People of Tsaranoro

The Tsaranoro Valley is at the junction of the Bestileo and Bara lands. The Betsileo (”the undefeated”) are great rice cultivators and woodcarvers. They migrated from the highlands around their capital Fianarantsoa down to the valley, in search of more productive lands; they look more Asian than the Bara, who have Bantoue origins. The Bara are cattle farmers and were brave warriors in past times. Their zebu herd is their pride, and just before getting married, the young Bara men must steal a zebu to prove his maturity and virility!

The people of Tsaranoro are sometimes referred as “Barabory”. The remoteness of the valley has preserved their traditions, beliefs and simple way of life: men still wrap themselves in brightly coloured blankets in typical Betsileo style, women still parade with shiny gold teeth, single boys put a haircomb in their hair to inform they are looking for wife, single girls put colourful hairpins, rice is crushed in the villages same way as it has been since centuries, ancestors are feared and revered, the king and chief of village still has full authority in the village…

What moves most visitors in Tsaranoro is the genuine and non-commercial minded warm welcome in the villages: here the hospitality to the “vahiny” (the guest) is a secular and fundamental tradition. Actually, one of the villages’ name is Soavahiny, which means literally “Guests are welcome”. Everywhere in the valley, the whole village comes out to greet you, smiling, just as curious children, and saluting by a “Bonjour Vazaha! Comment t’appelles tu?” (hello foreigner, what is your name?).