Another travel day. It’s impossible to avoid them in a country this vast, but it’s all part of the adventure and we were actually kind of looking forward to the 12-hour drive – it’s a much more rewarding and satisfying way to see a country than jump on a plane. It’s all about how you think about it.
Bags were loaded on top of the van (hard cases on the outside to anchor the protective sheet on top).
A quick breakfast stop. I have to admit that whilst lunches and dinners have been delicious, Malagsy breakfasts don’t have much to recommend them as they mostly consist of fried stuff (the best of which is banana – I can leave the rice, bread and flour creations – but it’s all very heavy in the stomach).
Oh, and you remember I said that each “region” has its own speciality? Well, this one had stalls lining the road selling massive catholic statues:
Baobabs gave way to rice fields as we made out way back to Tana. One hour of the 12-hour (700km) journey was spent getting into the centre of Tana, and back out to the bus station. We arrived at our hotel at 7:50pm, almost 15 hours after we’d left our hotel this morning.
Jimmy was waiting for us! With Beo (pronounced “Bee-oh”, like the individual letters that in English stand for “body odour”), who would be our driver to Andasibe.
Our original hotel being full, we’d booked into another. The shower was, shall we say, of an alternative design that I hadn’t seen before (and hoped not to see again!).
“Dormitory” beds were in one large area (and none of them had lockable doors) – glad we booked a private room.
But it had a nice vibe, and they’d tried hard to make the place welcoming.