The Antandroy People in Madagascar
The region of Androy stretches between the Menarandra River in the west and the first foothills of the Anosy River in the east. Except for the deep Mandrare, which has been developed since the 1930s with extensive industrial sisal plantations, the vegetation of Androy resembles that of a subarid region.
In the lower Androy (south), which is very dry, the quaternary marine limestone or dune sandstone remains the domain of bush and steppe, while in the upper Androy (north), which is wetter, 
it is characterized by a different type of vegetation.
The crystalline underground and the land of volcanic origin favor a wooded savanna.
Paradoxically, the south is more densely populated than the north, but everything is relative: just over ten inhabitants per square kilometer…
The route of the RN 10, from Beloha to Amboasary, via Tsihombe and Ambovombe (toponyms that mark the socio-religious preeminence of cattle breeding, Omby (“Zebu”), more or less follows the border between the two Androys.
Although drought prevails in this southern region most of the year, the storms of the dry season (December – April) and the Mediterranean showers in July can offer unpleasant surprises for drivers by causing floods.
Several sections of the national road turn into swamps for several days.
Androy, the Land of Thorns
Three shrubs are dear to the Antandroj: the Fantsiholitra (Alluaudia procera), the Roy (Mimosa delicatula), a thorny tree that gave the region and its inhabitants its name, and the Raketa (Opuntia dillenii) or prickly pear.
Introduced in the 18th century by the Count of Modave in the south of Madagascar, the Raketa once covered vast areas and was a true godsend in times of famine. The figs fed. Bedeutung.
The men and the leaves, freed from their thorns by a passage through the fire, provided food for the animals.
By using these fleshy and thorny plants to create practically impenetrable hedges around their villages, the Antandroy people were able to resist French colonization until 1905.
However, in the 1920s, on the advice of botanist Perrier de la Bathie, the French introduced a pest that destroyed almost all prickly pear trees within a few months, triggering a catastrophic famine.
In this country, where cattle and goat farming is combined with a sparse food-producing agriculture, the issue of water remains crucial.
Importance.
Rivers are usually irregular, so brackish water must be easily taken from the holes dug and deepened daily in the sand. At the end of the dry season, people line up at the edge of the only and last “well” painstakingly maintained and dug by the whole village. These vovo (water holes) are more than providential…
To paraphrase Jean Féniès, the former colonial administrator, “Drought determines human evaporation”. Following a long tradition, the Antandroy people, when it comes to survival, leave their village to settle in Toliara (Tuléar, which for many of them is a rickshaw puller), throughout the West.
Settle down after Antsiranana (Diégo Suarez) on the highlands. Some of them even emigrated to the island of Réunion in the 1920s and 1940s.
Since the 1990s, the European Development Fund (EDF), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have deployed unprecedented but still insufficient activities in Androy to rationalize the management of scarce water resources (drilling wells, irrigation canals, etc.).
Despite their harsh existence, the Antandroys, hard workers, strongly preserve their identity. Endowed with genuine artistic talents, they are known for their musical talent and rhythmic songs.
FROM TRANOROA TO TSIHOMBE:
Beloha (61 km south of Tranoroa). The market stalls of this sandy stopover remind of the poverty of this drought-stricken region: only cactus figs are sold here.
Tsihombe (55km south of Beloha). This town, known from afar for its microwave relay station, is arranged around a small square surrounded by gargoyles overlooking the town hall and the market.
Sapphire Mines. By inquiring at the Tsihombe town council, it is possible to visit the water sapphire mines. A thirty-minute drive through the bush is required.
and follows the path that passes in front of the Protestant temple.
The miners have built their straw huts on a hill, and in the courtyard of each of them, women sort through the dense blue stones by studying them in the sunlight.
Betanty (30 km south of Tsihombe, on a well-maintained road with graves). Betanty owes its former name “False Cape” to Portuguese cartographers who, five centuries ago, mistook the location for the southern tip of Madagascar, actually Tanjona Vohimena (Cape Sainte-Marie).
Its long sandy beach and very safe lagoon have made Betanty a pleasant little holiday resort.
You can buy beautiful lobsters from the fishermen. Embark on pirogue trips in the lagoon – and observe the passing whales from April to November – and go on hikes to Tanjona Vohimena (Cape Sainte-Marie) by bivouacking on the beaches.
Tanjona Vohimena (Cape Sainte-Marie) 50 km southwest of Tsihombe, this place, battered by the winds and signaled by a decommissioned lighthouse, marks the southern tip of the island. Tanjona Vohimena has been established as a “special reserve.”
Ambovombe (67 km east of Tsihombe). Ambovombe is the capital of Androy and an important transportation hub. Ambovombe is a lively city, especially on Mondays, market day. Throughout the week, craftsmen offer their goods in front of the. Buschtaxi-Station Antandroy: Hats, Rosewood, and Fine Stone Objects Available
Located in Amboasary-Sud (35 km northeast of Ambovombe), this small town in the lower Mandrare Valley is the center of a sisal-producing region and the market for sapphire mines in the Anosy mountain ranges. Since 1994, these mines have attracted miners and lapidaries from Taiwan, Thailand, Europe, and the United States.
To the east of the town, a metal bridge built by Gustave Eiffel’s company during colonial times spans the Mandrare River. This river, with a riverbed that can reach up to 400 meters wide in some places, carries turbulent waves during the rainy season.
[Image: Ilakaka4]
For more information, visit: [https://www.urlaub-auf-madagaskar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Ilakaka4-e1589635013105.jpg] During the dry season, it is reduced to large bodies of water where the villagers from the surrounding area come to wash their clothes.
Androy Museum, Berenty Reserve (5 km northwest of Amboasary)
A museum of Androy, called Arimbelo (“Coal of Life”), opened in 1995 in this private nature reserve of 265 hectares, a true oasis along the Mandradre river. Like the reserve, it was established on the initiative of planter and hotelier Jean de Heaulme.
In four rooms, the Antandrojs are presented in their environment, their daily life, especially through their crafts and the major ceremonies that characterize their existence, and the history of the region is traced through archaeological research.
The The museum also offers a reflection on the environment and development.
There is an old house that has been rebuilt with meticulous accuracy, and outside, the reconstruction of an ancient tomb and a small family enclosure with its houses built and equipped according to tradition.
Arimbelo is the name of the piece of coal that a father (or mother) wets with their saliva or a little water to draw a vertical line on their child’s belly and bless them by transferring their life force.
Antanandava and Lake Anony
Located near the village of Antanandava (about ten kilometers south of At the mouth of the Mandrare River near Amboasary, a beautiful set of sharp dunes is developing, their relentless progression over the vegetation can be observed.
From Antanandava, you can reach the shores of the Anony Lake (25 km southeast of Amboasary), an extensive saltwater body suitable for water sports and separated from the sea by a dense chain of white dunes.
After the Ranopiso Pass, the vegetation changes radically, revealing the climatic barrier that separates the dry west from the humid east.
Lamba Antandroy
The Weaving of Wild Silk Lamba (“fabric”) continues in some villages in Androy. The red Lamba from the Ambondro region is sold at markets in Amboasary (Sunday), Ambovombe (Monday), Beloha (Tuesday), Tsihombe (Friday), and of course Ambondro (Saturday).
The black Lamba from Tranoroa and Bekitro can be purchased at local markets, as well as directly from the weavers. Additionally, you can buy a beautiful traditional Lamba from Ambondro at the Androy Museum in Berenty.
The Tomb of the Antandroy
The Antandroy tomb is a parallelepipedic construction, once made of dry stone in the north, rot-resistant wooden palisade in the sandy south, now masonry.
The simplest model measures 5 to 6 meters on each side and is decorated with white geometric patterns. The richest ones are about 20 square meters in size and covered with frescoes. A central building houses the coffin. There is also a more sober model, in beautiful cuboid shape.
The carved posts (Aloalo) that tower over the graves are a tradition of the Mahafaly region, which was adopted in the region adjacent to Beloha, where the most impressive burials can be admired.
Funerals among the Antandroy
Several days pass between the death and the burial of the deceased among the Antandroy people. Months. Meanwhile, ceremonies with Zebu sacrifices are taking place.
Antandroy Ceremonies
In the Androy region, clans and lineages provide the framework within which each individual finds their identity. A lineage unites all descendants in the paternal line of a single ancestor, often thousands of people.
The major ceremonies – Invocation of Ancestors (soro), Preparation ritual for circumcision (savatse), and Funerals – are traditionally held at the foot of the hazomanga (sacred post that materializes in the form of a bundle of sharpened posts – the bond that unites all living.
The Hazomanga ceremony is held in honor of deceased members of the same lineage, united in death.
The Hazomanga is under the supervision of the mpisoro, the patriarch of the lineage and head of the ritual. The lineages of northern Androy respect their Hazomanga and their Mpisoro greatly. In the south, however, the mpisoro are less common, and Soro takes place in a more familial setting under the authority of the father.
Robert Drury
This English sailor, who shipwrecked on the coast of Pays des Epines in 1701, was enslaved by the Antandroy family.
As Drury was able to establish solid relationships and thwart all traps set to test his loyalty, he eventually gained the trust of his captors.
He joined the entourage of the kings of the South and participated in the battles fought by his masters against the Mahafaly and Masikoro.
He escaped several times and even switched sides… In 1716, he returned to England, recounting his adventures and describing the customs of the Antandroy and their neighbors in a newspaper that has remained famous (Daniel Defoe may have actually written this work, using the knowledge of the uneducated sailor to write Robinson Crusoe).
Tormented by nostalgia, Drury finally set sail for the Great Island in 1734, where he engaged in the slave trade.
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Bibliography
„1943 is A forgotten vintage, experiencing one of the largest food deficits in the Androy region. 1943 was also a significant year for local trade, as merchants collected jewels in sacks that Tandroy women traded for a few handfuls of food! Hungry people dragged themselves to Manambovo or Fort Dauphin, often succumbing to exhaustion there. Fifteen thousand people disappeared as a result.”
Jean Féniès, “Tandroy migration” Bulletin de Madagascar. n° 138, 1957
“The disarmament of warriors was not without difficulties: from 1901 to 1903, 12,232 rifles were confiscated, but the Antandrojs managed to maintain their arsenal.
Renew. The forges of Bekily and Bekitro were known for their art of crafting rifles using some old, worn-out parts.
When the authorities seized the rifles, the warriors turned in weapons that were not in working order, and carefully hid the others.
Jean Oberlé, Malagasy Provinces, 1979
