Sep 28 – Drive to Ifaty

Today was a driving day.  More beautiful scenery...

and more small villages.

We also drove through the remnants of a spiny forest. 

There were a number of baobab trees in the forest. 

And, of course, there were more of the local buses traveling the roads. 

The crowds in some of the towns we passed through. 

One interesting difference on todays drive...we drove through a town that was the center of Madagascar's sapphire mining area.  We didn't stop or Mary would have bought more gems. 

Just outside the town we saw many people in the river.  They were washing the mining debris off of the sapphires.  Sapphire mining is the biggest industry in the area. 

We also encountered a moonshine operation...operating in the open right beside the road. 

Outside of one village we saw a number of the tombs traditional for the people in this part of the country.  The tombs are walled with the coffin in the center and then the area around it filled with rocks. 

One gentleman had a dream of sailing on a boat.  So his tomb was shaped like a boat.  

Parts of the road were much better today…but other parts were very, very bad.  We are both tired of Madagascar Massages, as these bumpy roads are called. 

Another stop was beside some dinosaur bones.  They were just laying around beside the road.  There are areas in Madagascar that have a lot of dinosaur bones.

We had ordered packed lunches from the restaurant at our hotel this morning as there is no place to eat along the long route.  We stopped for lunch beside the road under a shade tree.  Mary didn’t finish her very large sandwich and it was offered to a young girl and her mother who seemed to appreciate the food. 

One bathroom break was at a gas station, but the rest were all bush bathrooms.  They get tiring after a while. 

We eventually arrived in the town of Tulear on the southwest coast of Madagascar.  Lots of traffic, mainly rickshaws and tuk-tuks.  

A large pandanus beside the road.

At the end of the drive, we said goodbye to Andry and Jocelyn.  They will be driving back while we will stay in Ifaty for a day before flying back to Tana. 

We are staying a a lovely resort right on the beach.  We joined at dinner by this hotel pet.

A lovely sunset at the resort.