Pangalanes Canal Tour

Pangalanes Canal Tour

May 5, 2011

Our journey begins.  

Behind its coral beaches there is an almost continuous line of lagoons from Foulpointe to Farafrandana. These are linked by man-made channels to form an inland waterway called the Pangalanes Canal. The Canal des Pangalanes, a 600-kilometerlong lagoon formed naturally by the washing of sand up on the island by the Indian Ocean currents and by the silting of rivers, has been used both as a means of transportation up and down the coast and as a fishing area. 

The canal was constructed under the governance of General Joseph Gallieni during the early French colonial years of 1896-1904. It was designed to facilitate transportation of goods to the main trading port of Tamatave, because shipping on the Indian Ocean was too dangerous. The canal still dominates daily life in this region as it provides the main source of trade, transport and travel.  Cruising by boat on the calm waters of Pangalanes is a fascinating journey through time and history. Many traditional Betsimisaraka villages can be seen along the banks, as well as pirogues (traditional dugout canoes), local fishermen, over-crowded ferries and rafts with straw huts carrying timber en-route to Tamatave. Villagers wave and shout at the passing boats and fishermen yell from the other bank asking you if you spent a good night!  This is exactly what we saw!

 Along side of the canal are different villages, mainly fishing villages.  This is a typical view from the canal.

 Wash and bath day.

 Child sitting outside the home watching us.

 The pirogues (boats)
 waiting to be taking out for fishing.

Some of the homes are right on the edge of the water.  Some sugar cane for privacy.

This is a raft made out of bamboo.  It had a huge load of items that were going to market.

A Boat Taxi.  You can see it was a bid windy once we ventured out toward the ocean.  Boat is the second mode of transportation out this way (walking is the other)

A small home on a bit of land.  Only way there is by boat.  Water surrounding the entire little piece of land.  Not sure what happens when there's a storm....

These are fishing nets set up by the locals.  You have to manoeuvre  your boat through the canal without getting your prop stuck in the nets that are underneath the water

 This is a boat stop.  We are accustom to Bus Stops.  A few people waiting to take the next boat taxi.

Our first stop at one of the 2 fishing villages we visited

Very typical.  A child carrying a child.

Once the children saw us, they came running, knowing we brought them some goodies.

A playground.  Not sure if I'd want to slide down a metal slide in this heat.

 We were able to go inside the school house.  The teacher sits at the back, she's wearing the red shirt.  The lady beside her is a mother helping out.

 These are their desks.  They were quite well behaved once they realized that they would only get a treat if they sat down and were quiet.

 The ladies handing out books, pencils, candy, etc.

You can see the blackboard at the front.  They are being taught French, as Malagasy is their first language.  This village doesn't teach English.  You need to be in the city to learn English.

 More goodies.

There seemed to be more boys than girls in school

 A cute and curious onlooker.  He was waiting patiently to see what he'd get.

I told them to do a "thumbs up"

Again, they love having their picture taken.

Now to pose!

A termite nest, right in the middle of the village.  The children know not to go near it.

Dad babysitting.  Little girl saw us and started crying.  She's scared of us.  The other children were laughing, as they knew that we brought treats.

Children playing outside the house.  Some homes are built up from the ground so it doesn't get flooded during the wet season.

This is used for cooking bread.

More children outside the home playing

On the way back, the winds were getting stronger.

Very lush and green

This fellows boat was covered with palm leaves.  He's bringing it to market.  They dry this and use for roofing.

A view of some homes along the canal.  These ones are right on the water.

 More homes.

This is the boat we took the tour in.  They provided us with plastic lawn chairs, but we couldn't see out, so we sat on the floor instead.  Only our butts got wet.

Another bamboo raft.  Looks like he's standing on top of he water.

Lots of sand along the canal.  Easy digging.

Zebu crossing.

This village has power going through it.  The homes aren't hooked up, but the power lines are there.  This area is closer to Tamatave.

Wash day

More homes

Nicole brought beach balls to give to the children, so she threw it out to them.

Some homes are higher up on the bank.

A couple of kids fishing.

Nicole was throwing the beach ball to these boys, then realized that they don't swim, then was concerned they would drown. - Way to go Nicole! haha

This home, right at the waters edge.  At least they put up a fence.

A different view

These people, built on higher ground, then had their fences go right down to the water.

On our way back

This picture isn't very clear, but when we got back to shore, this fellow has a huge fuel truck, and is cooking himself some dinner.  Problem is, the metal can on the ground is an open flame right beside the red gas tank, not to mention the tank itself is hauling fuel!  I tried to show him the hazard, but... (must be that training at Dow)

Safety first!