as I was let go as soon as they realized that I was going to hold my ground.

Switching Taxi-brousse (Indri were at right)

That incident was certainly an aberration and in no way represents the real people of Madagascar. The Malagasy are some of the nicest, most helpful and respectful people that I have seen in my life. I see a lot of potential for Madagascar in the future with a young and growing population that could be a leading economy in the future. I think they have a decent amount of natural resources and the people seem hard working. One of the handicaps they might have had so far was that they were a Francophone country rather than say India which got lucky with English (not that French is bad but it’s not the International language of business). The government is however making every effort to adapt to English with it having been declared as one of the official languages of the country.

Antananarivo from air

The flip side of the economic potential is that with a growing population, it augurs not so well for the wildlife. After having seen a little bit of the country, one of the striking images is of the number of young kids everywhere. Another striking image is the abject poverty (especially in the western region). Be it the west or east of Madagascar, I saw a lot of slash and burn practice in the forests to either clean land for cultivation or to harvest the trees for charcoal. Most of the rivers also showed clear signs of soil erosion. All of this does not bode well for the region that is called as a biodiversity hotspot with 90% or more endemism (uniqueness) in their flora and fauna.

Invariable as the country develops and its population matures I see increased pressure on an already fragile ecosystem. The unfortunate part is that the ecosystem is so unique in Madagascar that if things are lost there it will be lost forever from the face of earth.

Last sight of Madagascar

I would love to visit Madagascar again some day but not yet as I still have a few on my wish list before coming back for seconds. Even though I know that the country won’t be the same if I ever come back, I hope that it will maintain so of its charm.

As for Comoros, I think the country is off the map for so many people and I think considering its small size it’s destined to continue to be anonymous to the rest of the world. I know that in all likelihood I will never coming back to the Comoros but the island of Moheli holds a special place in my heart and is a hidden treasure.