Postcard from Madagascar

So Madagascar is my 49th country to visit.  And it had the WORST......traffic!  I've been to some REALLY bad traffic countries: China, Mexico, various other African countries, etc.  But the traffic in Madagascar was off the hook insane, and truly has to be experienced to be believed.  Imagine a city with 3.5 million people and ZERO traffic lights.  Leftover French colonial, tiny roads.  And only about 12-15 major thoroughfares snaking through the city.  Way too many people have cars, and then when you throw in the taxis, the sprinters, and the tons of people also pulling carts through the streets, it's just insane.

But here's the rub: as much as I hate traffic, as impatient as I get in it, etc., it was just SO crazy that I could only sit in the car/van/taxi and marvel.  I mean, I definitely got a good glimpse of city/street life.  And the traffic doesn't get better once you get outside of Antananarivo.  During my time there, I went in three different directions outside of the city on various side trips, of 12-20 miles, and the traffic was just nonstop disastrous.  It took us an HOUR AND A HALF to go 12 miles to Lemur's Park just outside the city.

Also went out to Ambohimanga, the former royal palace.  Madagascar has a short "official" monarchial history, but it's fairly interesting, with REALLY long names of kings (e.g., Andrianampoinimerina), lover-killing queens nicknamed "Black Widow", etc.  To learn more, go here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merina_Kingdom

And although I didn't notice this at first, my driver mentioned one day as we sat in traffic.  "The reason the people here all look so sour is because no one has jobs."  But this is bizarre because the unemployment rate is supposed to be less than 2%!  This in comparison to Lesotho's rate of 25%.  So no clue about that.

BUT, I did notice that the people were not very cheerful.  In Lesotho, you will see or hear people laughing in the streets, chatting, etc.  In Madagascar, not so much.  But there was still a decent, lively "vibe" in Antananarivo.  A lot of hustle and bustle.  It was a very weird dichotomy.

Of course Madagascar is famous as the only place where you find lemurs - although, actually, it turns out there is ONE breed living in Comoros (one of the newest PC countries!).  I did the obligatory trip to Lemur's park - a preserve some ways out of town, but I got to see more different types - and much more "up close" at the zoo in Antananarivo.  And before you judge, lemurs apparently thrive in captivity.  I know they did like licking the honey off my fingers!  :)  See pics on my Facebook page.

And I added another animal to my "animals eaten" list.  No, not lemurs.  Zebu!  It's basically a cow, and you've probably seen a pic of one before - but if you haven't, here you go:



Zebu originated in SE Asia, and nowadays there's about 75 breeds, split between Asia and Africa. Fun note from wikipedia about them:  Zebu were imported to Africa over many hundreds of years, and interbred with taurine cattle there. Genetic analysis of African cattle has found higher concentrations of zebu genes all along the east coast of Africa, with especially pure cattle on the island of Madagascar, either implying that the method of dispersal was cattle transported by ship or alternatively, the Zebu may have reached East Africa via the coastal route (Pakistan, Iran, Southern Arabian coast) much earlier and crossed over to Madagascar.

What does it taste like?  Cow.

I have now also been to former African colonies of the British, the German, and the French.  Not surprisingly, Madagascar retains some of their French heritage in the chaos and the multitude of great restaurants.  Of the 8 African countries I've now visited, I ate the best in Madagascar.  BUT, no fast food.  Zero.  Not even the ubiquitous RSA chains or even a local one.  I can't remember the last time I've been to a country that did not have a KFC.  Seriously.