Thoughts From The Red Canyon

You’d think that all that slaughter and sacrifice would put me off my dinner but anyone who knows me knows that food is one of my great joys. I will simply never look like a runway model because I appreciate the qualities of a good meal far too much. Despite the rather bloody scene we were leaving behind we were all ready for lunch by the time the last crocodile disappeared into the lake. We went to a well renowned roadside café called ‘Snack 17’ where we all indulged in a new experience- Mr Bray chose to try bat, an experience I have already survived and was not keen to repeat, and Mrs Bray had miniature wild duck while Caroline and I decided that there would be no better day to try crocodile steak (not from the sacred ones of course- as that would have been cannibalism after all).

Crocodile Steak and Chips... mmmm yes please

The food was delightful and even the bat, which this time came sans fur, wings and face, and was not the chore I remember it being in Tana. Soon we were fortified and ready for the road and I was just as excited for this second part of our day as I had been for the first.

We drove back toward Diego, with the driver and the guide stopping amongst the Khat plantations to stock up for the weekend. The driver ever began chewing in the car, a fact that Mrs Bray quite understandably was not a fan of. We were soon at the turning for the Tsingy reserve and from here the road began to live up to its reputation. Even by the time we reached the entrance and the ticket booth we were all quite certain that anything other than a 4x4 would simply leave you stranded on this path. A further 20km down the path, which took us around half an hour, sometimes through forest and sometimes along ridges providing incredible views of the Northern regions, we finally reached the first Tsingy outcrop, the smallest and least impressive of the three- or so we were informed.

Looking down into the gorge the Tsingy looked like patches of pale coral emerging from the deep red earth. They were impressive to look at and rather ‘otherworldly’ somehow. This impression only intensified as we descended on foot into the gorge and the scale of the Tsingy became more apparent. This landscape- a blood red bowl seemingly carved out of a lush green valley, filled with jagged stalagmites piercing through the earth- would not have been out of place on an episode of Dr Who or Star Trek.

Looking down on the Tsingy from the car...

This smallest of the formations is unattended, which meant that we could get really close to the Tsingy and in amongst the bigger pillars. Unlike its grey karst limestone counterparts the Tsingy Rouge are sandy- softer than I would have imagined, leaving a pale pink residue on your fingers and clothes. The laterite soil of which these formations are made is rich in iron and aluminium and is given its colour by the iron oxides in its make-up. It was formed much more recently than one might imagine, sometime in the former half of the 20^th century, when soil erosion due to deforestation allowed the pattern to emerge. Each rain changes the shape of the Tsingy Rouge slightly and experts predict that eventually the whole things might be worn away to nothing.

Me and the 'small' Tsingy- now tell me that's not a set off Dr Who!

I was already delighted by the experience of seeing these temporary natural works of art as we piled into the 4x4 for the next leg of the drive, but little did I know the wonder to come. Around 20 minutes later we reached a fork in the road and pulled into the undergrowth- I could see nothing resembling the gorge we had just left and wondered whether the driver was mistaken. Through cheeks swollen by Khat and a voice muffled by its anaesthetic properties the guide gestured beyond the bushes and trees by the roadside and mumbled ‘Canyon’. Upon parting the final branches I beheld one of the most awe-inspiring sights of my life.

The ground beneath me, grey and dry with brush and bush covering its surface, just gave way to a brilliant red cliff leading down into an enormous canyon that stretched away toward the sea opening into a green flatland. At the bottom of the canyon, up toward its point of origin were the most fantastic Tsingy Rouge formations- they were enormous rising out of the ground like volcanoes and I was reminded of the sheer mountainsides of Northern Laos. The rock just rises out of the ground vertical and insurmountable as if being pushed from beneath. The ridges formed along the tops of the formations only began after a sheer drop of several hundred meters. The canyon itself was not to be scoffed at either and only by looking at the river running through its centre could you get a sense of its vast proportions.

Canyon mouth

Following my unsuccessful attempts to capture the vastness and impact of the canyon on camera we all piled back into the truck and moved on to our final destination- the large Tsingy outcrop in an accessible gulley. We pulled in to a much more modern looking visitors centre and a special guide emerged from a hut to meet us. He lead us down an unassuming path and I must admit that, as this was the first time I had really ventured out by foot since my accident, my attention was probably more on where I was putting my feet than what was ahead. We finally reached a muddy flat where the mouth of a gulley was blocked by a simple zebu pen gate. The guide dismantled a section of the gate and led us through to the wonderful landscape of the Tsingy behind. I will let the photos speak for themselves as there is little more I can say about this wonderful maze of towering pillars of rose pink stone. It was an honour to see it and walk among it and I hope the experts are wrong- it would be tragic to see it melt away into nothing.

Large Tsingy in the late afternoon light...

Exploring the Tsingy

Just when I thought nothing could make this day any better our guide found us TWO new firsts for me on the way out of the gorge and back to the car. One was a sensitive plant known as Mimosa Pudica which shies away at your touch and the other was the amazing Flatid leaf bug which disguises itself as flowers or fungi until you touch it, at which point it explodes into a swarm of tiny pink butterflies. Both were magical and did try to upload a couple of videos for them but it didn't work- although to be fair they certainly do not do them justice anyway.

As we drove away from the Tsingy park and back toward Diego I was struck by my deep love and respect for this vast and astonishing island, full of secrets so well-guarded by the land. As the afternoon storm hit I thought about the Tsingy and how each drop of rain changes their landscape so that those who come tomorrow will see something ever so slightly different from what we saw today, making each persons visit to the Tsingy Rouge a unique experience we will never be able to recapture exactly- but also making every visit you take to the Tsingy a first all over again.