#Antananarivo

Tuesday September 5 – Perinet to ‘Tana

We started the day off with a morning trek in the reserve to spot lemurs,  including the largest lemur,  the indiri, in their natural habitat.   Trekked around the circuit in the park and saw the indiri, golden lemurs,  various chameleons,  a strange bug,  some birds and a boa constrictor lying in the grass outside the visitor centre.   Fortunately, we didn’t spot that until after the trek!   The indiri were amazing and we had a chance to stand below them and listen to them scream their loud call, which almost sounds like a whale!  Managed to get some decent photos before we headed back to the bus.  We returned to the lodge for lunch and I had the zebu wok,  which was really good!  We then got back on the bus for the bumpy and windy ride back to ‘Tana.  On the way we stopped in a local village called Perinet for a short walking tour.   Was a nice experience to check out how the local people live.  We got back on the bus and carried on to ‘Tana.  Got back when it was dark and we had some supper quickly before heading to bed to get some sleep before our early flight to Morondava.  I had the zebu and pork spaghetti,  which was good.   Set my alarm for 3:30 and headed to bed. 

Sunday September 3, 2017 – Antananarivo

Had a good sleep and woke up at 7:00 am feeling pretty well rested. Relaxed a bit as I’m sure there won’t be very much sleeping in on this holiday. As I was finishing getting ready the power went out! Fortunately it was back on after a few minutes so it wasn’t too bad. Headed downstairs for some breakfast of a ham and cheese omelet, a fruit salad, which I will hopefully not regret eating later and some bread and cafe au lait. The restaurant looked nice and overlooked the city, which appears to be quite spread out. After breakfast we sat on the terrace, watching the people on the street below and enjoying the sun. It was a bit hazy but not too many clouds. Started to get warm when the breeze stopped so we decided to head to the shade but started talking to the couple sitting next to us, who were also on our tour. After a bit of a chat it was lunch time so we headed down to the restaurant. Tried the local beer and the gnocci with blue cheese sauce, which was subtle and tasty. After the food our waiter offered us free samples of the local flavour infused rum. I tried the coffee, which smelled of coffee but was pretty strong. Took a sip of the vanilla flavored but it was REALLY strong tasting and I almost gagged. Had another beer and relaxed in the restaurant for a bit before heading to the terrace to work on my blog. Managed to update the first blog relatively easy and it was nice and relaxing on the terrace under the tree. Noticed I was careless with my sunscreen application this morning as I have “roller” marks from the sunscreen stick I bought :(. The sun started going low around 4:45 or so and made for a nice golden glow on the terrace. Made a brief stop in the room and then headed down to dinner after it was dark around 5:30. Noticed the last bit of the sunset as we initially sat down and managed to get a nice picture with my phone. Started with a beer and then ordered the grilled zebu (cowish creature) with green peppercorn sauce and French fries. Saw 8 others from the group in the restaurant that got in this afternoon but haven’t officially met them yet. After dinner headed to the room to update the blog and get ready for bed. Have the official group meeting tomorrow at 8 am before our city tour and trip east. Feeling tired and hope to sleep well today. Was nice to relax before what will likely be a hectic tour!