March 23 – Ambodifotatra, Madagascar
Our ship anchored off the coast of Ile Sainte-Marie, a small
island 5 miles off the coast of Madagascar this morning in pouring rain. Ile
Sainte-Marie is a narrow granitic island 25 miles long. Ambodiforatra (am bo de
for a tra) is the largest and most developed settlement of the island. While the “brochure” says it offers banking,
shopping, a hospital for emergency treatment, water sport, some nightlife and a market where you
can buy anything ranging from a bunch of fresh bananas to a hand-woven scarf or
local artwork and white sand beaches, it’s not exactly what you picture in your
mind.
Once the rain subsided we went ashore with friends to check
it out. The rain had turned the dirt
main street to mud, but we were greeted with friendly faces and curious
children. The pictures will speak for
themselves, but after walking around a few minutes we decided to take up
multiple offers for rides in the local tuk tuk’s to find the Pirate
Cemetery. Given the location of this
island and the trade routes, it became a haven for pirates who over 300 years
ago would anchor a small ship in the
“harbor” and wait for the traders to venture close expecting to find locals to
trade with, then the pirates would attack from the rear in their larger
boats. The tale is there is treasure
buried all over the island left behind when most of the pirates died during a
malaria epidemic.
The cemetery is
located high on a hill, which is accessed only by foot once you reach the entry
“gate”. The locals are becoming quite
enterprising by charging admission including a guide, both to get you there and
back. For awhile, we didn’t know what we
might have gotten ourselves into, but our guide spoke English and was very knowledgeable.
By the end, we were happy that we had stepped pass our comfort zones.
It was a real eye opener for us. We take so many things for granted that it is hard
to comprehend the living conditions in these developing third world countries;
as you will see from the pictures. Yet the locals seem happy and proud to
promote tourism in their community.
Cheers!
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Street from dock to main street |
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Main Street |
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Tuk Tuk's |
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Starting our adventure |
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Children bathing before school |
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Beginning of the path to the Pirate Cemetery. It went from this to a stone path to a 6" wide trail, up hill! |
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Houses |
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Another house |
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Ladies waiting to go to work at the Garden of Eden "Resort" |
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Another house |
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Young boys fishing by themselves. Here is the rock path |
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Part of the pirate cemetery. Not all were pirates, some were sailors |
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This one was a pirate |
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This is a monument to Capt. Kidd who is buried in Scotland |
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The first church in Madagascar |
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We made it back to town just as it started raining again. What an adventure!! |
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