Ambositra and Antsirabe

It's amazing what they can carry on their heads.

Terraced hills.

Selling bags of charcoal by the side of the road...

and other scenes from out of the window of the van.

Or on top of their vehicles.

Animal shelters.

Information about Residence Madalief.

Monday, November 13^th.

Only to go off again in the morning. When Patrick arrived in the morning he told us that the area is very short on water as there has been a drought and the rainy season has yet to start. This explains both the water shortage and the electricity blackout because it too relies on water supply. Compounding the problem is the fact that the hotel is situated on a hill overlooking most of the city. It's hard to get water to there.

We had our breakfast and got started by seven. As we left the hotel we stopped at an ATM and saw a long line of local people who were there to pay their electricity bill and anther long line at a bank where students were depositing their school fees in the school's bank account.We drove for the whole morning only stopping once for a bushy bushy stop. Even though the drives are long it is amazing to look out the window and watch what people are doing. We saw people working in the fields, people walking to and fro along the road, people lounging around in town, people working their little shops trying to sell their wares to anyone and endless people who would stop and stare or wave at us when we drove by, calling 'sallee vazah' hello foreigner.

When we got to Ambositra we went to visit a local wood working shop. This is apparently the city of the artisans. There was nothing I was particularly interested in but others bought a few souvenirs. Then we got back in the van for the short drive to the same hotel we stayed at on our first night out from Tana, for a lunch stop. It goes to show how few tourist friendly restaurants there are that we made a repeat visit here. When we arrived there was a group of dancers who were singing and moving to the rhythm of two drummers. We had lunch to this accompaniment. We ate outside and today was much cooler than it has been, maybe because we are in the highlands, but Patrick said it was unusually cool.

Then we boarded again for the last part of the drive to Antsirabe. It rained for part of the drive but then cleared up nicely. Tonight we are staying at the Residence Madalief just outside of town. This is a hotel run by a Dutch woman and the money it generates goes to fund an orphanage and provide food programs for local schools. This is another example of the way Intrepid runs sustainable tours that give back to the local people rather than lining the pockets of big hotel chains. Florien and I have a two storey apartment and he is sleeping upstairs. This place explains the name on the back of our van (Residence Madalief). The husband of lady owns this van and they rent it and the driver out to Intrepid.

We gathered together in the restaurant for dinner at seven. The lady, Remi, who started the hotel came to greet us. Intrepid has a partnership with her and they bring about 22-25 groups here every season. She is Dutch and worked here as a tour leader for a few years before she met a local woman who was taking care of orphans as well as her own children. Remi was inspired and decided to find a way to help. She got funding from the Dutch government and started up an agency called The Madalief Foundation. They built the Malagasy woman a new home with room for all the orphans and more. That was in 2003 and now they work with schools too and provide food for needy students. One of the qualifications for the kids to live in the home is that they have to go to school. Apparently some will do that but others who have been living on the street are unwilling to submit to the rules and routines. I have included a photo of the information they provided to us. Remi is a passionate committed person, but I can't imagine what it would be like to forsake Europe and emigrate to Madagascar. I asked and she said that she lives in Madagascar most of the year but does return to Holland twice a year for a few months.

After dinner, we all retired early as usual as we have yet another long day ahead of us.