Paddington and the Smiths were happy to leave Antananarivo (town or city of a thousand warriors) and head off on the Madagascan venture today (Sunday). There was to be a lot of travelling in a 14 seat Transit mini-bus each day though and this first day saw 5 bum-numbing hours. Fortunately there were plenty of stops for water, sight seeing and seeing what lay behind some of the roadside vegetation! Fortunately all the ladies seemed to cope well with this arrangement and at times in was more preferable to to village conveniences. As with most very poor counties the locals make souvenirs out of anything they can lay their hands on so wood and old tin cans feature heavily in the arts and crafts section along with more traditional ware.
The fruit market was an interesting shopping experience and whilst Mrs Smith made her selection the little bear decides to play 'Where's Paddington' amongst the fruit. This certainly amused the locals but confused a little girl when to whom he was later introduced.
Paddington hides amongst the veg.
A very confused young lady
Antsirabe rickshaw ride
After a quick rickshaw ride around Antsirabe the party headed for the first hotel. Compact and bijou is the best way to describe the room but we were lucky, we had a window!! An early early night was needed after all the excitement since it would be yet another early start in the morning - sleep was optional.
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