Ile
Sainte-Marie: I
was exhausted and thought I'd got to an island for some time to take it
easy. Well, it didn't
neccesarily end up that way.
Got a taxi-brousse from Toamasina to the ferry port for Isle
Sainte-Marie. I sat with a guy who spoke English well and he was
telling me the corruption was getting worse and worse. He pointed
out bridges with signs that indicated they were donated by foreign
donors yet they collected tolls for them with the money going to the
president. He sounded very frustrated at the entire situation but
powerless to do anything. Whenever the subject of the government
came up anywhere in the country, this seemed to be the prevailing
opinion as well as feeling of being able to do nothing about it.
When we got to the port, the ferry was not there; and there were a
bunch of smaller boats waiting. They only looked to be safe if
not overcrowded and the weather was good, not that either of those
conditions would stop them. Turns out the main ferry was on the
bottom of the ocean with bodies still on board. Well, let’s hope the
good weather holds.
I met a group of South African mountain bikers, including one who raced
(like me), and they had their bikes with them. I took their bikes
for a ride and it was so nice to ride a quality bike after so
long. It had been twenty one months since I had ridden a nice
bike and for me, that’s an eternity. There were a few things I
missed about home. I missed being able to cook food for myself
(not that I’m a good cook by any means), I missed my mom and being able
to work on my various projects, but I really, really missed riding my
bikes.
Needing a break from things, I chose Isle Sainte-Marie, a good sized
island about twenty km. off the northeast coast. I was tired of
taxi-brousses and general hassles and really wanted time away from
people on an hour-to-hour basis. Often times, when I want
to be alone, I go to the forests but in Madagascar, I wasn’t sure how
to make that work in terms of staying off private land or requiring a
guide in a park, so ISM it was and spending most of my time by myself.
I found a hut on the beach and the majority of my days consisted of
sleeping late, loafing around, reading, going to the small town to eat,
then more reading and loafing. It would often rain and if I was
out walking, I’d sometimes keep walking; other times hide under a tree,
or walk with a giant banana leaf as an umbrella given to me by kindly
people who wanted me to stay dry. Sounds like a good plan for the
next week.
I
did spend some more time with the cyclists and would go out to eat with
them as it’s always nice to spend time with your brethren. I also
met a writer for a well known travel guide who was very familiar with
the country. He told me a lot of things that would have been good
to know before I came. He had been coming for over ten years and
said things were getting worse and worse for the people, both in terms
of corruption and how things were getting harder day-to-day for the
average person. He mentioned the group Doctors Without Borders
and how the government tried to put a 20% tax on their medical supplies
during a cholera outbreak. The group threatened to withdraw from
the country and the government finally backed down. Sometimes he
felt that other countries should stop giving aid as most of it was
stolen and that if things got bad enough, maybe people would stand up
and revolt. Pretty strong words but they may well have an element
of truth.
I spent some time with people, both locals and travelers, but for the
most part, I was relaxing. I probably spent most time with a dog
that took a liking to me and would spend large parts of his days
sitting next to me while I read. There were a few frustrations
here and there but nothing I couldn’t handle. I did buy a plane
ticket to Toamasina as the ferry had lost its appeal. I was also
planning to head to the far north after returning to the mainland.
Things were staying on a pretty even keel when I took an early morning
walk along the beach. I usually took my money belt with me but
this day I didn’t. When I returned, a window in my hut had been
forced open and my money belt was gone. Money (Malagash, US, and
Egyptian), tickets, credit/ATM cards, and plane tickets were
gone. I was *&$(*&$#@’ed. A sense of panic set in,
this was not going to be good.
I had about $5, so what to do? I tried to make a phone call but
had trouble with it but how to arrange things with so little money and
an expensive phone system? I stopped by a business run by an
Italian couple (speaking to them in Italian no less). They spoke
English well which I was happy to use given the circumstances.
There were enough problems at the moment without speaking in another
language. They allowed me to use their shop to make and receive
phone calls and emails. They were lifesavers for sure.
I talked to my parents and asked them to cancel my credit cards and get
new ones. Only problem was getting them in Madagascar.
There are no delivery services outside the post office and if the cards
don’t show up for a month, well that is my problem so my Mom arranged
to have them sent to Cairo via FedEx. I then talked to the
embassy in Tana and a worker named Sarah was extremely helpful.
She assured me a new passport was no problem. She worked with my
Mom back home and myself on ISM and couldn’t have been more
helpful. “What else do you need?” she asked. My Mom had
problems getting through to me on the island so Sarah set up a
conference call with the three of us which settled a lot of issues. Wow!
Air Madagascar was very helpful getting me plane tickets from Tana to
Nairobi but the ticket back to Toamasina was a hassle. I had to
buy another ticket and then wait one whole year to get a refund on the
existing ticket. The woman there told I’d never see the money, so
that was that. My mom talked with the travel agency in Cairo to
get tickets from Nairobi->Dubai->Cairo reissued and they would be
waiting for me in Nairobi. All of this took a few days but there
were two remaining problems: getting money wired and the police.
The
police wanted to see me a few days later. They were asking if I
had any money to pay for my hut as it’s likely the owner went and
talked to them but I suspected this was more of a shakedown for a
bribe, which was quickly confirmed. They said they wanted a gift
in return for a police report. I went back to Air Madagascar to
ask the woman how to deal with the police and she told me to tell them
“No.” I wasn’t sure how aggressive police were and I didn’t have
any money for a bribe. She also said that she wasn’t surprised I
had been burglarized. “It not common but it does happen.
I’m more surprised you didn’t get your things back minus the
cash. The credit cards and passports are of no use to the
thieves. The police know who the thieves are and if things are
not returned in day or two they generally put out notice to have the
non-cash items returned and they are dropped off on the police station
porch in the middle of the night.” Well, thieves with honor, or
something.
When I went to talk to the police for a theft report, they all gathered
around for their “gift.” I tried to feel out how smart they were
and quickly determined: Not Very. I told them my family
owned a department store and they all got excited. I said that I
could send them a refrigerator and boy, did that send them over the
top! I got my report and waltzed out the door. Idiots!
The last order of business was getting money wired. The bank
manager said that he could disburse the funds in U.S. dollars and I had
a substantial amount of money wired over. He handed me a stack of
Malagash money, which was non-convertible to foreign currencies.
He said not to worry; I could just stand by the port and look for
people who wanted to exchange money. Great! I’m supposed to set
up a black market operation. Then he suggested I spend all the
money on the island. Then he suggested…I told him to forget it
before I even found out what. I called my Mom and had the money
transfer cancelled. She made a smaller transfer and there was
another problem with the bank manager. I don’t recall what it
was, but everyone except the manager said that the transfer was
good. Finally the wire company made arrangements for the money to
be sent elsewhere and in a matter of hours, it was taken care of.
In the meantime, several days had been wasted. The woman at Air
Madagascar laughed and said, “Oh, the bank manager!? He’s the
most incompetent person on the island.” Sigh…..
There were some good times there in the last few days. Between
phone calls, I enjoyed the island and met a few nice people. I
ate at a restaurant run by Albert, the nicest guy in Madagascar.
He always wanted to keep his patrons happy but even outside of that, he
was an all-around pleasant person. He asked me how to promote his
business as he didn’t have any huts like most people who ran
restaurants. I told him that he was the best selling point he had
going for his place.
By the time
this whole burglary affair was settled, I was ready to leave. I
really appreciate the kindness of the Italian couple, Sarah, Albert,
and the airlines woman, but I wanted to get out as soon as
possible. I had thought about heading up to the far north but
needed to get back to Tana and get a new passport. Besides, I was
too worn out to head north and the thought of miserable taxi-brousse
rides was too much.
I had gotten a new hut after the burglary and spent my last day there
minding my own business, doing my best to avoid people, and just
passing the time until I could get the ferry and leave. Another
dog joined me there too and sat with me all day.
The next morning I got up early and walked to the port. The dog
accompanied me the entire way. I got on the boat which was
supposed to be fastest and headed for the mainland. I was SO
ready to leave.
The water was smooth and a few hundred meters away, humpback whales
were breaching. Approaching the mainland the boat ran aground
several times…The perfect end to my Isle Sainte-Marie trip.