Surroundings of Tana

Day plan: Trip to Ampefy, visit a waterfall along the way, lunch at a restaurant (rice and vegetables), and continue to the largest lake in the country and a sacred peninsula, which is supposedly the volcanic center of the country. Overnight stay in sweet little huts overlooking the rice fields.

Facts of the day: An average person in Tana loses 2 months of their year to traffic. There are Catholic, Protestant, and ancestral beliefs. If a city or village has two towers, it is Catholic; if it has one tower, it is Protestant.

I wake up early as usual and enjoy the early morning. For breakfast, I go to the hostel's lobby and one of the staff members is sleeping on some chairs that were a seating area yesterday. I order a "Swiss" breakfast and I'm curious to see what I get - a delicious muesli with yogurt and fresh pineapple, yum. The two Austrians show up and order the same thing, and Kevin also takes the "Swiss" breakfast... apparently very popular among hostel visitors. After breakfast, we meet Manantsoa and we're ready to go, quickly get into the car and try to get out of the capital without getting stuck in traffic for hours. Manantsoa says that they once calculated in university that people who live outside the city and work in the city lose an average of 2 months of their year to traffic. That's not necessarily little... Well, luckily it only took us half an hour and we were already out of the city. First, a relaxing drive through the landscapes outside of Tana. Through hills and highlands with sometimes very beautiful views. Our first stop will be a waterfall. We stop in a small village and immediately there are potential guides ready to lead us to the waterfall. Most places, parks, and reserves can only be accessed with a local guide. Same here. We start walking with our guide and after a few minutes, we reach the waterfall, which is truly impressive, and we take some photos and let ourselves be enchanted by the amount of water. Then we head back to a small village and have lunch at a small restaurant. A look at the menu shows familiar Malagasy dishes. I ask the waitress in my professional French if there's anything vegetarian... no. Hmm, but the Pizza-4-Fromage doesn't really sound like meat. She can't quite tell me if there's meat on it though. Well, never mind, I'll just give it a try. Kevin orders a burger. After a few minutes, she comes back: there's no steak for the burger. Oh okay, well then Kevin will have a pizza too. In that moment, I see the dish Saussage avec riz est legumés. Ah stop! I just want rice and vegetables, I tell her and cross out the sausages from the menu a thousand times with my fingers. She nods and I think she understood what I wanted. And taadaa: I get a wonderful plate of rice and delicious stir-fried vegetables. The pizza looks good too, but the rice makes me happier. And: The rice costs 6,000 and the pizza costs 27,000 Ariary, a tiny difference. After lunch, we drive to a big lake and a sacred peninsula. We eagerly listen to Manantsoa's stories about the funerals and traditional customs regarding religion and sanctuaries. Fish farming is the main source of income here, along with rice cultivation. Because there is so much water here, people can apparently harvest rice three times a year. Afterwards, we drive to our nearby accommodation. A small hotel with a restaurant and simple huts with a beautiful view over the rice fields. We settle in a bit and I have a coffee on the terrace and read a bit about Malagasy politics. At some point in the early evening, a German family arrives, who are traveling on their own. I chat with them for a bit and they tell me that they are planning a similar route to ours, but in the opposite direction. When they tell me that they want to drive all the way to Ranomafana tomorrow, I tell them a bit about how long it takes and that they should be prepared for a long drive. The host asks about our dinner preferences and I just say that I would like something vegetarian. Dinner was phenomenally delicious. Fresh vegetables and baked potatoes. Kevin gets vegetables and chicken. My meal costs 7,000 Ariary, the chicken costs 25,000. Kevin looks at me with envy: from tomorrow on, I'll eat vegetarian too! After dinner, I chat with the Germans for a bit and give them some tips for Ranomafana, and then I fall tired into bed.