Day 15. Tana - Maroantsetra
Our flight to Maroantsetra, early in the morning, departs on time,
and at 9 we set foot in Maroantsetra. We are driven to Relais Du
Masoala, the hotel with the spacious bungalows and a view on Nosy
Mangabe, the same hotel that we stayed in last year.
There is some confusion when it turns out that Relais wants to
organize our trek to Mananara. An enthusiastic guide named Claudio
accompanies us to our bungalow and asks us what time we want to
leave. I make clear to him that there's been a misunderstanding;
everything is already arranged by Ortour. It is correct
that i've asked for a quotation, but i found it too expensive.
After all, when you ask a painter for a price quotation you don't
expect him to show up the next day with paint and brushes, so i
have to disappoint Claudio and his boss.
In the afternoon Michel arrives to discuss the latest details.
We go by foot from Maroantsetra to
Mananara, 120 kilometer along the east coast. We'll have 5 porters,
a cook and a guide, and not less than 100 kilos of food is brought
along.
We will cheat a bit by taking a Taxi Brousse (Madagascar's public
transport) to cover the first 20 kilometers. We feel a bit shy of
the large distance that we have to walk, and Michel's stories
of collapsing bridges aren't truly motivating to us as well. But,
we'll just go for it and see what gets on our way.
In the afternoon we walk through Maroantsetra, and in comparison
to 1.5 year ago, nothing has changed. The people are still very
friendly and everyone salutes us, not to mention the kids. The only
difference with last year is that the concrete bridge that connects
both parts of the village, has collapsed completely. Now, people
need to take a pirogue to cross the river.
That night during a fierce thunderstorm, we pack our stuff,
ready for the Big Trek to Mananara.
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