Impressions of Madagascar. Part 3: Beauty

We didn't sleep very well that night, because something inside our room was making quite a stir. Every time we got out of bed and searched for our little friend, we couldn't find him. Elena's only words of advice before we finally gave up: "don't worry, it's probably something cute!" The next morning, I woke up to find my beef jerky--still in my backpack--shred apart, and a little tiny thank you note from the local mouse. Ok so he didn't leave a note, but I'm sure he enjoyed his meal.

We met our guide early and headed to the Grand Tsingy--the Big Stone Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He informed us that the Tsingy are considered a site of respect and they have important significance to the Malagasy and their ancestors, so we were not to point fingers at anything, but instead point with the index finger half bent.

Climbing the Grand Tsingy is the most physically challenging thing I've done in my life so far. The guide handed us some rock climbing gear, flashlights, and off we went through the forest. We squeezed through tiny tunnels. We crawled through dark, dense caves. We climbed and we climbed and we climbed. I have this pretty intense fear of heights, and sometimes I got so scared, I was at that limit in my head where I could honestly not make myself take one more step forward. But...they were moving on ahead and I didn't have any choice. It was too late to turn back now, anyway. I was constantly whispering positive affirmations to myself and sometimes my brain still hesitated to do a "right foot forward" as instructed.

(Photo by Elena)

 When we reached the top, it was all worth it...

...until we got to this trembling bridge high above the ground, where I almost decided I would have to just live here forever because there was no way I was getting on that thing. But ok, so I took a deep breath, held it the entire time, and never looked down. 

(Photo by Elena )

Going down was not nearly so dramatic, and we ended the trip walking through a little forest where we encountered some incredibly rare birds, unique and beautiful trees, and a couple little lemurs.

The forest was INCREDIBLE. It is completely filled with vibrating life and energy. All of the coos and whistles and hums and chirps were so different...exciting and utterly new. The trees had this odd way of wrapping around each other like serpents, and sometimes a plant would vine it's way all the way up and attach like a pulsing vein. Some trees were blotched in a tie-dye fashion and others were a strange deep chocolate brown color.

Our guide pointed out an ant hill with a big hole in the middle of it. The ants surrounding it were large and black, and they were all carrying pieces of food into the hole. "This means there is a snake inside the hole," our guide said. Little snakes will crawl into the holes, and the aunts will bring them food all summer. When summer is over, the snake is too fat to leave the hole...the ants bury it...and the snake dies. Boom. The ants have food for the entire winter. Creepy murderous ants.

The next morning was my favorite part of the trip. We woke up super early to catch the morning light, and met up with our guide. He took us to the river and to an old Malagasy man on a canoe that he built out of a hollowed out tree. This guy was hilarious!! He didn't speak much French, but he would mumble a few words of it to us and then just laugh and laugh. He reminded me of Rafiki from the Lion King. Just laughing away...

(Photo by Elena )

We pulled up next to a grotto. "Vas-y, Vazaha!! Hahhaha!!! (go on, white girls!) " Rafiki joked. 

The grotto is just incredible. We met some bats and coves of their babies, nocturnal butterflies the size of baseballs, and giant cockroaches that village healers use to cure tetanus ("you stew them and drink," according to our guide..."very effective," he says.)

On the way out, a couple very loud, strange birds were screeching at us as we passed by. "Salut vazaha! ah haha!! Salut!" Rafiki translated for them.

We spent the rest of the morning at the little Tsingy...but after yesterday, the little Tsingy was less impressive. Here is a sloppy video I made of it because I have no video making skills yet but I want some.