Daily Archives: April 17, 2015

A false start and only … -

61.2km en 8H21
at 5H37 it is still night and we drop Serge at the milestone before we realize that it isn’t the right one: it is 1 km too soon. It is worth mentioning that the sun is barely coming up and the semi-darkness makes it hard to see things. Serge turns off his beacon and mumbles……1km further at milestone 156 from Majunga it’s the right start, the beacon is turned on again. The orange on the horizon is splendid and promises a beautiful day.
For the first 15 kilometers, the asphalt has been dug up and cause instability. When the nuts behind the wheel drive at breakneck speed, the dust, gravel and stones hurled at his legs makes Serge furious. Luckily, there is asphalt again at the 23rd km, at the soup stop when there is also a change of clothes because they are soaking wet. As you know, Serge fears chaffing so he changes 3 times a day, except for his socks. This morning we found banana fritters, cooked under our eyes, pure delight! Serge does not turn up his nose when we offer him one at his refueling.

Once again the road is full of life, with
More villages
More pedestrians who are ambling to market
More children going to school
More children who are not going to school
More schools
More churches
A greater variety of trees: Teak, Singapore Almonds, bananas eucalyptus, varieties unknown to us and always mangos and jujubes
More life
The variety of flora is very nice, compared to the two previous days where everything seemed flat: small, flat hills, little contrast. Color has returned with life, to our great pleasure and once again we are surprised to see the change of scenery in just a few kilometers. I think we would not have noticed if we had been driving quickly several hundred kilometers per day.
Serge suffered less from the heat today, however, he felt tired due to a bad night in Ambondromany, which never seemed to quiet down. I slept in “a hen coop, next to a kennel, near a garage and a night club”. Those were our words this morning and while the image was very funny it did describe what our night was like.
Hassina ran 5 km but at km4 his calf hurt and he finished walking. Danz continues to do 5km per day. René darkened the pages of a notebook…. This evening it’s « magnificent Friday » and we did not forget to celebrate the end of the week at our camp site, in the shade of mangos, even if the weekend will be just the same as the past week.
Between two refueling, we had the pleasure of listening to a Malagasy singer by the name of Mafonja. It was a song which I dedicate to my nephew and godson, Benjamin on his birthday.