October 15th

Today is mostly a drive day. So we did not have to start as early as some days. We went to breakfast at 715ish. We had bread and a croissant with butter and orange marmalade; an omelette; and tea/coffee and choice of juice – we both chose pineapple. Nice start.

After breakfast we packed, then loaded up and left Ambositra around eight. This is the road we traveled on our second day of our tour – leaving then capital then. Now we are going back to the capital, Antananarivo. It is about 160 miles. Google says should take three hours and 44minutes, but it's wrong. It took us six hours. As we pass through the mountains, we can now see how the forest has been destroyed for farmland/grazing land for Zebu. The air quality was poor and we actually put our masks on to help filter. These people live with this all day -everyday.

We did stop at a more local but still tourists place for lunch. We split our goto of french fries. George told us he had rabbit – wish we would have known that was available. Anyway, rest of the drive was unremarkable. When we arrived at Antananarivo, George drove us to the Queens Palace. We had a guide give us a tour. This is what I remember. The Palace is the home of past Kings and Queens. It was the last place where the last Queen resided, 1897, when she was exiled to Algeria when the French took control. The first King was the one who unified all the tribes and started a country, later known as Madagascar. Madagascar was important in the spice trade. The last Queen was aligning allegiance with the United Kingdom, not France. This caused a dispute/war between the U.K. and France. The Suez Canal was built and U.K. and France were settling dispute and U.K. relinquished right of Madagascar, as the trade was now going through the Suez. So France took over and this is when last Queen was exiled. She died in Algeria in 1917. Madagascar gained independence in 1960, with an elected President. The Palace itself is made of two types marble from Madagascar – pink and grey. Finished we left and checked in to our hotel, Le Chalet des Roses. It is not the same as before, but it has A.C.!!! and an awesome shower – best so far in Madagascar!

We were able to ZOOM with our church back home – been awhile!! Then went to supper. Starters: Sicilian Bruschetta; Capri salad (sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, capers and herbs). Mains: Penne pasta with four cheeses (one being blue cheese); Cordon Bleu pork chop with sauteed veggies. Dessert: vanilla ice cream and lemon creme brulee.

After supper got in touch with family.