Sat. Aug 24 - Returning to Tana

David arranged for us to get breakfast at 5:30, and we set off at 6 AM for the three hour drive back to Majunga.    We stopped occasionally to look at ponds and stretch our legs. 

Working the Rice Paddies

As we approached the small city, traffic got busier as a lot of people were going to market on Saturday.  As we had time to pass, Fano took us to a family who makes sand paintings in bottles. 

The young girl of the house demonstrated how this is done by putting colored sand down a narrow bamboo tube into bottle and amazingly creating intricate scenes that don’t shift by packing the sand very tightly.  Quite a unique art!

We finally arrived at the airport around ten.  We sat around until the cafe opened, grabbed a table, and ordered some beer.

  Fano had some pizzas delivered and we munched on that for a while.   We boarded our flight to Tana at 12:30 and took off at one.  We flew right over the delta where we had cruised a few days ago, and then over many miles of open brush and grass lands.

We landed in Tana at 2 PM, got our luggage and climbed into a Au Bois Vert van. It took a while going through traffic jams but we finally slipped through the gate into our quiet hotel grounds.  

We grabbed showers, caught up on email.  Bob and I had Cuba Libres and met the others for  dinner at six.  I had a fine piece of duck breast, and Bob had Zebu (beef) with a banana chocolate cake pudding for dessert.

Tomorrow we are flying to the very northern tip of Madagascar, and taking an early flight...so up at 3:15!   Just as we were organizing our gear, two of the very adorable maids of this hotel arrived at our door with an elaborate breakfast set up: Keurig coffee machine, sweet rolls, yogurt, etc!  We were expecting a packed meal but this is the full deal!

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