Tamatave

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.Read more