Chasing Lemurs by Keriann McGoogan

Author:Keriann McGoogan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prometheus
Published: 2019-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

I read through the section on porters in Shawn’s unofficial guide that night—June 2. The men with their zebu carts had arrived as requested, and we were going to pack up and head out early next morning. We went to sleep for one last time in our tents in Kandreho. This was it. Tomorrow we would begin the hike into Kasijy. I couldn’t wait. I had been in Madagascar for eleven days and I had yet to see a lemur. But now the lemurs were within spitting distance— a mere thirty-five kilometers away.

That night I prepared and organized all my equipment for our departure. I made sure that I had a rice sack with room to slip in my tent, sleeping bag, mattress, and extra clothes. Next, I prepared my day pack. I took two bottles of water and filled up my camel pack bladder. I knew that I would need a lot of water for this hike. I slipped the full bladder into the pack, threaded the hose through the top, and attached it to the strap. At the bottom of my pack, I carefully placed my plastic bag full of ariary and my passport. I added my binoculars and camera. I snuck in a snack, just in case—a peanut butter Cliff bar. At the top, I put in my water filter and an empty Nalgene bottle—the water I had just used to fill up my bladder would be the last bottled water that I would have. I zipped up my now full pack, and then noticed my Teva sandals. I would need to bring those as well, in case we had to go through any water or mud. I slipped them into the front pouch of my pack and attached them with a carabiner. My pack now full, I turned to my next chore. I needed to have everything ready so that I could get up and go. I laid out my clothes, found my hat and sunglasses and added them to the pile, and then I tucked the socks I would wear into my boots. There. All set.

We awoke bright and early next day to find that the locals had packed up their carts in the middle of the night and decamped.

“What happened?” Shawn asked Andry.

Andry just shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

After a quick breakfast, Andry and Sahoby set out to find the porters. They returned at around 10:30, with two zebu carts kicking up dust behind them. The original zebu cart drivers had quit. Andry and Sahoby had managed to find two new drivers with carts who were willing to take us.

“Wow,” Shawn marveled. “This is such a different experience than in the east. There, we had the problem of too many people wanting the work.”

In The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar, Michael Lambek unpacks Sakalava culture by exploring the historical roots as well as contemporary Sakalava perceptions of themselves. The Sakalava, he says, self-identify as miavong, meaning “reserved, standoffish, or proud.

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