This man seemed bemused my my excitement of seeing a cyclist that day.
Read Morelone cyclist Thursday afternoon
friends in a mountain village
Small Holder Farms in the mountainous region of Bugisu Uganda
Community Mapping
I leave on foot up the mountain behind my house at 6:45. The slippery trail of a road is deeply rutted from the heavy rains we’ve been experiencing this month. Children, groups of women, and men pass me, as I negotiate the mountain with shoes caked in thick gooey red mud.
I have an appointment with Christoper, the chairman of the cooperative that I am working at, for a coffee farm tour. I have a vague idea of where his house is, so I continue walking for 45 minutes. Local farmers assure me that I am heading the right way then suddenly the trail stops at a tidy looking farmhouse. A Ugandan farm wife waves and calls to her husband to come out, the young children stare at me from a distance. I might be the first American to climb this trail!
Their names are Joseph and Lona, and they graciously spend an hour with me answering my questions about their lifestyle. After a tour of their garden plot, and their livestock shelters, Joseph and I walk 20 minutes along a narrow trail through small coffee tree farms. I’m keen to see where his family gets their drinking water. The public well is adjacent to their church and a new primary school that the church is trying to establish. The school is of simple mud and wattle construction. Each small room is neatly swept with hand hewn benches lined up in front of a chalkboard. They educate over 100 children ranging from nursery school through primary school.
My Nokia buzzes. It’s my supervisor calling, interupting my conversation with Joseph about the school’s potential. John is surprised that I walked so far on my own. I hang up and tell Joseph that John is expecting me to backtrack to Christopher’s farm. Joseph and I climb the path back to his house and we sit with his wife under their coffee trees. I pull a flask of hot rooibos tea from my bag. We sip the hot beverage together, smiling and appreciating the morning. Christopher and John can wait.
Details:
· Joseph is one of the few farmers who tends to a kitchen garden. He grows beans, tomatoes, squash, and greens for his family’s consumption. The garden is fenced with barbed wire to keep the free range poultry and animals out.
· Joseph has multiple plots of land scattered across the parish on which he maintains coffee farms.
· Joseph and Lona send their older children to boarding school in Mbale. Their commitment to their children’s education is commendable and rather unique. Many children in the Buweswa parish have not been attending school this year because the coffee harvest was devastatingly low so parents are unable to allocate money to pay school fees.
Escape to Le Palmarium - Ankanin’ny Nofy
I worked for a private language learning institute in Antsirabe, Madagascar for 9 months. It operates year-round, so I did not enjoy a 3-month winter holiday as most teachers do, but every once in-awhile I caught news that the institute would be closed for a short break. Without much notice, I would quickly have my friend and travel agent, S. Cocchiarella, organize a Madagascar adventure for me.
One such adventure was to Le Palmarium, a private reserve on Lake Ampitabe. Access to Le Palmarium is by boat through the Pangalanes Canal system, paralleling the Indian Ocean before entering Lake Ampitabe.
My private bungalow, situated on the lake shore, was absolutely private since most guests chose to stay in the forested part of the reserve where lemurs visit their tree-top rooms and balconies. Whether one chooses the sound of lapping waves on the lakeshore or a birds-eye view of lemurs, Le Palmarium is far removed from the hustle of Eastern Madagascar.
Lemurs at Ankanin’ny Nofy
The lemurs are habituated to humans, they literally pose for photographs because they are accustomed to being fed my humans.
Many of the lemur species living here are not endemic to Eastern Madagascar.
The privately managed hotel and reserve maintains close relationships with the local villages. I spent a day walking with my guides to their homes, visiting their families, and learning a little bit about their lifestyle. Later that evening we canoed the shoreline, enjoying the lush landscape from a new angle.
Sunset from the canoe
Village Visit
Le Palmarium is a wonderful family getaway especially since it is fairly accessible from Antananarivo. Children are able to run, play, and swim while their parents watch with a refreshing beverage. I especially enjoyed my perfect breakfast overlooking the lake, escaping city-life for a few days.
Wild Madagascar arranged all of the details of my trip ensuring that I could pursue the activities that interested me.
Deforested hills outside Le Palmarium boundary
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Wild Madagascar Tour Operator arranged my travel plans to Le Palmarium
Forests can be replanted but the biodiversity of the old growth forests cannot be replaced. The authors of “Primary Forests are Irreplaceable for Sustaining Tropical Biodiversity“ Nature, (2011) successfully argue “…when it comes to maintaining tropical biodiversity, there is no substitute for primary forests.”