Day 68 Zibu market and an interesting ride with the taxibus

The second largest Zibu market in Madagascar is in Ambalavoa. The market is every Thursday and you can buy everything from calves to adult bulls. One reason for us, when we are in the city on the right day, is to visit it.

There was a lot going on at the market. There were many visitors standing around the Zibus.

The animals didn't always find the crowds funny and would occasionally attempt to escape.

Back in the village, we prepared for the upcoming trek, which is supposed to start tomorrow. The trek leads to the second highest mountain in Madagascar, the "Pic Boby".

The Pic Boby is located in the Andringitra National Park. To get to this national park, we traveled with a taxibus to the next village and then reached the park entrance and our camp for the night after a short walk.

Our guide organized seats for us in such a taxibus. Traveling in these vehicles is not necessarily very comfortable, but it is very cheap. They do not have exact departure times and stops. They start when there are enough people, and they stop either when a passenger indicates that they would like to get off or when new passengers wave at the side of the road.

This was our taxibus, and guess how many people it can transport.

Exactly, 22 people (21 passengers plus 1 driver). Women were allowed to ride in the driver's cabin as long as there was space, and the rest were accommodated in the back. So I sat in the back with 14 other passengers. As I said, it's not comfortable. You definitely shouldn't have any fear of contact. In addition, we were not on a paved road, but on a dirt road with many potholes.

After the first stop, we had been on the road for less than 10 minutes, I couldn't sit half on the folded tailgate and half on another passenger's knee. There was an opportunity for a standing place. At the back of the car, there was a small footboard on which you could stand and hold on to the roof rack. It was quite a challenge with all the potholes.

With this spot, you had to actively help during the ride. When the vehicle went uphill, we had to push to get the overloaded vehicle up the slope. Then we jumped back onto the vehicle and continued the ride. Only one slope was too much. All passengers were asked to get out and walk up the hill. They were then picked up again at the top.

After about 2 hours, we reached our destination. We shouldered our backpacks and headed towards the park entrance. A sign indicated that the national park starts 250 meters away. It turned out that the entrance was not 250 meters away, but 25 km. So a short walk turned into a 5-hour hike over smaller hills.

As it got dark and after a particularly steep climb, we reached the reception pretty exhausted. After all the formalities were settled, we took a short 20-minute walk to our house where we will spend the night. Pretty exhausted after the unexpected long walk after the taxi ride, we went to bed early.