Maintsovolo Community Silk Weaving Cooperative

 School bus rickshaws.

 Working the fields.

 The village children welcome us.

Drying rice.

 Silk weaving.

 The outdoor silk scarf shop.

Using the zebu to break up the mud lumps.

 The beautiful rice paddy landscape.

 The future lord of the valley.

Monday, November 6^th.

We started out at 7:30 and drove a couple of hours through the highlands and past lots of rice paddies. I find them very beautiful, they way they transform the land into small flat areas surrounded by little barriers, the vibrant green of the plant and the water shimmering in the light. And it is interesting to watch the people working in them (although I am glad it isn't me), planting or plowing or walking the zebu around to break up the mud lumps in the dry ones.

We were travelling on NR7 and turned off on a secondary half paved road and got an 'African massage' for about an hour until we arrived at the Maintsovolo Community Tapia Tree Management Cooperative. This is a community that is funded by a British agency called Feedback Madagascar to help a community of women who weave silk into shrouds for the dead and now scarves for tourists. Intrepid loves to help sponsor these type of cooperatives as a means of giving back and modelling sustainable tourism. This is their first project in Madagascar and they take all of their tours here. We were met by a local guide who represents the cooperative agency here that manages the Tapia tree forest. He gave us a tour through the forest explaining the relationships between the tapia trees and others in the forest. Silkworms feed on tapia trees. There is a second variety at feeds on mulberry bushes. He showed us a couple of silkworm cocoons and a new cage they have built to try to get the moths to breed in it. He explained the life cycle of the silkworm.

After that we drove on a dirt road to the actual community of Maintsovolo and had the process of boiling, curing, and drying the cocoons explained us and had a weaving demonstration. After that they took us to their 'shop' which was out on the ground. Quite a few people in the group bought a scarf or two as presents and a way of helping support the community. This is much better than handing out money to beggars. We had a traditional lunch there too prepared by the community. We had chicken, rice and beans with burnt rice tea.

We left there around 12:30 and had a five hour drive ahead of us along very winding, narrow roads to get to our accommodation for the night. However, as in most of these developing countries, sitting on the bus and looking out the window is endlessly fascinating. You see things that you would never see at home and wonder how they work. I love watching the people going about their lives. We stopped a few times for scenic views, or bushy bushy visits and took photos out the windows. Two of the women on our trip were sick at one of the viewpoints, motion sickness?

As we drove into the rainforest highland area we were pulled over for a health check. We all had to get off the bus and have our temperature taken by a sensor. Thankfully we all passed. We arrived at our camp for the night just at dusk. We are now in a nice cabin type hotel just outside Ranomafana NP. By the time we arrived two more people were feeling poorly and couldn't make dinner. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, listened to tomorrow's itinerary and the list of things we need to bring for our hike. Then off to bed.