Our Vacation the End of July

We were gone 9 days-we spent the first day traveling south to Fianarantsoa which is one of the bigger cities in Mada, a regional hub. The trip takes 9-10 hours by bus, not including the time on this end waiting for the bus! I think we left home at 5:30 a.m. and arrived in the city at about 5 p.m. We stayed at a great hotel there which has a wide range of rooms. We stayed in the cheapest withcommunal bathrooms but since there are still few tourists, we didn't really have to share the bathroom!
The food was excellent-chicken (without bones!?) and lots of ymmy fresh veggies! The
next morning we took the train to the coastal town of Manakara. That trip took about 8-9 hours. We spent the night near the city center & the next morning we went by bus to Mananjary (another coastal town, 4 hours by road to the north). There wasn't much to see there though we did enjoy a walk on the beach & a perusal of their markets. The following day we returned to Manakara & spent an extra daythere. Then we took the train back. We had planned to get off before the end of the line because we wanted to visit the tea plantation in a town about an hour from Fianarantsoa. And just before the station our train wrecked! Daniel was standing in the doorway when it happened, to ask the train worker if this was indeed the right stop. So he was one of the first off the train! We had all our stuff together as we were ready to get off anyway and we first made a run for the hotel (which thankfully was within a few minutes' walk) before all the other tourists could get there & book rooms. It was already about 5:30 in the evening so we didn't think our chances of getting transport on to the larger city were so good. Plus, there was fuel leaking from the train so we thought there could be an explosion! Once we had secured a room & gained our bearings a bit, we ran back to see if we could help. There was nothing we could do but watch as the train workers & other passengers & local volunteers helped people out of the wreckage. It was really horrible! The nextmorning we went back to see what was happening. They were still waiting for the train officials to arrive but had already taken the dead & injured to the hospital (also in the larger city, about an hour away) the night before. Some of the passengers were still waiting for the train (the engine & the first few cars were able to complete the journey) to return to pick them up-poor people! After we toured the tea plantation, we caught a bus to the city. The next day we went to another nearby town, Ambalavao, where they make famous Malagasy paper from the leaves of a certain plant that grows only here in Mada. It's in a beautiful valley so we also just enjoyed the view & spent time relaxing. We then returned to Fianarantsoa & explored the old part of the city, visited the market & visited with some of our fellow AIM missionaries who happened to be in town. We finally took the bus back to Tana!! It wasn't a very restful trip as we did a lot of traveling but we were able to see a lot & enjoyed some nice meals. I think my favorite part was the first train ride as we stopped in villages along the way where we could buy snacks & chat with the people. I also enjoyed the market in Manakara as we were able to buy lots of spices because it's on the "spice route." We stayed at a nice hotel there one night right on the coast. There was a beautiful fir tree-lined path along the beach. It was remarkably clean & peaceful.

But it's good to be home! Not for long though...as next week (Aug 4-8) we go to the north of the country with Dudley (our leader from South Africa) and some Nigerian men who are leader in an African mission that AIM partners with. They're coming to see what the opportunities are for sending missionaries to the north of the country & we get to be their guides. we'll be helping to translate as they don't speak Malagasy & helping them find their way around. We're also interested in seeing what opportunities exist there. The one city is particularly Muslim and has a real Arabic influence. We'll only be gone 4 days this time!

Our winter was cold but seems to be warming up now. We were surprised when we were on the coast how cold it was! Not uncomfortable but not hot like you expect when you're at the ocean. We couldn't swim there anyway because of the current & risk of sharks but I had thought it would be much warmer!