Hell-Ville, Madagascar
November 16, 2022
Today was our 2nd day anchored off of Hell-Ville. Today we had a HAL tour of the Lakobe Park.
We met in the main stage at 6:45 am. As your tour is called you pass through some employees who put a numbered sticker on your shirt. It reminds me of when I taught elementary school but now I am the student.
We headed out to the tender and there seemed to be no issue with the mask police today. Some had masks, some didn’t. I don’t really care but I am not going to wear one.
20 minute or so and we were on the pier. Now was the wait to get on the boat that would take us to the park. The park was also on Nosy-Be but there weren’t roads to take us there. The fastest way would be by boat. The wait for our boat was about an hour. The boats had names much like they did on Zanzibar. Ours was the Shaina.
The ride out was uneventful. The water was a little rough but not a bad ride. When we arrived we walked through a very primitive village. Crude huts, lots of garbage. The path we walked down reminded me of the alley behind our house in Detroit. You expected garbage there.
The crude huts were built on cement slabs. After a few minutes I heard someone kicking out some tunes from one of the huts. Electricity? I saw a few solar panels. Something wasn’t feeling right about this experience. A former teacher in our group asked if there was a school in the area. Ernest, our guide, asked the group if we would like to see it.The group agreed and we took a short walk to the school. We heard what were obviously primary school aged children. We waved and they waved back. Some of the folks with us spoke French and they greeted them also. It hit me when I saw a teacher walking a group to the building. She was young and had an English accent. Peace Corps I thought. Ernest invited us to come up on the porch to see inside. The other teachers were young also. One teacher told us to leave. The children weren’t something to be looked at. One said get the F#$^ out of here. Of course she was right. No one in our group had actually worked with children, had careers, families, or children and grand children of their own. I told the one young Missy that we were invited here. Didn’t mean much. She had answered a higher calling and we were intruders. Shame on us. Opportunity missed, I thought. Could have been a great learning experience but what would I know.
We left the school area and continued down the path of dirt mixed with trash. We saw some women making tablecloths that they were selling. The men fish and the women make tablecloths. Not sure how making tablecloths in this remote area was decided on. Maybe tourism is a lot bigger that I think it is here. The tablecloths were beautiful. I guess when you are eating on a weathered wooden table and sitting on a wooden bench, the tablecloth provides a big difference.
Ernest took the group into the jungle. There were 11 of us and these were folks that could handle the hike. Another guide who grew up in this village came with us to point out the wildlife. We did see some sleeping lemurs, a boa constrictor, many geckos and chameleons.
If you look closely at the branches of the tree pictures, you might be able to make out sleeping lemurs.
There is cell phone service in this remote area. Not sure why.
We spent a few hours in the jungle and then Ernest said we needed to head back. Lunch time. We made it back to the little village and sat along long tables. The drinks came quick but we waited over an hour for lunch. They did literally just kill the tuna and it was on the barbecue. Refrigeration here? Not sure of that. The beer was cold. Maybe ice.
After lunch it was time to head back. All aboard was 2:30 and it was already 1:45. No one was worried. The captains wife was with us.
Our ride back was fast and very bumpy. I think our driver was racing someone. Maybe Mr. Bean or Mr. Cheaper.
30 mins back to the pier. 4 boats to unload in front of us. Just before it was our turn to unload the tender left. There was another tender behind us and when it positioned itself the crew loaded all of the pier equipment on with us and they all came aboard. Last tender in.
We were a bit late to the dining room but had a great meal as the ship pulled away. We were really moving. Maybe because we left an hour or two late. We did see a huge dolphin flip itself entirely out of the water as we ate.
We’re had an exhausting day and skipped the evening entertainment. We did do some trivia. How many times will they ask how many hearts an octopus has? I did know what H2O2 was. 11 out of 18. Ok score.
Another episode of Yellowstone and then bed. Two days at sea coming up.…