27. Beitrag - Ifaty

Ifaty Day 1 - Sunday

After breakfast we wanted to look directly at the sea, as it was only a two-minute walk from our bungalow.

However, I was quite disappointed, because unfortunately neither the beach nor the water were particularly clean, nor was it possible to relax: as soon as you set foot on the sand, you were surrounded by children, sellers or supposed guides, all of whom wanted to sell you something could not be shaken off. So after about 30 minutes I switched from sea to pool.

After sleeping and tanning and swimming there for a long time, I quickly freshened up for the day's activity: visiting the forêt de baobab . So at 3:30 p.m. we got into a carriage with two zébu and drove about 30 minutes to the baobabs.

On the one hand, it was a cool experience and I really enjoyed it, but on the other hand, I felt very sorry for the animals and, of course, we were laughed at by all the locals. It couldn't be more touristy.

When we arrived at our destination, we took a guided tour for about an hour through the forest full of baobabs and medicinal plants, which was really incredibly interesting. Our guide's father was a village healer, which is why he was really able to show and explain a lot to us.

We then took the carriage back to the village, where we looked at a market and even bought some fruit. The prices for the locals (our guide bought for us) are incredibly cheap in some cases: 4 mangos for the equivalent of around 5ct etc.

We then took a short walk through the village, which was quite exciting as we hadn't really done anything like that before. We walked past our guide's house and he introduced us to his wife and his property. I would love to see Michel's house and get to know his wife and children!

We arrived back at the hotel just in time for sunset, sat on the beach and enjoyed the fabulous view. So the day ended in a relaxed way with card games and dinner.

Ifaty Day 2 - Monday

Today we had to get out of bed a little earlier: At 7:45 a.m. we took an old boat (" Pirogue à voile ") out to sea to snorkel. Just driving the boat was a lot of fun and it was exciting to see what a non-industrially manufactured sail (boat) could look like.

A few kilometers from our hotel, the other three were busy snorkeling while I chilled out in the water on the boat and sunbathed. Of course, I also tried snorkeling, but I quickly realized that my fear of water didn't allow me to do it stress-free. And who wants stress on vacation? I still really enjoyed the whole thing and was actually pretty happy that I was able to swim and relax in the open sea.

After about an hour we drove on to another beach, where we docked and rested. Meanwhile, our guide prepared two fresh fish as well as chicken and vegetables for us. Sooo delicious!

Afterwards we played cards again (Dad, I'm bringing a lot of new card games with me from my time here!) and then the sail was set again towards the hotel. You may be starting to see a trend, because once again we drank a cocktail and then chilled out by the pool.

For dinner we decided to try a different restaurant than the hotel's own, which brought a little variety to our currently somewhat pensioner-style vacation (just saying that is renter-style again, oh dear) :D

The day ended again with a cocktail. The cocktail counter since I've been in Ifaty has been at five. In three days. But not pensioner style.

Ifaty Day 3 - Tuesday

Unfortunately, since it's incredibly hot in our bungalow and I haven't slept much the last few nights, I decided to spend the night outside. Right in front of our door we have a kind of terrace with benches on which I made myself comfortable. I think the hotel staff found the whole thing a bit strange, but I was finally able to sleep - even if comfort is still something else :D

Anyway, today was a day of lazing around: After a late breakfast, we lounged by the sea for a few hours. By applying about half a liter of sunscreen per 10cm of skin every 20 minutes, I even managed to look like just a very pale cancer.

Afterwards we looked for a small restaurant on the beach and had a leisurely lunch there before changing locations - to the pool. That's what I call an adventure vacation in wild Africa!

In fact, there was at least one more thing on today's diary: a trip on the pirogue for the sunset. We actually thought about going by boat to look at flamingos, but that was a bit too expensive for us and we decided to do that instead. And there was actually going to be a bit of adventure on our retirement holiday: We were relaxing and going out to sea and enjoying the view when we suddenly heard strange noises from the boat, as if it was breaking apart. But our companions stayed cool and let us admire the sunset.

When this was over, however, there was no longer any delay. The sail was reset and we immediately headed towards the beach. Once we were safe, our guide showed us the problem: While we were out at sea, one of the wooden masts started to break. Not that safe, but hey: a cocktail to get you excited! ;)

While we drank it we also ate dinner and played cards, then we went to bed. The last night in Ifaty !

Ifaty Day 4 - Wednesday

After another night on the hard wooden bench, we drove towards Tulear at 10:15 a.m. There we exchanged money again and did some shopping in the supermarket and then waited at the airport for check-in to begin. That also took some time, in total we waited about an hour for check-in and then another 1.5 hours for boarding. However, we met other Germans with whom we had a good chat. In general, the airport was more of a tourist collection point, it was super tiny and somehow totally bizarre.

What really hurt my heart was that we still had too many water bottles left and somehow we weren't allowed to give them to the employees at the airport, but had to throw them away... Clean drinking water simply in the garbage can, while people were dying of thirst not far away.

Instead of 3 p.m., the plane left at 2:45 p.m. Who would have thought that an airport in the second poorest country in the world would work better than Deutsche Bahn. :D

When we arrived back at the airport in Antananarivo , we were picked up by a driver that Michel had sent. We were originally supposed to sleep in the same hotel as the first night, but we changed our minds and preferred to be in the middle of Tana, because that is the capital after all. So we drove about two hours to the city center and checked into the hotel.

What I noticed on the car ride:

1. What I had classified as poverty on my first day in Madagascar suddenly seemed luxurious to me. On the trip I saw so much worse living conditions that my perspective was completely changed.
2. Antananarivo is a real city. Because we were very out of town on the first day, Tana seemed very small to me. But now that we were right in the center, I realized: This is everything, but not a small town. Impressive!

We then had dinner and went to sleep. We would see Michel again tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. :)