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Day 9. Tana - Fort Dauphin
Before dawn we get up for our flight to Fort Dauphin, Madagascar's
southern point. When we arrive at the airport at 6, we see a
lot of heavily armed military and gendarmes. The airport has
been closed down, and nobody seems to know what's going on.
Slowly the news starts to break that last night a banned general
announced a coupe
d'etat, followed by a brief fight near the military base
next to the airport. As a precaution, all air traffic is held
to the ground. This all may sound pretty frightening and threatening,
but in reality one doesn't notice much tension, except that
there are some more militaries present than usual. What is
annoying however is that our flight, and all other flights
as well, are being delayed.
After some time, an announcement sounds that flights are to be proceeded and
we can check in, but the information board shows no sign of our 6:55am flight
to Fort Dauphin. After asking around we find out that our flight has been
cancelled due to a lack of passengers. It has been merged with the 7:30 pm
flight. Hence, we'll go 12 hours later than planned.
We must kill our time so we go back to Tana once more and pay
a visit to King's Palace, 16 kilometers north of Tana, situated
high on a hill. A well known tourist attraction. The old king's
accommodation is exceptionally modest in comparison to the colossal,
boastful european royal palaces.
After the visit we go back, straight through Tana and after
a long day we can finally continue our way to Fort Dauphin.
Unfortunately we lost an entire day. Once we arrive in Fort
Dauphin we are picked up by Jerome, a local guide with whom
we will do some tours the coming days.
We pick Gina's Motel from the guide. Although the bungalows
are spacious and must have been luxurious once, they are stale
and the mattresses required replacement years ago. Mrs Gina
once started this with a lot enthusiasm, but when she died and
her children took over, the place has been pretty run down.
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