Day 11: Zombitse national park and the west coast

Today we continued to journey across the island, now heading west towards the coast. Our first stop was Zombitse national park, a transition zone between dry deciduous and spiny forest habitats. The park is home to magnificent baobab trees and a wide variety of lemur species, the elusive fossa, along with many birds and reptiles. We were greeted by a local guide and spotter who led us along the narrow trails of the park in search for more wildlife. It wasn’t long before our spotter was calling over the radio to our guide and we were led through dense vegetation towards a tall rustling tree. Up above large white sifaka lemurs bounced between the branches, selecting leaves to graze on. These lemurs are often referred to as “dancing lemurs” as when they venture to the forest floor they stand on their long back legs and use their forearms as balance above their heads, almost as if they are dancing as they jump. This species does not drink water and instead rely on the leaves as their source of hydration. They didn’t seem to mind our presence and continued to groom each other, feast on leaves and bounce energetically between the branches.

There was a clearing in the forest where a magnificent baobab tree extended high above all the other trees. Our guide estimated the tree was 800 years old, standing at around 22 metres with an impressive diameter. These trees take around 15-20 years to reach maturity and can live for thousands of years, the oldest in Madagascar is 1600 years. Our guide explained that the male trees produce less fruit than the female trees, highlighting the difference between two neighbouring trees. We meandered through the trails and observed a giant green gecko, a three eyes lizard and a white browed owl, it was fascinating how many species could be found in what felt to be a small area of forest.

After our exploration of Zombitse, we continued our journey to the coast. Hery explained that there is nowhere suitable to eat on route, as we would pass just small local communities and there would be no shops or restaurants, so we would have to make do with snacks on the bus. The road detoriated further, they had been poor throughout but here the infrastrutcure was even worse. We crept along the road as our driver Michele swerved cautiously around the endless potholes. Our pace was that slow that local children could run alongside the bus, bashing the windows desperately requesting water and food – demonstrating the increased poverty and food insecurity in this region. As we drove painfully slowly, we passed through many sapphire mining sites. Despite Madagascar being ranked within the top 10 poorest countries in the world, it accounts for 40% of global production of sapphire – one of the worlds’ most sought after precious stones. In 1998 several deposits were found in the south of the country and the area became the scene for outdated working conditions leading to injuries and deaths, cases of child labour and violent crime. What was originally a dream of economic emancipation soon progressed into a nightmare for Malagasy people. Men, women and children were searching for the precious stones but it was clear these sapphire deposits were not translating into wealth for this area as it was by far the most deprived area we had witnessed. A combination of inefficient mining practises, poor infrastructure inhibiting their ability to process the stones in addition to a globalised supply chain that favours international buyers means the country does not benefit. However, this is still prioritised over education as a means of hope for the local people that one day they will stumble upon a large stone that will end the cycle of poverty. It was frustrating and saddening to see people working in these conditions with barely a glimmer of hope that it will result in a life transformation. The truth is that over 75% of the country lives below the poverty line and despite the agricultural and natural resource potential, the political instability and poor infrastructure continue to hinder economic development meaning the poverty persists.

After very slow progress on the roads, we finally reached the coast as the ocean glistened in the distance. The Southwestern coast of the island is replete with golden beaches and the turquoise waters of the Great Reef of Madagascar along the Mozambique channel (the 5th largest coral reef in the world – 450km). This unique habitat is home 6000 reef associated species including 752 species of fish, 4 species of marine turtle and 13 shark species. It is also one of the few locations where Coelacanth can be found, a 400 million year old species of fish, known as the “living fossils” of the ocean. After dropping off my bags I relaxed on the beach as the local fisherman waved while they pushed their boats out to sea. The sunset was beautiful as the sky blazed into a fire canvas of deep orange and red, marking the end to another interesting and varied day.