Geode huntin'

We are 5 vahazas up early at the dock to board a decrepit ferry across the Mahajanga delta. About a hundred people and a dozen cars are crowded around a boat not fit to carry more than 50 people. There is room for one vehicle on the back, and I feel ashamed when we budge the line to snag the spot (it turns out the driver had actually reserved in advance). We splash through 2 feet of water to get to the boat, and the crowd scrambles for space. While the roof rack is piled high with 6 mattresses others stuff cases of pop and water underneath. We want to get out of the car and meet people, but there isn’t even space to open the doors.

Upon arrival at the other side, the IMAX movie begins. The road gets rough and rougher until it disappears completely. Faced with a 100m wide stretch of river and mud, we gingerly attempt to cross first on foot and finally with the truck. On the other side we face a steep rock pile that requires us to gather logs and stones in order to build a safe passage. Next we beat down grass so tall I feel like I’m underwater.

After an hour of grass, mud, rock, river and occasionally road, we arrive at the village where we seek permission to visit a crystal mine. Stupidly we have forgotten that it is Sunday morning and everyone but us is at church. Still, a boy riding a bike with a fender that reads ‘Dieu seul le sait’ (Only God knows) leads us to the mine where our arrival sparks a scrambles to hide any stones of value (mineral rights are a controversial subject). After a brief warm-up they agree to give us a tour of the mine and slowly start bringing specimens up from underground. A particularly confusing bargaining session gets underway and after an hour we leave having paid too much for large geodes that are worth approximately nothing even before the fragile crystals are broken on the rough ride back to the ferry. We wiggle our truck past the big game hunters and squeeze onto the boat, making it back to the mainland beach in time to swim at sunset.

(What's in season? I had a delicious mango in Mahajanga but I haven't seen any since. Still a little early I guess)