Visiting the Zafimaniry Villages

Day 1

We said our goodbyes to Sarah and repacked our bags so that we’d only need to carry the items we’d need for the next 3 days.  After we had our breakfast in the stall across from our hotel, Roger came to pick us up.  We loaded into the car and drove towards the center of town to pick up others in our group.  It was a mother and daughter who live in France and their cousin that is Malagasy.  The car made one last stop to get the rest of our supplies and then we headed out of town.  We left the asphalt behind us and turned down a dirt road.  It led us between fields and fields of rice paddies.  At one point, there was a group of people digging in the red dirt and Roger told us they were panning for gold.  He said they rarely found anything, only small flakes yet that was enough to keep them going. 

We stopped along the side of the road for a toilet break and to look at a painted map of the region on a sign.  Roger pointed to the areas where we’d be going and then we made our way to Antoetra.  This would be our starting point for the hike and where we’d leave the car parked for the next few days.  It was market day so we walked between the stalls and saw what they had to offer.  The items ranged from clothes to food to even a makeshift pharmacy.  We took advantage of it and bought a few sugar cane cakes (identical to panela) to take with us on the hike. 

 

 

 

Each of us grabbed our belongings and then we headed through town.  There were groups of people that would pass us in a single file line in their bright colored clothes and their goods on their heads as they made their way back to their village.  The women had their hair braided and then joined together into a design in the back with a woven hat, which is typical for their culture .  Many had brought their products and sold them in exchange for things they needed.  We followed a path that led into the nearby hills.  Once we’d made it a good ways away from Antoetra, we stopped on some rocks to have our picnic lunch.  

 

 

 

The trail continued on and we started to work our way up.  As we were walking, I spotted something blowing in the wind on a bush next to the path.  It looked like a butterfly at first, but as we looked closer it was a chameleon that was shedding his skin.  Once Roger confirmed that we could touch it, we picked it up and got a closer look.  We took breaks when we needed them and reached the top of a huge boulder before we knew it.  There was a view of the area beneath us and from there we spotted our destination, Sakaivo. 

 

 

There were stairs etched out of the boulder and we began working our way down to the village.  We passed a tomb in a cave in the mountain and Roger made sure to make note of it without pointing a finger.  The final decline led us to where the houses started.  We walked past the center of the village, which was marked with a large branch from a tree with durable timber.  It is special as every village identifies this location and it’s used during ceremonies.  We weaved between the houses while looking at their wood etchings as we made our way to our room for the night.  This woodcrafting is why UNESCO classified these communities for their intangible cultural heritage.

 

 

 

 

The house where we stayed was dedicated to tourists so each person in our group found a room and made it theirs.  We chose a room upstairs with access to the wrap-around balcony.  The ceilings were low as the Zafimaniry are small in stature so we crouched as we walked around.  The view of the village let us see the nearby houses as well as the people moving around in their daily lives.  We left our things and walked around to get a closer look at the wood carvings.  They were similar to what we’d seen at the Rova the day before, but more elaborate as almost every home had some sort of decoration.  We saw homes that were still being built and others that had been finished off with paint to accent the carvings.  Most were erected without nails, which also allowed them to be deconstructed and moved, if the owner wished. 

 

 

 

As it started to get dark, we walked back towards our home.  Dinner was being prepared in the house next door so we sat down and watched while chatting with Roger.  They offered us chicken broth soup as they continued cooking the rest of the meal.  Once it was ready, we moved to the house we stayed in to a table and chairs next to someone’s bed.  The 6 of us ate dinner and talked about what we’d seen that day as well as the rest of our trips in Madagascar.  After our night out the night before, we were ready for bed shortly after finishing the meal.  

Day 2

We woke up to the sound of chickens and the village people starting their day.  There were children playing on homemade stilts and they decided to show off once they saw our interest in them.  They carefully walked across the plank that was the bridge to the toilet and then situated themselves along the edge of the hill.  The bravest one looked at the others and then jumped to the soft dirt below.  The rest followed in suit and then the repeated the same action over and over.  There were a couple large rocks in the loose dirt so we were glad that they aimed accordingly and no one got hurt.  

 

 

We again walked around the village, but this time away from where most of the houses were built.  Several houses were constructed on the other side of the valley and we wandered over to see what the ‘suburbs’ were like.  We passed a house that looked like it had a painted butterfly on it, but as we looked closer we realized that it was alive.  There was a comet moth that was larger than my hand on the side of the house.  It didn’t mind us getting up close and looking at its hairy body and the extent of its tail so we took our time.  

 

 

We watched as girls played on a swing they had constructed by tying pieces of fabric together and walked to the edge where we couldn’t go any further.  There was a path that led down into the valley of farmland that separated these homes from the rest and we took that back to our guesthouse to have breakfast.  Different boys were using the open space near the toilet to play with their toy cars and water bottle tops.  They had a ramp made from pieces of palm tree bark and were finding the perfect angles so the cars reached the end.  There was also a makeshift bicycle that they used to roll down the hill.

 

After breakfast, we said goodbye to the other tourists in our group as they only had a 1 night tour.  Roger then took us around the village as he would be our translator to get a better understanding of things.  We entered a home where the family had just butchered a pig and were cutting up the pieces.  They had rolled out a woven mat and placed a small piece of wood on top that served as the cutting board.  The man attacked the animal with a knife attached to a long handle and weighed the meat as they cut.  One of the daughters wrote down the quantity and which family it was going to as they divided up the meat.  We took a portion with us for our dinner and would buy more supplies in the other villages as we walked.

 

Our next stop was to visit another house that served local rum.  They had yellow plastic containers full of the alcohol and as we sat talking with the women a few of the locals came to order a glass.  Then, we walked to the chief’s home and learned more about his role in the village.  His home, like the others we’d seen, was organized like the replicas we’d seen at the Rova.  The door faced the West and each had chalk marking on the outside of the door frame to identify if the children had received their vaccines.  Our first steps were into the kitchen and the bed was in the furtherest corner from the door.  And there were countless ears of maize hanging above the fire to help in their drying. 

 

 

Once we felt like we’d seen a good amount of Sakaivo, we grabbed our bags and started walking to the next village.  We walked up the hill and passed several women working in the fields.  We reached the top and stopped for lunch.  As we ate, another tourist passed and then a mother with her 2 young girls.  One was carrying an infant strapped to her back while the other had a bag of goods.  We continued on and reached Antetezandrotra, which is known for it’s history as a slave village.  Some believe that the people in this village came into the region later and started following their cultural practices so they are not as accepted into the Zafimaniry community.  By looking at the homes or the people, this was not apparent.  

 

We stopped at the center of the village and then walked around to continue on the path.  The last house we passed had greens drying in the sun and Roger asked what they were for.  The older woman explained that the kids were playing ‘market’ and were selling the weeds between each other.  We walked through open fields and on to the next village.  The final approach to Faliarivo was up along rocks and we could hear the children yelling as they spotted us from a distance.  Their woodcarvings had much more detail and we walked around exploring the different homes.  Some had names etched into the wood while others had intricate designs that we hadn’t seen in the other villages.

 

 

Roger bought dried beans and coordinated with one of the boys, who would run them ahead so they could start cooking them while we walked.  We waited outside of a shop as Roger bought a few more things and danced to the music that was blasting from someone’s home.  The locals found it quite funny that we danced and some of the younger girls joined in with us.  The path took us towards a stream that caused our path to be flooded.  We tried to find the right way to cross without getting too wet and then found ourselves at the edge of the mountain.  Roger pointed across the valley at the village and said that was where we were going.  

 

We walked down to the river that ran through the valley and then back up to reach our home for the night, Ankidodo (Kidodo).  The plan had been to sleep on the floor of the primary school, but we convinced Roger to find us a place in someone’s home.  He spoke with the chief’s cousin and we were invited in.  We sat on woven mats and watched as they cooked.  The woman of the house asked if I wanted my hair done like theirs and while I had declined the day before I decided to say yes.  Another girl came and between the two of them, they started working on my hair.  Once the village got wind of what was happening, the house filled with kids.  Those that didn’t enter watched from the window and door.  They used a straw brush to comb my hair and sectioned it off before making small braids.  These braids were then braided together and as my hair wasn’t long enough they were joined together in the back without a design.

 

 

Once it was completed, they gave me one of their typical hats and I looked as close to a Zafimaniry as I could.  The little girls chuckled at me, but the girl that had done the work was proud.  It was dark by the time they finished and dinner was served shortly afterwards.  The chief came for dinner and we sat on the floor asking questions that Roger translated for us.  Even though there was still more rice, but no one could eat any more.  They pulled out more woven mats and laid them out in the room next to where we’d spent most of the afternoon and evening.  We put our sleeping bags on top and got ready for bed while the rest of the family and Roger slept in the other room, also on the floor.

 

 

Day 3

The next morning we went around the village while breakfast was prepared.  There was a group of girls playing soccer on the field near the home where we slept.  They had a small ball and this was the first time we’d seen girls playing like this.  People recognized me by my hair and most smiled and gave a thumbs up.  Roger found us wandering around and took us to the home of the oldest woman in the village.  She happily spoke with us, but refused to have her picture taken.  Every time Tico picked up his camera she would cover herself with a blanket.  She said she felt ugly at this age and didn’t want a picture taken.

 

 

 

 

We went back to the house for breakfast and then packed up our things.  Roger went around the village speaking with people so we again went to check things out.  Our neighbor was outside of her home pounding rice out of its hull with her oversized mortar and pestle.  Tico asked if he could help and was given a second pestle.  They alternated their pounding and had a synchronized rhythm.  When Roger was ready, we began our final trek back to Antoetra.  

 

 

The path led us back down into the valley where we’d come from, but then we turned the other direction.  We went up and down the hills and had amazing views of the surrounding scenery.  Slowly, we started making our way back into civilization.  We passed other tourists on their way to the villages as well as a large group of locals.  The latter were carrying empty plastic jugs and were in search of local rum that they could then resell in their towns.  We could see the town of Antoetra in the distance as we made our final descent.  Our vehicle was waiting for us and Roger prepared lunch for us before we loaded back into the car.  We arrived back in Amobsitra with enough time to organize our bus for the following day and grabbed dinner before going to bed.

 

Helpful tips:

• The villages let you take a step back in time and see how the locals lived years before.  Unfortunately, their culture is changing slightly due to the effects of deforestation.
• Our guide, Roger, did a great job translating and coordinating with the locals.  English-speaking guides are harder to find, so we highly recommend him.  His email is lamaisondesguides.ambositra@yahoo.fr.