Pangalanes part 2
Trip Start
Jul 11, 2009
1
8
11
Trip End
Jul 26, 2009
Toamasina (Tamatave), Madagascar
Friday, July 17, 2009
It was about 3 hours on the canal then I was due to fly up the coast to Ile Sainte Marie for my second week and whale watching. As we neared Tamatave Claude received a call to say the flight had been cancelled - not enough passengers - and I would be flown back to Antananarivo, stay overnight there, then transferred to Ile Ste Marie tomorrow.
On the outskirts of Tamatave we were met on the canalbank by a local taxi who took us into town to check out options re flights/transfers. Tamatave is the second biggest town and Madagascar's main port. Its a curious meeting of 1st and 3rd world - huge petroleum storage tanks alongside the roads populated by bullock carts - but its struggling (still not a lot of tarmac!).
Recent political unrest was evidenced by the burnt out town hall. When the president was overthrown, all the local mayors were too - democracy rules! (not). In July there was no sense of danger - just a lot of confusion and people having to make it up as they go along - like the impact of no tourists is closing hotels, and flight cancellations.
