Roads
Main roads out of Tana are in good condition – the ones east, west and south(-west) anyway. But as soon as you’re off the main road, you need a 4×4. And local people are paid by the government to repair the roads, which could explain the good condition. It’s a scheme that appears to be working for all parties.
Lateral thinking
Lateral thinking is not Madagascar’s strong point. For instance, on the way out of Kirindy, the workers repairing the road were clearly desperate for water. But nobody at the lodge had mentioned this, else we could have filled our numerous empty bottles for them. I asked Alain to let his next tourists know that water would be welcome on the return journey – the thought clearly hadn’t ever occurred to him!
As an aside, I did ask why they just didn’t bring more water. He hesitated and then explained that they couldn’t carry much. It was only afterwards that I realised that it’s also because they don’t have any empty bottles.
Another example was at the restaurant we stopped at on the way back from Kirindy. We told the waitress that we would have a swim before lunch. But when we went to order at 2:10pm, we were told that lunch had finished at 2pm. Despite there being only two parties (including us) in the restaurant, it hadn’t occurred to anyone to tell us! Nor did they mention it at the start. *sigh*
Beds
These have been almost universally uncomfortable, but in a variety of ways. There’s the “big dipper” with a massive dip in the middle, meaning you end up in a banana shape. Or they’re very hard. Or so old you can feel the slats through the mattress. But it’s difficult to complain with any real feeling – I bet the ones the local use are much worse, and they don’t have a nice, soft bed to look forward to at home.
Crime
RN2 (to the east) is safe because it’s used all the time, being the only route between the main port and the capital city. More traffic means more safety. So whilst night travel is highly discouraged, it’s also a potential solution to the banditry problem.