Sunday, August 3

Today we left Vehini Lodge and drove to Fianarantsoa (Fianar for short), but this time we stayed in a new hotel, not the rooster hotel. We were glad to leave the dogs behind, as they tended to freak us out. By now we were dosing our Dramamine better, and nobody got sick today. We arrived in Fianar in time for lunch, and had pizza at an outdoor restaurant next to a bocce ball court. We stayed at the Zomatel Hotel in Fianar where we drank beer and played cribbage…again. That night for dinner we ate at the restaurant in the hotel which provided a talented piano player. The hotel had a nice interior, lots of mirrors, good profiteroles. Gabe did not stay with us at the hotel, but in his apartment just a few blocks away. That night he caught a mouse and considered drowning it in a bucket of water, but once he saw the mouse trying to swim he had a change of heart and pulled the mouse to safety. He left the mouse under a colander with some water to drink and some bread to eat, and he figured if the mouse survived Gabe’s absence over the next week that he would become Gabe’s pet. (When Gabe returned later, the mouse had moved out).

Monday, August 4

Outside in the streets there was a woman who likely had schizophrenia, yelling loudly and angrily, but not being made a big deal by the passersby. We had breakfast at the hotel, good omelets. After we packed, we went to the Peace Corps Meva to drop off Gabe’s suitcases, and we hit the road. Beautiful scenery today. Stopped for lunch (pizza) in Antsirabe. Begging children. Outdoor bathroom. At one point we drove by the presidential palace, but it was off in the distance.

When we got to Tana, we gassed up but we didn’t have enough money to pay for the gas and had to borrow some from Ellie. Just a bit embarrassing. After we got gas we went immediately to the bank. This was our last night in Madagascar, and we stayed at the Hotel de Louvre, which was very nice and had a great view of the layers of hills into which the city is nestled. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and at night we watched CNN in English. Peggy broke her front tooth.

Tuesday, August 5

On this our last day we started with the breakfast buffet at the hotel. After we ate we figured up all the money we had spent. We left our bags at the hotel and took a taxi to the Peace Corps Meva where Gabe dropped off his stuff. We walked to the Peace Corps office which was several blocks away along a route that had many beautiful flowers (among them Bougainvillea), along with several Zebu being walked by their owners. At the Peace Corps office Gabe saw a lot of friends, bought Peace Corps shirt, and used their ATM machine.

We took an interesting taxi ride to the American Cookie Shop where we ate sandwiches and sat next to a group of Mormon missionaries (Gabe said admiringly that they are the only other outside group that learns Malagasy). We walked through the marketplace and bought several trinkets. This particular market had hundreds of little shops, much like a flea market here in America, wooden floors, all connected with narrow walkways. For sale were everything from very inexpensive trinkets and souvenirs to very expensive rugs and clothing.

We spent some time at the Hotel de France where we drank big beers and Gabe called the travel agent that he had met on the second day of our trip. After dinner we took a taxi to the hotel so we could pick up our bags. It seemed like there were beggars on every corner, and they often approached the taxi and knocked on the windows. From the hotel we headed off to the airport for the flight home

Wednesday, August 6

We left Tana very late on Tuesday, actually right around midnight, and flew into Paris. This time we had enough time between flights to get between gates without causing an international incident. Then Paris to Detroit. Then wait. Then Detroit to Kansas City, very late, drive home, very tired. The trip home seemed like forever, lots of sitting, lots of trying to sleep, but not so much actual sleeping. The magic headphones could only help so much.

It was the most difficult trip we’ll ever love.