Jardin Secret -- A Secret No Longer Because Now You Can Find It!

The Jardin Secret is a combination store, garden, tea joint and restaurant.  It's not easy to find since neither its Facebook page nor its website show its actual location (the location listed on their website is not accurate AT ALL).  Luckily we had our driver with us who was able to find it.

It's strange--so many businesses could easily add their location and information to google maps--it would take ten minutes.  Instead it's almost like they pride themselves on being hard to find.   Anyway, see below for its actual location.

We ended up having lunch there.  It was fresh and nicely made but it's more suited to a ladies' lunch than for most guys (think salads and tarts versus...uh meats).

But the real reason you go to this place is for the aluminum ware--the owner has an enormously diverse shop with everything from beautiful serving platters to fake decorative tree branches to jewelry.  We ended up getting a set of platters/plates.
Jardin Secret Facebook page
Jardin Secret Website
+261 32 05 572 18

Looking up at the entrance from the main road

Things I Love About Mada: Cassidy and R. Kelly in the Supermarket

Darling wife and I were walking through Leader Price today (a local supermarket) to pick up a few things and what do we hear but the sweet sultry voice of one indefatigable R. Kelly drifting in with his poetic beckoning:

Girl you wanna come to my hotel...all you gotta do is holler at me

(Fatherly spoiler for the unitiated: NEVER EVER holler at R. Kelly)

I can't imagine walking through Safeway back in the States and hearing them bump something like the Swiss Beats-produced classic of Cassidy and R. Kelly's 2004 hit Hotel SO LOUDLY and unbashedly.  Even amidst a bubbling political situation, Madagascar manages to put a smile on my face.

RELATED LINKS:
What It's Like to Buy Beef in Madagascar
Hotel Youtube Video

The Commute: Le Penseur, les soeurs, stern drivers and floating dragons

Check out other daily commute's here.

Le Penseur

Les Soeurs

Every day I'm hustlin'

You mad bro

Derelict Teddy Bear

Moped patrol

Madagascar Makes Slate Magazine's Road and Kingdoms column

An interesting article on the effects of the economic plight of Madagascar since 2009 told through the declining narrative of one of the southern gemstone towns.

We've met the "sailor-mouthed" gemstone dealer mentioned in the article.  The New Yorker featured him in an article back in 2006.  He's a very affable and entertaining man with a very gracious wife.

Here's the article:

A Cursed Land:Droughts. Bandits. Locusts. Inside the boom and bust of a Madagascar frontier town. by Aaron Ross

Some other Mada Articles by Aaron Ross

Why Madagascar's Children Have the Most at Stake in Friday's Presidential Election

Madagascar: When the Aid Dries Up

Plague Highlights Public Health Failings in Madagascar

Madagascar, Where Child Prostitution Is Common, Cheap and 'Trivial'

Madagascar's Crisis in Pictures Madagascar's Election: A Nervous Wait

Books about Madagascar

Here's a smattering of books about Madagascar that I lifted from the State Department website.

 Attenborough, David, Zoo Quest to Madagascar, Lutterworth Press, London, 1961.

Astuti, Rita,People of the Sea: Identity and Descent among the Vezo of Madagascar (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003.

Bloch, Maurice, Placing the Dead: Tombs, Ancestral Villages, and Kinship Organization in Madagascar, Seminar Press, New York, 1971.

Bourgeacq, Jacques, and Liliane Ramarosoa, Voices from Madagascar: An Anthology of Contemporary Francophone Literature, Ohio University Press, Athens, 2002.

Bradt, Hilary, Madagascar The Bradt Travel Guide - 7th ed., Globe Pequot Press, 2002.

Brown, Mervyn, A History of Madagascar, Marcus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, 2000.

Cole, Jennifer, Forget Colonialism? Sacrifice and the Art of Memory in Madagascar, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2001.

Dahl, Oyvind and Yvind Dahl, Meanings in Madagascar: Cases of Intercultural Communication, Bergin & Garvey, 1999.

Durrell, Gerald, The Aye-Aye and I: A Rescue Mission in Madagascar, Arcade, New York, 1993.

Ellis, Stephen, The Rising of the Red Shawls: A Revolt in Madagascar, 1895-1899, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985.

Evers, Sandra, and Marc Spindler, ed. Cultures of Madagascar: Ebb and Flow of Influences, Leiden, Netherlands, 1995.

Fitzpatrick, Mary, and Paul Greenaway, Lonely Planet Madagascar - 4th ed., 2001.

Garbutt, Nick, Mammals of Madagascar, Pica Press, 1999.

Goodman, Steven M. and Bruce D. Patterson, ed. Natural Change and Human Impact in Madagascar, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London, 1997.

Goodman, Steven M. et al, ed. The Natural History of Madagascar, University of Chicago Press, (Jan. 2004).

Gow, Bonar, Madagascar and the Protestant Impact: The Work of the British Missions, 1818-1895, New York, 1979.

Jolly, Alison, A World Like Our Own: Man and Nature in Madagascar, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1980.

Kreamer, Christine Mulle, and Sarah Fee, Objects as Envoys: Cloth, Imagery, and Diplomacy in Madagascar, Smithsonian Institution, 2002.

Langrand, Olivier, Guide to the Birds of Madagascar, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990.

Lanting. Frans, Madagascar: A World Out of Time, Aperture, New York, 1990.

Larson, Pier M., History and Memory in the Age of Enslavement: Becoming Merina in Highland Madagascar, 1770-1822, Heinemann, 2000.

Mack, John, Madagascar: Island of Ancestors, British Museum, London, 1986.

Mack, John, Malagasy Textiles, Shire Publications, 1989.

Mannoni, Octave, Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization, Praeger, New York, 1956.

Mittermaier, Russell, et al. Lemurs of Madagascar, Conservation International, 1994.

Murphy, Dervla, Muddling Through in Madagascar, Overlook Press, 1985.

Tyson, Peter, The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar, Harper Collins, New York, 2000.

French

Acquier, Jean-Louis, Architecture de Madagascar, Arthaud, Paris, 1997.

La Cité des Mille: Antananarivo: Histoire, Architecture, Urbanisme, CITE/Tsipika, Antananarivo, 1998.

Cauvin, Patrick, Villa Vanille, Albin Michel, 1997.

De Flacourt, Etienne (annotated by Claude Alibert), Histoire de la Grande Ile Madagascar, Karthala, Paris, 1995.

Gallieni, Joseph, Neuf Ans à Madagascar, Hachette, Paris, 1908.

Guide Bleu Evasion, Madagascar, Hachette, Paris, 2001.

Guide Gallimard, Madagascar, 1999.

Randrianary, Victor, Madagascar: Les Chants d'une Ile, Cité de la Musique/Actes Sud, 2001.

Revel, Eric, Madagascar, L'Ile Rouge, Ballard, 1994.

Tronchon, Jacques, L'Insurrection Malgache de 1947, Karthala, Paris, 1987.

Verin, Pierre, Madagascar, Karthala, Paris, 1990.

From the Economist: Malagasy politics: Who will take over?

Malagasy politics: Who will take over? | The Economist

We are following the upcoming elections closely.  The opening from an excellent recent Economist article is below:

(NOTE: Malagasies is pronounced mahlahgaSHee)

"MALAGASIES have waited four years for a chance to vote for a government. In February 2009, Andry Rajoelina overthrew Madagascar’s president, Marc Ravalomanana, in an army-backed coup. Since then Mr Rajoelina has promised—and postponed—elections every year. But later this year the country will at last go to the polls; presidential and legislative elections have been scheduled for May 8th and July 3rd. But it is far from clear who will win the long-awaited vote."

Former President Ravalomanana

LINK:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2013/01/malagasy-politics?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/whowilltakeover

Poem 5 from Rabearivelo's From the Night

This is a cross post from For Unofficial Use Only.  You can read more about the Malagasy poet here.

"5" from Rabearivelo's From the Night (Nadika Tamin'ny Alina)

Love this poem, especially that last line--what a raw and true sentiment.

5
You sleep, my darling;
you sleep in her arms, my youngest child
I do not see your eyes, heavy with night,
which shine like beads of real gold
or like ripe grapes.

A gust of fine wind half-opens our door,
puffs up your thin dress
and ruffles your hair,
then sweeps a paper from my table,
which I chase to the threshold.

I lift my head,
and there in my hand is the poem just begun:
your eyes blink in the sky
and I call the poem: STARS.

Lemurs, Rosewood and Gibson Guitars

Lemurs, Rosewood and Gibson Guitars

Film outlines effects of illegal logging on lemurs.  This film is evidently what exposed Gibson's use of illegal rosewood on their (your) guitars.  Gibson eventually paid $300K in fines.

Mark your calendars, the expose film premieres 18 December at 8PM on Animal Planet. 

LINKS:
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0806-gibson-doj-lacey.html
http://downtown.wmctv.com/news/news/58234-endangered-lemurs-could-be-connected-gibson-raid
http://youtu.be/tdX-_KzLFYo

Madagascar--Coming Oil Boom

 Madagascar--Coming Oil Boom

Madagascar Oil sees crude flowing from island soon Reuters. 30 Oct 2012. 

 If they do end up having a lot of oil, they could do well to get an intelligent economic advisor in place.  I might suggest someone with experience like Dr. Robert Looney, a former economic advisor to Iran.  Typically newly resource rich states focus on avoiding Dutch Disease as Nigeria did during their 1970's oil boom (during the last three decades of the 20th century they experienced a $300 billion windfall).  In focusing on this, though, they can neglect other important economic factors such as managing RER (real exchange rate) and inflation.  Sage advice and more information can be found on this topic in Okongo-Iweala's excellent 2008 IMF article Nigeria's Shot at Redemption.  There are extensive notes on the article here.

Links:
http://www.mocoh.com/?q=en/node/17
Cross posted here: http://kruzoo.blogspot.com/p/mada-articles.html

CRS Report on Madagascar's Political Crisis

This report gives good background on history of Madagascar and recent political activity and conflict.  For tourists, you can stick with the summary.

SUMMARY:

Madagascar, an Indian Ocean island country, ranks among the world’s poorest countries, is the
world’s fourth largest island and is extremely biologically diverse, with thousands of unique
species of flora and fauna. It has experienced political instability since early 2009, initiated by
tensions between the country’s last elected president, Marc Ravalomanana, and an opposition
movement led by Andry Rajoelina, then the mayor of the capital city, Antananarivo. Mass
protests in early 2009 and eventual military support for the ouster of President Ravalomanana
culminated in his forced resignation from office. Rajoelina then seized power and, with other
leaders, formed an interim self-declared transitional government, the High Transitional Authority
(HAT, after its French acronym). Ravalomanana now lives in exile in South Africa.

Periodic protests by Ravalomanana supporters after the takeover led to violent clashes with
security forces. Negotiations between the parties led to the signing of an agreement in 2009 in
Maputo, Mozambique to establish an inclusive, transitional government, but Rajoelina
subsequently appointed a cabinet seen to be primarily composed of his own supporters. Southern
African leaders and Madagascar’s opposition parties rejected the proposed government, and
negotiations resumed. Two later agreements also failed to result in a unified transitional process.

The unconstitutional change of power and resulting political impasse have negatively affected
economic growth and development efforts and strained Madagascar’s relations with international
donors. Foreign governments, including the United States, reacted to Rajoelina’s seizure of power
by sanctioning the government in various ways (e.g., through suspension of membership in some
multilateral bodies, restrictions on aid, personal sanctions on some individuals, and removal of
trade benefits). Aid restrictions have significantly decreased public spending. As a result of the
coup d’état, U.S. aid is restricted to selected humanitarian and development programs delivered
through non-governmental channels. Madagascar’s Millennium Challenge Account compact,
worth an estimated $110 million, was terminated in May 2009. Madagascar is also subject to aid
restrictions due to its poor performance in addressing the problem of trafficking in persons.

Until September 2011, when a Southern African Development Community (SADC)-mediated
transitional roadmap was signed by most key political movements, international mediation and
national efforts to agree upon a transition process had foundered. Notwithstanding continuing
political disputes, implementation of the roadmap has gone relatively smoothly. In April, a
political amnesty law was enacted, but it remains controversial, as it does not cover former
president Ravalomanana due to his conviction for murder in absentia in August 2010, and he has
not been permitted to return to Madagascar. An impasse over these issue has long stymied the
transition process.

Madagascar faces a host of environmental pressures, however, and illegal logging and
endangered wildlife exports have reportedly substantially increased under the HAT. Congress has
expressed concern with threats to Madagascar’s unique ecosystem, as well as with the country’s
ongoing political and development challenges. The House of Representatives passed legislation in
2009, H.Res. 839, condemning the 2009 coup and the illegal extraction of Madagascar’s natural
resources.

CRS Report on Madagascar's Political Crisis

by Lauren Ploch and Nicolas Cook