Malagasy Highland

We continued on to the Island of Madagscar.  Madagascar is huge.  Much bigger than you may realize.  It also infamously has terrible infrastructure.  Going 400 kilometers in Madagscar could take all day or several days.  We flew into Antananarivo, the capital located in the central highlands, and then went directly to the southern highlands city of Fianarantsoa.  There is a train that travels from Fianar to Manakara on the East Coast.  A lot of tourists take the 12 to 24 hour trip (it really varies that much) because it makes the journey through the Madagscaran country side through villages only connected by the train.  The trip is about 160 kilometers and the maximum speed is about 20km/hour plus many stops for loading and unloading. What is really unique is what the Malagasy people sell at each stop.  Each stop has a unique product or two to buy.

Rice is the lifeblood of the Malagasy people. They claim if they don't eat rice three times per day they cannot sleep at night.

The unique multistory Malagasy house.  The animals at the bottom, parents and kitchen in the middle, and the kids on top so they can't sneak out.

Making bricks.

The local butcher.

Why, hello there!

Looking for lunch.

Lychees!