D&K's Blog
  • Honeymoon 2013
  • Europe 2014
  • East/South Africa 2016
  • Prev
  • Next

The Land That Time Forgot

July 3, 2016September 28, 2017 By Denise

Madagascar is sometimes called The Land That Time Forgot. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and relatively undeveloped. We knew, when we made our travel plans, that we were in for a roller coaster ride of experiences, some of which would be amazing, and some of which would be very challenging.

Antananarivo, or Tana for short, is the capital city. On the drive from the airport to our hotel, we were immediately reminded of cities we’ve seen in Asia and Latin America. Simply replace the donkeys or water buffalo with zebu, the mud with dust, and you could hardly tell which continent you were on. Even the people looked like a little bit of everything, with light brown skin, high cheekbones, almond eyes generously mixed in with arching noses, and straight, glossy hair.

The technology that enables us to document our travels is thirsty for electrons.

Just like other “Third World”1 cities, Tana is an assault on the senses. The first thing that hit us was the smell of wood smoke and dust. The banks of every pond and ditch were draped with colorful fabrics. “Wash day,” our driver, Frank, said with a laugh. The streets thronged with people, trucks, mini-buses, and carts.

Frank’s English was very limited, and in any case we were quite tired after more than 24 hours of travel to get here, so we didn’t try to make sense of everything we were seeing. Our hotel was an island of quiet on a hilltop in the older part of the city. We watched the sun set through a haze of smoke and dust and retired early.

  1. Some people object to the term “Third World,” because it has acquired some baggage of negative connotations and over-generalizations; also, its original meaning is rooted in Cold War politics. To capture first impressions, quickly paint a picture, and compare the city on a superficial level to similar places around the world, however, I find the name very useful, as long as we all understand that there are many nuances and complexities and differences that we can only discover over time. I don’t use it to disparage the city or the people.
This entry was posted in Madagascar, Vacation 2016: East/South Africa
Share

Related Posts

  • Bwindi traditional story telling

    August 14, 2016April 16, 2020
  • Why Trees Matter

    August 12, 2016April 15, 2020
  • The Loooooong Walk Back

    August 12, 2016April 14, 2020

Post navigation

  Bicycling in Bavaria
Madagascar is Burning  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

17 − one =

Archives

  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2015
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • October 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • September 2012

Meta

  • Log in

Previous posts


© Karel Zuiderveld and Denise Cote. All Rights Reserved.
en English
nl Nederlandsen Englishfr Françaisde Deutschit Italianopt Portuguêses Españolsw Kiswahilisv Svenskath ไทย