Transfer day back to the capital Antananarivo - Tuesday the 29th of May Was a long transfer day back to the capital and unfortunately it was Heather's turn to be ill - so she ended up being sick a few times during the night and was of course not feeling fantastic in the morning either. Therefore in a way it was good that there were no activities today but on the other hand it could also be tough - a long day in the car on rough roads when your stomach is turning.

Yesterday the 3 of us made a bet on when we would arrive in the capital - where I was being optimistic and said 4 PM, Heather said 5.30 PM and Dan said 6 PM. We also agreed that if we were leaving within ½ an hour of the original schedule then our timings would still stand. In that aspect I was the lucky one since we should have left 7.30 AM - but ended up leaving at 7 AM instead - so should be to my advantage really. Based on this breakfast was served at 6.30 AM so were up in time for the sunrise - but must admit it was nothing special and was much more pleased with the full moon pictures from last night.

OK the first part of our journey was lovely with the boat ride back to Manambato - enjoyed that just as much as the first time. Our driver Lolo was waiting for us and we then had the same interesting 7 KM off road driving back to the proper road. Asked Lolo to once more stop at the bank and this time I thought I would try and go inside the bank (which was now open) and exchange some Euros. However when I first entered the bank I had no idea where to queue - so stood the first 5 minutes just looking around. After a while someone noticed the Euros in my hand and showed me to a queue where there were at least 5 people ahead of me, which might not sound bad in western terms. However waited for 10 minutes and nothing had moved at that point - so thought I couldn't waste more time here - since was still aiming to win the bet. Therefore went back to the cash point - but funny enough where I, at the same cash point, could draw around £80 out 2 days ago - it would no longer let me and Heather said she had the same problem and could maximum get £40 out at a time this time around. I am paying a fee every time I take money out so decided that then things had to wait until I found a better cash point since was not completely out of money yet.

We again made a lunch stop at Moramanga - but the driver found us a different place this time - so was nice with a change. Otherwise it was a mountain road with heavy truck traffic most of the time back to the capital - so got slowed down a lot by hanging behind these big trucks which were all struggling up the hills. Hit the outskirts of Antananarivo around 4.15 PM - so I still had a chance to win the bet since the winner would be the person who got closest. Everything also looked good right to the end where we were suddenly not allowed to make a left turn and the traffic basically stopped. That clearly annoyed our driver - so after queuing for a while he decided he was the police - so while all the other cars followed the rules and went right - we broke all of them and turned left in front of the "Left-turn forbidden" sign. He did that all while he was saying "Police, Police, Police……" like a small siren - so did make us laugh. He then also went down a narrow parking lot where lots of people were trying to sell things. Not sure whether he did get too close to one of the sales stalls or whether the person selling these instruments on purpose made sure our driver was going to hit one of the wooden instruments - so he could get the money for it - but the fact was we hit an instrument and the salesman got very upset. Our driver ended up paying him a few quid for it - but Dan immediately paid the driver the amount he spent on this - to ensure he didn't have any loss - since we felt partly responsible for this as well. Anyway with the queuing and the extra traffic drama and despite our driver playing the police - time was running - so we didn't get parked outside our Hotel Sakamanga before 5 PM, which meant Heather came closest and won the bet of a drink from both of the losers - so Dan and I are in debt now.

Back at our hotel from the beginning of the trip and this time we got a proper apartment with a big kitchen and living room downstairs and 2 bedrooms upstairs, which both had bedding - so very nice and spacious for the 3 of us. The only thing that wasn't prepared for 3 was still the mini bar, which only had 2 beers - but didn't need them tonight anyway. The hotel has a very well recommended restaurant 'La Saka' where Heather and Dan had their first dinner last time - but which I hadn't tried yet - so decided to go there for dinner - since Heather and Dan also recommend it. Was a nice meal and treated ourselves to both dessert and rum tonight as well. Otherwise Heather was still not 100% - so she and Dan went to bed early while I spent a few hours catching up on diary and sorting my pictures.

Antananarivo to Miandrivazo - Wednesday the 30th of May Got picked up by our driver at 8 AM and had another long driving day ahead of us but this time going west towards our destination for the day Miandrivazo. It was a very different landscape we came through - beautiful but much dryer and also seemed like people were not quite as poor at least in the beginning of the journey. The people who live in this part of the country are known as the Merina people and things made out of Aluminium is a big thing here - so started seeing one street stall after another with all kind of different things made of Aluminium for sale. You could literally buy anything from toys to cookery stuff. We did a brief stop at a local market in the town of Ambatolampy where we were able to walk around without any hassle and it was just fascinating to watch the local life going on here. Heather also bought her first proper souvenir in one of the Aluminium shops where she found a nice Baobab tree made of - guess what - Aluminium of course :-). I have promised I can take it back for her to the UK - but then I also insisted that she couldn't buy the big one - so she had to settle for a smaller version, which I thought was nicer anyway - so can borrow it until she is back from her year's travelling.

We continued on the road to Antsirabe, where we stopped at the nice restaurant Zandina for a great pizza for Dan and I and Heather had a salad, which turned out to be huge. The restaurant is both known for their pizzas and their huge portions. There was another 4 hours drive to our destination after lunch and we pretty much just went for it - so we could get to the hotel before sunset. At least today the roads were a lot nicer and we didn't meet a lot of trucks - so except for some serious potholes once in a while the route was a lot faster than when we went east. Passed through some interesting small villages on the route as well - where you quite often just get stuck between a big crowd of people since they all seem to have a market on, which means there are stalls and people (and Zebu) everywhere. While people seemed to be richer in the beginning of the day - we could now see that fading again the further west we went.

Arrived at our hotel 'Princesse Tsiribihina', which got really good recommendations in Lonely Planet - so our expectations were high but unfortunately didn't quite live up to that. Don't get me wrong the surroundings of the hotel were nice but it was the smallest triple room we have had so far and both the sink and shower was built inside the bedroom - so had to coordinate that you could get the whole room to yourself when showering. Anyway we were there just in time to get a cold beer in the bar while we were watching a beautiful sunset - so that was really lovely. Heather was still not feeling a 100% - so after dinner she pretty much went to bed and was in bed before 9 PM - so hopefully another good night sleep will sort her out. Dan and I enjoyed a few Gin & Tonics outside our room before Dan also went to sleep and I worked a bit on the diary and the photos.