This morning we said a sad goodbye to the lovely hotel that we had spent the night at. It was so charming and the owner was so nice that we just hated to go. However, staying another night was not an option as we still had places in Madagascar to explore. We first stopped at the Queen’s Palace and were given a tour by a very nice guide who was very patient with all of our questions. The palace was originally all wood and built in 1841 by Queen Ranavalona I. For two hundred years prior to this palace, the site was used by previous kings but the building was fairly crude with hard packed earthen floors. In the 1860’w Queen Ranavalona II encased the wooden palace in stone which lasted until 1995 when a mysterious fired destroy all of the wooden structure and most of the stone structure. It is suspected that the fire was started as part of a political statement but no one has laid claim to starting it. The stone structure has mostly been restored by restoration that was halted a few years ago by the current president who decided that the money needed for restoration could be better used for other purposes given the current state of Madagascar’s economy.

I will post some pictures of what we saw there.

After our palace tour we then piled into the van and headed south down National Road 7. Our goal for today was to reach the city of Anstirabe, where we will be spending the night. Along the way we stopped at an aluminum smelter where the melt is recycled from cans and molded into various objects including pots and pans, servicing dishes, etc. It was interesting to watch, especially given that the men working at the foundry were all barefoot and walking around splatters of molten metal.

We then continue down route 7 past village after village which were mostly built from the red bricks that are so prevalent in this area. The soil is mostly clay and silt with not a lot of trees so the construction material is the clay that dominates this area.

Around 1600, after a long drive down this two lane, windy road we arrived in Anstirabe. It is the third largest city in Madagascar and has a population of just over 280,000 people. We are a bit tired from all of the driving but we face a 10 hour journey tomorrow to reach the Ranomafana National Park, where we will search for more lemurs, rare birds, and other animals.