Blessings from the Chief

The downpour continued as our boat pulled ashore so Lachaka suggested wearing life jackets in lieu or raincoats.

A small crowd of locals met us as we disembarked. If they thought we looked silly in our life jackets, I couldn’t tell. Some were hawking goods, but most seemed to be there out of curiosity.

Before we could interact, Lachaka directed us to a forested path that offered shelter from the rain. Between that and the life jacket, I was pretty cozy. It was so hot and humid that none of us felt chilled.

After carefully wandering up a slick hill, we were ushered into a hut. (It reminded me a lot of our backyard tiki hut, actually.)

Inside, two men sat at a table. Lachaka explained that the man in the hat was the village chief and part of his job was greeting all visitors.

The chief spoke to us in Malagasy and I did not understand a word. According to Lachaka’s interpretation, however, not only did he welcome us to his village and extend blessings to us and our families back home, but he even offered blessings to our deceased ancestors, as well.

After these words, the chief blessed us by dipping a tree branch in water and flicking water droplets on us.

Lachaka told us that the hat on the table was there in case we wanted to leave a tip, and many of us did so.

As I mentioned before, Madagascar has 18 different ethnic groups. Lachaka and the members of this village are part of the Betsimisaraka people.

Betsimisaraka means “the many inseparables,” and mainly live on the eastern side of Madagascar.

As coastal peoples, they have interacted with Europeans for a long time, and integrated many things into their own culture.

As we wandered the village, we saw people pounding rice (to de hull it), and cooking meals over small charcoal fires.

I don’t usually carry any money ashore, but a little voice told me to take a bunch of ones this morning. I’m glad I did, because so many people in the village had hats out for tips.

I noticed a well for the village that was donated by Muslims and it reminded me of our other guide’s “Hakuna Matata” remark about how the people of Madagascar are comfortable cherry-picking from any religion that appeals to them.

Our visit ended with a fruit buffet and live song and dance. Everything was delicious, but my favorites were the mango and the little bananas.Read more