Ampefy is a town belonging to the district of Soavinandrina ( and yes, I can pronounce this word!) which is part of the Itasy (not Italy) region.
Population round about 15,000 in 2001. Mainly a farming area with beans being the main crop along with maize and other vegetables as well as fishing.
Lake Itasy is the third biggest lake of the this mad magical island - and Gilfillan's being Gilfillans saw the lake, but due to our "glad game" (thanks to Pollyanna) we were so eager to bid Tana farewell that we forgot to google the area and where exactly we wanted to go in the region. Sound familiar to anyone out there? We subsequently missed the significance of the lake, the waterfall and the legend! A return visit will be attempted in the future........But what I do know is this: the lake owes its existence to a large lava flow that obstructed the valley some 8,000 years ago! Brilliant, I at least know something. Allow me to digress here for a moment.
Our exit trip/s are always most exciting. "You never know exactly about things!" So sitting back and enjoying the exit trip is just as important as the actual sight-seeing weekend away! With Adele helping us to spread some smiles....LOUD music always brings a smile and it was such fun, being the only vazas out in early morning traffic jams.......
Obstruction, erupt, belch, anal, lavatory.........= ol' geysa (British, cockney?)
No, actually its the "Analavory Cold Geyser" situated just outside Ampefy. It is a well known tourist attraction.
In the first photo let me introduce you to Bryno ( pronounced Br-ee-nu.) Very innovative young man.
The third photo was taken at the entrance to the geyser. Interesting tariffs me thinks.
Everywhere you go on this island one finds innovative people needing to make a buck or two. Stalls welcome one on arrival.......
Unlike the African rift geysers they have no direct link with geothermal and no volcanic activity underground and are termed cold water geyser.
Cold water geysers are created by a build-up of carbon dioxide which causes the geyser to erupt.
(Something like too much beer in body causing severe build-up of gas often accompanied by loud belching. The older the "geyser" the louder the belch and eruption!) But wait, I digress due to my too vivid and quirky imagination.
The water emerges as carbonated water - giving the same appearance as champagne or soda.
The colour of the geyser is caused by large amounts of iron and lime that are dissolved by the water when making contact with the outside.
Probably healthier than showering in champagne! Just a tad boring though!
Top view of the same "shower." This vaza has decided the maltese poodle needs a fresh new look.
Soda pop pooch?
Back to Bryno and me......I couldn't wait to soak my feet in this sparkling water. Bryno wandered over with this little tin of mud and offered a foot and leg massage with calcium and iron rich mud.
What a character!
Always some kind soul ready to capture us for eternity! Testing the waters
And so my foot and leg massage began! I live to see the Malagasy people smile and nothing brings a broader more magical smile than when you attempt to converse with them in Malagasy! Bryno was no exception.
This is such a classic photo! Now, whether that massage had any healthy substance or not, it was a very pleasant experience. Peace !
Many Malagasy's were out enjoying the day and having picnics. Children abounded and Hilton sneaked these photos of them enjoying sack races, until "another one bites the dust!"
But oh my gosh what happened to the swimming pool?
Rich in minerals...I soooo wanted to join them, but thought instead of the Malagasy's watching and just couldn't, couldn't ruin my reputation you understand!
And so we come to the souvenirs from the region. We bought a little pumice stone tortoise all painted a lovely turquoise colour (black volcanic rock) and then, oh bother! I walked right past the gemstone aragonite (uh-RAG-oh-nite) another reason for a return visit!
I discovered that a local company is extracting aragonite stone and therefore less pressure is applied to the mineral spring waters beneath the surface causing a much smaller jet of water.
It is now time to say "cheerio" for the present, to the "Analavory Cold Geyser" and for you to carry out your own bit of "google research."
Aragonite gem stone: www.buzzle.com and www.firemountaingems.com
How are hot and cold geysers different (actually not all rocket scientist stuff......Hilton is hot all others are cold!!) - www.curiosity.discovery.com
The word geyser comes from Geysir, the name of an erupting spring at Haukadalur, Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush," the verb itself from Old Norse.
Meal times continue to amuse and surprise us...."one never knows exactly about things" on this island. It was now time for a late lunch and somewhere to rest our weary heads......
Nothing like a delicious ice cold beer for the thirst!
I then ordered a Peach Melba dessert and this is what arrived! Love the decoration.
Our rustic, rural little cabin, La Belle Vue.
Aah, can you see the little flower?
Very neat and clean and we slept quite comfortably. Then it was breakie time. "An omelette each please." Served on the veranda.
"Never mind," we told ourselves, "we are sure to find a lovely lunch on the way home!" Were we in for a surprise or two. Please keep this omelette in your mind as you read further!
Remember it was 135 kms from Tana to Ampefy. I was along for the ride so didn't bat an eyelid when Hilton suggested taking another route back to Tana. Make the trip real worthwhile. Sight-seeing, of course! Let the journey begin......
We travel quite a distance on ground road. Sleek and smooth you understand and very dusty. (If you believe that, you'll believe anything I tell you!!)
We pass some interesting towns, crops and a strange building or two in the middle of nowhere.
Your guess is as good as ours. In the middle of nowhere, near a town........strange.
A really beautiful, elaborate turquoise and cream tomb........
And then this amazing road, brand new, curling, snaking, twisting, with the most amazing vistas and no safety bars or fences!
We were amazed, stunned by the beauty surrounding us. A brand new road sans "potcraters," my new word coined specially to describe "potholes" on this mad magical island!
We were especially interested in the wagons we passed and found the perfect look-out spot, pulled over, set up the tri-pod and focused...... we soon discovered that our look-out spot also served as a resting place for wagons, oxen and humans.
A close up pic of a wagon:
The wheels are iron...Two oxen pull these wagons, most times heavily loaded. Thankfully the humans walk beside them guiding the oxen.
We overtook three wagons just exiting a little town. Hilton decided a few pics of their progress would
help us record this little story for years to come.....Aah I'm kidding of course! He just wanted some photography practice!
This was the resting spot we thought they were headed for....they carried right on past! Left us wondering how far they would actually go before taking a rest, let the cattle roam, feed and drink?
We would never find out 'cos we had to move along, but not before a cuppa and more interesting pics........
Stunning view!
Before we headed off again and while Hilton was taking some really awesome pics, I as usual decided to play around with my tablet camera and took this unique pic!.....
Me and my shadow! Pretty cool hey!
And now for those award winning photos! (I'm not kidding this time!)
Incredibly beautiful.........
And so, on the road again.
I love this pic. A man and his dogs......"King of the road!"
The magnificent road from somewhere to nowhere came to an abrupt end at a town called Faratsiho.
Now what?!....the road ahead looked positively daunting. Better check at the Jovena Filling Station. That's how we do it back home, SA. Well yeah, most people in SA understand what you're asking. Uh ooh, language barrier. No problem haul out the map and we are assured carry on with the road up ahead. We'll get to where we're going and that is?...........
I subsequently learn from my very esteemed hubbly bubbly that we are travelling home in a kind of loop from where we left Tana the day before.....huh? I finally, many hours or days? later, figure out the actual distance from Ampefy back to Tana that we travel is 254kms as opposed to 135kms to Ampefy. I focus on the "sight-seeing" bit. So glad I did.
The road is positively filled with "potcraters" and other interesting humps and side of the road fall aways! Not to mention the dust....'tis the dry season, remember. Town after town flies past....yeah right.
We hit a bump or two travelling at a snail's pace and then, THUNK! Hilton moans, stops immediately.
"What now?" me thinks. More moaning with some unintelligible words scattered here and there, like...aah you thought I'd tell you! I jump out the car.....the sump is broken and the vital juice for the car to function is pouring out on the dry, dusty road...oh no! Verdict: we ain't going nowhere fast!
Fortunately the road has a slight decline and we free wheel to the bottom, in case of speeding traffic rounding the corner you understand.
We whip out our trusty mobile phones, need to make a few calls. Oops, no comms, WHAT??!! no comms, this can't be happening.....but then all my hours of watching TV series kicks in. Up ahead is a little pine forest on a hill. We call it a "koppie" in SA. "Up the koppie!" I yell. So I begin to climb. "Keep your eye on me Hilton!" "I'll let you know when I have comms." So I climb and climb and of course, typical, right at the top in a very specific spot, hey presto! comms. I watch Hilton climb the koppie. This is our breakdown spot, exactly.
Please take note of the circular route we are travelling. Still a way to go before we are back in Tana.
No problem. After phone calls are made, co-ordinates shared. They (Serge, in charge of vehicles at Henri Fraise, and a friend will come to our rescue and tow us back to Tana.......) We have to stay on top of the koppie 'cos of the comms, so we settle in, in true Gilfillan style.
The hill/koppie.......
A place for the phones......
A little pine tree to hide our precious belongings........
A time for quiet contemplation...
Time to play with my camera.....again!
You guessed it. Afternoon shadow.......then the leg shadow....
Time for a nap curled around the little pine tree while Hilton behaves himself and reads. Aaah the fresh air is soothing as is the sweet fragrance of pine needles......
If I had known, whilst in dream land, what was ahead, me thinks the nightmares would've been racing full steam ahead!
The time after all phone calls and arrangements had been made was approximately 14h00. ETA round about 18h00.
To pass the time, I will tell you a little story......(actually, my life is one story after another.....)
A delicious cuppa always eases the mind and so now it was my turn for contemplation...
A subject that concerns everyone of us no matter the age........
The need to pee-pee......I contemplated the many, many,.....many "bush visits" I have had to make over the years....which is now quite considerable, by the way. Then there are those on this mad magical island...."one never knows exactly about things here."
I find this story/ journey fascinating, exciting and scary. Seems I was chosen for this particular adventure early in life. I feel very special. My earliest fascination with "wee-wee" as we politely called it in the early days began when I was approximately two years of age, or so I am told. Waiting at a particular function for families involving a "fat cat in a red suit," otherwise know as Father Christmas, he was late in arriving. Choosing the most auspicious moment of silence I piped up with a question. "Is Father Christmas having a wee-wee?" I apparently diffused the "waiting" and those who heard had a wonderful chuckle, much to my Mother's slight embarrassment....I was only two years old! Thus began my adventure or my life's assignment.
On this island a "bush visit" is a nightmare. Not one place in the styx guarantees one a moment of peace and isolation! When you think you've found the spot, someone emerges out of nowhere, obviously unannounced and as quiet as a little mouse. The amount of close calls I've had (or rather the Malagasy have had!!) is unaccountable.
Hilton deserves a medal for patience and reconnaissance.
Spiders are everywhere and keep one company. Spiders are wise, they live in the open and in king's palaces I keep reminding myself.
Men have it easy, but oh so boring! Not once, ever, that I've been with Hilton, has a number two presented itself.
By now the sun is beginning to set. We head back down to the car. I haul out my crochet work determined to start a new square pattern this very minute. Meanwhile an audience of "hill billies" gathers on the embankment just above our car, they sit down and watch enchanted as this "vaza" crochets away! The sun sets. Have they gone?
At exactly 18h15 help arrives..... being towed on this island, at night, by a Malagasy driver is definitely not for the faint hearted! Hardly a straight stretch of road. They tend to cut corners whether they can see ahead or not. It is pitch dark. Whip lash just a moment away. Just over five hours later we arrive back in Tana. We drop Serge and his friend off at their homes after depositing the injured car at Henri Fraise workshops. Because of the one ways that are unannounced we get lost. But I recognise a road.....(which in itself is a miracle!) Hilton was beyond exhaustion so with a little prompting help from above I was able to help. Team work right there....a lesson for life:
I guess after all is said and done marriage should be like that exactly!
Remember the omelette.....and the hope of a lunch somewhere on the road home?
The only thought that kept us going after finishing the tea and coffee was: rusks and milo when we arrive home........that thought kept us awake on the harrowing, towing journey back home!
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