• This monolith is a sacred stone in the Malagasy animism faith. It gets front row, the churches, no
    Apparently this is *the* Tamatave photo to takeGuardian of the Seas statuePlay!Statue for Women's EqualitySpiceVanillaNothing quite like raw meat unrefrigerated in the tropicsMarket veggiesRolien and I, touringMural for MiamiFound this awesome folding Camel Trophy MTBShady Banyans

    Tamatave

    1 november 2023, Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    To fill some time, I grabbed a city tour in Tamatave and I'm so glad that I did!

    Tamatave is the 2nd largest city in Madagascar with about 275,000 people. It has a quaint slightly worn around the edges French Colonial feel, pleasantly warm weather, and is the shipping capital of the country.
    It is also 17,709km from Mountain View, CA - where I spent the first few months of my life.
    I've come a long ways, baby!

    The furthest possible distance on earth is about 20,000km: Someday. In the mean time.... Any which way I travel I am "going home" from here, which matches my general state of mind: I am ready to get closer vs further from friends and family.

    Rolien, my guide, did a great job of showing me around fairly quickly so that I could catch my plane. We jumped in/out of a tuk-tuk (Harivoby did a great job of driving us) for a great combo of motorized and pedestrian touring. I love a good tuk-tuk.

    Highlights for me were watching kids play and watching adults play, too. The former were focused on football (soccer) and a hoop and stick, also a group of young women doing a dance routine together.

    The latter were playing a game like bocci, under the speckled shade of old banyan trees.

    We saw some ruins, some dilapidated parks, a very nice alameda, and the partially completed "Miami" project: a huge waterfront project aimed at imitating its moniker with fitness areas, public restrooms, restaurants, basketball, skate park... All to drive tourism. It is a bold move and a major expense that could really change the feel of Tamatave. I hope it works for the city and its inhabitants.

    The tour also included a nice market where I would have liked to pick up some souvenirs, but my backpack overfloweth already.

    The raw-meat-on-the-counter wasn't my favorite, but I did like the fruit/veggie area very much.

    Got to the airport with time to spare. I skipped lunch/dinner, but had some trail mix and... I've been overeating for days so it's probably a good thing.
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