On Tuesday, July 26, we visited the Madagascar National Park in Isalo. We hiked for 7ish hours through dry forest, desert, and canyons. Our tour guide, Tuti, was amazing. He spoke English very well and was extremely knowledgeable on the park. Lemur catta, red fronted brown lemurs and sifakas can be found in the park – we saw a small group of ring tails a couple hours into the hike. They were near the panoramic viewing spot, climbing one side of a canyon rather adeptly. The park was established in 1962, 2 years after Malagasy independence. It’s the 3rd biggest park in Madagascar and inhabited by the Bara people. They hold Zebu in high regard – it’s how they determine wealth. One family can have anywhere from 20-3000 zebu. Because of this (and agriculture), the people need large plots of land. The Bara burn the land for 3 reasons: food for zebu, for planting rice, and to cover their tracks when stealing zebu. Part of Bara tradition is a man stealing a zebu from a far away village to prove he is a man. Bara are polygamous and the number of zebu a man steals equals the number of wives he can have. The Bara have a saying that describes just how much value they put in their zebu: “No zebu, no life.” The Bara also have 4 traditions: turning of bones (famadihana), circumcision, exorcism, and weddings. When the Bara bury their dead, they put them in coffins and those into temporary tombs, which are easy to reach. After 5-7 years, there is the turning of bones; they move the bones (which are all that remains) into a smaller coffin and into a permanent tomb, which is very difficult to reach, often high up in the side of a mountain, always in natural caves. Throughout the hike, I saw evidence of just how connected the Bara are to the park. (Look closely for the tomb in the above pic!!) (Hint: it’s the pile of rocks. Which rocks? That’s for me to know and you to figure out!)
