The guests in our hotel are a bunch of middle-aged French men that draw up to the breakfast table accompanied by some very young looking Malagasy ladies. An hour later than agreed, Jean Claude arrives to pick us up in his Renault 4 - by far the most popular means of transportation here - and we go on our way to Andapa, a town at the foot of the Marojejy massive.

The ride takes over 2 hours on a very well maintained road. The surroundings are beautiful with high mountains and flowing rivers. But to our disappointment we notice a lot deforestation, which is rapidly destroying the nature in the area.

In the afternoon we arrive in Andapa where we are welcomed by Eric Mathieu; a very friendly Frenchman who lives in Andapa and runs a "used goods" store. But due to the many emails he receives and to the website www.marojejy.com, he is also organizing treks in Marojejy. According to Eric, around 20 tourists per year come to this remote area, which he thinks is enough.

We check in the very proper hotel Beanana and walk through Andapa. It's a very lively and happy town where nearly everyone looks amused to see us. It turns out that the president of Madagascar himself is visiting Andapa today. He's on a campaign tour by helicopter and we can just hear him leave.

On the market, we have a chat with a very friendly stand owner with a tame crow he calls Martin. His colorful cangas are sold to us for less than a euro a piece.

We hike to a small nearby waterfall. We are accompanied by a bunch of kids who observe my camera equipment as if were an alien spacecraft.

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