After a very long series of flights we arrived at Antananarivo, Madagascar with our luggage and smiles actually on our faces. At the moment I'm pretty jet lagged so it's a challenge to come up with first impressions, but I can say that we were surprised at how poor much of the capital city is. We are staying in the Radama hotel, and, it thankfully has plenty of comforts so we can acclimate to the 10 hour time shift for a few days before heading off to somewhere more enticing, and hopefully full of interesting flora and fauna to send pictures of.

Incidentally, it's their independence day here and the mood is increasingly celebratory as the night comes, as seen from our little room on the hill.