Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
My alarm clock went off at a quarter to four in the morning. I quickly got up and
cycled the half mile or so to the Antaimoro fishermen's village at the northern end
of Farafangana, with a half moon lighting the way. The village was fast asleep but
soon one of the fishermen, with whom I had arranged to go sea-fishing, appeared. He
quietly took my bicycle, pulled it into his little wooden house and fastened it to the
wall behind the bed. The other members of the family were still sleeping but a cock
was already beginning to crow.
With an oar each in hand, we set off to the nearby river where the pirogues lie on
the sandy beach. We waded through the warm water to reach the long sandy bank that
separates river from ocean. There we were joined by another two fishermen and we
all clambered into a larger, wider pirogue shaped more like a banana in order to bet-
ter tackle the waves. I thought we would have more difficulty getting over the violent
breakers, but our departure was timed perfectly and we were past them in no time.
Away from the coast the waves move more slowly and do not break, so there is little
danger of being turned over. We paddled away from the coast, where lone fishermen
in small boats were casting their nets. Every so often we saw a fish coming to the sur-
face and the fishermen, instead of exclaiming '
trondro!
' ('fish'), said '
laoka!
which
means 'food to accompany rice'!
About half a mile out to sea we came across our first float. It was pulled aboard
followed by the net. The net had been left for two days, as the fishermen normally go
out on alternate days - weather-permitting, of course. The net was 50m long, with a
heavy stone to anchor it to the seabed. We checked five or six nets that morning. One
containedakindofflatfish,whosewingswerecutoffandtiedtothenetasbaitbefore
it was put back in the water. Another contained three small, toothless sharks, brown
and white in colour.
At first I didn't feel seasick, but by the end the smell of the sea, the fish and the
constant rise and fall of our small vessel on the large waves combined to make me ill.
The fishermen said they were not sick - even on their first ever outing - saying they
were 'already used to it'. They meant they already had the sea in their blood, since
their forefathers were all fishermen. They had no idea where Europe, America, Japan
and so on lie, and they were fascinated when I pointed out the general direction of
these places.
Our arrival on the beach was as perfect as the departure: beautifully executed des-
pite the large waves. We all happily jumped out of the narrow boat in which we had
been sitting or crouching for almost fours hours. Others on the beach expressed sur-
prise at the sight of a white fisherman!
On the way back across the river it began to rain heavily, but it was actually an in-
credibly pleasant feeling; you don't mind getting wet when it's warm and you feel at
one with nature and the locals.
