Referring to the latest United Nation´s Human Development Index, Malawi is one of the world´s poorest countries, suffering from an uncontrolled increase of population, a population explosion, from an unstable food supply which leads to deficiency symptoms, from erosion because of widespread deforestation, from decades of exploitation and suppression, not only by its own dictatorial […]
Kategorie: street photography
Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez)
Antsiranana is the northernmost city of Madagascar, and beyond Antsiranana, there is only the Cap d´Ambre, the northern tip of the island. Its Malagasy name means port, and that is quite a striking name. The bay of Antsiranana is encircled by mountains and is said to be the largest natural port on earth, with a […]
Mahajanga (Majunga)
Once I dreamt of a town at a turquoise sea with sailing vessels on it, of which I have learned that they have been invented in the Arabic world and are called Dhows. The air was warm and slightly salty, the palm trees along the seaside promenade were murmuring unheard words in the warm wind, […]
From Morondava to Tsingy de Bemaraha – Von Morondava zu den Tsingy de Bemaraha
We´ve almost made it – but only just! We´ve already managed to finish 200 Kilometres of something that is used to be called a dirt road, but in Madagascar it´s often no more than a swath in the forest and the landscape in general. That very swath had lead us from Morondava along Madagascar´s west […]
The Manakara Suicide Bridge – Die Geschichte von der Manakara-Selbstmord-Brücke
Manakara is a drowsy postcolonial town on the south-eastern coast of Madagascar, sleeping a ruinous sleep after once having been an important port and trading centre since it had been connected to the central highland city of Fianarantsoa by railway tracks in 1936. Nowadays Manakara is suffering from Toamasina (Tamatave) being the major port on […]
“The Times They Are A-Changin´”
“…The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast The slow one now will later be fast As the present now will later be past The order is rapidly fadin‘ And the first one now will later be last For the times they are a-changin‘” (Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are A-Changin´”, 1964) One […]
Brickmaking – Die Ziegelherstellung
As one travels the island of Madagascar, it gets quite clear that wood is somehow out of reach as construction material, because it is needed as combustible and there is not much left of it – in general. Where people at the south tend to live in huts made of palm leaves, bamboo, and some […]
Transport Malagasy
Transport facilities in Madagascar are quite quixotic, because there ain´t that many roads worthy of that name. Travelling Madagascar is a fascinating thing to do, but it´s also tough and time-consuming. Infrastructure would be too strong a word for the possibilities on the island. It´s mainly three so-called National Roads linking Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez) in the […]
Ambositra
Even if Ambositra (pronounced ambooshtre) might be no more than a halt in between for most Madagascar travellers, it´s definitely worth giving it a second glance. Ambositra is a small town halfway between Antsirabe and Fianarantsoa on the RN7 from Tana down south, and it got charms set in the middle of central Madagascan highland […]
Antsirabe
It happens quite often that one has to stopover at Antsirabe – the town “with a lot of salt” – if travelling southern, south-eastern or western Madagascar. Just 150 kilometres south of Antananarivo in the central highland, Antsirabe is not only statistically the coldest place on the island, but also an industrial and agricultural centre […]
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