After a comfortable night’s sleep, we headed out to a volcanic lake at Tritrivo. The lake was not far, but it took us well over an hour to reach it. This was mainly due to the road becoming more pothole than road… and that we could only go as fast as the rickshaw in front of us!
On the way we past a few towns, with their street stalls and very colourful people. While the people are not well off, we did see lots of smiles on people’s faces. Poverty and a lack of education are two major challenges in Madagascar, ones that the government is trying to solve, but this work will take time, and a culture change. Our local guide told us that most rural people have little more than a primary school education, and that people consider themselves ‘rich’ if they have 14 children. Younger generations are starting to procreate less, as education improves in some areas.
Once we got to the lake, we were met by a local guide to took us round the lake and explained how it was formed. The lake has a gorgeous teal/green colour, due to it being 140m deep. It is also a sacred lake for the local Animism religion, which prohibits people who have consumed pork to swim in the lake. Sacrifices of all animal kinds are brought to the lake. Animism is the attribution of a living soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena as well as the belief in a supernatural power that organises and animates the material universe.
The lake is home to around 20 species of birds including peregrine falcon, while waiting for us to walk around the lake, Wawa and Da spotted one. They typically nest in the holes of the lakes cliff face. The walk round the lake was relaxing, and the views were stunning.
Once back in Antsirabe we visited the Cathedral (built in the 1920’s), the train station (built under French colonisation) and the oldest hotel in Madagascar (also built by the French). While out and about we learnt all about a local Fanorona (Malagasy pronunciation: [fə̥ˈnurnə̥]) is a strategy board game for two players.
A chilled evening at the hotel with room service, a bottle of wine and some family time to end the day.
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