Trip to Palm Plantation and Palmarium
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Train Station in Tamatave, Madagascar, met at the station at 8:00 am
Madarail seems like the perfect name when you first see its truck/train hybrid known as the Michelin. (note Michelin name on top of both windows). This train runs on Michelin tyres, its single rail carriage of reclining wicker chairs had two women dressed like flight-attendants bringing us complimentary cookies and coffee just when we were leaving Tamatave to start our journey. We felt like someone out of a Graham Greene novel. There are only 2 train like this in the world, with the other one being in a museum in Paris. This train was built in the 1930's.
The Micheline's comfortable vintage seats - softly upholstered and with leather armrests and neck cushions - regularly induced one or another of the passengers to take a brief nap. The trip went without incident: none of the five spare tyres had to be used. Weighing seven tons and 14 metres in length, Madarail's Micheline, the only intact one of its type, has a 120-horsepower Mercedes engine, 19 seats, a small bar and a toilet - all restored true to the original. It is called Viko-Viko, which is the name of an endemic bird species, the Madagascar pratincole. The most important tool on board is the horn, which blares loudly no matter whether the vehicle is rolling through open countryside or announcing its arrival in populated areas.
Michelin tyres.
Notice the spare tyres at the back of the train.
Our group. There were 21 of us, 2 servers, the tour director, the tour owner, and the train conductor and his crew of three.
Our Tour director. He did a wonderful job, telling us stories and points of interest along the way. But remember to keep your hands inside the train, as some of the villages were so close to the tracks, you could loose a hand if it hit one of the buildings or trees along the way!
At the back of the train is the bar and toilets. (Rick's at the bar, not coming out of the toilets!)
The conductor and his crew.
In the morning, they served us coffee/tea and cookies on this beautiful wooden carved platter. Later on in the afternoon we had local THB (Three Horse Beer), or soda pop.
This is a train car at the station that was being used by a family for their home. Above is the little boy waiting for his mother that was cooking him breakfast.
Our first stop was one of the many fishing villages along the way. The lady in red (dressed similar to a flight attendant) was one of the servers on the train.
Some of the children at the fishing village. They were very happy to see us. Whenever I take pictures of the children, I show them what the picture looks like. They really seem to enjoy looking at it. Notice the big guy at the back with the hat and sunglasses?
A railway crossing barricade. The sign is on a tree trunk. Pretty straight trunk!
A short walk up from the fishing village gave us a beautiful view of the Palm Plantation.
They had a table set up for us. This is banana leaves with lovely flowers placed on the table. They had various fruits deep fried- bananas, bread fruit, starfruit, and several other fruits that were cooked with the oil from the Palm.
This is the fruit that the palm oil comes from. The picture doesn't do justice, as this is probably a foot and a half long and foot wide. It's also very heavy. I'm not sure how much it weighs, but my guess is between 5 - 10 pounds. They peel each pod, remove the seed and extract the oil. Inside that seed is another seed. Again, they extract that oil. The amount of oil that is extracted from the most inner seed is far less usable, and therefore becomes more valuable. They had a flowchart to demonstrate both processes. Each palm takes 4 years to mature to fruit, and 9 months to harvest. They get 500 tonnes of fruit each season. The oils are used for cooking, and also to make soaps. They have a couple of different soap scents that are delightful.
This is star fruit, deep fried in the palm oil.
Then we were off to the Palmarium to see the leamers. We went by boat about 5 kilos. We travelled on a man made canal, located between a river and the Indian ocean. The driver of the boat brought his daughter. Rick was giving her all his mints, which she gladly took!
She is absolutely adorable.
In the canal they have fishing nets set up, so you need to be careful that the boats don't get tangled in these nets. Underneath the sticks are the fishing nets.
A Black and White lemur taking a nap.
A large snake. - It was a wood carving (very crafty, all one piece of wood)- I would NEVER put a snake around my neck!
Tortoises
This black lemur got very brave. He was walking on the railing right beside our dining table.
Ryan and Leanne clowning around. We were served a very tasty lunch before we toured the Palmarium.
Joan and her buddy. I think he's/she's looking for some food.(I'm talking about the Lemur)
Ed and Bette-Lou. Not sure who's posing for who...them or the Lemurs!
The look on Christine's face is priceless!
Looks like the Lemur wants a kiss from Gerry!
Just hangin'...
After lunch you could either walk around the Palmarium or take a swim. We decided to swim. The water was clear and very warm. Nice white sandy beach.
On the way back, we stopped through this village. Two little children playing.
More children... Here they were watching Brett dance. (not sure who enjoyed it more, Brett, the kids, or us in the train)
Notice how close the houses are to the train tracks? That is why the horn on the train is constantly blowing. To let the villagers know that it's coming down the track and to be aware.
Another stop along the way.
Some of us were tired on the way home, and closed the wooden shutters to take a nap. (been years since I've seen wooden shutters)
This is the 7 kilo concrete fence that Ambatovy built to keep the people and cows off the tracks. This goes from our Village to town.
Everyone had a excellent time, and I highly recommend this trip.
