Around the World in Many Days, II: Madagascar
After two nights in Ranomafana, we set out to return to Fianarantsoa and from there immediately continue to Ambalavao. But plans are not always what they're cut out to be.
Apparently a mildly upset stomach does not go very well with a taxi-brousse ride, and after two challenging hours in the taxi-brousse --- during which N barely managed to avoid throwing up, and during which we learned that half the local women on board regularly carried a plastic bag with them (the power of experience) and that the driver also had some, one of which he gladly gave to us --- we thankfully arrived to Fianarantsoa, fully aware that we were not continuing anywhere that day, and possibly the next too.
We decided to stay in Fianarantsoa --- a city that doesn't see too many tourists, except those passing through --- for three days, mainly to allow us to rest and recuperate, but also because, as luck would have it, we landed in a remarkably well-run and comfortable hotel with a great restaurant, so we ended up being somewhat grateful for N's intestinal mishap.
And we got to see Fianarantsoa a bit, which turned out to be a pretty nice city, with great vistas from the Haute-Ville (upper town).
But just when we thought that N was reasonably recovered, R got the stomach bug too, and we continued our sojourn in Fianarantsoa for another day.
The following morning we were back at the Fianarantsoa central taxi-brousse station. As "veteran" travellers, we skipped the three-quarters-full taxi-brousse to Ambalavao and waited for the next one, to secure the two seats next to the driver. An hour later we were once again on the road, to Ambalavao, as will be detailed in the next chapter.
Accommodations:
- La Petite Bouffe (4 nights; the best under-twenty-dollars-a-night hotel we have ever stayed in)
Photo captions: (a-f) views of Fianarantsoa from the upper town; (g-l) buildings and streets of the upper town; (m-o) a chameleon we almost stepped on; (p-s) scenes from the Fianarantsoa central taxi-brousse station (note the poor miserable goats tied to the roof of the blue minibus)
R S
11 chapters
16 Apr 2020
[Madagascar] Chapter XVIII: In which a tummy, a taxi-brousse, and a city go each about its business
September 22, 2017
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Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, 22-26 September 2017
After two nights in Ranomafana, we set out to return to Fianarantsoa and from there immediately continue to Ambalavao. But plans are not always what they're cut out to be.
Apparently a mildly upset stomach does not go very well with a taxi-brousse ride, and after two challenging hours in the taxi-brousse --- during which N barely managed to avoid throwing up, and during which we learned that half the local women on board regularly carried a plastic bag with them (the power of experience) and that the driver also had some, one of which he gladly gave to us --- we thankfully arrived to Fianarantsoa, fully aware that we were not continuing anywhere that day, and possibly the next too.
We decided to stay in Fianarantsoa --- a city that doesn't see too many tourists, except those passing through --- for three days, mainly to allow us to rest and recuperate, but also because, as luck would have it, we landed in a remarkably well-run and comfortable hotel with a great restaurant, so we ended up being somewhat grateful for N's intestinal mishap.
And we got to see Fianarantsoa a bit, which turned out to be a pretty nice city, with great vistas from the Haute-Ville (upper town).
But just when we thought that N was reasonably recovered, R got the stomach bug too, and we continued our sojourn in Fianarantsoa for another day.
The following morning we were back at the Fianarantsoa central taxi-brousse station. As "veteran" travellers, we skipped the three-quarters-full taxi-brousse to Ambalavao and waited for the next one, to secure the two seats next to the driver. An hour later we were once again on the road, to Ambalavao, as will be detailed in the next chapter.
Accommodations:
- La Petite Bouffe (4 nights; the best under-twenty-dollars-a-night hotel we have ever stayed in)
Photo captions: (a-f) views of Fianarantsoa from the upper town; (g-l) buildings and streets of the upper town; (m-o) a chameleon we almost stepped on; (p-s) scenes from the Fianarantsoa central taxi-brousse station (note the poor miserable goats tied to the roof of the blue minibus)
1.
[Madagascar] Chapter XIV: In which we cross the whole of South-East Africa without ever seeing it
2.
[Madagascar] Chapter XV: In which the machine of banknotes disgorges some millions of ariary
3.
[Madagascar] Chapter XVI: In which R does not seem to misunderstand in the least what is said to him
4.
[Madagascar] Chapter XVII: Showing what happened on the voyage from lemur to lemur
5.
[Madagascar] Chapter XVIII: In which a tummy, a taxi-brousse, and a city go each about its business
6.
[Madagascar] Chapter XIX: In which we take a too great interest in water, and what comes of it
7.
[Madagascar] Chapter XX: In which we come face to face with a cliff face
8.
[Madagascar] Chapter XXI: In which the master of the "Kofifi" runs great risk of gaining ariary
9.
[Madagascar] Chapter XXII: In which we find out that, even here, it is convenient to have some money
10.
[Madagascar] Chapter XXIII: In which our pause becomes outrageously long
11.
Summary of Part II and Onwards to Part III
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