Week 34 - Reunion and Madagascar
I finally started enjoying Reunion just two days before leaving. It's officially fall here in the Southern hemisphere and it's been cooler, breezier, and less humid. I feel like I do when fall comes to Ohio — so much lighter! Sunday, some kids just our kids' ages were visiting the bungalow next door and the boys got to play with them in the pool. That was really fun. I chatted with their mom and grandma, their English was marginally better than our French, which isn't saying much. At first the kids didn't know what to do, but I suggested the ball because that doesn't require words. That broke the ice and next thing I knew they were swimming around pretending to be water cats meowing at each other. Then S wanted to be a "dog with gadgets," I came up with "chien" which their mom confirmed was right but no one could translate "gadget." His acting skills did the trick. They all swam together for several hours and had a great time.
Monday was PCR test day. We took a bus ride to St. Gilles where there is a lab. S really hates nose swabs but he was able to stay calm enough to request a mouth swab and the technician obliged. That was really good progress for him. It was a short walk from the lab to the aquarium, so that was a fun stop.
We had lunch at an Italian restaurant. It's mother's day in many countries and there was a beach store near the restaurant, so I got myself a mother's day present. My very own mask and snorkel. I don't care much about the flippers, I actually swim better without them, but I love being able to see the sea life and not having to miss anything while breathing. I'm sure I'll use them a lot. The rest of the day was spent packing, filling out entry forms and confirming ground transportation.
Tuesday was a travel day. It was a fairly good one as travel days go. I got up early and took one more walk to the bakery for breakfast and snack bag treats. We didn't have to leave until 12:00 so we had plenty of time to finish packing and cleaning. It's pretty easy to clean a house once everything is packed up. I'm going to miss the built-in reset every few weeks when we get back. The one hitch was that 12:00 came and went and no taxi. We tried calling at 12:15, got through by 12:30 and found out that the time they had us down for was 3:00. They sent someone right away and we were on the road by 1:00. He made good time and we always build in leeway so it worked out fine, but it was a little stressful for a while. The airport procedures were pretty smooth and we had time at the gate for a late lunch. J was surprised because at check in he was given a pass to the VIP lounge. We didn't go there; we didn't have a lot of time so we just waited at the gate, but we wondered why we got the pass. Once we boarded, it was clear we were in first class. We have no idea how or why this happened. We don't think we paid for it, but we didn't see any reason to complain. It was a very comfortable flight. I didn't think there would be meal service since it was late for lunch and early for dinner, but I was served a delicious vegetarian meal and the J and the kids got tasty Reunion-style cuisine. I never understood why people pay for first class and I'm sure not going to make a habit of it, but it was a very relaxing flight. The arrival procedure in Antananarivo was quite well organized as well, though S did have to get a nose swab that time. We then had to quarantine at our hotel until the results of our arrival PCR tests came back.
We started Wednesday with a very interesting breakfast discussion brought on by C's question, "Which is poorer, Madagascar or Lebanon?" It's not an easy answer. Objectively, based on internet figures like GDP per Capita and percent of people below the poverty line, Madagascar is much poorer. However, based on what we've seen so far, Lebanon is more desperate — more beggars, more dumpster divers, more people in rags. We talked a lot about the history and Lebanon's previous glory, and how colonialism and corruption have affected both countries. That was pretty much our day. We did school work work and ate room service until the hotel got our test results and cleared us to leave the room. Then J and I walked down to the desk to arrange breakfast and transportation for Thursday.
We knew Thursday was going to be a rough day so we prepared as much as we could the night before. We were planning to get up at six, but the people in the room above us left at 3:30 and all the suitcases being moved out woke us up. Then at 4:00 the receptionist knocked on the door to see why we weren't in the restaurant for breakfast. We had pre-ordered it for 7:00, but she has the numbers confused. We then realized we better make sure she didn't call the taxi for 4:30 instead of 7:30, so J went down to check. By then everyone was wide awake and just finally managed to drift off for a few minutes before the alarm rang. We got dressed, packed the last few things, got our breakfast, and were actually ready when the taxi came a little early. J and I had an appointment at the American embassy at 8:00 to renew passports. Getting into the building through all the security took about half an hour, then we had to fill out forms and all that. The pictures we had done in Reunion were the wrong size so we had to get more done, but by then the traffic was terrible and that ride ended up being over an hour in a really hot taxi. We then had to drop the pictures back at the embassy, go back to the hotel for our baggage, and take the hotel shuttle to the airport. It was all pretty stressful, but we made it just in time. We had no time for lunch other than the snacks I packed which we ate on the plane. S and I did his school work and then he did screen time while I caught a quick nap. By then we were in Taolagnaro. Our host/guide met us and won over S, who usually takes some time to open to strangers, in two minutes flat. He had arranged for a taxi to take the luggage and we rode with him in a red convertible enjoying the sea breeze as he pointed out sights. He's Malagasy and his wife is American, and they run a tour service, lodging, and restaurant. We have a really comfy three-bedroom apartment and so far not too many mosquitoes. The kids are pretty delighted. C found a bookshelf with lots of books he likes, there are two big dogs, a couple cats, one of whom has adopted us, and two lemurs. The lemurs aren't pets. They're wild, but they were injured and these folks helped them and they stayed around. S is the kid who's been wanting to come to Madagascar for long before we ever started traveling, and mainly because he wanted to see lemurs. However, having been traumatized by the Gibraltar macaques, he's not sure at all about having lemurs around his house. After I went for groceries and everyone had showered, J went to the restaurant to get a beer and some dinner for himself and me, I was making pasta for the kids because that's all they wanted, and the boys were outside playing on basketball court when I heard screaming. I rushed out expecting to see blood and broken bones and instead found S perched on a concrete block terrified of a little lemur. Apparently she had wanted to join the basketball game. C said she kept following whoever had the ball. Anyway, I finally got him calmed down. We ate supper and went outside to look at the stars. You can see amazing stars here. At first S wouldn't go because of the lemurs, but eventually J got him to. I'm sure he'll get used to them in time.
Friday was spent unpacking and getting organized.
This is the view from our bedroom window.
This is what I see when I do dishes at the kitchen sink. The owners have two kids about S's age and they seem to have hit it off. I let them have a game day for school, monopoly for math and Scrabble for language. Science was identifying the different types of lemurs who walked into our house. In addition to the two ring-tails from last night —
—we met what we think is a southern bamboo lemur. S was less scared of them by now.
Later I went on a walk to find more groceries. I did get lost, as usual, but it's tricky because the town is on a peninsula so there's ocean on three sides. The mountain to the north is a good landmark though. Google maps wasn't doing a great job either, but I did find the vegetable market, and then found my way back to the little grocery I went to Thursday. In the meantime, it was fun seeing the different shops and neighborhoods.
Saturday, the American half of our hosts took me to the bigger market where one can get pretty much everything — fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, etc. — and then after that to a meat shop. I got all stocked up with everything we need for the next few days. I love markets everywhere. This was a good one, and having someone to help me navigate it in Malagasy was wonderful. All four kids, or sometimes just the three younger ones, continue to play happily together, and I haven't heard anyone complain of being bored since we got here. We do have some exciting tours planned that I know the kids will love, and there are several beaches we can check out, but for now they're so happy with their new friends. They haven't had friends to play with in so long that I don't really have the heart to pull them away.