Ambohimanga

Camellia captured my enthusiasm this morning in this photo. An enduring expression to be sure.

Plans have changed! We got our first taxi-brousse ticket, set to depart from Tana at 2pm bound for Morondava, arriving there somewhere between 2am and 8am, depending on whether there's a road and we need to get out and push the bus. When we pulled up, our taxi was mobbed by middleman brokers trying to get you to pay them to get you a ticket instead of walking 20 feet to get your own. Our driver was very good about keeping them off of us while we negotiated. This was another one of those things we were prepared for ahead of time.

Once we've arrived at Morondava we'll be less than a day ( 35 minutes by plane, a very bumpy ten hours by 4x4 ) from exploring the vast Tsingy de Bemaraha ( wiki here ), which has me very excited! We'll also get to see the majestic Avenue of the Baobabs, trees that resemble barrelly towers. These famous landmarks, as well as the surrounding nature preserves, should make for quite a photo day or three, or four.

Hopefully we'll have the internet to share the photos we take there, but we may be unable to blog for several days if not. Apologies in advance.

Besides securing our travel today we took a taxi about 21km NE to Ambohimanga (am-boo-ee-mang as read Malagasy ), or "Blue Hill" translated. This hill was the site where royal ceremonies took place during the time of the unified kingdoms during the 18th to 19th centuries. It's such a beautiful, tranquil place with amazing panoramic views of the countryside around Tana. Some of the kings and queens are entombed there as well. The amazing thing about the place is that you can see authentic artifacts and other exhibits, like a 19th century Venitian mirror given to the king by Queen Victoria, without any barrier, guards, or cameras. You just have these beautiful pieces of furniture and exhibits in their original wooden buildings with total tranquility around to appreciate them, and if you're like me, imagine being visiting during the time of the Malagasy kings and queens. Of course, you wouldn't have been allowed there until much later since the hill was off limits to foreigners at that time.

Below are pictures from Ambohimanga. Enjoy!