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Find out more about Mutomboko ceremony here: MUTOMBOKO I… and here …MUTOMBOKO II

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The Q-Files: Scenario

8 pictures

Members of German THW training members of Tunesian civil protection staff. – Mitglieder des THW trainieren tunesische Katastrophenschützer.

Young workers

Children making bricks near Vohiposa, central Madagascan highlands.

Journey through a mouldering land – Reise durch ein zerfallendes Land

Journey through a mouldering land – Reise durch ein zerfallendes Land

An important ressource rarely taken into account, often disdained and most of the time “tramped on” without bothering much is soil! But that is the surface of this planet, generating life and nutrients as well as keeping everything a-live. Desertification – the ongoing spreading of deserts – and erosion are devastating enormous amounts of soil every year, making a lot of land worthless for every kind of agriculture. And soil is hardly sustainable. If it´s lost, it´s gonna stay that way! Renaturation is fairly difficult and in most cases just impossible.

Tsingy de Bemaraha II: Tsingy tsingy – On tiptoes – Auf Zehenspitzen

Tsingy de Bemaraha II: Tsingy tsingy – On tiptoes – Auf Zehenspitzen

After a tropical night that had us soaked in sweat we faced the fact that our car was still standing on the other side of the river with it´s hood wide open. So we got on a pirogue and headed upstream Manombolo for “Petit Tsingy”, which is the southern end of the karst scenery. Tsingy de Bemaraha is a limestone slab that once used to be the ground of the ocean. It got elevated and today it stretches 100 kilometres from Manomobolo River up north as well as a maximum of 30 kilometres from inland westward. Along the bank of the river the limestone is sliced, because erosion is washing away softer types of rock, so the scenery truly resembles the Elbe Sandstone Mountains (Saxon Switzerland) at the Elbe River in eastern Germany. But inside the park weather has formed surreal, razor-sharp limestone spikes, on top of which bizarre Elephant´s Foot Trees, cactuses and even trees are growing.

Tsingy de Bemaraha I:Gestrandet unterm Mangobaum – Stranded under the Mango tree

Tsingy de Bemaraha I: Gestrandet unterm Mangobaum – Stranded under the Mango tree

Eigentlich hatten wir es schon geschafft. Hinter uns lagen gut 200 Kilometer dessen, was man gemeinhin eine Piste nennt, was auf Madagaskar häufig jedoch nicht mehr als eine Schneise ist, die in die Vegetation, in die Landschaft geschlagen wurde. Diese spezielle Piste führt von Morondava (sprich: murundawa) an der Westküste entlang der Baobab-Allee, dem Wahrzeichen Madagaskars (erstes Bild), vorbei an Reisfeldern und durch die Reste einst ausgedehnter Trockenwälder, die heute in verschiedenen Reservaten und Parks unter Schutz stehen, Richtung Norden. Doch dann war die Fahrt plötzlich zu Ende!

Andringitra

Andringitra

Das Andringitra-Massiv im Südosten Madagaskars, südlich von Fianarantsoa an der Kante zur Ostküste gelegen, besteht aus Granit und ist Heimat des Pic Boby, dem mit 2657m zweithöchsten Gipfel der Insel. Hier herrscht das kühle Klima des Hochlandes, und die Temperaturen können nachts auch einmal unter die 0° Celsius-Grenze fallen. Die monolithischen Felswände sind ein – noch größtenteils unentdecktes – El Dorado für Kletterer, traumhafte, aber wie immer entwaldete Landschaft inklusive.

Madagascar streetshot I

Between Sakaraha and Mahaboboka

The Manakara Suicide Bridge

The Manakara Suicide Bridge

Manakara is a drowsy postcolonial town on the southeastern coast of Madagascar, sleeping a ruinous sleep after once having been an important port and trading centre since it had been connected to central highland city of Fianarantsoa by railway tracks in 1936. Nowadays Manakara is suffering from Toamasina (Tamatave) being the major port on the eastcoast because of it´s proximity to the capital Antananarivo and the island of Nosy Boraha (pronounced noosh boor; also: Ste. Marie) which is a major tourist hotspot. There is still a lot of business going on with Fianarantsoa because twice a week the train reaches Manakara after an eleven to 36 hours tour through the rainforest and bleak, treeless hillscapes bringing goods and some tourists, who will have an overnight stay before leaving town again.

Baobab d´Amour

Die berühmten „Baobabs d´Amour“ nahe Morondava an der Westküste Madagaskars – The famous „Baobabs d´Amour“ near Morondava on the westcoast of Madagascar