On the way to Ambositra

Today, we try to exchange our travellercheques - 100 euro coupons that are nowhere to be accepted. Every bank has its own rules. One bank requires the official list with coupon numbers while the other one does exchange hundreds, but not more than one per day, per person. In the end, Banc of Africa can change everything, but it will take the whole day. It sort of messes up our schedule, but it gives us the opportunity to take our time and explore Antsirabe. It's a pleasant town. We walk along the volcanic lake Andraikiba, eat croissants at the boulangerie and send emails and postcards to the home front. The inhabitants have an asian appearance and the climate is pleasant. But we see a lot of beggars too.

Rija says goodbye today. We write him a letter of recommendation that goes into the same folder we saw upon arrival. We will continue the trip with Dyna, the amicable driver. Together we decide to go to Ambositra (pronunciation: Am-bush-tr), a two hour drive from here. From there we will leave early in the morning to visit Parque National de Ranomafana, one of the last remaining rainforests.

Dough!

But first we have to get back to the bank. We find out it's closed from 12 to 2, which logically explains why it all takes so long. There's a big mob waiting outside and as soon as the gate opens, all of them try to rush in at the same time. Waiting in line orderly, apparently, is something unknown. So is privacy, because the bank contains one long desk where people are looking in curiosity to the huge piles of bills changing owners. When it's our turn, people are standing on the top of their toes to see how much money we're getting. We quickly put all the bills in a bag and hurry outside. When the bag lies on the backseat of the car, stuffed with piles of bills, it looks like we just robbed the bank.

We quickly get ourselves a baguette with a piece of local cheese (which is remarkably good) and hit the road. The landscape is pretty with picturesque villages build on sloping hills. This is clearly a richer area of orderly buildings. Every village houses two churches, one protestant and one catholic. Nature too is completely different; we see conifer forests with rivers and waterfalls with lush banks full of purple, yellow and white flowers. Huge rocks lie everywhere and in the many villages people wear colorful clothes and baskets on their heads. It's a mixture of all kind.

By sunset we reach Ambositra, a town with narrow, crowded streets with wooden and brick red buildings. In a more quiet part of town we find a spacious bungalow decorated with carved wood, golden taps and a fancy wooden floor, all this for a price of 12 euros a night.

In the evening, as we walk back from the restaurant, we see an owl. The bird observes us attentively -with one eye- and changes place as soon as we come too close. The owl begins to realize that we intend no harm cause in the end it lets us approach closely, allowing us to take some nice pictures.

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