Easter Monday at Ifaty Beach

Easter Monday - A time to celebrate
I know there’s something different about today as soon as I wake up. We are at the end of the Easter weekend which has so far been fairly quiet but today it’s a carnival atmosphere in Ifaty Everyone comes from the nearby towns to celebrate Easter Monday (or Lundi Pacques as it is called here) colourful boats bob up and down on the water and everyone is wearing their best clothes. The young men strut along trying to impress the girls and the local girls ( dressed in their brightest outfits) smile and giggle. Music plays everywhere in a competing cacophony of sound yet despite its random nature it seems somehow compiled.

As the day goes on the beach becomes totally packed with families picnicking, people dancing and of course the strutting boys. It is all fairly relaxed and although the beach is patrolled by police( gendarmes) and security guards, it seems fairly organised to me and I don’t notice any trouble. I am amazed by all the colours and take lots of photos. I am careful to avoid taking any photos of the gendarmes as this is forbidden in Madagascar and can end up with your camera being confiscated and all of your photos being erased. Definitely not a good thing to happen and a valuable piece of advice for anyone travelling here.