Madagascar 2017: 6 - Tana to Fort Dauphin

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

After little sleep and no breakfast due to the closed restaurant Anthony arrived with a 12 passenger van, continuing his efforts to find something that will fit my long legs. Check in was again easy at the airport, although security more stringent, this being the main airport of the country. The 1,500 km flight was on a Boeing 737-800, once again in very good condition. We were given 3 seats for Marilynn and I so I had room for my legs.

In Fort Dauphin we were picked up by a hotel bus, which completed a journey from the ridiculous to the sublime! The Talinjoo Hotel was wonderful, located on a high point of land with a view over a large bay with a sandy beach and high mountains in the distance. The greeting was with cold towels and drinks. The room is well equipped, with a large private balcony with table and chairs from which to enjoy the view. Our room is only a few steps from the bar, so cold drinks to go are seconds away. The beds are great and there is a shower.

After rehydrating ourselves with appropriate cold beverages we took a taxi down to the beach below the hotel. This bay is sheltered, so doesn't have the huge waves that attracts surfers to other nearby bays. The water was quite cool, but we swam for a long while anyhow, then climbed the hill to the hotel for a rest and a great dinner.

We are located on the extreme southern tip of Madagascar – the next land due south of here is Antarctica. It was originally settled by the Portuguese in 1504 – the remains of their fort is the oldest European building in the country, however they later left. It was settled by the French East India Company in 1642. The original inhabitants came from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia before recorded history – the first Africans arrived about 500 years ago.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Breakfast was a low point, mostly bread products. A driver took us to an animal reserve where a local guide walked us through the trails where we saw brown lemurs, several families of white lemurs, chameleons, lizards and various other creatures. Marilynn put on a bit of a performance when a snake crossed our path, but there are no poisonous snakes on the island.

At one point we came upon a couple of guys in a flat bottomed boat, so we hired them to take us along a slow moving, narrow river through the reserve for about an hour, where we saw more wildlife, including families of white lemurs. A delicious lunch was served on the balcony of the reserve lodge, and they even had beer.

We drove through quite a large village going and coming, with houses made of thin sticks attached together. Like all villages we have seen the village was very clean. The entire dirt area is swept daily, clearing away everything including fallen leaves. There is obviously community pride.

On the way back to the hotel we walked through a large market, so by the time we arrived back at the hotel my knees were ready for a rest. Marilynn went for a massage, but it turned out the massage area was far down the hill, down a hundred or so steps, so when she got back she was exhausted. That lets massage out for me!

Thursday, November 2, 2017

We chose to make this a historical day, and headed by taxi to Fort Flacourt, built on a hill beside the sea overlooking the city in 1642 and expanded in 1742. It is one of two remaining forts – the other is the Portuguese one about 10 km west, but difficult to get to as it is on an island. No one seems to know why the city is called Fort Dauphin, as there is no fort by that name.

Fort Flacourt is still a military base, but a wonderful lady guide who spoke some English walked us through – we were the only tourists there. The structure was historic, and the carefully laid out museum had a lot of exhibits with both French and English explanations The museum also has a history of Reunion Island, then called Bourbon Island, where French settlers imported 80,000 slaves.

A big lunch was at a restaurant facing the beach where we swam yesterday, featuring local lobster, Anthony went swimming a couple of times, but Marilynn and I opted out as the weather was quite cool. This is the coolest coastal part of Madagascar. The meal was great, accompanied by a lot of beer and wine Marilynn and I took a taxi up the hill to the hotel afterwards, and had a long siesta.

Anthony was in the restaurant trying desperately to solve a problem preventing his wife and son from boarding a plane to join him in Tana tomorrow. Marilynn and I had a drink and ordered some food, but after it didn't come for a long time I gave up and went back to the room to do some writing.

Tomorrow we will fly back to Antananarivo (Tana).