Tsaranoro Circuit

The second day of hiking consisted of a significantly more exciting and difficult hike around the Tsaranroro peaks, a total of about 16mi or so of pure elevation gain and descent. As I said before, hiking trails in Madagascar are kind of like Malagasy roads, they don’t really exist. So our ascent to the back side of the Tsaranoro peak was straight up the steepest part of the mountain besides the parts where you have to be a professional climber. Our crew that day was Manal, Peny, another local guide, and I. Omega opted out of this trip because he doesn’t like the heights. Oh, and there was a dog that joined us. The whole way. It was super cute.

Now unlike Chameleon Peak, Tsaranoro has a legend associated with it. At the foot of the peaks, there is a sacred forest. When I asked why it was sacred, Peny told me how long ago (relatively) the local tribe was attacked by the Merina tribe. They fled the village in the valley and made their way to the top of the mountains where they planned to hold out. But as with most sieges, the food supply began to run low. They sent two young girls to search for food. The girls were caught in the forest by the Merina attackers and killed in the forest. The names of the girls were Tsara and Noro, which is why the twin peaks are now called Tsaranoro, and the tops are only accessible by professional climbers.

The Tsaranoro circuit circles the peaks and has an altitude gain of more than 2000ft. There were four sections where we had to set up some ropes the make the climb up the rockface. Something that seems unlikely but is true is that I’m scared of heights. No joke, I am deathly afraid of heights. It’s weird to hear because I’ve done some pretty crazy climbing before and love hiking to very high places. Despite years of trying to overcome the fear, I still can’t shake it. But I do the climbing things when there are opportunities in spite of my fear. These rope parts weren’t that bad. We weren’t tied up or anything. In fact, it’s very possible not to use the ropes at all. Nonetheless, the ropes, particularly on a 75yd-long steep descent, make it much easier and safer. Still, the first of the four rope clips had my legs shaking a bit.

We circled Tsaranoro and make our way down another steep part of the mountain, finally coming back to Camp Catta in the mid-afternoon where I got dinner and a good night’s sleep. The next day we were originally planning on doing a tour of the sacred forest and a nearby village. But when I heard about another hike that a group of Slovakians had completed up to Peak Dondy (doon-dee), I asked if we could switch. The price for the guide was a little higher because it’s another full day. That didn’t matter because they agreed to make the change and take me across the valley the next day to ascend Peak Dondy.

As always, know that you are in my prayers each morning. All I ask is that you do the same for me.

May God be praised.