The Highlands

In order to get from the site of the campaign kick off in Fianarantsoa, we had to drive about 2/3rds of the way back up to Antananarivo, north through the highlands (we had driven a lot of it at night, too dark for pictures), and then turn west. We had another several beautiful, cool hours in the highlands before heading down to the steaming coastal plains.Another example of traditional highlands architecture
Rice farming is very energy intensive, back breaking labor!Me along a hillside overlooking the rice fields
The hillsides are just dotted with these little settlements, most of which are extended familes, surrounded by their terraces. I think the houses are just charming!
A terrific and beautiful example of terracing - can you imagine the work that went into building all these terraces?!

The Central Highlands are a beautiful drive, but the forest is sparse - and these hills were once covered by highland rainforest. The soil runs off these hills and into the ocean at an alarming rate. Close to the coast, the rivers run red with all the red silt, and the coral that rings Madagascar is struggling. (Environmental degradation is a theme of my Madagascar pics.)