CTHT - Technical and Horticultural Center of Tamatave (Spice and Fruit Factory)

CTHT - Technical and Horticultural Center of Tamatave (Spice and Fruit Factory)

We toured a Malagasy nursery and factory that makes jams, jellies, and juices from local produce and the factory also processes spices such as cloves, black and red pepper, vanilla and cinnamon

CTHT, a firm of agricultural commodities and food products imported and exported in Africa based in France and the French laboratory Vanalyse specialized analytical engineering, quality control, analysis, expertise, studies and research, carries out quality checks on the vanilla, spices (clove, pepper, pink pepper), essential oils and Cocoa (the region of Ambanja). Mobilized in all ports of Madagascar,  staff are also involved in the expertise of cargo and surveillance unloading of cargo for import.

As part of the project Ambatovy and with financial support from thePGRM (Support Program for Management of Mineral Resources), the CTHT is responsible for the implementation of the Centre de Formation Agricole de Tamatave. 

The Centre aims to offer by way of learning a conversion of populations affected by the project and create income-generating activities for people opened up. 
Training topics offered are: 
• market gardening, local farms are small, so there are many farmers that receive training on European standards that are required
• fruit trees 
• beekeeping, different types of honey, including vanilla favoured which is very good.


The factory


 First we visited the nursery.  


Stevia seeds are started here.  Planted one by one.  Madagascar is only allowed 3 kgs of seeds per shipment, which comes from Europe, and so they need to grow, then re-seed this, due to the limited amount of seeds that are allowed in.  Very labor intensive.
  
 This Stevia full grown.  Its leaves are much sweeter than table sugar, though they don't contain any sucrose or fructose, actually 10 times sweeter.  It's  the sweetener that is used in Coke Zero.  Madagascar is not yet aware of the demand that North America has on this product, as they are not aware of sweeteners or diet type ingredients.


There are over 45,000 various plants started here or fruits and spices

 A rain gauge.  The rain is measured daily, as this is very important to the growth of the plants.  In recent years, rain has not been consistent, therefore they need to monitor the rain, to determine how they water the plants.


 One of the lovely "air plants".  These are not planted in soil.  They grow attached to trees, etc.

 This particular tree is eaten by the locals and has high nutritional value

 Our group that took the tour

Our very knowledgeable tour guide at the factory that explained the processes of production and packaging for spices and jams for export

 Sacks of cloves for export.  Most of the cloves go to Germany

 Drying black pepper.  This particular blend has a "tail" on it, and is extremely aromatic.  This type of pepper is only grown in Madagascar.

 A closer look at the pepper

Fruit for juice 

 Once we were inside the production area, we needed to gown up!  The standards are set and enforced by France.

 The assembly line for packaging the jam

 The jam is sealed one by one.  Very labor intensive.  They put a lid on the container, seal it, stack them, one by one, then packaged them for shipment

 Here they are selecting the imperfect pepper seeds

 Hand packaging vanilla beans for shipment

 We're in front of red pepper seeds, ready for shipment.  Most of the product goes to Europe.

 A view from the upstairs.  Not a very big factory for what is actually processed and packaged.

 Separating shaved cinnamon for inspection, then production

Posing for the camera
A very good tour!

International Womens Day in Madagascar

International Womens Day in Madagascar

Each year around the world, International Women's Day (IWD) was celebrated on March 8, 2011.   Hundreds of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Below are pictures of the women that marched through Tamatave, Madagascar on March 8th 2011, in their traditional dress.






















Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar

Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar

Religions:     Traditional Beliefs -52%
                                                       Christian 41% ( of the Christian, it is divided almost evenly    between Catholics and Protestants)
Muslin 7%

Thus majority of the Malagasy are the followers of Christianity and they are sub-divided into Roman Catholic and Protestants. The villages of the central highlands of Madagascar have two churches, one of them is Roman Catholic Church and the other is Protestant church. 

Roman Catholic

Protestan Church

 Shrine beside the Port.  You can't even see this from the road, even thought it's right there, as it's cover with vines.  This is a side view.  We drove by this many times, before we realized it was there.
Inside of the above shrine.  This is a Roman Catholic Church.

 Protestant church


This is the Malagasy tradition of Famadihana, or the "Turning" of the Bones.




Approximately 50% of the country's population practice traditional religion, which tends to emphasize links between the living and the dead. The Merina in the highlands particularly tend to hold tightly to this practice. A powerful individual may establish a fady (taboo) in his or her lifetime that all their descendents or those of community members will be required to respect well after their death, meaning that when traveling in Madagascar it is advisable to seek out village elders or authorities and inquire into local fady in order not to inadvertently transgress and offend the local population. This veneration of ancestors has also led to the tradition of tomb building and the famadihana, a practice whereby a deceased family member's remains may be taken from the tomb to be periodically re-wrapped in fresh silk shrouds known as lamba before being replaced in the tomb. The event is an occasion to celebrate the loved one's memory, reunite with family and community, and enjoy a festive atmosphere. Residents of surrounding villages are often invited to attend the party, where food and rum are often served and a hiragasy troupe or other musical entertainment is typically present.
For many outsiders the practice, which involves exhuming dead relatives, rewrapping them in fresh grave clothes and dancing with them around the tomb, can seem almost impossibly strange, ghoulish even.
But for the Malagasy, for whom ancestral worship remains important, it is an essential way of maintaining ties with the dead.
Throughout winter (June to September)
The tombs of the various peoples around the island differ somewhat in form. Merina tombs tend to be solid, stone structures, built partially underground, with a chamber in which the bodies of ancestors are kept on shelves, wrapped in silk shrouds. The traditional tombs of the Mahafaly in the southwest were built of stone but surmounted by intricately carved wooden posts depicting human and animal figures. More recent Mahafaly tombs, particularly those built by rich families, are often made of concrete, with glass windows, brightly painted designs and often remarkable depictions of airplanes, taxicabs, or other modern paraphernalia mounted on the roof. At one time, it was the custom of the Sakalava people living around the Morondava River on the west coast to decorate their tombs with carvings showing explicit sexual 
activity.  These were meant to illustrate the life-giving force, or fertility, of the ancestors.

Among the Merina and Betsileo peoples of the central highlands, the custom of famadihana "placing" or "turning" of the dead reaffirms the link between the living and the dead.  This occurs when a person is taken from a temporary to a permanent tomb in the tanindrazana, and the remains are taken out of the tomb to be wrapped in new shrouds, or when a body is moved from one tomb to another.  These ceremonies are costly, mainly because of the expense of providing food for a large number of relatives and guests.

Mauritius

Mauritius
May 7 - 14, 2011

                               
Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean, located 2,400 kilometers (1,491 miles) off the southeast coast of Africa. It has a total area of 1,860 square kilometers (781 square miles), and a coastline of 177 kilometers (110 miles).  The Republic of Mauritius also includes the barely populated Agalega Islands and the Cargados Carajos Shoals, as well as Rodrigues (population 35,000). The capital, Port Louis, is situated on the west coast of the island, and has a population of approximately 136,000. The population of Mauritius was estimated to be 1,179,368 in July 2000, with a population growth rate at 0.89 percent. The population is relatively young, with 26 percent of the population under 14 years of age, 68 percent between 15 and 64, and just 6 percent over the age of 65. The life expectancy for the population is 70.98.
Mauritian society is a heterogeneous one. The 2 main population groups are the ethnic Indians, who make up 68 percent of the population, and the Creoles, mixed race descendants of African slaves and colonial settlers, who comprise 27 percent. Other groups include Chinese (3 percent) and white Franco-Mauritians (2 percent). The ethnic Indians are further divided into Hindus and Muslims, with the Hindus being the majority. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the island tend to view themselves as Mauritians first and foremost.
Given that Mauritius has such a small land surface, population growth and immigration are discouraged by the government. Population density is already very high, with 571 people per square kilometer (1,479 per square mile), compared with an average of 45 per square kilometer (117 per square mile) for the world as a whole.


Checking out the driving range at the resort, before we go to the Botanical Gardens.  Yes, Rick, you have to come, you can't stay back and golf!  You will like it!

Entrance to Botanical Gardens
The Entrance Gate - splendid and beautifully modeled main wrought iron entrance gate was a gift from François Liénard de la Mivoie. It is alleged that it gained the first prize at the International Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in England in 1862. On each of the pillars is found the Coat of Arms with a lion and a crown on top.  Pamplemousses Gardens, more formally known as Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens, is one of the most visited attractions in Mauritius. Opened as a private garden by the French governor of Mauritius nearly 300 years ago, the gardens served as a major horticultural research center for the French and British during the colonial period. Today it's home to dozens of varieties of palm trees, as well as medicinal plants, fish ponds, and an amazing collection of Queen Victoria water lilies.  Pamplemousses, French for “pineapples,” is one of a number of places across Mauritius with a produce-inspired name. 
It is populated with more than 650 varieties of plants among which are the famous Baobabs, the Palmier Bouteille, the ineluctable Giant Water Lilies, dozens of medicinal plants, a large spice garden and many more.
One of the main attractions of the botanical garden is the 85 different varieties of palm trees brought from different corners of the world. Other indigenous species of plants are also exhibited here.
Pamplemousses’ gardens are perhaps best known for two things: palm trees and water lilies. There are royal palms, talipot palms (which flower only once over a 40-year lifetime), bottle palms, raffia palms, toddy palms, fever palms, sugar palms, fan palms – if it’s a palm tree and it grows in Mauritius, your bound to find it here.
Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of all the palms, but none the less, they are still beautiful to see.  The base of this tree is huge.  It's 300 years old.


Talipot Palms - large palms with huge palmate leaves, about 3m 50cms, in diameter is the Talipot Palm (Corypha Umbraculifera meaning bearing its flowers at the top in the shape of an umbrella). They bear flowers only after they are 40 to years old; not a century as is popularly believed. The remarkable bunch of flowers with over 50 million tiny blossoms that are produced may attaina height of 6 meters above the tree. The tree dies after flowering.  It's then cut down and another one planted.  They keep alternating palms so that every year one blooms

Thought this was interested.  The fruit grows on the bark of the tree.


This is a seed pod - huge

 Roots are grown on the outside of the ground.  Different for a palm.


Water Lily Pond - The rectangular water lily pond has at least three species of Nymphaea with white, pink or blue flowers and the famous great water-lily of the Amazon (Victoria Amazonica). Its huge floating leaves with a raised edge are most remarkable. On two successive days, the flowers open late in the afternoon and remain open until the middle of the following morning. On the first evening, the flowers are creamy white with a delicious fragrance and the second day they turn pink. The water lilies are a geographic anomaly, since they’re actually originally from the Amazon.  They grow from 2 - 6 ft in diameter and they have been known to hold a small child's weight, not that I'd trust it.

 These were my favourite.  It is so beautiful.  Too bad the life span is only a few days.


This type of bamboo grows a foot a day.  It grows continuos for 8-10 weeks, then stops growing.  This tree is hollow except at each section is solid.

More Water Lilies.  This pond was completely covered.
Founded by French governor Mahe de la Bourdonnais as his private park in 1735, the gardens eventually became an important tool for French horticultural espionage, as French spies got their hands on seeds of precious spice plants that were cultivated by other empires, using the gardens as an incubator, both literally and figuratively, for the French to launch new agricultural industries. Even today, the gardens remain a botanical research center, with a fine collection of medicinal plants. But for the majority of visitors, Mauritians and tourists alike, the gardens are the island’s finest collection of exotic flora.

 Tortoises brought from Seychelles, males can weight over 250 kg, and live to 100 years.

Deer.  Not quite as big as our Canadian Deer, but still Deer.  They had alligators that were brought in from Madagascar, but we just left Madagascar, so didn't need to see them again.

Red Earth.  Lots and lots of sugarcane.

Very lush

We visited a Safari park.

These guys didn't care that we were inside their cage.  I, of course, stayed back, but not too far, as we needed to stay together as a group.  Like in the wild, you lag behind, it shows weakness, and that's what they prey on.


This is a once in a lifetime, only because I'm terrified of these big animals.  They did give us a stick, like that's going to beat them off.  They fed them first, so they wouldn't be edgy.  (Thank you)

Rick playing nice with the cat.  I think they sedated them.

Hanging!

This little one, was quiet, until we came closer.  Nice kitty!

Hey, what you doin'.  Did I say you could take my picture?

Another cat.  This one was awake, and apparently enjoyed the petting...

Rick getting a little closer and braver


Children on lunch break.  All school children have uniforms. Different uniforms represent different schools and grades.  They use the public bus system or walk.

Sugarcane was introduced in the seventeenth century by the Dutch.  Sugar cane is vital to the economy of Mauritius. In 2004 it accounted for 19% of the value of exports and 5% of the country’s GDP. About 90% of the arable land, and 45% of the total area of the island is devoted to growing sugar cane. It also provides direct employment for 60,000 workers and small planters.  Driving down the roads, all you saw was sugarcane, as it wasn't harvested yet.  Here's a picture we where able to take on the top part of the road-you can see the ocean behind the sugarcane.


Some big buildings.  Very clean city.


Port Louis is the capital of Mauritius. It is the largest city of the country and main port, which borders the Indian Ocean.

Driving around the island.  We landed on the Southeast, hotel on the north, and toured through out to the west.  

 




A typical road.  Sugarcane on both sides.  See how wide they are.  Just ahead by the tree is a bus stop. (above)  Pedestrians don't have the right of way and need to be careful for oncoming vehicles.  When driving, sometimes you can't see the people either as their covered by the sugarcane.  Need to pay attention while driving!  Mauritius drives on the opposite side of the road from Canada.  The picture on the right has a cleared out area on both sides so you can turn around (or that's what we used it for).  Little roads signs here (in fact, none)

The Sugar Mill
The Mauritian sugar industry has witnessed constant evolution and it has always kept pace with the technological changes. In 1801, 60 sugar mills were producing 3000 tonnes of sugar. The cane mill then used was known as the "frangourine". The industry was very labour intensive. The governorship of Sir Robert Farquhar sugar industry experienced tremendous evolution and in 1820, 106 mills were operating all over the island. The use of steam power in the place of draught animals undoubtedly increased the production.


Development progressed at a steady pace and in 1958, there were 259 factories, the biggest number ever known. The sugar production approximated the 130,000 tonnes. The following thirty years did not bring about important changes to the sugar industry. 


An outburst of malaria coupled with unfavourable climatic conditions lead to the abandonment of the whole estates situated within the coastal belt. The setbacks urged planters and millers to improve cultural methods and manufacturing techniques.


The record sugar production was noted in 1973 when 21 factories produced 718, 464 tonnes of sugar.  The number of sugar factories has been reduced to 11, but the sugar production is expected to increase. So in 2004, there is only 11 sugar factories operating all over the island.

Playing in his element



Flowchart of Sugar Process


Outside the museum for a coffee, enjoying the view

He's had enough, and wants to go! (sorry Rick, I just had to post this picture)

Stayed at Legends, a very beautiful resort, all rooms have an ocean view

A view of the ocean from our balcony 

Our view

Leaving the resort-more touring

Very warm water

Pool # 3 of 3  We hung out here mostly

Night view from the balcony

Security letting us out of the resort

On our way for the Glass Bottom Boat Tour

Away we go...

Pictures of corral through the glass bottom boat

Can you see the fish?  Neither can I, but they were there!
Coming back from the boat ride

A crab trying to camouflage itself

The driving range.  Good thing I can't hit far, as the grounds keeper takes a bucket and manually picks them up

He had his work cut out for him when Rick starting hitting

Random pictures around the resort

Coy fish in the pond,  A very fung shey resort


Back from playing tennis 

Pool #2 of 3

Water skiers

Bird with long beak

Random photos

Nice boat.  Thought it might come rescue us when we took out the kayak

Let's hope our luggage makes it home, cause receiving our luggage Day 4 of a 7 day vacation is not good, apparently our luggage decided it needed to go to Paris for a 3 day holiday!!!

Leaving Mauritius for St. Denis, Reunion before going home to Madagascar (a little Island hopping)

Toured around Reunion before leaving to go home-this is Reunion airport
Beautiful place!!!
The End