Exploring the ‘Most Primitive’ Country in Africa: Monkey Bread Trees and Ring-Tailed Lemurs
The raw Madagascar, here is no water and no electricity
Madagascar is one of the ‘least developed countries’ in the world. The only main road in the country is bumpy and uneven, leaving travelers with tired and fatigued; mobile communication is mostly unavailable, and occasionally emits a message; 80% of the land remains unexplored, which is a mysterious land for the world. However, here, 80% of the species can be seen worldwide; in the countryside, the weeds in the field lie scattered pink crystals; ancient lemurs haunt the branches of the rainforest; the age of the monkey bread tree stands upright in the sunset prairie; the red earth is carved with the ancient landforms of millions of years ago, witnessed by the fossilized trees and shellfish fossils, silently witnessing all the long years. It has many names, Golden Island, the fourth largest island in the world, the last Noah’s Ark, a forgotten island in time…
From Mauritius, I flew to the capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo. It’s a magical country, and there are very few tourists coming here.
Upon arrival on the first day, I contacted a local driver to take me from Antananarivo to Morondava, a distance of 300km, which took nearly 12 hours. The entire journey was on dirt roads, the longer it went, the more primitive it became.
There is no water and no electricity, and there is no modern civilization. They still maintain this long-standing way of life, living by the sea will not starve to death, they have many fish and seafood to eat.
Here, the children are very innocent, I brought a lot of candy to give them, they all like to eat candy. Their clothes are very dirty and the sizes are very large and tattered. But everyone is happy.
Perhaps happiness is a remedy, even if they lack many material things. But they have a more carefree life than most people.
In addition, I also went to find lemurs, this special creature has lived here for a long time.
Each lemur seems to be very interested in me, staring at me blankly.
The only way to attract them is to pour a little water on the ground with a bottle of mineral water, and they will gather to drink when they hear the sound of water.
In Morondava there are many monkey bread trees, monkey bread trees have many varieties, such as this one, which can only be seen in Morondava, they can live for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Like the guardians of the earth, they have always guarded this magical land. In Madagascar, in such a remote country. In a world with extreme water shortages, these trees can still survive and grow so strongly.
The monkey bread tree avenue, sunset. It’s like a painting, or a movie scene, it’s beautiful as if I stepped into a painting.
Extreme drought has caused Madagascar to be severely water-scarce. Water collection is the only fun for children. Thin bodies, carrying a large bucket of water, making people feel sorry for them, they cannot go to school, and they cannot live in a luxurious house.
I saw them carrying many large buckets and walking to the first water point. They blew for a long time without water coming out. Later they realized that this water point was time-limited.
They went to a very far place to find water. When they finally found water, they were very happy and finally found a water source. In Madagascar, most water collection points are funded by China, and Chinese people will dig wells here.
Not only boys but also girls come to collect water. The thin little girl can’t even lift this large bucket of water, so she can only move slowly step by step.
It seems very arduous. Perhaps everyone is unfairly, perhaps this is life.
Excited, I thanked nature for its gifts. It’s possible to see such beautiful scenery and give birth to so many people.
The little girl takes her brother to drink water, but it takes a whole day without water coming out, here water is a luxury.
A vast area of monkey bread trees are lined up neatly, and the sunset casts their silhouettes. I often think that the poorest places have the most beautiful scenery. There is no smog and no traffic. Here there are only primitive plants and the most primitive sky.
The sunset dyed the sky red, scattering its last rays of light, the monkey bread tree is the most beautiful at this time.
From Morondava back to Antananarivo is also the same, drove for 12 hours, which made me want to vomit.
I came to the Madagascar Chameleon Conservation Park, where you can see many lizards and various small animals here, which is very interesting.
The chameleons curled up in the trees, waiting for the prey to fly past them.
The red frogs are very cute, jumping randomly on the ground, almost stepped on by me. Although it is small, it is a national symbol of protection.
Chameleons are really chameleons, very good at camouflage.
Of course, you can also put them on your hands, which looks scary, but it doesn’t hurt, they won’t harm humans.
In addition to chameleons, I like this side’s lemurs most, although everyone knows the Julian king in ‘Madagascar’. The ring-tailed lemurs are particularly famous.
There are dozens of lemurs in Madagascar, each one is cute.
It looks like a monkey and a fox. And it is not afraid of people, it will jump onto your shoulders, it likes to eat bananas, each one is fluffy.
And every lemur will jump onto your shoulder, in your palm, it’s super cute, it makes people feel like they are melting.
About accommodation, Madagascar’s tourism industry has not been fully developed, there are not many hotels to choose from, and it has not been added to the international star rating system. There are only two local five-star hotels on the whole island, which are all built by Chinese people. For people who are used to living in cities, it’s a more interesting experience. To experience a different rural life.
About transportation 1. Antananarivo is the transportation hub of Madagascar, and flights and buses all start here. 2. Air transportation: Madagascar Airlines is the only airline on the island, but it is known for its instability, with a history of canceling flights and changing departure times. 3. Road transportation: The roads in Madagascar are very poor, there is only one road in the whole country, which is bumpy and uneven. The same distance takes two or three times longer to drive than domestic driving. If you are prone to motion sickness, please bring motion sickness medicine. 4. To get to Morondava from Antananarivo, you can choose to fly or hire a car/bus. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you can endure hardship, you can experience both ways. Hiring a car will give you a deeper understanding of the village.
