discoverMadagascar

Andina is a rural Malagasy municipality in 1.320m over sea located in the western part of the Amoron'i Mania region. It is located 17km from the town of Ambositra via the Commune of Ivony. More famous for its terraced rice fields, the 15 districts that make up the commune present diversitie.   The population of Andina in 2019 was 25,600 heads distributed unevenly in the 15 districts with more than half aged under 20.  This is the place where we stayed last week,  as my wife comes from this region and we visited the family.  At the time that we visited this place it was end of August, it felt like the end of winter,  sometime like spring. Day temperatures was around 16°C and in the night it went down to 7°C. Once a week there is a big market, where the farmers sell their products.

Ambositra is in the centre of Madagascar around 860m over sea and known for its wooden handcrafts.  There are many shops that sell figures, boxes, board games etc.  Here some examples:    This collection of Board cames took them 2 months of work, no automation done here, everything made by hands with love.   It was said, that they are also open for individual motives.    With some time on your hands, you'll get your box, Image, chair, table as a worldwide unique product.    For those worried about the wood used for, it was said, that they need to plant new ones for each one they cut. For those interested for driving through the center of the city take a look at this video. (available 30.08.2022 at 7 a.m)

There are 3 provider: Orange, telma and airtel. We baught traffic with Orange for one month. But I needed to learn that there is no roaming from organge with Telma. Therefore when beeing around the highland near Ambositra there is only coverage with telma and 2G with Orange, if the air came from the right direction.  In Germany we are with O2,  there are various tarifs. My wife has roaming and could connect with all providers in Madagascar. 0.16€/10kb, with max. Payment of 60€.At the moment I'm with extra traffic where I got traffic for 5€/50MB. To be honest we haven't asked in Germany if there is a worldwide Tarif or a special offer for Madagascar.  So this is recommended for someone who want to travel here and have max. Flexibility. Tomorrow we leave the highland to North in dirección to Antsirabe and Ampefy.

Teil 1 - Das Alphabet, die Aussprache  Im Gegensatz zum deutschen gibt es im madagassischen Alphabet nur 21 Buchstaben. Die deutschen Konsonanten C, Q, W, X und den Vokal U gibt es im Madagassischen nicht.   Bei der Aussprache werden oft einzelne Vokale „verschluckt“, manchmal sogar ganze Silben. Hinweise zur Aussprache bei solchen „verschliffenen“ Wörter sind in [] gegeben.   Alle madagassischen Wörter enden auf einen Vokal. Das „y“ [i] kommt nur am Wortende vor. Das „h“ wird nicht gesprochen.    Die übrigen Buchstaben werden wie die deutschen Buchstaben ausgesprochen bis auf folgende Ausnahmen: •    o wie "u“ in "wurde“ - vòla [wùla] Geld  •    r wie das bayrische "r“ - ràno [rànu] Wasser •    v wie "w“ in "Wald“ - sàry [ssàri] Photo  •    z wie "s“ in "Summe“ - velòma! [welùma] Auf Wiedersehen!, Tschüss!  Außerdem  verwendet wird der Vokal ô als Ausruf oder in Fremdwörtern sowie nachfolgenden Diphthonge verwendet: •    ô wie "o“ in "Brot&

 if you drive the national road many villages consist of only a few houses. Therefore each village has little stands directly at rhe road where they sell what they produce. Some sell  orange, rabbits, music instruments or figures of clay, even straw to feed the animals Pictures follow when Internet allows it, here is bad coverage  . [Update: added pictures]

As we drive south from the capitol Antananarivo, the sunset arrived on the way to Antsirabe.

Here in Madagascar life is different than in advanced western countries . In town everyone tries to make a living out of what they can sell. There are many tiny stands and shops. Here are some first impressions Also transport is slightly different than we are used to More to come soon