Ankarana National Park

28th December 2011

24.12.2011 - 14.01.2012 35 °C

We took a leisurely 25km drive north of Andilobe to Ankarana for a guided walk to the Tsingy and through the forest.

The pace was awkwardly slow (so the guide could bug-, creature- and lemur-spot and likely because everything in Madagascar happens slowly). I’m not sure I’m blown away by the Tsingy, I still wasn't used to the heat and stickiness and I can't appreciate snake sightings, venomous or not. But all in all it was a pleasant day, especially since it involved a safe, decent breakfast and lunch of baguettes and Laughing Cow cheeses.

We went to another Hotely in the evening because the boys wanted proper food. The Hotely was out of food. Personally, I was thankful and didn’t care. I wasn’t eating anything other than leechies, baguettes and Laughing Cow in that town and the idea of the my man having the shits the whole night was nerve-wracking, so I informed the crew that 120km on a scooter after a night of diarrhoea might not be ideal. We were thankfully all in agreement.

The ride to and from Andilobe was beautiful, however, I’m still contemplating what this means. It feels awkward to have a ‘privileged’ and/or distant view of rural life. I wonder if considering wood and reed huts beautiful and describing the setting as quaint, picturesque, simple and rustic is particularly fair…I doubt that the people who formed part of my aesthetically-pleasing picture consider themselves and their lives in the same way.