23. Beitrag - Antsirabé

After the third day in Madagascar I'll be in touch again, albeit with a delay due to the lack of internet.

On Friday we met our guide Michel for breakfast. Not only was the breakfast pretty tasty, but fortunately our guide was also incredibly nice.

He has been doing the job for about 20 years and really knows a lot about the country. He is also very open-minded, honest and flexible, which allows us to really design the trip exactly how we want (within reason of course).

At around 9 a.m. we said goodbye to the hotel room and got into the car to get to the next stage. I wasn't feeling well, I was struggling with nausea. I can't say exactly what caused it, possibly a side effect of the malaria medication or perhaps the air being polluted by exhaust fumes from cars etc.

In any case, we wobbled along a road that wasn't particularly paved and I had the feeling that I had looked too deeply into the glass yesterday. (Note to anyone concerned: I didn't drink anything apart from a rum!)
The first stop was at a gas station where we met a man we didn't know to exchange a total of €600 for Ariary - a bit strange, but successful.

During the next 6 hours by car (ufff) we learned an incredible amount about Madagascar and its culture, Michel likes to talk a lot. But mainly about interesting things, so tant mieux 😊

In addition to a few scenic stops, we took a lunch break in the restaurant for lunch (a burger for around €2!) and also visited an “aluminium factory”. In quotation marks, because the word factory definitely gives the wrong impression. It was simply a kind of backyard where the aluminum was melted and then poured into pots. Completely without protective clothing etc. The air was full of smoke, dust and ash, and small children were playing right next door. That was really impressive, especially when I realized that I have exactly the same pot in my shared apartment on La Réunion ...

We arrived at the next hotel around 6 p.m. and went straight to dinner in a Malgast-Chinese restaurant, where various guests were singing traditional songs the whole time. That was a very nice ending. And then off to the Heia.

The next day at 7:15 a.m. we sat down at a really well-laid breakfast table - eggs, baguette, yoghurt, fruit, juice, crepes, pain also chocolate, coffee...

Fully full, we got back in the car, but Michel first met two sweet friends in the hotel's beautiful garden:

Our first stop of the day was in a stone studio, where we learned a lot about the (semi-)precious stones of Madagascar and were even given five stones as a gift.

Afterwards we went to a candy factory where a really sweet old lady showed us how candy used to be made and how it is done today (by hand). Of course we also got to try the candies and they were delicious!

Afterwards we went to Lac Tritriva to stretch our legs. To get there, however, we had to leave the national route, which was another adventure. The path was not paved and full of potholes, we were more than shaken up and to be honest I was glad that I hadn't eaten anything before :D Nevertheless, the ride was worth it because the lake was really beautiful and we swam in it too.

After a walking tour around the lake, we continued to the next lake: Lac Andra Ikiba . Our guide rested there a bit while we walked around a lake again :D But it was really nice and pleasant to not just sit in the car.

Unfortunately, it started to rain quite heavily, so we drove on quickly (finally on asphalt again!!). Our penultimate stop of the day was a Atelier artisanale , i.e. a handicraft workshop. First we had a small demonstration of how to make a spoon out of horn and then a demonstration of how to make a miniature one out of a variety of materials (e.g. a can and an infusion tube). Can make a bicycle. I found that really impressive!

After a short stop in a chocolate shop (Madagascar is probably very well known for its chocolate) we finally went out to eat something - breakfast was at least a good 9 hours behind us. Since the restaurant was in the immediate vicinity of the hotel, we had the “fun” of using a cyclo-pousse for the way back – i.e. a tuk-tuk.

When we got back to the hotel, we freshened up and played another round of cards - a full day with an incredible amount of impressions comes to an end.

As a conclusion to the last two days here, in Antsirabe , I can say that I have mixed feelings. The landscape is beautiful, the people here are nice, I learn a lot of new and interesting things and I'm in great company, but the living conditions still bother me a bit. Everywhere you see poverty, small children begging and simply a reality of life that is completely foreign to me. I pay money to watch people risk their health to survive. Simply because I find it interesting and am privileged enough to do it. That's pretty awesome.