June 3-4-5 - Morondava back to Antsirabe

After a day of rest in Morondava, it was back on the bikes for two very hot 130+ km riding days back to Miandrivazo (where we started the river cruise). Then, rather than backtrack on the same road as we had previously been on with the bikes, we had a bus transfer today back to Antsirabe. Tomorrow will be the first of three successive riding days to get us up to Antananarivo (Tana), the nation's capital.

The ride out of Morondava saw us in pretty sparsely settled areas. We continue to be impressed at the industriousness of the people - they are up early, going everywhere on foot, several kilometers to nearest villages or to school or to the fields they're working. We always get kids waving at us, and a 'salama' said to people by the road always gets a cheerful response.

So here is a bit of the two riding days...

washing on the riverbank - this lady is wearing a paste made by mixing ground-up
bark from one of the trees with water and using it both as sun protection and to
beautify the skin

no more baobabs - trees are now palms

overnight campsite

people walk everywhere frequently carrying loads on their heads

laundry is left to dry on the dry riverbeds or on bushes nearby

 

with temperatures around 40 degrees on the second day, Ursula rode the lunch
truck in from about 30 km out. Someone had well-intentionedly put this tiny puppy
on the bus fearing it wouldn't survive if left at the lunch stop - Ursula used her helmet
 to make the ride a bit more comfortable for it. They found someone to look after it at the
hotel that night - good thing, because there is no way that a group that is moving
around on bicycles can look after  puppy

 

Lunch on the bus shuttle to Antsirabe was at a school where one of our drivers was
educated - they did it very nicely and he must have been proud of his home
area - it really is a bit off the normal beaten track.