We’re in Madagascar, and I’m in a bit of shock that thus far everything has gone smoothly. Our Air Madagascar flight, which has a historical 50% on-time record, arrived in Antananarivo twenty minutes early, they fed us on the way (fish or duck), although they did somehow manage to squeeze enough seats on a thirty year old 737 that my legs only just fit into the space allotted. When we arrived the customs process went quickly, and there was no charge for our thirty day visa. Our bags were there to meet us, and we exited the arrivals area to immediately find our driver holding a sign with our names on it, smiling, and greeting us in English.
Money exchange was quick and painless, although at an exchange rate of approximately $1 to 2500 Madagascar Ariary, and in a country where credit cards aren’t in wide use, Audrey and I are now both carrying bricks of 10,000 Ariary notes, which feels very wrong when you see people pulling rickshaws filled with paving stones, with piles of firewood balanced on their heads, or in some other way demonstrating how lucky everyone born in America should feel for the many advantages we take for granted.
While I had been concerned that our pre-arranged transportation might not even show up at the airport, it has so far exceeded my highest hopes – our car is in excellent condition, and the driver is a former chauffeur for the American embassy who has also come up with an itinerary for us at the parks, complete with the required park guide. Our one errand for the day was to drive into town to make the necessary pre-payment for a hotel we have scheduled later in the trip, and my French was actually passable enough to deal with that minor adventure. In another shocking development, the Madagascar roads were paved for the entire three hours that it took to get to Andasibe National Park, a drive that was done with an ABBA CD playing, since everyone dreams of someday cruising through the Madagascar countryside while rocking out to “Dancing Queen”.
I’m now writing this post from our insanely nice lodge while watching Xena, La Guerrière on the TV. We’ll be up at six tomorrow morning to find the animals, with a very full day’s worth of activities planned; hopefully, there will be pictures of lemurs in tomorrow’s journal entry. Our luck can’t hold out in a country renowned for its unpredictability, but we’ll definitely accept our good fortune to start this part of the adventure.