Antipode – Chapter 20

Antipode is a true account of my experiences while doing research in Madagascar from 1993 – 1999; it was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2001. Here is where we started—with the Introduction. And here are all of the chapters posted thus far.

As static as many aspects of life on Nosy Mangabe were, it seemed I was often in a state of transit—going to or from the forest, the waterfall, or town. The boat ride from Nosy Mangabe to Maroantsetra is but three miles, but can take three quarters of an hour, depending on conditions. Under the rubric of “conditions” falls everything from the size of the swells to the mood of the captain. The rich warm greens of the forest recede as Nosy Mangabe darkens to a silhouette, and the only color at hand is blue, the water deep and rich, the sky pale and infinite, the distant mountains an indefinable hue that seems blue though you know it can’t be, really. Seabirds fly by, their gullets hanging low over the water. Flying fish occasionally make an appearance, jumping silently out of the way of the boat. Pirogues with fishermen in them pass silently, rarely looking hurried as they paddle out of the way of the motorized menace approaching them.

Finally, a turn to the right, into the broad river that is, at this point, indistinguishable from the sea, then bank left, and we are amidst reeds and water hyacinth. The wholesale general store appears, a one room barn where you can buy mints, in 50 package bundles, or car batteries, in this region with hardly any motorized land vehicles. The hulls of boats, once brightly painted, are now flaking, streaks of blue and red flashing from otherwise dulled corpses. Interspersed among them are live boats, with crews aboard who nap, or gaze out to sea.

Town was more full of possibilities this year, with not just more hardware, but more food to buy as well. Lebon and Fortune were not cooking for us, as they had been advised that it was against the rules. Cooking for ourselves added several hours to every day’s tasks, but we didn’t risk serving ourselves rancid crustaceans. In the market and stalls around its perimeter, I was able to find real cheese, soy sauce, vinegar, hot peppers, potatoes, garlic, cucumber, and even thyme. In one store, there were sometimes outrageously priced ...