The African Woman

#8March INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

The lyrics of the song “Inventas” by Vanesa Martín used to say: “Of all the women that live in me, there are some that I don’t know…”.

African women show us every day that their perseverance sustains this bleeding continent. In a patriarchal world, they hardly have any political power or decision-making capacity, sometimes they do not even have the right to choose a husband, clothes or even the meaning of their lives. Most of them are born and die predestined to be mothers, wives, unpaid rural workers, sometimes even sex slaves. Yet they survive. And Africa with them. Madagascar is no exception.

Sometimes I travel those dusty tracks of the most remote #Madagascar and observe life in the villages. The women work the fields indolently, take care of the domestic animals, the many household chores, the rudimentary cooking, the countless babies that populate the village, the elderly, the sick, their husbands….

They are the ones who suffer the consequences of wars that they almost never caused, of famines of which they are mere silent witnesses, of natural catastrophes… But they still get up every morning to fetch water from a distant well, or firewood from a lost forest, or to sow or collect some rice to feed their numerous families.

This is not the place to value the work of their men, although my African experience and the perception I have of this island after living there for many years, pushes me to assure that without them, everything would be different: Africa would be less magical without its “African Mamas”. To all of them (on this day so celebrated in a somewhat hypocritical way around the world) a memory, respect and all our affection.

I believe that for once, it should be a man who publicly paid this heartfelt tribute on behalf of our entire team.

“Of all the women that inhabit me… there are many still that I have never met…”

𝘿𝙚 @𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝙮 @𝙟𝙖𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙭𝙖𝙨 of the #IndigoBe_team 𝙖 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙟𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨 👏

📸 ©IndigoBe by @sergireboredo #IndigoBE #InternationalWomensDay #8March #womensday #GénérationÉgalité

Discover our selection of circuits

THE ISLAND CONTINENT
THE ISLAND CONTINENT
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South + North + Highlands + Nosy Be
Group trips . Comfort . Wildlife .
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REMOTE RIVER EXPEDITION
REMOTE RIVER EXPEDITION
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Group travel flights included . Adventure . Wildlife .
BAOBAB EXPEDITION
BAOBAB EXPEDITION
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South + East + West + Highlands
Group travel flights included . Adventure . Wildlife .
ESSENCES OF THE SOUTH
ESSENCES OF THE SOUTH
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Group trips . Comfort . Wildlife .
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2.300
Following the Green Heart
Following the Green Heart
BEST SELLER MADAGASCAR
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Sylvia Pallarès

Sylvia Pallarès #indigo_team

Co-founder and Marketing Director of Indigo Be, a travel agency in Madagascar that is pure inspiration. A space that combines creativity, passion and love for things well done, based on respect, balance and collaboration between people and their environment.

Since 2007 I have been permanently settled in Antananarivo, although my journey through the island began 4 years earlier, guiding travelers eager for new experiences in a destination that was very unknown at that time.

This chaotic city has seen my 8 dogs grow up, and 5 of them continue their journey... I brag about being a dog mom.

I studied photography at the Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya and my work was reflected in several travel magazines. Art Director of Nomads Magazine and Director of Islands of the World magazine, both now defunct. Tireless traveler, I have had the enormous privilege of visiting places that I could not even imagine in my best dreams.

I have lived and shared the immensity of the desert with the Tuareg in southern Algeria, my host country for four intense years that brought me unique experiences and magical moments.

I set foot in Africa for the first time in 1996 and since then I have never left the mother continent. More than 20 years designing experiences, conscious and responsible travel that transform both travelers and destinations, including myself.

An unconditional animal lover and passionate about photography, I am currently pursuing a Master's degree in Communication at ENEB.