On July 26, 2016 we were lucky enough to visit Isalo National Park; the third most visited national park in Madagascar. The park gains it’s name from a plant that is endemic to the Mountain range within the park. There are also 2 other trees within the park that are endemic to the area, the tapia and mendelia tree. Aside from the flora of this park, there was also a variety of fauna. The park is home to 6 different species of lemur, including the ring tailed lemur, Verreaux’s sifaka and the red fronted lemur to name a few.
The park also offered a great deal of cultural insight to the Bara people. The Bara people are interesting in that they value their zebu more than almost anything else. Their entire wealth, success and manhood is based entirely on the amount of zebu they own. This is a unique lifestyle because their wealth is not necessarily reflected in their lifestyle or material goods, but is rather just put back into supporting the zebu that compose their wealth. This concept, in my opinion, is hard for many westerners to grasp. Another interesting cultural aspect of the Bara people is the way that they treat their dead. The Bara people have 2 tombs for each family- one is a temporary tomb and the other is permanent. The life of each individual is celebrated by their entire family and many other friends, then the body is placed into the temporary tomb to decompose. After sufficient time has passed, the family then removes the body from the temporary tomb and carries it to the permanent tomb to rest for eternity. This tradition is an amazing way to commemorate lost loved ones.
By Nick Kane
