After a night in the stale hotely we're awoken at dawn by the noise of the village. When we open the door we almost knock over a stand with merchandise; market has begun and a woman is selling merchandise, blocking our door.

A Taxi Brousse arrives and it has place for us, so we decide to hop in to cover the last 20 kilometers. It takes 2 hours and everyone has to get out several times in order to let the empty car cross the cracking, dangerous bridges. There are two ferry crossings.

Around 11 we finally have reached Mananara. The whole place smells like cloves, a smell that starts to resemble rotten fruit after a while. We move into hotel Chez Roger, owned by a Malagasy. Roger also owes Aye Aye island, which we like to visit later. There's electricity, could beverages and a shower in our room - what a luxury!

In the afternoon we walk to Aye Aye Hotel, straight in front of the airport, closed since june this year due to bad condition of the landing strip. In Aye Aye Hotel we see some ravaging bamboo lemurs in an open car and 2 browns lemurs are playing with a dog. We have a chat with Carine - the french owner who lives here with her husband and 2 children. The lemurs have been brought in here (sold) by locals who took them from the forest as a young until they had enough of them. This is were the lemurs spend a quiet old day.

They love to be petted and when we walk to them with a glass of beer the animal literally buries his head in the glass and slurps from the beer. Aye Aye is fully booked today- a group of 18 rich Americans travels by speedboat from Mananara to Maroantsetra - but there will be space tomorrow so we decide to move the next day.

That evening we try Le Port - a new hotel / restaurant with good chinese food, according to Carine. We take place on a table, but the chinese eating outside ignore us and after a while a waitress tells us we can't eat here. So we go back to Chez George where we wait - mora mora - for our evening dinner.

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