It was back to Hell-Ville by taxi, only 2 stops this time to pay baksheesh to the police...note the casual appearance of them both. I had the camera on my shoulder in the back of the car.
The crossing was only 30 minutes for us by speedboat, no doubt this was a cheaper option.
The ports are always busy places, with plenty of eating options while you wait. This is the breakfast option.
We had a very helpful Mr Bora as our driver and soon we were out of the chaos of the port and on the road. Initially it was a reasonable sealed road passing through cocoa, coffee, and banana plantations.
There isn't much traffic outside the cities but there are lots of people walking by the road. The main mode of transport for locals is the taxi brousse, or bush taxi, many loaded the height of the vehicle again with goods and literally stuffed full of people.
We passed through only one large village. There was a market in progress and the ice cream seller was quite popular, no we didn't try his wares..
We passed through a cashew growing area and couldn't resist the roadside sellers at $0.80 a tin (about 250 gm)
The roadside scenery varied a lot but it was typically dry grassland...
...burned in places to stimulate growth for the cattle when the rainy season came, and small very poor villages. The rivers and occasional rice fields were the only relief from the harshness, and even the rivers were running very low.
After about 4 hours of travel we had covered the 150 km or so to Ankarana for our overnight stay at Relais de Ankarana...
But first it was lunch at Chez Laurent restaurant, the name outclassing the place, but we were able to try for the first time the staple of zebu brochettes and rice.
Then we were off for our walk in the park.
Ankarana NP is renowned for its limestone tsingy (spikes) and bats caves, plus dry tropical forest vegetation. There are also lemur and ring tailed mongoose to see if you are lucky.
The tsingy are quite spectacular, formed by acidic rotting humus eating down into the limestone, a raised ocean floor. At times it is a little like walking on a glacier.
Strange plants have evolved to live in this environment. Like euphorbia...
....and pachypodium....
....and bottle vines...
We had some nice views over the park as well.
Then it was off to the bat cave..
...with lots of bats...and guano...
..and side plate sized tarantulas - or so we were told
Alas no lemurs or mongeese, but when we got back to the bar/cafe over the road from the park entrance a group of crowned lemur came through.. In gum trees widely planted for transformation into charcoal...the main cooking fuel in the countryside.
...next to the "beer garden"
The local kids were more interested in our cameras than the wildlife
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