On July 20, we took the long, long full day drive from the Tsingy Park back to Morondava, reaching Baobab Alley at sunset. This included the convoy (to avoid Road Pirates) and the dodgy maneuvers to get onto and off of ferries (though we approached this time from the shallow-side, so it was a bit more straight-forward). The one piece of excitement was that when we made a brief pit-stop near Kirindy, upon restarting the car, it smoked - a lot - from under the driver's-side dashboard. I asked a few questions, but answers were not forthcoming - I think something in the air-conditioner broke (maybe a coolant leak?). With some clippers and pliers and a screwdriver, the driver had the car running again after less than half-an-hour.
We stuck around sunset at the Baobabs for the better part of an hour, and took a lot of photos.
July 21 was a noon flight from Morondava to Antananarivo (referred to by locals as "Tana"). There was a lot of commotion at the airport (big crowds [mostly kids with signs], local government and military officials, TV cameras), which we were eventually able to figure out. The new Catholic Cardinal of Madagascar arrived on the airplane we were to take back to the capital - a very popular guy. A very large group was there to greet him. After they all departed, we were able to board.
After landing, we got a brief driving tour of "Middle-Tana" (where a number of the government buildings and the wealthier citizens live) and "Upper-Tana" (the top of the hill, where the royalty used to live, and is now occupied by museums and upper-end shops). These two areas look and feel a lot like residential Paris (not too surprising, this was a French colony).
The next morning, we made a visit to the "Lemur Park," where five species of lemurs are free to roam. They are capable of clearing the walls (and sometimes they do), but they tend to stay within the confines because that is where the food is. We did get our final lemur-fix before getting on the airplane to return to the United States.
Two ferries on the way back. Workers resetting the ramps for the next car.
Second ferry - the path to board for the cars.
While riding the ferry, saw this pair of folks taking their zebu up the river to new pasture.
Back to Baobab Alley, about 30 minutes from Morondava.
Since we were leaving the country, we gave away some of our provisions that turned out to not be necessary (like our rain ponchos and extra flip-flops). The ponchos were popular with the locals - though we didn't expect them to be worn this evening.
Baobabs after one year.
Larger baobab, with Jana next to the base. This one is older than one year. Folks were estimating these to be anywhere from 400 to 2000 years old.
Christopher making a postcard.
Approaching sunset.
Sun dipping below the horizon.
A few minutes later, and the clouds began to glow.
Final silhouettesbefore departing.
Back to Antananarivo:
On the flight to Antananarivo (Tana), Christopher had some interesting artwork sketched into his seat-belt buckle.
The porch at lunch after landing at Antananarivo
The Queen's Place at the top of the hill (Upper Tana). It had been burnt down during the revolution, and is now a museum of Royal Artifacts.
Another view in Upper-Tana.
Panorama from the viewpoint at Upper-Tana.
Upper-Tana, looking up at the Queen's Palace
Tana (not upper/middle Tana) looks quite different.
Next day at Lemur Park, before going to the airport.
Panda Lemurs sunbathing
Sifaka (different type, with brown spots) jumping from tree to tree
Sifaka lemur jumping on the ground (which is why Sifakas are sometimes called "the dancing lemur")
Mongoose Lemur
Bamboo Lemur
Endangered Radiated Tortoise, racing
The 'king' lemur (check pose of the one in the lower right). This is the one the king in the movie Madagascar was based on (although, in reality, it should have been the Queen lemur, since this is a matriarchal species). Christopher managed to catch a behavior (at the end of the video) that our guide at the park had never seen before.
After, on the way to the Airport, we found ourselves in the middle of a bicycle race
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