Hell-ville, Madagascar
November 15, 2022
Today we arrived in Madagascar at about 10 am.
The HAL tour we booked was moved to tomorrow and today we were winging it.
A tender was sent out to get port authorities and bring them back to the ship to process passports.Jeremy spoke on the PA system and announced they we would be delayed in getting to port. The area where the tender pulled up is about 2 feet lower than the tender exit. The ships carpenters were sent out to build a ramp for guests. Impressive I thought. They would need 30 minutes to complete the task. Even more impressed.
We had lunch and the boarded a tender. The water was a little rough and it took a while to load the boat.
The trip was about 15 minutes to the shore. I couldn’t wait to see the impressive ramp that the carpenters built. The port was busy and the tender full.
It took a little time to unload the boat. A woman was nasty to me because I didn’t have a mask on. I ignored her and she said to the folks around them, “they are probably from Florida”.
I worked my way over for a look at the ramp. Wow, I thought. A sheet of plywood and two wooden stairs that they regularly use on the gangway. Nothing attached. Nothing actually “built”. I’m not impressed anymore.
Once of the tender we started to walk into town. At least 4 taxi drivers followed us and offered “good price”. They were relentless and I finally had to get quite stern with them to let us alone. They got the message.
It was just afternoon and we passed a few prostitutes. I don’t know why I’m surprised but I am.
We found our way to the tourist office. We learned that nothing is really open between 12 and 3 because of the heat. It was hot. We found a French restaurant called Papillon. We decided to enjoy a drink or two and use the wifi.
Later in the afternoon, Richard joined us for a beer. We chatted about his career as a lawyer and I shared some rental property stories.
We left and decided to walk into town since it was now after 3. Nothing here we were interested in.
We tendered back in time for dinner. Our entertainment was the series Yellowstone. I was able to download an episode while in Papillon’s. …