Madagascar
As I will tell you over and over again, I really do prefer flying early in the morning. With flights later in the day I seem to waste an entire day waiting for the time to pass and generally being a bit ratty because I’m not looking forward to the flight. The downside of flying early though is that I have to get up so early and also I spend half the night worrying that I won’t wake up in time. Last night was no different. I slept well until midnight and then clock-watched until 03:30 when it was time to get up. When I switched on the light my little Rose girl looked at me as if I was mental!
Anyway I did get up on time and got to the airport early enough that the check-in counters were only just opening. The flight up to Jo’burg was fine and I discovered that ORI’s Deputy Director was also on the flight on his way to Reunion. He told me that I will enjoy Antananarivo so hopefully he is correct.
Jo’burg was freezing cold and the two hour wait between flights felt endless mainly because the departure hall had a howling gale rushing through it and I just could not get warm. I was walking around or sitting around wishing I had brought some gloves along. Yes I just can’t face the cold!
My flight to Madagascar was with Airlink in an RJ-85. They are cute little planes on the outside but very noisy inside and they pack their passengers in like sardines in a can. We flew straight over Maputo, my destination for the end of September, and I was amused to spot the hotel I will be staying at there. It was nice to fly over Maputo Bay and get a bird’s eye view of Inhaca and Portuguese Islands.
From there the flight went up to Europa Island but I didn’t get to see it as it was on the other side of the plane. As we approached Madagascar we had a bit of turbulence but nothing too bad and I sat back and enjoyed the view of the coastline before we headed inland to Antananarivo.
The approach was also fairly turbulent but we were on the ground quickly so I wasn't too worried. Immigration was interesting. We had to fill in two forms, a health declaration form and the standard entry form but there were not enough entry forms for everyone and the person nearest where the forms should have been was being very rude to everyone who wanted forms. Eventually I found someone else and explained to her that there were no forms and she managed to find some for us. I then had to go through three people to eventually get a visa but I just smiled at all of them and it was no hassle. I am annoyed though that they used a page in the middle of my new passport instead of using one at the beginning J
The hotel transfer people were waiting for me and another guest and we were quickly on our way to the hotel. I’m not sure what I was expecting but rice paddies were definitely not it!
Antananarivo is also a lot bigger than I expected. I had been told by two people that I should visit the Queen’s Palace and so I asked the hotel staff if it was okay and was told that it had burnt 15 years ago and that there is nothing inside at all. I guess those two people were there a long time ago J.
The hotel seems nice. It is very basic really but definitely better than some other places I have stayed at this year. I’m looking forward to having a swim in the heated pool … just have to find it first. There are no directions to anything in the hotel so tomorrow morning I will be asking a lot of questions at reception, starting with “Where do I find breakfast?”
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