In April 2014, Untamed Travelling organised another photo trip to Madagascar, accompanied by Nand Fiems. On special request, the professional photographer describes this special experience for once in pictures and in words.
Untamed we left with some photoy people to Madagascar. This isolated paradise on earth is located in the Indian Ocean and is 400 kilometers separated from Africa by Canal de Mozambique. The photographic hunger for “better travel photos” is the starting point for fellow travellers.
In the capital Tana (Antanarivo) we arrive very comfortably to Palissandre Hotel & Spa. It is evening and we enjoy a well-deserved rest after the trip to take it tomorrow with full courage.
The next morning a modified small bus was arranged. We need to be able to photograph from the open windows; this country is so varied and beautiful that otherwise you would have to stop every kilometer to photograph. The big advantage is also that you don’t show off the expensive cameras in places where you hurt people with them, and also greatly influence their spontaneous doing.
From the entrance of the hotel I can already shoot some very good images in the morning of the people who are loaded with fruit and vegetables to the early market. Just stand unnoticed with your camera at the ready and you can penetrate the life of the Malagasy.
The first day we go to Antsirabe where we fully enjoy the couleur locale. Our experienced guide has a very extensive knowledge of this great country where, having visited the Northeast, I will once immortalize the southwest in striking images. That is the intention, and fellow travellers are constantly coming up with technical questions to ultimately reflect this happening in the most aesthetically pleasing form possible. The pictures are of course only a fraction of a second from the lives of people and nature, but the better one looks and interacts with these people, the easier the shooting goes. Sometimes we make photo-stops that become a real party for both us and for those people because we do something together. The people are extremely friendly and many even ask to be allowed to take a picture. After a few images they ask to see the results. In one place, a mother asked her to send her the photo of her baby. I asked if she could write her address in my notebook.
We travellen untamed and seek and discover a lot of wealth within the very poor population. The greatest wealth they all enjoy is the endless beautiful and varied nature. Flowers, birds, trees, lemurs, chameleons, mountains and rivers; It’s too much to mention what they have here and what makes them so rich.
In Madagascar you can and can really speak to the people. You can ask them questions and you can photograph them. In the tropical rainforest of Ranomafana National Park, we have the chance to see wild lemurs for the first time. They are extremely fast and agile and it therefore requires some technical information to make the best possible images. Everyone is surprised by the results afterwards. We also go here in the evening in darkness in search of mouse lemurs and chameleons. This again requires some technical adjustment to make good images.
During the long journeys we find that the main road RA7 constantly shows completely different aspects of nature. From the rice paddies in the valleys, the tropical rainforests, the high plains and the mountains to the unimaginable garden in Isalo with sculptures that are actually sandstone rocks. The colours that appear in it range from yellow, green, red, purple and blue to all intermediate tones. If this is not a photographic colour palette then my inspiration stops here! I used to think that our creator in Radjastan invented the colors. Well, that’s right. But he has refined all these colours here and placed them under an exceptional light. Wherever we went for a walk, each time a local guide was with us who had extremely good information and was able to tell fascinating things.
Hotel Jardin du Roy (near Isalo) is an architectural masterpiece. We made a special photo report about it. Another opportunity for photographic experience that brings a lot of joy and satisfaction within our photo team. The advantage of such a theme trip is that all noses are in the same direction and that one gets the square of the stakes back in the incredible many “photographic orgasms”.
To organize a trip like this to Madagascar, with nature walks, visits and lunch with locals and the variety of nature, one must have an exceptional experience in the world of most fascinating travel.
From Tuléar our trip continues with two 4×4 vehicles. The drivers are proud to demonstrate their driving skills in the sand. Along the way we shoot a lot of images of the locals who live in much paler wooden houses than in the area around Tana.
Coming to the coast it is again a completely different world. Everything revolves around fishing in the fish-rich Canal de Mozambique. Before you have the actual Indian Ocean there is a few kilometers in the sea a coral reef where the big waves break. The sea here is therefore extremely calm and the homemade colorful sails of the prauwen mirror in the smooth water surface. Already from the morning very early we quiet our photo hunger with the movement on and around the water. Some saleswomen come to sell their handmade scarves, shell wreaths and playboats. They offer “massage sur la plage”, but a few minutes later they play model and play the photographers with their natural charms. When I ask them to organize a singing and dance party, they are immediately very enthusiastic. With homemade instruments and some young singers, they start dancing on the beach and organizing the apotheosis for the photographers. The gigabytes are piling up in the cameras.
Suddenly the time is there to say goodbye. I’ve had a hard time with that many times, but the wonderful way of life between these super friendly people makes it extra difficult for me now. Fortunately, we also come back home untamed, eager to process the many gigabytes of images and make beautiful books with it that are just a small cast of what we have experienced and felt. But, in our hearts we cherish the most beautiful moments out of gratitude for what we have been able to and have been able to experience! A super “merci” for that.
The untamed desire for a new challenge like this one in Madagascar is a priority to be a happy person.
Nand Fiems,
Photographer
