Day 5 - Antsirabe

Nicola had a bit of a rough night. She thinks it was something she ate but I'm not so sure. The soap I was using in the shower was shaped like madagascar which reminded me of something John told us about the poinsettia. He said it represented his country because if you fold it in half it resembles the shape and it has all the colors, red, green, and white.

The landscape is brown and terraced as we head toward Lake Tritriva. Fabian tells us that in summer, everything is green with rice and maize Trivinia other stuff. We see carts with wooden spokes and metal wrapped around the top of the wheel circa 1850s. It's strange to see the contrast with motor vehicles. Almost no one in this rural area owns shoes. Everyone goes barefoot or has rubber flip flops.

It was a continual climb to Lake Tritriva which we were to learn is created by springs from a dormant volcano. Impossible to exploit for agricultural purposes, the sides are covered with pines and have the appearance of a natural park. We were immediately accosted by local children upon leaving the security of the van. They had rocks and petrified mollusks for sale. They followed us down and part of the distance up before really letting us know what they want. We had to pay 10000 airiaries to each of them for a stone from their basket. That would be 5 from Nicola abs three from me. The problem was that we just didn't need that many rocks and so the drama began. We decided never to purchase from locals on the street again.

That said, one of the younger girls I'm guessing about 10, had very good English as well as being able to speak French and Malagasy. She pointed or a rock where the people make sacrifices and also a place on the cliff where the Norwegians jumped into the lake about 20 meters up. In lit younger days I would have been very tempted.
We made a little walk into the downtown area after our driver dropped up off. The second floor of the café where we enjoyed a large 3 horse bet 2 afforded an excellent of people on the street where we watched lots of pousse pousse guts running by with their passengers. Nicola wondered if they ever had problems with their feet.

A group of 14 french tourists shared the dining room in the hotel with us tonight. Being elderly Nicola thought them a little different from their North American counter parts considering some of the difficult conditions that must be endured in this country.